Interview with Linda Murphy, Author of Young Adult Book, Reaper

I am so delighted today to showcase and interview Linda Murphy (LS Murphy) and her soon-to-be released young adult novel, Reaper, published by J. Taylor Publishing.  It's particularly fun to have Linda here, as we are in the same SCBWI critique group in the St. Louis area. 

NS  Please tell the readers when and how your muse came knocking at your door, urging you to write.

LM  It’s just something that I’ve always done. When I was a kid, I would tell stories and write them down. I was always jotting down notes, ideas, character sketches, and fragments of stories. 
 
 NS  I know you write and are mainly interested in young adult fiction.  Any thoughts to give another genre a go?  And if so, what?

LM  I also write short fiction when an idea hits me. Sometimes I stray into horror, dark fantasy, and contemporary romance. Odd combo, right?J
 NS Tell us how you organize a typical writing day.

LM  I don’t. Since I work full-time & have a family, my writing time can be sporadic at best. Sometimes I get up at four a.m., sometimes I steal five minutes here and five minutes there. I do what I can when I can.

 NS  Please share with us your writing support group/s.  How do you feel about the merits of critique groups, writing organizations, etc. within your professional life?

LM  The best thing I ever did for my writing career was find a supportive critique group. For years, I harbored the desire to be a writer. It wasn’t until my daughter was born that I realized I couldn’t encourage her to follow her dreams if I didn’t follow my own.
I discovered SCBWI and found a critique group through there. Like I said, best thing I ever did. The other authors are supportive, helpful, and encouraging. They are also brutally honest.

NS  I know you have a new agent. Congratulations, and please introduce us.  Share with us information about your debut novel, Reaper, and tell us what is next!

LM  Thanks. I signed with Julia A. Weber with J. A. Weber Literaturagentur last month. I’m so thrilled to have Julia as an agent. She’s wonderful.

Reaper will be released January 7^th, 2013 through J. Taylor Publishing. Here’s the blurb:

There's no way sixteen year old Quincy Amarante will become the fifth grim reaper. None. Not over her shiny blue Mustang. Her Jimmy Choos. Or her dead body.

She’s supposed to enjoy her sophomore year, not learn about some freaky future Destiny says she has no choice but to fulfill.

It doesn’t take long for Quincy to realize the only way out of the game is to play along especially since Death can find her anyway, anywhere, anytime. And does.

Like when she’s reassuring her friends she wants nothing to do with former best friend Ben Moorland, who’s returned from god-knows-where, and fails. Miserably.

Instead of maintaining her coveted popularity status, Quincy’s goes down like the Titanic.

Maybe ... just maybe ... that’s okay.

It seems, perhaps, becoming a grim reaper isn’t just about the dead but more about a much needed shift in Quincy’s priorities—from who she thinks she wants to be to who she really is.

LM  I have several things in the works, one of which is a YA contemporary novel about a girl who just wants to play baseball.

NS We may contact you at:

Best place, and the most frequent place to find me online, is Twitter: https://twitter.com/LSMurphy
I’m also on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LSMurphyAuthor
Goodreads is a favorite haunt too: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5046440.L_S_Murphy
My blog is: http://lsmurphy.com/
My email is LSMurphy524@gmail.com
You can find my agent at: http://jaw-litagent.com/
And my publisher for Reaper: http://www.jtaylorpublishing.com/

Thanks so much, Linda, for the interview.  Here's wishing you the best and brightest future with Reaper and so many more!