LiveMom.com - Dedicated to building a better village

For a free copy of the book, The Emerald Tablet, please leave a comment on this post. PJ will pick a random winner on November 24, 2008 at 9:00am. There are no geographic restrictions on this giveaway, so if you live outside of Austin, feel free to enter. Thanks, PJ, for the donation of the book… and for offering to autograph it for the winner! What a great Christmas present for a lucky kid!

Name: PJ (Tricia) Hoover

Occupation: Children’s Author & Mom

Age: 38

Number of Children: 2 (7-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter)

Current Projects/ Job: Writing, revising, and writing some more

Tell us about yourself:

Growing up, I was good at math, took Astronomy for fun, and was captain of the varsity cheerleading squad. I always figured I’d be an engineer, so after high school, I headed off to Virginia Tech where I got my undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering. Before graduate school, I decided I wanted to be an archaeologist instead of an engineer, so I stuck around for an extra year for a History degree. But, as much as I love the unknown, I figured engineering would probably provide a better income, so I continued on to get my Masters in Electrical Engineering.

Congratulations are in order for the publication of your first book, The Emerald Tablet, the first in the Forgotten Worlds Books trilogy. Tell us about that journey. When did you start writing the books and how long did it take you?
Thanks!

Writing The Emerald Tablet took about a year. I shopped it around, revised it a bunch, shopped it some more. Revised it some more. And so on. But it wasn’t until early in 2007 that I actually signed a three book contract for The Forgotten Worlds Trilogy.

What are the books about? Can you give us a synopsis.
The Forgotten Worlds Books are about a group of five kids from the sunken continent of Lemuria (it’s under the Pacific Ocean). And aside from the fact that they’re from this other world, they aren’t even human, and they need to save the world.

They have awesome powers like telepathy and telekinesis, get to go lots of cool places around the world (like Bangkok and Delphi), and even make friends with a genetically engineered creature called a Nogical.

The books are fun, fast-paced, and will appeal to readers of the Percy Jackson of Harry Potter books.

When did you know that you wanted to become a writer?
I wasn’t the kid who walked around writing in a journal though my youth. I was the kid who learned to program in Basic on a Commodore 64, way back in the dawn of the home computer age. It wasn’t until the birth of my second kid that I started writing, back in 2004.

As I understand, you worked full-time as an engineer while simultaneously raising two kids and being a devoted wife. When did you find the time to write these books?
My son was born first and woke up multiple times during the night for over a year. As a reward for surviving this, when my daughter was born, she started sleeping through the night by two months old. Talk about bliss. She’d be fast asleep by 7:30 or 8:00, and all at once I found I had about three extra hours each night that I hadn’t had in four years.

During this time, my husband had also changed careers to become an actuary and needed to study for professional exams. So after the kids went to bed and the house put back together, he’d study and I’d write.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out we pretty much eliminated TV from our lives. If we’d still been watching TV, those three hours would have been flushed down the toilet.

What did it feel like to quit your job and take on the title as author full-time? Was it scary or exhilarating?

Very scary! To go from a fifteen year high-paying career to stay-at-home wife/mom was frightening. But even as the butterflies flew around in my tummy, it was exciting. Like it was what I needed to do to move on to that next part of my life. And as fun as it was telling people I was an engineer, it’s even more fun being able to say I’m an author! Especially a children’s author!

Are any of the characters in your books based on you or your own family members?
The main character Benjamin Holt has a baby sister who’s based on my daughter and two younger twins brothers who are based on my son (like good son/bad son). The character of Andy is loosely based on my husband, and Heidi very loosely based on me.

It’s totally a blast being able to add little pieces like this to bring my family closer to my novels.

How was the process of getting the books published? Was it a long one or relatively short and easy?
It wasn’t so much long (from other stories I’ve heard). But it did take having a thick skin. A really, really thick skin.

