Procrastinating with Kate Messner!
About The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z
Gianna Zales has a lot on her plate this fall - a father who drives her to school in the family hearse, a mother who’s turned into the junk food police, a little brother who thinks he’s a member of the paparazzi, and a grandmother who leaves false teeth in the refrigerator. Worst of all, she’s left her 7th grade leaf collection to do at the last minute. It’s a monster project, and Gianna will miss cross-country sectionals if she doesn’t meet the deadline. She’ll need the help of her geeky friend, Zig, and some brilliant ideas of her own to pull it off.
About Kate Messner
Kate Messner grew up in Medina, New York and graduated from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Communication with a degree in Broadcast Journalism. She worked as a television news producer and reporter in Syracuse, NY and then Burlington, VT, before going back to school to get a teaching degree. These days, Kate is a National Board Certified middle school English teacher. She has helped hundreds of kids work on leaf collection projects and likes sugar maples and catalpa leaves the best. Kate lives on Lake Champlain with her husband and kids and loves spending time in the woods.
Look at the cover? Doesn't it just scream autumn?!
Do you consider yourself a procrastinator in your writing or daily life?
Not really. I have a lot on my plate, so if I procrastinate, it means not having time for something that I really value. (I do procrastinate when it comes to house cleaning, though!)
What point in the writing process are you most likely to avoid or drag your feet on?
I have a tough time starting sometimes - facing the blank page. I love revision, but sometimes if I'm in the very early stages of a project, I have to force myself to sit down and get to work, even though I love it once the words start to come.
Favorite time waster/avoidance mechanism?
Twitter. (sigh) I'm KateMessner there if you'd like to join me in procrastinating!
What are your go-to time wasting websites?
Twitter, Facebook, and LiveJournal...though in fairness, I really don't consider my time spent there as time wasted. Connecting with other writers is important to me and keeps me sane.
Do you self-google?
I do have a google alert set up for my book because I like to hear what people have to say. I find that even a review that's not all positive has benefits for me, so I try to read them all.
At what point does the procrastinating stop? Is it deadline pressure? Boredom?
Again, I'm not a huge procrastinator because as a teacher, mom, and writer, I just don't have much time to waste. Not getting to write is too high a price for me to pay for procrastinating, so I'm usually pretty good about my writing time.
How do you “buckle down” and get to work? What do you need in order to be productive (tea, Coke, chocolate, live go-go dancers…)?
Chocolate for the rough revisions. Otherwise, tea, ice water, sometimes a walk at my treadmill desk.
Do you reward yourself when you finish a project or step in the process? How?
I do - I'll often go on a big reading binge, devouring a book a day after I finish something big.
Lastly, who would win in a fight:
Zombies or werewolves?
Zombies
Jack Frost or Jack Sprat?
Jack Frost
The Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man (from Ghostbusters) or The Michelin Tire Man?
The Marshmallow Man (he could get the other guy all stuck in goo and then defeat him)
To learn more about Kate Messner, go to www.katemessner.com, www.facebook.com/KateMessner,http://kmessner.livejournal.com, www.twitter.com/KateMessner. And here’s the IndieBound page for THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z:
http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780802798428
Thanks, Erin!
Gianna Zales has a lot on her plate this fall - a father who drives her to school in the family hearse, a mother who’s turned into the junk food police, a little brother who thinks he’s a member of the paparazzi, and a grandmother who leaves false teeth in the refrigerator. Worst of all, she’s left her 7th grade leaf collection to do at the last minute. It’s a monster project, and Gianna will miss cross-country sectionals if she doesn’t meet the deadline. She’ll need the help of her geeky friend, Zig, and some brilliant ideas of her own to pull it off.
About Kate Messner
Kate Messner grew up in Medina, New York and graduated from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Communication with a degree in Broadcast Journalism. She worked as a television news producer and reporter in Syracuse, NY and then Burlington, VT, before going back to school to get a teaching degree. These days, Kate is a National Board Certified middle school English teacher. She has helped hundreds of kids work on leaf collection projects and likes sugar maples and catalpa leaves the best. Kate lives on Lake Champlain with her husband and kids and loves spending time in the woods.
Look at the cover? Doesn't it just scream autumn?!
Do you consider yourself a procrastinator in your writing or daily life?
Not really. I have a lot on my plate, so if I procrastinate, it means not having time for something that I really value. (I do procrastinate when it comes to house cleaning, though!)
What point in the writing process are you most likely to avoid or drag your feet on?
I have a tough time starting sometimes - facing the blank page. I love revision, but sometimes if I'm in the very early stages of a project, I have to force myself to sit down and get to work, even though I love it once the words start to come.
Favorite time waster/avoidance mechanism?
Twitter. (sigh) I'm KateMessner there if you'd like to join me in procrastinating!
What are your go-to time wasting websites?
Twitter, Facebook, and LiveJournal...though in fairness, I really don't consider my time spent there as time wasted. Connecting with other writers is important to me and keeps me sane.
Do you self-google?
I do have a google alert set up for my book because I like to hear what people have to say. I find that even a review that's not all positive has benefits for me, so I try to read them all.
At what point does the procrastinating stop? Is it deadline pressure? Boredom?
Again, I'm not a huge procrastinator because as a teacher, mom, and writer, I just don't have much time to waste. Not getting to write is too high a price for me to pay for procrastinating, so I'm usually pretty good about my writing time.
How do you “buckle down” and get to work? What do you need in order to be productive (tea, Coke, chocolate, live go-go dancers…)?
Chocolate for the rough revisions. Otherwise, tea, ice water, sometimes a walk at my treadmill desk.
Do you reward yourself when you finish a project or step in the process? How?
I do - I'll often go on a big reading binge, devouring a book a day after I finish something big.
Lastly, who would win in a fight:
Zombies or werewolves?
Zombies
Jack Frost or Jack Sprat?
Jack Frost
The Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man (from Ghostbusters) or The Michelin Tire Man?
The Marshmallow Man (he could get the other guy all stuck in goo and then defeat him)
To learn more about Kate Messner, go to www.katemessner.com, www.facebook.com/KateMessner,http://kmessner.livejournal.com, www.twitter.com/KateMessner. And here’s the IndieBound page for THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z:
http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780802798428
Thanks, Erin!