I'm writing my second novel, A Change Would Do You Good. A contemporary romantic comedy-drama​, A Change Would Do You Good is set in California and features an ensemble cast of quirky, relatable, and some slightly crazy characters.

I love legal thrillers. I got hooked on John Grisham novels when I was a teen. I am also a big fan of thrillers and romantic comedies. Other authors I love include Sophie Kinsella, Lee Child and Jenny Colgan. My non-fiction favorites include Paul Arden, Michael Heppell, and Richard Wiseman. I'm a psychology and self-development junkie.

Thoughts about writing, coffee, rock music, dancing, traveling, romance, and fun. And sometimes, I just panic about how much work I have to do.

Also excluding writing-related activities like research and social media, I like hanging out with friends, watching movies and TV series, going to concerts when there is a good one in town (I'm a rock fan through and through!), learning new languages (I'm currently learning Norwegian), and reading. Oh, I also travel when I can, and I love dancing, especially doing my own thing and lindy-hopping.

Old school bookshop browsing is still one of my favorite things to do. I purchase a lot of books from bloggers I admire; I love non-fiction as well. I can't resist a good Amazon suggestion. I also read a lot of stuff by my author friends.

There are two distinct memories. When I was a kid, I loved watching cartoons like Spider-Man and Spider-Woman. I'd write the next episode in my head. When I was about 12, my English term assignment was to write a play and perform it in front of the class. We formed a small group. I wrote the first half of a comedy, and another friend wrote the second. It was hilarious, both in a good and bad way. Being 12 and having to perform in front of a teacher, our choice of swear words consisted of "Stupid!" :) I remember the script pretty well, and I still keep the original, hand-written version.

I first develop the concept in my head. The idea might come from different sources: a dream I had one night, a thought I had and then reversed the gender of characters, something inspired by real events that happened to me... But whatever the source, I don't start writing until I know who my characters are, and my beginning, middle, and end. I start taking notes when it comes to scene details. Outlining comes after I roughly know what will happen, but it definitely helps with creating the best order of events. I take my initial notes by hand, but I do most of my writing on the computer. I also save like a crazy person.

Not the first one ever. But I remember the first books that made me love to read, and those books were by Enid Blyton.

Very meticulously. I asked a few author groups for recommendations about cover designers. Then I picked a designer whose work I was impressed by but whose fees didn't threaten to bankrupt me. My designer, Michelle Fairbanks, involved me in the process. It was fun, exciting, and the end result felt just right.

Can John Grisham have like three spots? Seriously, though. I love my mainstream genre books, and there is a reason for that. Growing up, school often forced us to read classics. And while I don't deny their educational value, they did little to inspire a love for reading. Most authors seemed to favor scene description and their use of language over plot and characters. This resulted in pages and pages and pages of talking about one tree that bore no weight in what happens. So when I discovered authors who seemed to prioritize the reader rather than their obsession with flowery literary language, I started devouring novels.

My absolute favorite John Grisham novels are:
1. The Partner / Runaway Jury / The Brethren
2. Any Jack Reacher book by Lee Child
3. Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella
4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
5. Any book by Paul Arden (he wrote three) or Richard Wiseman to represent non-fiction)

Thrillers, romantic comedies, and non-fiction.

My MacBook Air. Other screens are just too small for my taste.

Messy and needs to be organized before work.

In my head? When I was a kid. I was a big fan of adventure cartoons like Spider-Man, Spider-Woman and the like. I'd write the next episode in my head.

When I was 10, I got into a English-intensive education high school. For those living in the States, these types of schools taught intensively for a year or two through what's called prep classes. For the first year, we studied English for 24 hours a week, and for the next, 20 hours a week. We'd read and write intensively, and we were often assigned to write stories to improve our vocabulary and grammar. I was having so much fun that I started doing it outside the class as well.

The following year we had fewer English language class my term assignments from the English classes, even though I didn't need to increase my grades. I wrote plays and short stories.

The more I wrote, the more I loved it.

By middle school (after the initial prep years), I had created an original TV pilot and I was printing each episode out and handing it to any classmate who wanted to read. I even chose the soundtrack and gave the cassette tape ready along with the script. I listened to their comments about storylines, characters and everything else. It was a blast. And I was hooked!

