Here's an interview Kristina did for the great site, the 5 Randoms, "a site for readers, writers, and lovers of teen and YA books."  Thanks guys!

This week, The 5 Randoms interview Kristina Schram, author of The Chronicles of Anaedor, which is about a fifteen-year-old girl who finds a secret passage into the hidden world of Anaedor. Two interesting tidbits about Kristina? One: She plans for this to be a four-book series. Two: She was born in her parents’ bathroom. It’s up to you to figure out how the two go hand-in-hand.

1) How many stop-and-go stories did you go through before you finished your first manuscript? Or were you one of the lucky few who banged out your first book without any false starts along the way?

I actually wrote four other complete books before I published my first one (which would be my fifth book and which involved many, many reworks).  So, obviously I’ve had a lot of false starts and finishes along the way.  Those four books are now gathering dust somewhere in my house.  Maybe someday I’ll pull them out and use them for scrap paper, maybe I’ll rework them.  Who knows?  They’ve got a lot of problems.  At any rate, I don’t think I’ve ever been successful at anything on my first, fifth, even twelfth attempt.  I am a slow starter.  But, like the train, I gather momentum, picking up speed until I’m wildly out of control, yet still making forward progress.

2) What’s the best/easiest part of the writing process for you?

Probably telling the story.  I’m not saying I’m great at it, but it’s the easiest thing for me to do, plus I like making things up.  I would have made a good liar or politician.

3) What’s the worst/hardest part of the writing process for you?

I’m not the best writer, skill-wise, so I have to work my butt off on the tough stuff, like grammar and sentence construction.  My description needs work and character development can be a challenge.  Luckily, I’m a pretty good speller, otherwise I think I would’ve given up writing a while ago.  But then again, maybe not.  I’m kind of a masochist.

4) What are some of the biggest obstacles that keep you from doing as much writing as you’d like to do? How do you overcome them?

I have 3 major obstacles…my kids (three boys).  Oh, that and everyday life.  Carving out time is always the hardest part for me, but writing is important to me and I love it, so if I have to ignore my childrens’ needs sometimes or if I have to give up watching an episode of Ghost Hunters, I do it.  It’s all about sacrifices.  What has helped me overcome these obstacles is to treat writing as a priority, a necessity.  If I were getting paid for doing this (which I kind of do), then I need to put in the hours.  So, basically, I treat my writing like a job, without the perks, vacation time, or the gossip.

5) What’s your typical writing day like?

My typical writing day involves cramming in at least a couple hours a day for work.  I spend some time editing, some time writing new material and some time doing administrative stuff (like blogs, marketing, etc.).  Someday I hope to have my own person and/or robot to do the admin. stuff so that I can spend more time on the creative part, which is much more fun.  I’d also like a cook and a house cleaner.  I’d rather write than clean.  That’s my motto.  But since I don’t have a staff, I have to do it myself.  Life can be hard sometimes.

Be sure to check out the 5 Randoms!