BEHIND THE BOOK:
Cora Carmack author of Losing It
Interview by: Deidré D.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR CRAFT
TBW: How do you pace yourself when you write?
CC: Poorly. I’m what I call a binge writer. I can go days writing very little, and then churn out tons of work over three or
four days. If you mean how I pace a story—it’s about balance. I think of it like a French braid—in every chapter I try to add
a little characterization, a little plot, a little romance, etc.
TBW: Do you read what you write? Do you write reviews for them?
CC: I do, yes! I read any New Adult book I can get my hands on, as well as plenty of YA. At the moment, I don’t review
them because between my day job and writing, my time is full.
TBW: Do you recommend and/or prefer to work with a publishing house over self publishing? If you self publish what steps do you
take to publish your work?
CC: You know, I made a very specific decision to self-publish Losing It. I actually had it out with a publisher, but decided to pull
it because I thought it could be more successful this way, at least initially. Traditional publishing is appealing because who
doesn’t want to see their book in a bookstore? But I think both methods have their merits. In the end, it’s not how a book
comes to be that matters, so much as the quality of the book and what it brings to the table. Things moved very quickly
once I decided to self-publish Losing It. I reached out to some blogger friends, who helped me organize a book tour. I
made the cover, did a final round of edits on the MS, and send it out to the bloggers. Then I started formatting it for
Amazon and Barnes and Noble. All during this time, I worked on building my online presence, which was pretty much non-
existent before this. In all, from decision to publishing date it was only about a month.
TBW: What advice can you give writers that are looking to publish their work?
CC: Write a story that you love. I truly believe passion shows through in your writing, and readers will connect to it. If you love
the story, no matter what happens—bad reviews, publisher or agent rejections, bad sales—you’ll be happy that
you did it. Oh, and never stop learning! Read insatiably. Write constantly. It’s a job. Work at it. Don’t write one book and
then sit around waiting for it to sell.
FUN FACTS
Favorite authors: J.K. Rowling, hands down. She made me a reader,
which in turn made me a writer.
Favorite book: Harry Potter and Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
eReader or print: Both. It depends on my mood and the book.
Currently reading: Just completed On The Island by Tracey Garvis Graves
and will begin A World Away by Nancy Grossman.
October 25, 2012
TELL US ABOUT YOUR BOOK
TBW: Where did the inspiration come from for Losing It?
CC: It came from a lot of places. It started with a conversation with a friend about virginity, then because my brain
automatically searches for humorous situations—the premise just popped into my head. Then I sort of filled in the rest of
the story with elements from my own time in college. It very much pays homage to my friends and my college experience.
TBW: When creating your characters, was there any 'one' thing that helped mold their personalities?
CC: For the most part, my characters kind of tell me who they are. That sounds crazy, I know. I start with a little thing, like
someone being scared of sex, and the rest just starts to fill in. I think motivation is key though. I knew from the very
beginning that Bliss would both want and not want to have sex. That told me a lot about who she was.
TBW: Did you see any qualities in your characters that you could closely relate to?
CC: My characters often have a little element of my personality combined with other things I’ve made up. I definitely see a
little bit of myself in all my characters. For example, I am not at all organized and anal like Bliss, but I worry and panic a lot
and I am awkward. So, there’s that. And of course, the genre as a whole is something I can relate to. I’m twenty-five, and
this thing called “adulthood” still scares the crap out of me.
TBW: So many Contemporary Young Adult Romance novels have an angsty direction to them. Why did you choose to take your story in
another direction? and do you think that your readers can appreciate the change?
CC: I did, actually, make a very conscious decision to write the story as something lighter. I love a good, angsty read as much as
the next girl, but that wasn't my college experience at all. My angst was always over some humiliating experience or
because I was scared about the future. And I was always, always able to laugh at myself. I think most writers want the
reader to be able to see herself in the main character, so I tried to provide a main character that was different than what
was already out there. I know this story won't be for everyone, but so far people do seem to appreciate the change. Some
needed it just as a palate cleanser between heavy reads, while others appear to have been waiting for books like this for
a while.
TBW: Was your Initial intention to have Garrick and Bliss end up together at the end of the book?
CC: Always. I wanted the awkward girl to get the guy. Girls should know that they don't have to be the stereotypical pretty or
sweet girl to get the guy. Men's tastes in women vary as much as reader's tastes in books, and you can be who you are and
still find the right person.
TBW: Do you intend to turn Losing It into a series? If so, will Garrick and Bliss still be in the pages or will you introduce new characters with
similar fates? If you do have a book two when will it come out?
CC: There will be a series of companion novels, yes. I’m working on one for Cade right now, and have plans for a book about
Kelsey. Bliss and Garrick will likely be mentioned in both. Those books will, of course, be different than Losing It because
Cade and Kelsey as characters are very different than Bliss. But you can still expect the books to be on the light-
hearted, humorous and awkward side of the spectrum.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR NEXT STEPS
TBW: Do you have any major press/media events in the near future to promote this book or future works?
CC: Well, there’s a blog tour in progress now with some other fun interviews and extras. You can see the schedule on the YA
Sisterhood blog here: http://ya-sisterhood.blogspot.com/p/giveaways.html. Other than that, I don’t have anything
planned. Though there are some very exciting things happening with LOSING IT behind the scenes, but I can’t say
anything about that yet. :)
TBW: Are you working on a new series? If so, what is it about and when can we expect to read it?
CC: No new series yet, but I am working on Cade’s book, as I mentioned earlier. Follow my blog at coracarmack.blogspot.com
and I’ll definitely let everyone know there about any news for this series or future works.