Lo & C: Hi MIKE! *high fives*<\/strong> Lo says: AWWW SNAP! My five year old gets me with that one all the time, you think I’d be prepared. So hey, when I was little, my parents used to hide the newspaper from me because I would get so terrified about the possibility of a natural disaster. True story. (1) WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR BRAIN? (sort of just kidding) and (2) Why a supervolcano versus, say, an earthquake or tsunami?<\/strong> Lo says: OH SA-WHOON. Biology nerd jokes for the FOREVER WIN! You were one of the first people I started following on my writing twitter account. You\u2019re just so friendly! Is twitter your favorite way to interact with other authors and readers?<\/strong> I\u2019d much rather interact with other people in person. The internet in general is annoying because it doesn\u2019t carry emotional content well. If I make a joke at your expense on Twitter, I can\u2019t do it with a smile and nudge, or tell whether you\u2019re taking it the wrong way so I can make a hasty apology. (This happens way more than it should\u2014obviously it\u2019s one of my many character flaws.)<\/p>\n That\u2019s why flamewars are so common on the internet. You can\u2019t tell what emotional impact your comments on YouTube or Goodreads are having on the recipient, so let \u2018er rip! It\u2019s also why everyone is right on the internet\u2014i.e. it\u2019s a terrible medium for persuading anyone of anything. We\u2019re persuaded largely by emotion, not by facts, and much of the subtle emotional content of our words is lost as we type them and squish them through fiber-optic lines.<\/p>\n Twitter is even worse than the internet at large, because it\u2019s totally public, so I have to censor myself, and the 140 character restriction often means I have to cut qualifying words that would soften the impact of my statements there. As best I can tell, the main use for Twitter is simply sharing information with like-minded people.<\/p>\n Lo says: Tell us a little about Teenage Mike. What current books would he be devouring?<\/strong> Lo & C say: Okay, you win all of the everything YET AGAIN for that awesome picture. You’ve inspired us. Teenage Lo & Christina approve. Oh yeah, CHECK IT OUT. Don’t be jealous of my earrings, guys. Also, #biggestbracesever \u00a0 Eating things on stupid dares seems to be a recurrent theme for me\u2014at the Tanglewood author retreat last year a bunch of us went for a hike, and one of the participants picked a mushroom. He handed it around, saying something like, \u201cThese are really good, but also hard to distinguish from the infamous Angel of Death mushroom.\u201d So, of course, when it reached me I bit off a chunk. Delicious\u2014tasted a bit like licorice.<\/p>\n C says: ASHFALL was named one of NPR\u2019s top five YA books of 2011<\/a>, got a Kirkus starred review and was named one of the Kirkus Best Teen Books in 2011<\/a> (not to mention the long list of other honors). Of all the things that have been said about this book, what are the 1-2 that you\u2019ll still be smiling about when you\u2019re 100?<\/strong> Lo & C: We try to post links to sites and posts that help us when writing and revising. What are some of your favorite sites to go to when you need perspective, encouragement or just a good laugh?<\/strong> Literary Rambles\u2019<\/a> \u201cTip Tuesday\u201d often has great ideas for writers, plus they host the best in-depth coverage of YA agents in their \u201cAgent Spotlight\u201d series. [YES! We love this site. -Lo & C]<\/p>\n Jay Lake\u2019s blog<\/a> is notable for its extreme openness and honesty about both the writing life and Jay\u2019s long-running battle with cancer.<\/p>\n And on book marketing, Caleb Ross\u2019s blog<\/a> is excellent because he actually provides data supporting his posts, unlike many of the self-anointed experts who post on marketing.<\/p>\n Lo says: I have to thank you for not making ASHFALL a ridiculously entertaining book with horrible science. I know that you did a ton of research \u2013 did you feel like you were able to use most of the things you wanted, or were there really cool factoids you just could not fit in?<\/strong> I like books that give me a character I can follow and fall in love with, so I decided to write ASHFALL in a tight first person perspective. That meant that I only tell the reader what Alex knows. And Alex didn\u2019t know or care one whit about the Yellowstone supervolcano before it wrecked his world.<\/p>\n For example, I learned during my research that volcanic ash weighs between 6 and 24 times as much as an equivalent depth of snow, and that as little as 3 inches of ash can collapse buildings.\u00a0 So in Cedar Falls, where almost two feet of ash falls, buildings are falling down all over the place. But I never actually TELL the reader the factoid about volcanic ash, because Alex doesn\u2019t know it. Sure, I could have placed a convenient geologist in Alex\u2019s neighborhood, but honestly, that trope is overused in adult sci-fi. One of the things I like about YA science fiction is that authors generally trust their readers to figure out stuff like that on their own. So that, and literally hundreds of other relevant facts, got left out of ASHFALL. (If you want to learn more about supervolcanoes and the science behind ASHFALL, this page<\/a> on my site is a good starting place.)