There are two worlds in Teardrop: the present-day high school world that Eureka operates in, and the watery, imagery-soaked world of Atlantis that Ander is part of. As we move deeper into the series, how do you see these worlds blending, and is one more interesting to write than the other?
The Atlantean world parallels Eureka’s contemporary world, and each of the characters in the series will have his or her own mirroring counterpart in the other world. At first glance, they have little in common—even the language I use to tell the Atlantean sections of the story is different from the language of Eureka’s world. In Teardrop, the two worlds are discrete, with no means of accessing one another (except for the strange story Eureka finds in The Book of Love). But later in the series, the separation between worlds gets hazy. I can’t wait to write the scenes where the worlds collide.
What’s the best advice you can give to aspiring writers?
Read—but you already know that.
Never push ideas away. Give them space and time to grow up into stories. Live curiously, ask questions, understand that writers can find even boredom fascinating. Hold on to your mystery. Make writing friends. Keep the good ones. Finish your stories. Finish your stories. Finish your stories.