Today's post features an interview with Jennifer Comeaux, author of the Edge figure skating series. The Edge series includes Life on the Edge, The Edge of the Past, and Fighting for the Edge, as well as additional bonus material. Jennifer also maintains a blog about skating and writing. A huge skating fan, she just returned from a trip to the 2014 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

KJV: I enjoyed getting to experience a bit of this year's Nationals in Boston through your blog posts. There were a lot of high moments, but which of your memories from this competition make the podium?

Jennifer: It was such an incredible event – one of the best I’ve ever attended! Some of the moments that stood out the most were Marissa Castelli & Simon Shnapir’s short program (they had the home crowd rocking!), Felicia Zhang & Nathan Bartholomay’s free skate and their kiss and cry reaction to their scores (my friends and I were screaming like crazy people when they went into second place), Meryl Davis & Charlie White’s free dance (stunning perfection!), and Jason Brown’s free skate.

KJV: You started writing stories when you were seven years old, but Louisiana isn't known for wintry weather. How and when did you fall in love with figure skating?

Jennifer: I fell in love with the sport watching it on TV as a kid. The first Olympics where I remember being totally engrossed was the 1988 Winter Games. I was all over the Battle of the Brians and the Battle of the Carmens! From then on I watched every single skating event that was on TV. I liked watching other sports, and I loved the way skating was the perfect combination of sport and art.

KJV: In addition to being a figure skating fanatic, you're a CPA. What suggestions can you offer fellow writers regarding fitting in time to write?

Jennifer: I think the most important thing is scheduling time to write and sticking to it, which I need to do a better job of doing! With limited time to write at night and on the weekends, it’s very important to make the most of the blocks of time you have, so outlining your scenes and chapters ahead of time is a big help. When I sit down with blank paper and have no idea what comes next, I get totally freaked out and feel so overwhelmed. But an outline, no matter how simple it is, helps me feel like I have some guidance on where to begin.

KJV: Reflecting on your experiences in becoming published, do you have any advice to help smooth the ice for aspiring authors?

Jennifer: With so many options for authors these days, I think you just need to look at all the different opportunities and decide which one fits your needs and helps fulfill your dreams. One of my dreams was to have my manuscript accepted by a publisher, so I found a publisher that was a good fit for me and learned everything I could about them and their authors. If you just want to get your work in front of readers without going through a publishing company, then you can definitely go that route. There have been so many success stories in self-publishing.

KJV: Now that the Edge series is complete, you're working on a companion novel featuring Courtney. Can we get a rink side preview of her story?

Jennifer: I’m very excited about this new story! It’s a lot of fun to write because I can still keep some familiar characters around, but I also get to introduce some new ones. Here’s a little peek at the story: Courtney and her partner Mark haven’t enjoyed the same success Emily and Chris had. They have only one shot left to make the Olympic team, and they vow not to let anything get in their way. Enter Stephanie and Josh, talented siblings with the same dream. Courtney knows she should keep her distance from the rival team, but as she gets to know handsome, quiet Josh, she becomes more and more intrigued. Will their blossoming friendship become more or will the competition tear them apart?

For more on Jennifer's books, the 2014 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships, and other reading, writing, and skating fun, visit Jennifer at http://jennifercomeaux.blogspot.com/.

During my recent residency at Vermont College of Fine Arts, a classmate kindly lent me her ice skates so I could use the outdoor rink on campus. I hadn't skated on pond ice in years and it had been about that long since the borrowed skates had seen a sharpening, but I was desperate. Life doesn't always come with Zamboni smooth ice or sharp blades, and the experience was a potent reminder of how much I've learned about writing from skating.

Skating outdoors in Vermont brought back favorite childhood memories of building a backyard ice rink with my father. Our city yard was tiny, and our rink was about six swizzle pumps wide and only a little bit longer. Bumpy at best and treacherous at worst, it was ice. That my father cared enough to help me with this time-consuming and, in fickle west Michigan weather, often futile effort, gave me the seed of the idea that skating was something I could do. It's the same for writing. Even one frozen drop of water can be enough if you really want it. For me, this was when I dared to show my mother, a writer and librarian, the beginning ramblings of my first book. She had lots of advice and areas to improve but, “Sure, this could be a novel,” were the words I took with me as my droplet of hope.

However small your start, you must put in the time. It's about repetition. With good daily practice routines, the elements on ice come. With good daily writing routines, the words flow. Listen to your coaches, aka your trusted critique group, because whether you like it or not, they're right most of the time. Accept criticisms with a “thank you” and give yourself time to reflect on them. Use whatever advice you can to make your writing stronger, but know that sometimes you have to follow your heart. I once completely changed programs three weeks before a competition, much to the chagrin of my coach. That new program won me a national gold medal. So go ahead, re-write that novel in first person. Cut those scenes. Start over with a blank page. And take comfort in the fact that least in writing you can save all your old versions on the computer and pull out an old routine with the click of your mouse.

On the ice or on the page, you will fall down. A lot. All you can do is pick yourself up, the sooner the better. You must try again. It took me almost five years to learn a lutz. I'm still working on that Axel and I won't even tell you how many hours I've worked at writing but I try to remember that everyone is afraid sometimes, that everyone struggles with some things.

Take advantage of camps, clinics, and retreats. Fresh opinions can help you get over a rut. I had been struggling with a loop jump for months when I attended a skating camp in Aspen. New phrasing and the trick of jumping out of a backspin helped me master the element that week. Likewise, I am forever indebted to the help and encouragement I've received from my fellow SCBWI members.

Just like skating, writing is also about acting. To make your characters real to your audience, you need to feel them, get inside their heads. Wear your heart on your sleeve and keep a box of tissues nearby for the tears and runny noses. Because in skating, you only need to do one character per program but in writing you're going to need to do them all.

And finally, sweat the small stuff. Yes, pay attention to details in your routines and in your novels but don't forget about life outside the rink and off the page. I used to have one of those t-shirts proclaiming that “figure skating is life, the rest is just details!” I gave it to Goodwill. Skating, writing, whatever your passions – life is in the details, and not the sequin-covered, rhinestone-studded variety.