Resort Chat: Chelsea Campbell

The Book Resort is so thrilled to have Chelsea Campbell over for a little chat. Chelsea is one of the incredible tenners.

Ready? Let's go!


Me: What are you working on now? (If you can give us a hint!)

CC: Right now I have a couple projects on submission and am trying to come up with The Best Idea in the World to do for Nano. So far I got nothin'.

Me: Spiderman or Superman:

CC: Spiderman--no question.

Me: Wonder Woman or Batgirl:

CC: Batgirl! I just read The Killing Joke, and I kind of knew what happened to Barbara, but the way it happened totally caught me off guard.

Me: Chunky or Smooth:

CC: Smooth.

Me: Favorite flavor ice cream:

CC: This is hard! I'm partial to vanilla bean--gotta love those bean chunks--mint cookie, and right now I have peppermint ice cream in the freezer that is awesome. Oh, also birthday cake flavored ice cream and Girl Scout Thin Mints ice cream. It's too hard to pick just one!

Me: Favorite ice cream topping:

CC: Hot fudge!

Me: Subway or Taxi:

CC: Uh... I've never been in a taxi. I used the Metro in Paris, and it was okay, so I guess I'll say subway. Cheap, easy, you don't have to talk to anyone, and there might be people playing accordions for money. An all around win win situation.

Me: Broadway Show or Movie Theater:

CC: I love the movies and they are a lot more accessible, but OH MAN, if musicals are like crack. It's probably a good thing I don't live in NYC, or I would spend every penny on musicals. They'd try and kick me out, and I'd be all, "No, just... just one more. You gotta let me watch just one more," and they'd be all, "No, ma'am, I think you've had enough for tonight. Do you need me to call someone?"

Me: TiVO or DVR:

CC: Neither of these new fangled devices is part of my new fangled device collection, so neither. I use Hulu, except for Glee, which I HAVE to watch the minute it's on TV. And then I watch it again on Hulu the next day.


Me: Favorite vacation place:

CC: The ocean.

Me: Next vacation destination:

CC: Disneyland! My cousin works there. I can get the hook up.

Me: Favorite NYC hotspot:

CC: I've never been!

Me: Guilty Pleasure:

CC: Playing Word Challenge on fb.

Me: Good luck charm:

CC: Okay, don't tell anyone, but I have a lucky Inu-Yasha UFO catcher.

Me: When you were a little girl, you thought you would grow up to be a….

CC: A writer, lol. In between dreams of becoming a marine biologist so I could swim with dolphins (I wanted to swim with dolphins SO BAD), becoming a paleontologist (I decided to set this dream aside as a kid because I thought all the dinosaur bones would already be discovered by the time I grew up), and for about five seconds I wanted to be an acrobat.

Me: Last thing bought at the mall:

CC: A movie ticket.

Me: Item on your grocery list:

CC: I just went! I got Halloween colored Oreos. I was going to get mint, but these ones are boo-rific, it says so on the packaging, and I'm a sucker for holiday stuff.

Me: French fries or Onion Rings:

CC: Fries, but I do love a good onion ring. And fried mushrooms, mmm....

Me: Pizza: New York or Chicago?

CC: In my face. Stuffed. NOM.

Me: Midnight snack:

CC: Bananas and milk.

Me: Bookmark or dog ear?

CC: BOOKMARK. Dog earing should be illegal.

Me: Read with dustjacket or remove it?

CC: With. I never thought about removing it.

Me: Ocean, Lake, Desert, Mountain:

CC: Ocean!

Me: Favorite book:

CC: I have so many! At the moment, my favorite book is Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver.

Me: Item you can't live without:

CC: My laptop. It has an inscription engraved on it that says: OMNIA MEA MECUM PORTO. Which is Latin for "all that is mine, I carry with me." I picked that saying because I use my computer so much and it has my whole world inside it, but also the original meaning of the phrase is that everything that is truly you is inside you, and even if you move or lose all your stuff or your friends and you're all alone, the things that make you YOU are still there. I like to try and remember that.

Me: Who is your favorite writer that most people have never heard of?

CC: Me. LOL. Um, an author that comes to mind is Lois Tilton. She wrote this awesome book called Written in Venom. It's the story of Loki, told from his POV, of how he ended up trapped in the cave with the snake's venom dripping on him. He's writing his memoir in the snake's venom, because he doesn't have any ink. I think--it's been a while since I read it, but I remember it being really good.

Me: What kid or teen books made a difference in your world growing up?

CC: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. My mom used to read that book to me a lot. I can't pinpoint exactly how it's influenced me, but the books I read and the movies I watched as a kid definitely got ingrained in my brain. Another favorite was Patricia C. Wrede's The Enchanted Forest Chronicles. I LOVED talking dragons, and Cimorene was my kind of heroine.


Me: Where do you like to write your books (bed ~ coffee shop ~ an office)?

CC: Usually squashed up on the couch or in a corner on the floor somewhere. I move around a lot when writing, especially if I get frustrated. I find if I change locations that sometimes helps me reboot my brain a little and work past whatever's frustrating me.


Me: Describe your ideal place to write:

CC: Honestly, I really like my green couch. It's only a two seater, but it's perfect if you have it all to yourself and lounge on it so you take up the whole thing.

Me: What are you reading @ the moment?

CC: Are We There Yet? by David Levithan. It's good so far--I'm definitely more of a Danny than an Elijah. Also I can't help but picture Danny and Elijah looking like Nathan and Peter from Heroes.

Me: Where do you usually read?

CC: On my beanbag or on the couch. As long as my computer is out of reach, I can get a lot of reading done. :P Actually, the best way to read is with a cat sitting on you, because then I don't want to disturb them, so instead of getting up to check my e-mail a million times, I sit and read for hours.

Me: Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?

CC: I used to, all through high school, but now I usually only read one at a time. Partially I think because I'm a slower reader than I used to be.

Me: Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?

CC: If by "in a different way" you mean get about halfway through and then never seem to be able to get any farther, then yes, yes I do. Seriously, I haven't finished a non-fiction book in YEARS. I think the last one I finished was probably Donald Maass' Writing the Breakout Novel, which was awesome, btw. Some people love it, some people snub it, but that book changed my life, and what I learned from it is a big part of why I have a writing career.



About Chelsea:

Chelsea Campbell grew up in the Pacific Northwest, where it rains a lot. And then rains some more. She finished her first novel when she was twelve, sent it out, and promptly got rejected. Since then she’s written many more novels, earned a degree in Latin and Ancient Greek, become an obsessive knitter and fiber artist, and started a collection of glass grapes. As a kid, Chelsea read lots of adult books, but now that she’s an adult herself (at least according to her driver’s license), she loves books for kids and teens. Besides writing, studying ancient languages, and collecting useless objects, Chelsea is a pop culture fangirl at heart and can often be found rewatching episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, leveling up in World of Warcraft, or spending way too much time on Livejournal and Facebook.


Check out:

Chelsea's website

Chelsea on Twitter

Chelsea on Facebook

Chelsea's on Goodreads

Chelsea's Shelfari

Chelsea's Livejournal

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The Rise of Renegade X arrives May 11th, 2010

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