Hey everybody!
Today I bring you a SUPER EXCITING BLOG POST!
I got the chance to send some questions to Cat Clarke. Cat Clarke is the author of YA publications such as Entangled, Torn, Undone, A Kiss in The Dark and, her most recently published work, The Lost and The Found (which I adored and the review of that book is coming TOMORROW!)

Cat is one of over 70+ authors attending YA Shot in Uxbridge, London on October 28th 2015. Think of YA Shot as the very awesome sequel to YALC. There will be author signings and talks and also blogging workshops! Unfortunately I’m seeing Years and Years in concert on that day so I can’t attend but if it sounds like your thing then definitely check out https://yashot.wordpress.com/ for all your q’s! You should also follow Lexi who put the event together on twitter too – @AlexiaCasale 

ONTO THE INTERVIEW!

HC: The Lost and The Found’ is your 5th YA publication. Do you get the same feelings you had when your first YA publication ‘Entangled’ and when you see your works in bookshops/libraries?

CC: It’s different in some ways, but also the same! Fundamentally there’s still that question mark about whether people are going to respond to what you’ve written. When Entangled came out, I had no idea if anyone would actually buy the book! I still have no idea if people will buy the books I write, but now there’s the added fear of expectation. You can’t help wondering if readers who have enjoyed your previous books will enjoy this one too, especially if you’ve written something a little different.

It’s still massively exciting to see my books in shops and libraries – I don’t think that feeling will ever go away. Although, sometimes I wish I could go into a bookshop and NOT look for my books… but I’m not sure I’d ever have enough self-control to be able to do that!

HC:  What inspired you to write ‘The Lost and The Found’?

CC: I’ve always been interested in real-life stories about missing children. The more I read about these stories, the more I wondered about the siblings who were left behind, and what it would be like to grow up in a household in the middle of a never-ending nightmare. Another thing I really wanted to explore the disparity in media coverage for missing children of different backgrounds.

HC: One of my favourite elements of the novel was the plot twists. When you are writing do you plan them ahead of time or do they just happen when you’re writing in the moment?

CC:  It depends on the book. With The Lost and the Found, I had a basic sort of road map. There were certain scenes I knew I wanted to include, but most of the inbetween bits were a little hazy! The story changed quite a bit as I was writing it – certain characters didn’t quite turn out the way I’d thought they would – but hopefully it changed for the better. I didn’t plan to write the last few pages though; I thought I was done with the story. I think I might have even typed ‘The End’, but then I realized there was more!

HC: I really enjoyed the family aspect of the novel as well and how they are affected by the media. How did you research this?

CC: I read quite a few books about missing children and their families, and also did a lot of online research. Unfortunately it’s not hard to find cases of media intrusion into people’s lives.

HC: Finally, what are you working on next?

CC:  I’m working on another YA novel. This one’s set in a Scottish boarding school. At the moment it’s about friendship, obsession and one or two other things, but that could well change by the time I’ve finished the manuscript! Watch this space.

Huge thank you to Cat for answering my questions and thank you to Lexi for having me on the YA Shot blog tour! For more info on Cat you can visit her website at http://www.catclarke.com/#

Thanks for reading, folks! 🙂