And because I started actually writing in English, and I think in English as I think and write, it became my official writing language.

My latest book is called How to Write An Amazing Romance Novel (tips to get you from "meet-cute" to "happy ever after": Everything you need to take you from finding your romance novel idea to a finished and polished draft.)

I'm a romantic. I'm also a devourer of romance novels, screenplays, movies, and TV-series. I don't only read romance, but romance is a huge part of what I watch, read, and create. I mainly write romantic comedies, romantic dramas, or romantic comedy dramas. I've also developed "allergies" against certain romantic clichés as well as tragedy for tragedy's sake. Mind you, I'm also fond of certain clichés that make a romantic story worth reading.

So I gathered my passion and my knowledge into a handy book for aspiring romance writers. It features chapters on how to find a great idea, how to test the idea, good examples from TV, movies and other novels, saving, editing and beyond. So first time novelists will find the book also handy, even if they aren't writing a romance.

I got quite a few rejections from traditional publishers and agents. I realized I had been pitching for two years, and I grew impatient. I knew my story was worth reading, so I decided to take my fate into my own hands. And I never looked back.

Entertainment, escapism, and the possibility of living so many more lives. You can be anything or anyone. You can live anywhere. You can do anything. All through the power of your imagination. It's an incredible feeling, and nothing else gives the same rush.

Everything. It's amazing to wake up to a review that has been written by a stranger who has discovered your book by chance and loved it.

I choose to work with professional designers who listen to my vision and work with me to create it together.

This is such a tough one for a writer to answer because reading is like breathing to us. There are too many to choose from, but I guess the first that come to mind deserve to be mentioned first:

1. John Grisham - The Partner
2. John Grisham - The Brethren
3. John Grisham- Runaway Jury.

Yes, there is a pattern here. I love captivating legal thrillers, and Grisham is the master of creating original page-turners with amazing twists. He frequently makes me think "I wish I had thought of that!" or wonder "What can I do to come with such kickass plots?"

I love Grisham so much that my dad thought I was going to be a lawyer. But of course I just love how his imagination and the possibilities of the US legal system bring to the table. I wish to write a solid legal thriller one day.

Until then, I recommend you read at least one of the three I mentioned.

4. Sophie Kinsella - Can You Keep A Secret?

This book is a romantic comedy that will have you laughing on the floor, even if you aren't a romance fan. The story is original, and the events are hilarious. The main character is relatable, and the love interest is the best kind of sexy. It was recently adapted into a movie. The movie looks fine, but I strongly urge you to read the book first.

5. Paul Arden - Whatever You Think, Think the Opposite

The late Paul Arden was a successful advertising executive as well as a brilliant creative mind. He has written two books about career management/creativity/motivation/inspiration, and I had to flip a coin. His other book "It's not how good you are, it is how good you want to be" is just as recommended.

No matter what line of work you are in, no matter what stage of life, if you want a change and feel stuck, or if you want to do and feel better, read Arden. They are short books. They are blunt, fun, smart and do just the right amount of butt-kicking into action.

Having a supportive group of writer and reader friends who have kindly read, critiqued, reviewed my works and spread the word for me. I also found using social media and running ads on Amazon surprisingly effective.

In Istanbul, Turkey. I never felt like I belonged since Turkey is mostly a collectivist country whereas I am individualistic, non-traditional, creative, and independent to the core. I rebelled by adopting the English language as my own (don't worry, my Turkish is still fluent:)), listening to rock music from age 12, declaring California to be my dream state and Hollywood as my ultimate destination.

English is required for any career advancement here, so I worked hard to get into my high school (which was 2 years of intensive English prep classes and 6 years of middle+high after that). The fact that immersing myself in the language was a necessity for good grades and a successful future, combined with my love for creating stories, shaped my writing as well.

I am a movie-lover, and I love writing screenplays as well as my novels. This resulted in work that was more suitable for and appealing to the international market, especially the US. My TV-pilot, which I'm currently adapting into a novel, became a semi-finalist in a script contest. The story is set in California. I even got a professional critique from a producer, and she said I had the California setting/spirit down and asked how long I had been living there. I've only stayed in Cali for a month. (Although I'm hoping to move there in the near future.)