AUTHOR CRUSH FRIDAY: CHRIS CANNON
Glitter girls, you have pressing questions for your favorite authors and we have their answers. Welcome to our new weekly segment, Author Crush Fridays.
We love asking questions and we love the answers from some of our favorite authors. Today we’re talking to Chris Cannon, author of Bridges Burned (Jan. 19, 2015; Entangled Teen). Thank you for talking to us today, Chris! We’re honored!
GLITTER: Tell us 5 random facts about yourself.
CHRIS: I have 3 dogs, so my entire house is furry and so are most of my clothes. I cannot function without coffee. I would rather lick the floor than eat ranch dressing. My favorite tv show is Supernatural. I’m addicted to lip balm, and Bonne Belle Lip Smackers Watermelon is my favorite.
GLITTER: Tell us about your journey to becoming a writer.
CHRIS: I’ve always been an avid reader. I love boarding school books like Harry Potter and the Vampire Academy series where readers are immersed in a different world. Some of my all time favorite dialogue comes from the snarky banter on Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series. (If you haven’t seen the series you should check it out on Netflix.) When I started writing my goal was to create a kick-ass snarky character in a unique world.
GLITTER: In Bridges Burned, what was your favorite chapter/scene to write and why?
CHRIS: Jaxon really comes to life in this book. Blue dragons believe in loyalty and honor above all other things. I love the scenes that show him battling an internal war between what he knows is right and what he’s been brought up to believe. He won’t do something he believes is wrong, but he can’t speak against the Directorate, his father, or his Clan either.
GLITTER: How did you tie together your first book, Going Down in Flames, with your upcoming Bridges Burned? Will we see the same characters in this second book?
CHRIS: Bridges Burned chronicles the next few months in Bryn’s life at the Institute for Excellence. She’s found her footing and established that she will not take shit from anyone. She’s also learned not everything is as black and white as she first thought. The cast of characters stays the same, but the way Bryn, and hopefully the reader, views them will change.
GLITTER: Is this book a political commentary?
CHRIS: The books touch on the topics of bullying and prejudice. I didn’t write Going Down In Flames and Bridges Burned to teach anyone a lesson. If someone comes away thinking they shouldn’t classify dragons or people by the color of their skin, that’s good a thing.
GLITTER: What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author?
CHRIS: When the book first came out reviewers didn’t realize it was part of a series. The very first review I read griped that the book left too many unanswered questions and if it wasn’t part of series then it was awful. I freaked out and tried to put the word out that it was in fact part of a series. Somehow the word series has fallen out of favor. Now authors say a book is part of a set, like Bridges Burned is a Going Down In Flames novel. Personally I love series featuring books with evil cliffhanger endings, which leave me desperate for the next installment.
GLITTER: What has been the best compliment?
CHRIS: The best compliment is when someone messages me on Facebook or Tweets that they stayed up all night reading. Bryn’s world is real to me and I love the idea of someone else being caught up in the world and believing in it like I do.
GLITTER: What are you working on now?
CHRIS: I always work on several stories at once to avoid writers block. Trial By Fire is the next book in the Going Down In Flames series. I’m at the halfway point and can’t wait to see what happens next. I’m a panster, so I know the major plot points, but how I arrive there is always an adventure. I plotted out a book once and then couldn’t write it because I already knew everything that happened. Yes, I know that makes me sound a bit crazy but it’s true.
I’m working on Spite, a contemporary YA where a girl kisses her brother’s arch nemesis out of spite. She has to figure out if he’s really interested in her like he claims, or if he’s using her to get back at her brother. I’m also writing an NA book where people with psychic powers are recruited aka kidnapped and forced to work as spies.
Chris Cannon lives in Southern Illinois with her husband and her three dogs: Pete the shih-tzu who
sleeps on her desk while she writes, Molly the ever-shedding yellow lab, and Tyson the sandwichstealing
German Shepherd Beagle. She believes coffee is the Elixir of Life. Most evenings after work, you
can find her sucking down caffeine and reading or writing a fire-breathing paranormal adventure. You
can find her online at www.chriscannonauthor.com.
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