We've had a blast chatting with Elizabeth this week as she stopped by to chat about her debut novel, The Tragedy Paper! Elizabeth's been on her board talking Shakespeare, boarding school, writing, and more!

Here's what we learned about Elizabeth:

• Elizabeth's favorite movie about forbidden love is Endless Love, a book originally written by Scott Spencer
• While Elizabeth has had many crushes, she's never kept them completely secret
• Elizabeth's kept some secrets for over 10 years
• If Elizabeth could know a secret about anyone - dead or alive - she'd want to know one about Justin Bieber, for her daughter's sake
• To celebrate the release of The Tragedy Paper, Elizabeth went out to eat in her favorite Chinese restaurant! She's now currently on her book tour
• Elizabeth actually did write a tragedy paper in high school - hers was about the definition of literary tragedy
• The Tragedy Paper was not the original title!
• Elizabeth chose to write Tim as an albino because she wanted him to have a condition that affected him on a daily basis, but also allowed him to live a pretty normal, painfree life
• One book that changed Elizabeth's life - S.E. Hinton's That Was Then, This is Now 
• Elizabeth was an English major in college
• Some of Elizabeth's favorite romances: Romeo & Juliet, Wuthering Heights, and The Time Traveler's Wife
• The last YA novel Elizabeth finished was Every Day by David Levithan
• Some of Elizabeth's favorite genres to read: women's fiction, YA, and nonfiction
• Elizabeth usually has a good idea of a character and how they'll act before she writes
• Contrary to belief, Elizabeth named Tim and Duncan separately and it's coincidence that they have names from two opposing characters from Macbeth
• Elizabeth used the name Duncan cause her son has a friend with the name
• Elizabeth first considered the thought of writing YA when she saw how much choices her 13 year old daughter had
• Irving's slogan "Enter Here To Be And Find A Friend" was actually the slogan for Elizabeth's high school
• King Lear is Elizabeth's favorite Shakespeare play
• Elizabeth's favorite PBS show - Downton Abbey

• According to Elizabeth, the most difficult part of writing from two POVs is making sure they meet in the middle in an accurate way; she had to make sure there was a point where Tim and Duncan experienced the same thing in his own way where it made sense for everyone

• Elizabeth went to a school named Hackley in Tarrytown, New York - and used it as a basis for Irving
• Elizabeth wasn't as mindful about writing as a boy, but more with writing as a teenager
• Elizabeth's taken many creative writing classes and workshops - she's a big fan
• While Elizabeth doesn't plan on writing a sequel to The Tragedy Paper, she is working on another YA novel about a girl and school assignment
• Elizabeth used to be a newspaper reporter! She still does freelance work and ghostwrites
• It takes Elizabeth about a year to finish a first draft of a novel
• Elizabeth just bought Meant to Be!
• If Elizabeth could trade places with any fictional character, she'd switch with Pippi Longstocking!
• The one book that Elizabeth recommends to everyone regardless of personal preferences and age is Wonder by R.J. Palacio!
• Elizabeth doesn't really have a daily writing routine - she just makes sure to finish whatever piece has the closest deadline and works on it whenever she can
• Elizabeth prefers coffee to tea, and she drinks it black
• Three things that are always in Elizabeth's purse: keys, lipstick, and various medicines for her kids

That's just a little bit about what we learned about Elizabeth! To read her in-depth, detailed responses on writing and The Tragedy Paper influences, visit her board! You can also read the chapter sampler for The Tragedy Paper, or the Buzz Blogger review of it here!

Missed Elizabeth's visit? Don't fret! Next week we have TWO authors visiting! Daria Snadowsky is visiting to chat about her new book, Anatomy of a Single Girl, and we're giving away 25 ARCs! Just visit her board and leave a question for a chance to win!

On the blog, Alexandra Monir will be guest posting throughout the week! We're going to choose 25 random people from the comments to win an ARC of her new book Timekeeper, so remember to update your mailing address and leave a comment whenever she posts!