1) Did you always want to be an author or did you stumble upon the process of writing?

Music and writing have always been integral parts of my life.  I have always known that my career would follow along these paths. 

Since the age of three, I have been playing the violin, singing, dancing, acting, and performing throughout my community.  I also play the piano and am an alumnus of the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestra.  I have won numerous musical awards, including the honor of conducting the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra at the 2002 Concert on the Green celebration.

I learned to read at the age of two and have been a voracious reader ever since.  The more you read, the better writer you become.  It also helps to not confine yourself to one specific genre, so that you can be well rounded. 

I also experimented with short stories when I was younger, but had never considered turning writing into a career until I read Crime and Punishment when I was 17.  There was just something about that book and the way Dostoevsky “painted with words” that inspired me and made me want to dedicate myself to being a storyteller.  

Additionally, I also knew I wanted to be a writer and make it my life's passion after seeing The Fellowship of the Ring.  There is a part in the movie where Gandalf tells Frodo "all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."  That struck a chord with me, since my mother taught me from a very early age that God puts everyone on earth for a specific purpose.  I feel the quote from the movie illustrates this sentiment perfectly. 

2) How long did it take you to write the book?

It took me eight months and three days to write the first draft.  I started on May 1, 2003, and finished January 4, 2004.  It then took another four years of revisions and rewrites to get the story polished, but that was mostly because my college workload intensified greatly and my time was at a minimum.  Earning both a Bachelor's Degree and a Master's Degree in four years and five months was very intense! 

3) How did the idea for the book come to be?

I had thought up the characters of Ilyse, Sergei, Maurice, and Ian (although he was named Jean-Luc at the time and was French) in May of 2002.  Then I stored them away in the back of my mind and did not think about them at all until one night in December of that same year.  I was tidying my room, and, for some odd reason, I started to sing these verses:  "Tonight's the last time that I'll see your face, my love.  This dreadful moment has finally come to be.  Tonight the passion ends for you and me, my love.  I'm traveling to a place where life will be hell for me...good-bye."  It hit me then, and I immediately started to write down questions, such as, "Why is her life going to be hell, and who is taking her away?  Why does this person have such control over her?"  That was the defining moment that allowed me to get all my thoughts together and start working seriously on the novel.  

4) What kind of research did you do for your book?

Since the book takes place in 1894, I did a lot of research concerning the vernacular and when words entered the language.  That is a very vital part of my writing—historical accuracy.  I do not want my characters to use words that were not brought into the language until 50 years after the story takes place.

I had always had a fascination with Paris, so I researched the city and the people of that era, such as Toulouse Lautrec, who makes a brief appearance in the first chapter.  I also did research on train travel, distances between cities, city publications, such as the magazine Le Rire, and the Eiffel Tower and its hydraulic lifts. 

5) Did you visit Paris or any of the places you write about?

I did not visit Paris until after I had finished writing the first draft of City of Lights.  I visited in April of 2004 and stayed in a hotel whose décor could have passed for furniture from Ilyse's time.  It was an unforgettable trip, and I hope I can visit the city again someday. 

6) When you say it took you 8 months to write the book, do you mean you wrote every day those 8 months?

I tried to write every day, but there was a dry period during October 2003.  I was most productive during the months of July and August.  Additionally, at the beginning of June, I sketched out an outline of the novel, characters, and where I wanted the story to go.  That helped tremendously, but that outline changed dramatically when I actually started writing. 

7) What was your writing process?  I understand that some authors need to be in the privacy of the outdoors or a summer or winter home or with no noise, or with a special type of music in the background, or only at night, etc.  What was your method?

Noise has never bothered me.  In fact, I listened to music when I was writing.  The most inspirational song, and the song that I felt truly defined Ilyse and Ian’s relationship, was Lifehouse's Hanging by a Moment.  If my novel is ever optioned for a movie, I would love to use that song in the soundtrack.   

8) Were your family and friends supportive? 

My mother and father have always supported me in every venture I have undertaken.  I could not have gotten this far without their unwavering love and commitment to helping me achieve my dreams. 

9) Was there anyone that at any time told you or made you feel it was a stupid endeavor or you could never do it?

I have been exceptionally blessed to have the support of my parents and a few close friends.  The words never and can’t do not exist in our vocabulary.  Plus, my mom has always taught me that everything is possible with God, and as long as He's on my team, whom should I fear?

10) How did you come up with the names of the characters?

When I was very young, I used to collect Barbie dolls.  I had the French Doll of the World Barbie and wanted to give her an authentic, unusual French name, so I did research in my mother’s baby name book and found the name Ilyse.  I never forgot that name, so when the idea for City of Lights first occurred to me, Ilyse was the first name I thought of.  Ilyse's last name was originally Gastineau, but after thinking more about it, I liked it less and less.  I stumbled upon Charpentier in a French surnames search, and when I found out that it meant Carpenter in French, I thought it was a good fit.  Maurice was always Maurice to me.  I never considered another name for him.  I chose Manon Larue’s first name after seeing the title of the novel Manon Lescaut on one of my book searches.  Giving her the last name of Larue was done as a nod to one of my favorite authors, Gaston Leroux, creator of The Phantom of the Opera.  I changed the spelling to make the homage less obvious.

Sergei Rakmanovich:  Sergei was given this name because I was a fan of Sergei Fedorov (hockey player for the Detroit Red Wings, now with the Washington Capitals) when I started writing the novel.  I created the surname Rakmanovich because I wanted something that sounded like Rachmaninoff, the Russian composer; but I also wanted it to have a hint of menace, hence the harshness of the “Rak” at the beginning of the name.  I had heard the name Vasily in the movie K-19 and liked it immediately.  Markolovick was another of my created surnames.  Ian was a name I had always liked, and McCarthy was the last name of my great, great, great Irish paternal grandfather, Charles McCarthy.

11) When you went to France, did you go to the same areas that you write about in the book?  Did you go to do more research?  Or did you go for fun?

I made it a priority to visit all the locations I wrote about in the novel.  However, my main goal was to visit Le Parc Monceau.  To walk in the same willowed avenues that Ilyse did was very emotional and thrilling for me.  I also stumbled upon Maxim’s, which I think would be the perfect location for Le Perle de Paris if City of Lights ever becomes a movie.  They have a wonderful little stage in the back, and the restaurant is gorgeous inside and dripping with fin de siècle glamour.  Of course, slightly more gilding and extravagant set work would have to be added to make it more like Le Briand's “little French jewel.”  The place is virtually perfect.