Author-fest - Meet Sarah Billington

I worked with Sarah on the "Taste Test" sampler, which we produced earlier this year. It has been so cool getting to know her. I've read The Kiss Off and really enjoyed it. Her writing is full of fun and humour. It was so cool to bury my nose in a light read that had me smiling and guessing the whole way through.

So it is my absolute pleasure to have her on my blog for the Author-fest.

When did you publish your first book?

April 2011, The Ballerina & My Best Friend and The Runaway, two short stories that had both previously been published before in an anthology (Ballerina) and magazine (The Runaway). Ballerina had a TERRIBLE original cover for its ebook, back in my noob days. That's since been rectified.

How many books have you published altogether?

Fourteen! Ten short stories, two novels and two short story collections.

What are you currently working on?

The sequel to The Kiss Off (which has been reviewed right here on this blog! It was an exciting day)! It has the most original of titles at the moment. Yes. It's The Kiss Off 2.

Where is your favourite place to read?

In bed. I love curling up in bed with a good book. LOVE. I pretty much always read lying down. On a couch, on the grass, on my desk...okay maybe I haven't done that last one. But it doesn't mean I won't. 

If you could recommend any book to aspiring writers, what would it be and why?

The Writer's Guide to Character Traits by Linda N. Edelstein, PH.D.

It's an absolute goldmine for character development, and helps to really make your characters three-dimensional, real people. Is your character a thirteen year old pyromaniac? She can tell you what personality traits he/she would have. Going through a divorce? What type of divorce? She takes you through the different stages of divorce and the effects it can have on the husband as wife as well as any kids involved. It's a brilliant book.

And Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder. It's a book about plotting out screenplays but it 

DEFINITELY applies to novel writing. BIG TIME.

Five Favourites...

One? You want ONE of each? Yeah, that's not possible.

TV Show: Awkward. And Smash. And Game of Thrones. And Criminal Minds. And The Walking Dead. And Veronica Mars. And... yes I love TV.

Style of Music or Band: I love power pop and punk rock so my favourite bands are McFly and All Time Low. But I love the Rock of Ages soundtrack. And I love Marc Broussard. And I really love upbeat pop because my favourite songs right now are Brokenhearted by Karmin, Good Time by Owl City and Carly Rae Jepson and Gangnam Style by Psy. I know everyone's over it but I literally JUST heard Gangnam Style a week ago for the first time. How funny is that video?  

Movie: As of today, because I only saw it a couple of days ago and am still thinking about it, Cabin in the Woods. The only thing I knew about that movie before seeing it was what the move cover looked like. So if you were to say "There's no way Sarah would have seen any of that coming"... you would be right.

Book: The Georgia Nicolson series by Louise Rennison, the Carter series by Brent Crawford, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Goodnight Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian.

Item of clothing: My Threadless tee shirts. Especially my Don't Care Bears one. I'm very into tee shirts right now.

Thanks for having me, Melissa! It's been fun!

Thanks so much for being here. I love "Good Time" by Owl City and Carly Rae Jepson. I love blasting it super loud and dancing around the house with my kids :)

If you'd like to connect with Sarah online, here are her links:

Twitter
Facebook
Amazon Author Page
Goodreads
Website
Blog