Interview

Hi, Michelle.
Sorry to take so long to answer your e-mail--things are really backed up! I've answered your questions below--
CT

Dear Cate,
Yes, I know I thought of this quite a while ago but I am finally sending it out now! These are all questions that have been asked by fans. Although I said none of them would be repeated there are one or two that you have already answered. (Dianna asked you a couple, but I feel it would be wrong to disclude someone who asked a question.)
Here it goes:
~Do you think Sweep will ever become a TV series?
I have no idea, though I think it would be fun. I would hope that the people who develop it wouldn't change it too much. If they make the characters into something they're not, just to serve the series better, I would be seriously bummed.

~Do you plan on writing other book series or just focusing on Sweep?
Right now I'm focusing on Sweep, but I always have other irons in the fire, as they say. I have a couple other projects I'd like to develop.

~ How far do you think you're going to let the series run? (Considering that the choice was yours not Penguin Putnam's.)
Gee, if the choice were mine (which it isn't), I think I'd like to take it through a whole year, to when Morgan officially dedicates herself to the coven. I'd keep it going as long as the characters remained interesting, it felt good to write, and I felt like the plots were still strong and not lame.

~ Where do you get your ideas?
From fan mail. No, just kidding! I actually get ideas from everywhere, all the time. Everything I see, that I hear, that I think--it all goes into my brain and then is expressed when I write. I sit down and start writing, and the dialogue and the scene just unfold in front of me, and I type fast to get it all down.

~Do you ever plan on doing a book signing or a book tour to meet the fans? Or getting more involved with the fans of Sweep.
I guess if Penguin thought a book tour or signing would be a good idea, I would agree to it, even though I'm kind of shy in new situations and would really have to steel myself up for it. How do you mean more involved with the fans? I do try to answer fan mail. Do you mean something else?

~Could you give us some clues on Alisa Soto?
Just that she's not what she seems.

~What are your feelings about some of the criticism Sweep is getting? The negative things that have been said by Kansas City Star does any of it effect your writing or make you change your mind and rethink how you are going to write something? or do you go ahead and sick with your own awesome ideas?
That Kansas City Star review was so incredibly irritating, because I felt the woman deliberately misquoted things and took things out of context, and stretched the truth just to get her point across. All of which she accused me of doing, and which I don't do. Argh! She seemed kind of provincial and nervous, as if this fictional book series is going to destroy her life. Please. But no, it doesn't actually affect my writing. I feel good and responsible about what I write, so can stand behind it and defend it. I know what I'm trying to do (and it's not to convince young America to start their own covens!) and how I'm trying to do it, and I think it's okay. I'm not irresponsible, and I'm not uncomfortable about what I write. So uneducated reviews don't faze me much.

~There has been a lot of talk about Morgan's character being killed off or becoming less of an important character as the books are published. Everyone is taking bets on when Morgan will have her daughter on a few message boards. What can you say to the fans to give them an idea of where you are headed with Morgan, as well as the role she will play in future books?
To me Morgan will always be the main character, no matter where the series goes. I would never kill her off. I also wouldn't have Morgan having a baby until she finishes her education, travels some, and probably has more boyfriends. Settling down to have kids as a teenager is not a good idea. I think the series will explore other characters in the future, partly because I think it's fun--it expands their universe and it offers me variety as a writer--and partly because it's one way of keeping a series fresh and giving it new directions. But I have plans for Morgan in the future.

~Have you ever thought about bringing either Cal or Selene back? or about bringing Selene back for confrontation with Ciaran?
Yes, I've thought about it. I don't want to say more than that!

Those are all the questions I have, for now. I appreciate any answers that you give and the choice to answer each question is your. Thank you so very much!
You're welcome--sorry it took me so long to answer them!
~Michelle
Take care--
Cate