Cassandra Giovanni, Author of In Between Seasons (Young Adult, Dystopian Romance) and Walking in the Shadows (Young Adult, Thriller)
Cassandra Giovanni is an avid writer of young adult novels and can’t wait to share her work with you. The genres of her novels include dystopian, paranormal, mystery and romance all aimed at appealing to adults and young adults alike. Her personal goal with her writing is to show the reader the character’s stories through their dialogue and actions instead of just telling the reader what is happening. She began writing at a very young age, in fact from the moment she could draw she was telling stories that way. At age seven she won a contest in American Girl Doll to have a chapter she had written published. She stopped writing in high school and started writing again after seeing the movie creation of a book. It inspired her to start writing again and since then its been something she just can’t let go.
Annie K. Johnson – What do you consider your greatest strength as a writer?
Cassandra Giovanni – I’ve had a lot of comments on how realistic my dialogue is. I find this funny because when I write I write everything out (i.e can’t is cannot), so I have to go back through and change all of this on my first edit. I know that this is something I do though, and that makes it easier to tackle, which is what makes my dialogue effective (or so I am told).
AKJ – What inspired you to become an author?
CG – I’ve always been a writer, and I’ve been writing full length novels since I was fifteen. When I hit my twenties I realized that I didn’t want all of that writing to go to waste, and that I wanted others to read it and enjoy it. So, I decided I was going to go for it. I set the goal to be published by twenty-three. Here I am and I am about to publish my second novel.
AKJ – What or who inspired the characters of your book?
CG – The characters from all of my books were inspired by dreams I had. Their relationships were the things that really stuck out to me from the dreams, and that is what I hung on to the most. It started me thinking about what made them who they were, why they had that saddened look in their eyes, etc.
AKJ – How has writing been different than what you’d imagined?
CG – Writing involves a lot more than just sitting down on the computer and typing out a great story. There’s so much more to it, you have to network, market your product, connect with your target market, promote, and edit, and then edit some more.
AKJ – Which of your characters has been your favorite to develop?
CG – Wow, that’s a really hard question to answer. Right now I am working on my first mature YA novel, and I think that the main character’s boyfriend is the one I have enjoyed getting to know the most. The characters really have to come to life. He’s a character that I am having trouble pegging down–I feel I know him, but there’s just this hint of mystery and pain in his eyes that I am trying to capture. He’s becoming my biggest challenge, but he’s also becoming my favorite character.
AKJ – What has been the toughest criticism that you’ve had to face as a writer?
CG – I think it’s more of a general knowledge that not everyone is going to like your writing, and you have to read those reviews and take them for what they are worth.
AKJ – Who has been the biggest influence on your life? What lessons did that person teach you?
CG – My father has been a huge influences on my life and my writing. The proper question here, is what lessons didn’t he teach me? Every time I speak to him, be it serious or not, I learn a lesson about myself, the world, the people around me, or him. My mom is pretty awesome too, she’s the person that sees the best in everyone.
AKJ – What are you the most afraid of? Does this inspire any part of your writing?
CG – I am most afraid of losing the people I love: my parents, my husband or my brother. This has a heavy influence on certain novels I have written–in particular Walking in the Shadows, where the main character’s parents are murdered.
AKJ – What was the happiest moment of your life?
CG – I have to say it was the day my husband told me he loved me more than a friend.
AKJ – What are the most important lessons you’ve learned in life?
CG – Never compromise who you are for someone else. When you do this you sacrifice your own happiness, the happiness of those who care for you and you lose yourself in the midst of it all. Those that truly love you, love you as you are and that’s all that matters.
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