Part II of interview with Andrew Cotto and International Giveaway of "The Domino Effect"!

Welcome back for the second part of Andrew Cotto's great interview and giveaway!

Author Blurb: Andrew Cotto is a writer and teacher who lives in Brooklyn, NY. He is the author of two novels: THE DOMINO EFFECT - a 2012 Readers Favorite Award finalist - is a coming of age story about a kid from Queens with a damaged past and a complicated present at a boarding school in rural New Jersey; OUTERBOROUGH BLUES: A BROOKLYN MYSTERY is an unconventional noir about a drifter seeking a missing person and a remedy to his family's curse on the dawn of urban gentrification. His novels are represented by Dunow, Carlson and Lerner Literary Agency. Andrew's articles have appeared in many national journals, including the New York Times, Men's Journal, Huffington Post, Salon, Deadspin, the Good Men Project and Teachers & Writers Magazine. For the past seven years, Andrew has taught composition courses and creative writing workshops in New York City. He has an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School and a BA in Literature from Lynchburg College.

Andrew Cotto's Blog: http://www.andrewcotto.com/

1. Initially, I thought Brenda Divine would end up just being the token love interest. I was so happy to be so wrong! When you were writing this book, did you know exactly how she would develop or did she take a life of her own? Tell us a little about how you develop your characters in general.
Brenda is my favorite character in the book. I knew she would be important, but the manner in which that happened developed along the way. In general, I come up with what I hope to be interesting characters and put them into a scenario; from there, they tend to write their scripts. When it works, it's kind of like magic. This is what I love most about writing.

2. For our new writers out there-- did you find it helpful to know other established authors along the way? If so, how? 

Knowing authors can be helpful along the way, but knowing other aspiring authors is probably more helpful. Having a group of peers to share the process with is necessary. Being an author is like being a mutant, so being surrounded by other mutants is very beneficial. It's one of the main reasons I pursued an MFA in creative writing, and one of the best parts of having done so.

3. What do you have on the horizon?
My second novel came out in May, and I'm busy promoting it while also continuing to push Domino. I'm currently revising a novella called Martinis & Bikinis, which I hope will be a fun noir akin to novels like Get Shorty. Beyond that, I'm waiting for the green light on a sequel to Outerborough Blues.

Don't forget to sign up to win a signed copy of his book, The Domino Effect or a signed copy of Fly on the Wall by E. Lockhart!

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Also, don't forget to enter these great giveaways!
International giveaway of:
1) 2 copies of Neverdark by C.S. Einfeld
2) 1 signed copy of Neverdark from both author and illustrator
3) 1 copy of A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
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Prize pack giveaway (US only) of ALL FOUR of Antony John's books signed (Five Flavors of Dumb, Busted, Thou Shalt Not Road Trip, and the unreleased YA dystopian, Elemental)
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