Interview with Mary Ting!

Mary Ting is the author of the young adult book, Crossroads.  Crossroads was released on July 29!

KBB:  Why did you decide to write a novel for young adults?

MT:  I LOVE reading young adult novels. They help me escape everyday stress. The Twilight series was the first young adult books I read. Afterwards, I couldn’t stop reading young adults, especially if they were about angels.  I wrote a story that I would want in a novel: romance, action, a bit of humor and of course the villain.

KBB:  How did you come up with the idea for Crossroads (the place, not the actual book!)?

MT:  The idea came from a dream I had in high school. I had a difficult time coming up with a name of this place where Claudia goes in her dream. This place is a place between life and death so Crossroads sounded like a good name. Also, there is a street name Crossroads on one of the exit sign on the freeway…lol!!! Hmmm…maybe it was a sign…lol!!!

KBB:  Do you have a favorite character from the book? (Mine might be Davin! Hehe)

MT:  I love all my characters. Many of my characters are based on my friends…hehe! Though I don’t like to admit it, Claudia is based off of me. Michael is based off my husband. Claudia’s friend who passes away in a car accident is a true story. My friend had the same first and last name as me and she passed away as I describe it in the book. Patty is also a friend of mine; she’s a social butterfly. Davin’s character is based on my friend who passed away as well. He was loved by many of his friends. Gamma is inspired by my grandmother who passed away. She was one of my inspirations to write this book. It was a way for me to heal her loss. I can go on with the other characters.

KBB:  What is the hardest part of writing, in your opinion?

MT:  The hardest part of writing is which direction I want to take this story. I want to please all my readers but as you know, that is impossible.

KBB:  What do you think makes your novel stand out in today’s market?

MT:  It has a bit of a religious tone, but it doesn’t go so much in detail that it takes away from the story. I was raised as a Catholic and I was very involved in my youth group and because this story starts off from a personal experience, I talk about religion. In some ways, the story is about my life, my first job, first car, camping experience, but too bad no Michael or the alkins…lol!!!

KBB:  For fun: What is one of your favorite YA books that you would recommend?

MT:  It’s hard to recommend books because each to his or her own, but the books I read recently that I enjoyed reading are: Immortal Embrace by Charlotte Blackwell; A Job From Hell from Jaydee Scott; Nicholas by Kathi Barton-not a young adult book; and Marked by Kim Richardson.

KBB:  Thanks so much, Mary!  Crossroads was fabulous and I can’t wait for whatever comes next!

Readers, if you would like to know more about Mary Ting or Crossroads you can find her online!

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4388953

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CrossroadsBook

Blog: http://www.marytingbooks.blogspot.com/

Website: http://www.marytingcrossroads.com/

And I will leave you guys with the book trailer!

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2 comments

  1. Lots of people love her books, I’m glad you do too!

    It’s awesome where she gets her inspiration and how she wrote a book that has all the elements she wants in a novel.

    It’s so sad about her friend. The fact that what happened is in the book shows how it truly scarred her.

    Lovely interview 🙂