<\/p>\n Lo & C: Ahhh! We love that answer! *re-reads* *re-reads*Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by Swoontini and answer a few questions. We think you\u2019re awesome and hope for ALL OF THE GOOD THINGS for you. Can\u2019t wait to read ASHEN WINTER, coming this October!<\/strong> Lo & C: Isn’t he fantastic? We had so much fun with that one. Leave a comment to win a copy from Mysterious Galaxy<\/a>! Seriously! Say hi, leave some love for Mike, share a pic of teenage you, or just help us figure out what the hell is up with Christina’s hair, and you could win!<\/p>\n About the author:\u00a0 Mike Mullin\u2019s first job was scraping the gum off the undersides of desks at his high school. From there, things went steadily downhill. He almost got fired by the owner of a bookstore due to his poor taste in earrings. He worked at a place that showed slides of poopy diapers during lunch (it did cut down on the cafeteria budget). The hazing process at the next company included eating live termites raised by the resident entomologist, so that didn\u2019t last long either. For a while Mike juggled bottles at a wine shop, sometimes to disastrous effect. Oh, and then there was the job where swarms of wasps occasionally tried to chase him off ladders. So he\u2019s really hoping this writing thing works out.<\/em><\/p>\n Mike holds a black belt in Songahm Taekwondo. He lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with his wife and her three cats. ASHFALL is his first novel.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.swoontini.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Ashfall-195x300.jpg\" "\\"Ashfall\\"")
<\/a>Everyone leave Mike some love, and enter to win your own copy!<\/p>\n
\nMM: Down low! Too slow!<\/p>\n
\nMM: PROBABLY SOMETHING TO DO WITH THAT PESKY Y CHROMOSOME! Someone should start a scientific personals ad site: \u201cHeterogamete seeking sexy homogamete for…\u201d But I digress. I\u2019ve always been fascinated by disasters, but I didn\u2019t specifically set out to write a disaster novel until I read Bill Bryson\u2019s A Short History of Nearly Everything <\/em>and learned about the Yellowstone supervolcano. So there was never any question of writing an earthquake or tsunami novel. Plus, both those topics have been done often in fiction, but as best I can tell, ASHFALL was the first novel set in the immediate aftermath of a supervolcano.<\/p>\n
\nMM: Um, no. Wait, was that unfriendly? I hope not. Don\u2019t want to ruin my reputation.<\/p>\n
\nMM: I was a horribly awkward, nerdy teenager. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, right?<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.swoontini.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/mike-mullin.png\" "\\"mike")
<\/a>I skipped from YA to adult fantasy and science fiction about the time this picture was taken. Today I think I might have found more YA to occupy me. I\u2019d probably be reading Grant, Shusterman, Collins, and Cashore. I would have loved Varley\u2019s Red Thunder series as a teen (and do love it as an adult). I\u2019d probably be reading Bear, Gibson, Brin, Benford, and Modisett. I read Asimov, Heinlein, and Zelazny as a teen, and still enjoy rereading their work.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.swoontini.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Project1.png\" "\\"Project1\\"")
<\/a><\/em>Lo says: I have to admit, I am dying to hear a little more about the job where you had to eat live termites for the resident entomologist. I am trying hard to imagine how that first conversation went down. Help?<\/strong>
\nMM: It was more of a dare than a hazing thing. But I\u2019m a total sucker for stupid dares. And termites aren\u2019t so bad\u2014I\u2019d eat them again. I imagine they may be quite good fried in a little butter.<\/p>\n
\nMM: Here\u2019s my all-time favorite quote about ASHFALL: \u00a0\u201cMullin never shies away from the truth, not once, in this book.\u201d\u00a0 Intergalactic Academy<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nMM: Jody Sparks\u2019 blog<\/a> series titled \u201cSelf Deprecating Sunday\u201d is both funny and a source of inspiration.<\/p>\n
\nMM: I left 99% of what I learned about volcanoes on the cutting room floor. Why? My first goal was to write an entertaining book.\u00a0 I decided to make it as accurate as I could simply because I hoped that would differentiate my book from other dystopian and apocalyptic tales on the market, and because I enjoy realistic disaster stories more than fantastical ones.<\/p>\n
\nMM: Thanks for hosting me! By the time this is published, I\u2019ll be totally done with ASHEN WINTER<\/a>\u2014the copyedits are in progress now. Look for it on October 8th<\/sup>. And if you\u2019re in the Indianapolis area on October 7th<\/sup>, you\u2019re invited to the launch party<\/a>! See you then.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.swoontini.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/locsig.jpg\" "\\"locsig\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"signature_laurenandchristina_twitter\"](\"\/wp-content\/themes\/clo\/assets\/img\/signature_laurenandchristina_twitter.png\")
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