Class of 2K12 -- Corrine Jackson, author of IF I LIE and TOUCHED -- and a Giveaway!

Wow! Today's Class of 2K12 interview is with a debut author who has not one but TWO young adult novels launching this year.  Meet Corrine Jackson, author of:

IF I LIE, (August 28, Simon Pulse)

Quinn’s done the unthinkable: she kissed a guy who is not Carey, her boyfriend. And she got caught. Being branded a cheater would be bad enough, but Quinn is deemed a traitor, and shunned by all of her friends. Because Carey’s not just any guy—he’s serving in Afghanistan and revered by everyone in their small, military town.

Quinn could clear her name, but that would mean revealing secrets that she’s vowed to keep—secrets that aren’t hers to share. And when Carey goes MIA, Quinn must decide how far she’ll go to protect her boyfriend…and her promise…



Corrine's also the author of:

TOUCHED (coming November 27 from K-Teen) Seventeen-year-old Remy O’Malley heals people with touch, but her power comes at a steep cost. Every illness or injury she cures becomes her own. The pain she can handle, but she worries a day will come when she won’t recover from healing some terrible disease. Then she meets eighteen-year-old Asher Blackwell. Scarred and dangerous, he knows more about her abilities than she does, and she can’t resist wanting to know everything about him.

Class of 2K12 website
Corrine's website
Follow her on Twitter

Corrine Jackson (from her website)

Q. Do you outline before you write?  If so, does it end up changing before you finish the first draft?  What change surprised you the most?

A.  I’m an outliner. Usually, the characters come to me and I keep a file with notes that I collect. They’re everything from scene ideas to character traits to bits of dialogue. I write a bit to get a sense of the character’s voice. Once that’s in place, I go back and outline the whole book. My outline is flexible, though. I never feel locked in. If a scene takes me somewhere new, no big deal. I just revise the outline. I’ve been surprised at times by a new character popping up (George in IF I LIE) or an emotional scene I didn’t plan on (in TOUCHED). George was definitely my biggest change. My entire book morphed once he appeared. I love those moments.

Q.  Those are cool moments! How long did it take to go from the idea for the book to the draft your editor accepted?  Was it months or years?  Did you go through endless revisions, beta readers, etc, before starting the submission process?  Did you ever want to pull out your hair?

A. Depends on the book. With TOUCHED, I wrote it in 3 ½ months. I went through draft after draft in revisions and lots of beta readers. Once I got an agent, we went through one more revision. That’s the one my editor bought. With IF I LIE, I wrote it over a year, sent it to a few beta readers, did one round of revision, made a few changes at my agent’s suggestion, and that was it. Since I spent more time writing it, I edited it along the way, so my first draft was pretty clean. I also showed pieces to readers as I was working on it.

To be honest, I don’t like editing as much as I do writing. I’d rather do a slower, cleaner first draft, but that’s not always realistic with deadlines. I’m adapting, but I do want to pull my hair out at times.

Q.  I hear you! Do you listen to music while writing or at least while thinking about and planning a book?  What song or album had the most influence on this novel?

A. I always listen to music. I create playlists for each book. In the book FROM WHERE YOU DREAM, Robert Olen Butler suggests that listening to the same music for a book each time you write, drops you back into that creative space faster. I agree. As soon as I put the music on and read a snip of what I wrote the day before, I’m off and running on new words. When writing TOUCHED, I listened to a lot of Tyrone Wells, Taylor Swift, Tim Easton, Ben Harper, and others. Lots of soulful love songs or longing for love songs. I shifted gears a bit on IF I LIE. That book takes sad to a new level. I listened to a lot of Glen Hansard, The Swell Season, and The Frames. Glen Hansard has this voice that rips at your guts and it fit what was happening to my characters.

Thanks for joining us today, Corrine! Your books are amazing.  Congratulations!

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Readers, I have one hardcover copy of IF I LIE to give away!  Sorry, this giveaway is only open to residents of the US or Canada.  Must be 13 or older to enter.  The rules are simple:  You must be a follower and you must comment on this post!  You have until Saturday September 8 at 11 pm EDT to enter.  One extra chance to win if you Tweet about this giveaway.  Another extra chance for mentioning on facebook OR on your own blog.  Please note your extra entries in the comments. Thanks!