Meet Lindsay Cummings, Author of THE MURDER COMPLEX

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Add The Murder Complex on Goodreads.

Release Date: 2014

Publisher: Greenwillow (HarperCollins)

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Blurb (from Goodreads):

Your mind is not your own…

20-year-old Lindsay Cummings’ debut novel, THE MURDER COMPLEX, is described as an action-packed, blood-soaked, futuristic thriller set in a world where the murder rate is higher than the birth rate, and follows Meadow Woodson, a 15-year-old girl who has been trained by her father to fight, kill, and to survive in any situation, and Zephyr James, the orphaned boy she falls in love with, whose sole purpose is to keep her from discovering the haunting truth about her family, even if it puts them both in mortal danger.

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1. First off, welcome to Teens Can Write, Too! Thank you for agreeing to interview. I think it’s great that you sold your book to such a major publisher as a teen. What was that like? How did you balance school and writing?

It was insane! That’s the best word I can come up with for that. What’s great, is I had actually just graduated high school when all this happened. So- I didn’t have to balance school, hehe. But I know some authors out there that are in high school and college, and they are SAINTS for being able to balance the two!

2. On Twitter you told me that you wrote your book, queried it, signed with an agent, and then sold it to HarperCollins all in less than a year. That’s incredible. Is there something you did that you think made this journey so successful (and speedy)?

Hearing you say that actually makes me be like, “Whoa, dude. Did that seriously happen?” But it did happen, and the only reason it did was because of my ROCKSTAR agent, Louise Fury. She did all the hard work, and kept me sane while I was waiting to hear if my book had an offer or not. I tell her all the time that she is like Jesus, but for books. (Ask her. It’s true)

3. Wow. THE MURDER COMPLEX sounds so good! And no love triangle—we will worship you for that. Can you tell us a little bit about it? How about one thing that isn’t in the blurb?

Love triangles….my God, they make me sick. “Hello, I have three- no…- SEVEN men fighting over me. It’s horrible!” (that wouldn’t make it a love triangle, but you get the point).  I wish I could give you a little bit more info…but for now, it’s all secret. I will tell you the guy’s name starts with a Z, and he looks like my boyfriend. Sexy, sexy, SEXY.

4. What advice would you give to aspiring teen writers?

Write every day. Read every day. Reading every day makes you eager to write every day, because, if you’re like me, when you read an AWESOME book, you think to yourself “Wow. I want to be THIS author someday. I’ll go work on that right now!” I’d also say, get critique partners. Go to a writer’s conference, and meet other writers.  Always stay positive, because writing can be a tough, but lovely journey!

5. Plotter or pantser?

Both. I’m bipolar when it comes to writing books.

6. What inspired THE MURDER COMPLEX?

Honestly? I was getting sick of hearing stories about people being murdered on the news…all over the world. Murder is such a terrible, disgusting thing, but it totally happens all the time. I want teens to be able to read something about it that’s different—that gives them hope in the middle of dark times. I wanted to write a story that took something horrible that happens in today’s world, and give them characters to really, really root for in the middle of such a sucky situation! (and a hot boy helps)

7. Now let’s get to the fun. What was the most awkward/funny moment you’ve had with your agent or editor, whether during The Call or something else.

Louise and I talk on the phone a lot…and she is foul-mouthed as all get out. And the worst word I ever say is “hell” (and it’s in the Bible, okay?!) So it’s always funny to hear her crack jokes, use cuss words that make my face go all Church-girl red, and then just laugh it off, because that’s who she is, and who she is = someone AWESOME.

8. So how about first draft horror stories? They can be bad. What was the dumbest line (you can paraphrase) or note you made in your first draft that made you slap your forehead in embarrassment?

Honestly, I can’t remember. I’ve had a lot of screwups, I’m sure. One time, in some edits I made to send back to my agent, I typed in something like “Wonders if Louise sees this line” or something like that…and I still don’t know if she saw it or not! Let’s hope it’s not still in the book. Lol!

9. You had a successful book review blog even before you got published. How did this affect you your writing? Did it help you mature as an author?

Book bloggers are SO BOSS. I love them. They got my love for books to a level that was so beyond nerdy. When I got a book deal, they were all so excited for me. They really took me in as one of their own, and now that I have a book coming out, I’d like to think they’ll all buy a copy and spread the love!

10. Anything else you’d like to add?

My awesome sweet friend, Victoria Scott, has an AWESOME paranormal coming out in March 2013, with the sexiest, steamiest main character ever…and he steals souls. It’s coming out with Entangled Teen, and I am shamelessly promoting the heck out of that book. I love it. And I love the author.

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Thanks for coming on, Lindsay!