SLIDE into a great summer read!

If you're looking for an exciting summer read, check out SLIDE by fellow Apocalypsie Jill Hathaway. In SLIDE, everyone believes that the main character, Vee, suffers from narcolepsy, but in actuality, when Vee appears to have fallen asleep, she has actually slid into someone else's body...including that of a killer.

Jill was kind enough to answer a few questions about SLIDE and writing in general:

Tell us a little about your everyday life. I'm a high school English teacher, and I have two small children. So I spend a lot of time grading papers and changing dirty diapers. I write on the weekends and during the summer.

What inspired you to write Slide? I was doing National Novel Writing Month (when you write 50,000 words in the month of November) a couple of years ago and trying to think of a really intriguing premise. I wanted my main character to find herself standing over a dead body and not know how she got there. Sliding evolved from that key scene.

Besides your main character, who is your favorite character in Slide and why? Definitely Rollins. He's such a sweetheart. He really cares about Vee.

Do you have a favorite scene in Slide? My favorite scene is probably when Vee slides into the killer. I love to write creepy stuff.

Did you always know how Slide would end, or did it change as you wrote it? Actually, the killer changed from the rough draft to the finished copy. Bribe me sometime and I might tell you who the original one was. ;)

Is there anything you can tell us about how your cover was designed? The first cover I saw actually had a girl looking into a mirror. It was black with white lettering. We ended up going with the girl's profile and the metallic purple cover, which I really really like. Slide's sequel will go along really well with it.

How did you meet fellow Apocalypsie Megan Miranda (who you mention in your acknowledgments)? Our agent (Sarah Davies) actually introduced us. We were at similar points in our publishing journeys. I'm soooo thankful I met her because she's been my rock these past couple of years. She's still the first person I email when anything happens.

What were some of your favorite books when you were younger? I really enjoyed R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike when I was in middle school. In high school, I read lots of Stephen King.

What has been your favorite part of being a debut author? My favorite part is when people come up and tell me they read and enjoyed my book. That makes all the hours of revision totally worth it.

Can you tell us a bit about your path to publication? I actually wrote a book five years ago about a girl who could draw things and then they would happen. It kind of sucked, though, so nothing happened with it. Then I took a short break to have my daughter before writing SLIDE. With SLIDE, I really found my voice. Several agents were interested, and I'm so glad I chose Sarah. She's been amazingly supportive through everything I've gone through. She held my hand through the revision process before we submitted to publishers. I can't remember how long SLIDE took to sell. Maybe around a month? It seems so long ago.

Do you have any advice for other writers? NEVER NEVER NEVER give up. If I had given up on writing after my first novel, I never would have met Megan, never would have met Sarah, never would have seen my name on a book in the store. If you have the talent and the drive, you will get there someday. As long as you never quit.

Thanks so much for joining us today, Jill! As a final treat, click here for the book trailer for SLIDE!

And in the comments, please tell us what summer reads you're planning to SLIDE into!!