y1 (Excerpt) by Sherrie Cronin

Posted on Sunday, July 14, 2013

What’s your favorite place in the entire world? My front porch. I know that sounds boring, but I live in the country and my front porch is exceptionally nice. It’s about fifty feet wide, ten feet deep, filled with flowers and surrounded by birds and butterflies. Seriously, it’s so perfect its almost a caricature. It’s also where I write.

Do you recall how your interest in writing originated? I used to make up bedtime stories for my little sister. She was not only nice enough to beg me for more, she’s stayed nice enough to still be one of my best beta readers

What genre are you most comfortable writing? I write what I like to read. My two favorite genres are speculative fiction of all types, and crime/mystery. I especially had fun with the novel y1 because it combines both.

What made you want to be a writer? All my life characters have marched their way through my head, having all sorts of adventures and interactions while I waited at traffic lights. It was more a matter of deciding that I really had to start writing this stuff down.

What do you consider the most challenging about writing a novel, or about writing in general? For me, it’s not giving up. I’m working on my fourth book now, and with each one I’ve hit at least one point where I had to ask why am I doing this? Shouldn’t I get some chores done instead? There isn’t a good answer to that, you know, and my house is generally a mess. But every time I consider quitting, I don’t. I think I am addicted to the adrenaline high of having my characters surprise me with unexpected twists.

Can you share a little of your current work with us? Of course. y1 is my second novel. My third book z2 will be out in paperback soon, and I am now in the process of writing the fourth novel in this collection. Each book is about a different member of the Zeitman family as he or she discovers the ability to call on extraordinary powers when needed. This fourth novel, c3, concerns the adventures of the youngest in the family, sixteen year old Teddie Zeitman.

How did you come up with the title? I let the geek in me name these books. The first book, x0, is about telepathy and the ways we are all alike and x raised to the power of zero is always one. The second book, y1, is about a real life shape shifter and meant to celebrate the ways we are all unique. Y raised to the power of one is always itself, y. I liked that, because this is a book about being yourself.