10 Big Questions With Author Catherine Scully

1. Tell us about your debut novel “Jennifer Strange.”  Why is Jennifer so strange?

Jennifer got her nickname "Strange" from always muttering to herself in class, but she discovers the real reason she is strange is because she sees ghosts. At first she doesn't believe it. Jennifer loves sciences and thinks ghosts cannot exist, but when a chemical fire breaks out in her Chemistry classroom, she chases a little boy ghost running through the fire. She follows him only to meet Marcus Blackwell, a new student and undercover Ghost Hunter, that tells her she is Medium. Naturally, she thinks it's pretty bogus, but after her microwave attacks her and the little boy ghost starts haunting her bedroom, Jennifer starts to believe Marcus is telling the truth.

2. What did the process look like for you from start to finish for your book?  Did it begin as notes in a journal and end up and novel, or was it something completely different?

It was originally a script. I wrote Jennifer Strange as a 60-page pilot and a sort of "thesis" piece for my screenwriting class in college. I reasoned that I knew no one in Hollywood and would rather query a book than a script, so I set about writing the first draft. My original process for plotting out JS was to hit the "beats" of the story, the same way you have to hit beats in a TV show before commercial breaks. This means, I write pretty action-oriented and fast-paced scenes with my "breaks" being my chapter breaks. I write novels, but I think like a screenwriter.

3. Was this the first book that you queried? Also, can you share a little about the query process?

Jennifer Strange was the first book I queried and also the first book I've ever written. I wrote it after I graduated, met with my first agent at a conference (who told me to rewrite the whole thing), I took a year to research and make her requested changes, and set about querying again. This time, I decided to use Twitter and blogs. I will forever be grateful for that decision. I learned so much in a few months from meeting fellow queriers who became my critique partners. Start to finish, the second time around, I ended up querying only five months, which was nuts to me. I expected the process to be longer. I eventually met my agent at Crossroads Writers Conference and, though our meeting was brief, we really hit it off. I queried her, she requested the full, I waited about three months, and she offered! 

4. How does it feel to find an agent?

Honestly, most of the time, I have no words for how awesome it is. I feel like I have an agent that gets me and my book. I feel like I completely trust her too in every aspect. I know she'll do a fantastic job. Not only does she and her agency (Donadio and Olson who represents Chuck Palahniuk of Fight Club) have the history of sales and awards to prove it, but just from knowing her and working with her, I feel like this was a perfect decision for both of us. We have the same work style and need to give our all to our work, plus it doesn't hurt we have the same taste in leather jackets and Butter London nail polish haha. I think it's important to connect with your agent outside of just working on your book. I'm so glad Carrie and I do.

5. What inspired you to write this book?

During college, I worked in the Barnes and Noble teen section. I handled all the young adult summer reading along with Middle Grade and younger. I gave recommendations, helped parents find books, but most importantly, I helped teens who hated reading find something they would be interested in reading. My brother is Dyslexic and not the biggest fan of reading because of it, so I felt a lot of times that I particularly cared for those kids that hated reading. I find it oddly wonderful that, most of the time, I ended up recommending Chuck Palahniuk's work and now I'm at the same agency. Life is funny that way. 

So, I decided to write teen and middle grade after that. I knew I wanted to connect with that particular audience. It wasn't about the success stories, although those are wonderful. It was about something more. For me, the most wonderful and most hated part of my life was that weird between where I was figuring myself out with total surety that I knew who I was... when, clearly, I didn't. Telling a story like Jennifer Strange won't just be about "the weird kid that things happened to and now they found themselves." It's going to go deeper than that. It's going to explore that the definitions we place on things as teens aren't always the way things are. People aren't always the way we expect and the people we think we can trust aren't always good. The reader will find out these things much in the same way we all do growing up as the series progresses. The point wasn't to prove some message, but to provide something more real and relate-able in the journey. To show our horrors and the reality of what people are. To show that shattering of our perceptions as we grow. I'm looking forward to seeing the series progress and the reveals that are going to take place. Should be exciting!

6. What books or other forms of media have most influenced your writings?

Movies. I can't stress this enough. Movies. I can't write without a movie in the background or a soundtrack playing. Musically, I'm addicted to Florence and the Machine, Ellie Goulding, James Newton Howard, Clint Mansell, and Danny Elfman. I think I've worn out my Spotify playlists to death!

7. What draws you to monsters that can kill you versus ones that you can fall in love with?

I've always been more interested in the battles we face inside while fighting monsters. I love the truths we get to see in ourselves as real nature of characters unveils under the stress of fighting a monster. I love a seductive monster, a brutal man-eating monster, and I love monsters that are people, which are the scariest of all to me. I love concept monsters or the idea of something being what terrifies you. With the whole craze of loving monsters like vampires and werewolves, don't get me wrong, I never get tired of those stories. But the ones I write? They have to be about fighting them for me. Maybe it's because I'm not a straight-up romance writer or maybe it's because I love stories by Lovecraft or Stephenson or Machen, but I just love the fight. I love the battle. That said, give me a good werewolf or vampire story and I'm sold any day... so long as both draw fresh blood.

8. Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?

Right now, I'm reading the Raven Boys, Death Watch, Shadow and Bone, Beautiful Creatures, and a ton of others. I tend to read ten books at a time. I also read the classics a lot and just finished the Exorcist, which I adored. I believe in reading all the horror classics, my favorite being Arthur Machen (the Great God Pan), because I believe in the classics being classic and still around for a reason.

9. What was the most challenging part of writing your book?

Having to rewrite the entirety of it three times and I'm talking major changes. The first draft, a script, was vastly different than writing a full book. Scripts usually don't have scenic or emotional detail. The second draft was written with Jennifer and an adult as the main point of view, which obviously had to go because that's not a teen novel. So, I rewrote it from Jennifer's and Marcus's point of view instead. Then, for a third draft,  I changed the entirety from dueling first person pov to third person. That said, I'm the type of author that is glad to make changes because my marketing hat is always on. I don't get too attached to any one thing, but I will argue for an idea if I feel there's a character or plot point for it. 

10. Do you have any advice for other writers who are trying to land an agent, or for those that are choosing to go the independent route?

My advice is to research for a long time before deciding which path you want. You need to know top-to-bottom what you are getting into and why. You also should know what agents you are querying and not just query blindly. Do your homework. Check Publisher's Marketplace, check blogs, ask around, and get to know all the ins and outs not just about agents, but the publishing business and how it works. I also recommend getting involved in query contests. Nothing honed my pitch like the brutal trenches of doing contest after contest. I also met so many lovely writers that were querying like me! I felt like I had a community I could draw strength from when times were tough or when things just got lonely, as it always does for writers. I met my invaluable critique partners, self-proclaimed "The Off Beats," and my other fantastic friends and CPs: Juliana, David, and Meaghan. Jennifer Strange would not have found a home without them. Critique partners are worth their weight in gold. 

- Follow Catherine on Twitter @CatMScully

- Website: http://cscullywriter.wordpress.com/