An Interview with Cora Carmack author of Losing It!

Today I have a fun interview with Cora Carmack, author of Losing It. Read all about Cora's journey as an author, her writing tips and the books she's most looking forward to reading next year.  I picked up a couple great tips and reading recommendations from this Q&A. Thanks so much, Cora!

Losing It by Cora Carmack

Publisher: William Morrow Paperback

Release date:  December 5th 2012

Ages:  17+ || New Adult 

Virginity.

Bliss Edwards is about to graduate from college and still has hers. Sick of being the only virgin among her friends, she decides the best way to deal with the problem is to lose it as quickly and simply as possible-- a one-night stand. But her plan turns out to be anything but simple when she freaks out and leaves a gorgeous guy alone and naked in her bed with an excuse that no one with half-a-brain would ever believe. And as if if that weren't embarrassing enough, when she arrives for her first class of her last college semester, she recognizes her new theatre professor. She'd left him naked in her bed about 8 hours earlier.

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Q&A with Cora Carmack Author of Losing It

Hi Cora! Congratulations on the success of Losing It! What do you think has made your book such a big hit with readers?

I get asked this a lot, and I wish I had a more definitive answer! Honestly, I think it was a lot of things (including luck). All the stars just aligned. New Adult books have been getting a lot of attention as of late, so readers are hungry for more. Additionally, most of the New Adult books currently on the market are dark or emotionally-draining reads. I specifically wrote LOSING IT for readers looking to take a break from all the angst, and tried to make it exactly what I wanted to read in a book. I had a lot of great responses to the cover and the book description. And probably the number one reason the book did so well was the amazing book bloggers who read and championed the book. Bloggers are the biggest unsung heroes in publishing, and I, for one, would be nowhere without them!

I read Losing It when it was first published and I’ve been following your journey as an author via your blog.   Talk me through the journey you’ve taken with Losing It – from initial inspirations, right through your self-publishing journey and up to when you first attracted agent interest. It all sounds so exciting!

Well first, THANK YOU! And a journey is the perfect way to describe it! I wrote LOSING IT on a whim really. Until now, I’ve only written YA Fantasy, most of it dark and emotional (and before you ask… also unpublished). I was stuck in the middle of a work-in-progress and frustrated, so I took a break and started writing something completely different just to clear my head. Three weeks later, I had the first draft of LOSING IT. At the risk of sounding repetitive, the stars aligned and the story practically wrote itself. I decided to self-publish because I knew and had seen so many other New Adult authors do well in self-publishing. Of course, I knew it was still a long shot, but I took a chance. Luckily, it paid off. Buzz started building after the cover reveal. Bloggers who read advance copies kept it up. The book released in Mid-October and a little over twenty-four hours later it hit #1 on the Barnes and Noble Bestseller List. After that it hit the Amazon List, and then the New York Times and USA Today Bestseller Lists. I think I got my first email from an agent on day three after publishing, and emails from interested publishers shortly after that. I talked to several fabulous agents, and picking was easily the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do. In the end, I signed with Suzie Townsend of New Leaf Literary. The New Leaf team pretty much blows my mind once a week with their amazingness, so I definitely made the right choice! Suzie negotiated the deal with Harper Collins, who actually just took over ebook sales. The team there is hard at work getting the book ready for the eventual paperback release. Considering I only decided to self-publish the book a little under three months ago, I’d say it’s definitely been a whirlwind!

I read on your blog that you completed the first draft for Losing It in just three weeks.  Do you have any top tips for anyone who struggles to get that first draft down? I’ve been participating in NaNoWriMo and I can tell you that after a month my first draft is a total mess and is nowhere near completion!

I did, and it was definitely the fastest I’ve ever written anything. My best advice is to make writing a routine. Treat it like a business, like your job. Write each and every day. And write something that you really love, so that you’ll be excited each time you sit down to return to the story.

Losing It made me laugh a lot! Some of the stories Bliss invents to get herself out of an awkward situation had me cracking up. (I’m totally talking about the cat!) Were any of these stories inspired by true events?

I’m so glad! I’ve been blessed to have a lot of laughter in my life, and wanted to put more of that into my writing. The cat story is not true (Thank God). But the thing that prompts her to say cats (the painted cat cookie jar) is actually a real family heirloom. I was sitting on my bed, staring at the computer screen wondering what I could possibly have her say. I knew it had to be absurd. And I looked at the cookie jar, and well, you can guess the rest. There are other moments in the book that are inspired by true events though. Namely the scene with the accordion and the um, unlucky, party that follows.

What was your favorite scene to write? (Garrick has to be involved, right?!)

Ooo. Very good question. Part of me wants to say the very first chapter because it was just such a joy to write and was exactly what I needed. The other part wants to say the scene in the bathroom after Bliss’s injury because it was so awkward and full of sexual tension that I was just dying and giggling as I wrote the whole scene. 

[I loved that scene!!]

Can you recommend some other New Adult reads to anyone who enjoyed Losing It?

Absolutely! I recommend anything and everything by Tammara Webber, M. Leighton, Abbi Glines, and Chelsea Cameron.

What is the best book you’ve read in 2012?

ACK! I’ve read A LOT of books in 2012. I’m going to have to give you several. And they’re all going to be really different, I warn you!

SHADOW AND BONE by Leigh Bardugo

JACOB HAVE I LOVED by Katherine Paterson

WHAT I SAW AND HOW I LIED by Judy Blundell

DEITY by Jennifer L. Armentrout

THE BELL JAR by Sylvia Plath

REBEL HEART by Moira Young

CROWN OF EMBERS by Rae Carson

What is the one book you cannot wait to read in 2013? (I know, really hard, right – you don’t have to stick to one – you can choose two. Or three!)

Well, I’ll try to keep the list short, since I went crazy on the last question. I adore Jennifer L. Armentrout’s YA and Adult writing, so I’m SUPER excited that she has a New Adult book called FRIGID coming out. I’m also looking forward to REQUIEM, the last book in the DELIRIUM trilogy.

[I checked out Frigid on Goodreads and it sounds awesome! Thanks for the rec!]

Congratulations on your three book deal with Harper Collins! Can you tell me anything about your next two books? I can’t wait to read them!

And I’m dying to tell everyone about them! Sadly, I can’t tell you much at this point, because they are works-in-progress, and things could chance. But I can tell you the second book is about Cade and the third about Kelsey. Both take place after LOSING IT—Cade’s while he pursues his Masters degree in Philadelphia and Kelsey’s while she travels the world.

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Find out more about Cora Carmack:   Blog  ||  Twitter

Extra, Extra!

The UK rights to Losing It by Cora Carmack have sold!

Cora Carmack's self-published NYT and USA Today bestseller, LOSING IT, to Gillian Green of Ebury, in a three-book deal, by Kate McLennan of Abner Stein in association with Kathleen Ortiz of New Leaf Literary & Media on behalf of Suzie Townsend.

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