Not-So-Guilty Pleasures: The N.K. Traver Edition

Good morrow, fellow story lovers!

Today on the blog, I have the pleasure of hosting the lovely N.K. Traver, who was generous enough to do the same for me during Pitch Wars. But, as you know, today isn't about writing samples - it's about those little things we love, but make us think "maybe it would be better if the whole world didn't know I was obsessed with....nah....never mind....this is awesome. Everyone should be shown the light."

Here's what Ms. Traver wants to illuminate:


Not-So-Guilty Pleasures

5. Leonardo DiCaprio

I have loved him since Titanic. I think he's a brilliant actor and I will never let go, Jack.

4. Crazy bright neon socks

Opening my sock drawer requires sunglasses. I have socks that are supposed to match and socks that are not supposed to match, though I lost track of the matching ones a long time ago.

3. King of the Nerds

I'm not a reality TV fan, but I LOVE. THIS. SHOW. Nerd drama + sciency experiments + quotes like "I just hope it involves the Pillars of Lava and light sabers like we discussed"? How can anyone resist?

2. Video games

The Sims. Resident Evil. Tomb Raider. Every LEGO Xbox game ever made. I could go on, so I won't. I love puzzles and great stories, and video games often bind those two together. I'm also scared of dying, so I play on the easiest difficulty level possible and I don't care who knows about it.

1. 'Staches

Yes, these -->  

I can't explain my obsession. But I have stache earrings, a stache ring, a stache blanket, a stache shirt, stache socks and stache duct tape. I will collect stache things until there's nothing left to collect, or until my husband stages an intervention.

As a freshman at the University of Colorado, N.K. Traver decided to pursue Information Technology because her classmates said "no one could make a living" with an English degree. It wasn’t too many years later Traver realized it didn’t matter what the job paid—nothing would ever be as fulfilling as writing. Programmer by day, writer by night, it was only a matter of time before the two overlapped. Her debut, DUPLICITY, a YA cyberthriller pitched as BREAKING BAD meets THE MATRIX for teens, is coming from Macmillan Entertainment in winter 2015.

Want to really amp up your anticipation of DUPLICITY? Or maybe get some tips on where to buy the best staches? (Which, let's face it, is all I've been thinking about since I first read this list.) Follow Ms. Traver on her blog, Goodreads, or Twitter.