The road to publication is like a roller coaster. One editor may hate the manuscript while another loves it. It’s important to remember when someone doesn’t like your book, it’s not personal. They aren’t saying they don’t like you. But sometimes it’s hard to separate the two.

When will the other two books in the trilogy be coming out?
The Navel of the World will come out in Fall 2009 and The Necropolis will come out in Fall 2010!

Tell us one thing that you would do differently if you could.
Nothing! At least this is what I tell myself, and I never dwell on this question. Without doing everything the way I have, I’d never be who I am today. And I’d never change who I am or what I have in life for anything.

What do you like to do to unwind at the end of the day?
Write! It’s become my relaxation time. Kids in bed. Dog and tortoises fed. I make tea and sit in front of the computer. It’s like a ritual, and when I have to skip a night, I start to get itchy.

Where are you from? If you’re not from Austin, how did you end up here?
I grew up in Northern Virginia right outside of DC. For college, I went to Virginia Tech (go Hokies!), and when I graduated, Motorola recruited me to come work in Austin. So in January 1994, the boyfriend (now husband) and I made the road trip and settled in.

If you could live anywhere other than Austin, where would it be?
Right back in Northern Virginia! The great thing about living near DC is there’s just so much to do. Museums are free. Other cool cities are driving distance. And basically you can’t drive a block without seeing a sign for another historic site. Now, when I visit there with the kids, we try to cram as much touristy stuff as we possibly can into the limited time available.

Plus my parents still live in the DC area, and I’d love to be closer to them!

What serves as your inspiration in life?
Everything in the world around me! I mean there’s my awesome amazing family, and then there’s this beautiful world we’re all part of. All kinds of people are everywhere, and each and every person is fascinating and different. Inventions, creations, seeing greatness, inspirational quotes. It’s all good!

Tell us one of your secret indulgences.
Dark beer, though I’m not sure if this is much of a secret!

If you were portrayed in a movie, who would play your character?
Maybe Sandra Bullock. She’s not the prettiest gal in the world, but she’s down to earth, smart, and likes to have fun.

What would your theme song be?
Whatever Lola wants Lola gets by Sarah Vaughan

If you had the power, what would you change in the world?
Oye. Don’t get me started in sub-par Chinese imports. I am beyond upset about the whole milk/baby formula stuff going on. When I can’t even walk into Party City without worrying if the chocolate coins I’m buying have melamine in them. Enough said.

What is your best childhood memory?

My first memory is probably my best. It’s from preschool, way back when. We put cream in empty baby food jars, capped them, and shook it. Magically it turned to butter, and we spread it on saltine crackers and ate it!

Who is your greatest influence?
My parents who taught me to be positive, independent and to believe in myself. And my husband for teaching me the benefit of really focusing on personal development.

What is the one thing that you want your children to know before leaving home?
Hmmm…two levels here.

Before leaving home each day, I make sure they know how they are getting home from school. Even if it’s the usual “I’m picking you up today”. It’s the safety thing.

On a greater level, before they leave home for good, I want them to know they can do anything. I want my children to look at life as a blessing and have a positive outlook on everything.

Why do you like living in Austin? What do you dislike about the city?
I love that it’s not a giant city, and I can drive across town no big deal. I love that it’s Texas, but seeing a cowboy hat is still a treat for my kids. I love the whole Keep Austin Weird mentality. It’s fun and makes for a friendly city. I love supporting local businesses and artist. I love the amazing writing community. I love the friends I’ve made. I love the warm weather and the cool weather that’s rarely too cold.

What I dislike? Let’s just go with fire ants. Yes, I could live without them.

What are some of your favorite things to do in your downtime?
Sometimes I love to just do nothing. To sit and relax, especially if it’s nice enough to be outside. But aside from nothing, I love to read, knit, and hang out with friends (especially since quitting the day job). I look forward to the social interaction.

What’s your favorite flower? Why?
The daisy. It’s simple and full and pretty and doesn’t try too hard to impress anyone.

Posted by livemom on Monday, November 17th, 2008 at 11:05 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.