author interviews

Book Launch: Memories of Ash by Intisar Khanani

~ Alina ~ 4 Comments

Hi guys!

Today I have the privilege of introducing a new author friend of mine: Intisar Khanani. Besides being incredibly talented and super friendly, she’s just released a new fantasy novel, Memories of Ash. It’s a sequel to her novella Sunbolt, which I *might* have stayed up past my bedtime reading. Oh man. I read a lot of fantasy, and this was one of the most original and gripping I’ve read in a long time. The setting is rich and interesting, the suspense had me reading chapter after chapter, and the protagonist, Hitomi, is a mighty girl with a strong sense of conscience but also a relatable vulnerability. Go read it right now. Right. Now.

Then come back for an interview with the author!

Khanani_Author_Photo - for reveal

Welcome, Intisar! How did you first get started writing?

I’m one of those people who was always writing. I stapled my first books together when I was three or four, and never stopped. I’ve always had stories and characters in my head; even if I wasn’t actively writing, I was still telling myself stories as I went through my days. Nowadays, if I don’t write them down, I find I’m a much less happy person—which means if I’m feeling particularly grumpy, I’ll sometimes just excuse myself to go write a story!

What draws you to fantasy/fairy tales?

I love fantasy (and science fiction, though I don’t write it) because it takes us out of our world. We deal with issues in a different framework, and so we can challenge ourselves more deeply because we think we have less at stake. Likewise, fairy tales contain old, deep truths within them—some of them that bear challenging as social contexts and cultures change, and some that rise above time and place. I love the depth that fantasy and fairy tales are capable of while still granting us an “escape” from our own lives. I may also have a soft spot for dragons, mages, and talking horses. 😉

What inspired your current series, The Sunbolt Chronicles?

I wrote the first ten pages of Sunbolt thinking that I was writing a short story. I had no idea where it was going, though, and was unable to write the ending. Two years later, while staying with my in-laws in Pakistan during a family illness, I volunteered to stay awake through the night with our ill family member while everyone slept. (I was the most jet-lagged of everyone, so this made a lot of sense.) Sitting up each night in the sick room with my laptop, I picked up that story and Sunbolt, Memories of Ash, and a third novella all came pouring out of me in the space of about two or three weeks. They were a necessary and complete escape for me, and if you look at each carefully, you might see a bit of the illness and sorrow we were dealing with, especially in Sunbolt. Admittedly, each story went through massive revisions before being published, to the extent that the third novella is now utterly irrelevant, and Memories of Ash is an epically long novel. But that’s how revisions roll.

Did anything unexpected happen as you were writing Memories of Ash?

My beta-readers laid down the smack with me, and informed me that I needed to stop trying to make Memories of Ash into a novella. They wanted more detail, more connecting scenes, and a couple less short cuts (I admit the short cuts were a bad idea). I took their advice, and the book literally doubled in size, and then grew some more. I really was planning for The Sunbolt Chronicles to be a novella serial, so I’ve had to re-imagine the rest of the series, and apologize profusely for everyone who thought I was going to be able to churn out a sequel within a year. Between taking a writing hiatus for family reasons, and writing an epically long sequel, it’s been three years!

Wow! You are disciplined! So why did you choose self-publishing? What’s your favorite thing about it?

I chose self-publishing because I spent two years searching for an agent, and it was miserable. When my husband e-mailed me an article about Amanda Hocking’s success, I went, well, I don’t care about making a fortune, but if I can reach a few readers this way, why not? I haven’t looked back since, and I absolutely love it. I love being able to have complete creative control of my work, get the covers I love (and change them if I need to), and offer my book at a more affordable price to readers while still making more than I probably would have from a traditional publishing deal (given that midlist authors make almost nothing when traditionally published). I also just love how quickly I can move from completing a book to releasing it—the wait is for the actual writing, and not for the publishing process.

That’s awesome. What gets you into creative mode?

My kids going to bed. Seriously. I get them in bed, sit down with my laptop, and get to work. I don’t have any routines or any special tricks. (I should probably try ringing a bell before I get to work to see if I can turn on my creative juices at the sound of a chime… Thank you, Pavlov, for that idea!)

I do, however, often do writing sessions with friends online, where we check in for a few minutes beforehand via chat, then spend an hour writing before reporting back in. This keeps writing from becoming that isolating, lonesome misery we writers fear. 😉 It doesn’t get me into creative mode, but it does make me more accountable, and that helps me get going!

What are three books you’d want with you on a desert island?

  1. Desert Island Survival 101
  2. How to build a sea-faring craft from scratch
  3. Navigating by the Stars

I’m getting off that island one way or another!

Practical!  I’d probably just sit there reading until the coconut supply ran out. So which character in Memories of Ash do you relate to the most? Why?

I definitely relate to Hitomi, the heroine, a lot, but I think that’s probably because I’m writing from her perspective. When I sit down and think about it, she’s a lot braver and probably more moral than I am. If there were another character in Book 2 that I relate to more, it would be Huda. She’s strong but in a quieter, more down-to-earth way. She’s got a lot of problems, but she doesn’t let it slow her down too much. And she’s stubborn as all heck. Yep, she and I both have that going. I really like Huda and am so glad she’ll be back in Book 3! 🙂

Ooh! What a teaser! Thank you so much for joining us, Intisar 🙂 

Here’s where you can find a copy of Memories of Ash: 

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble |  Apple  |  Kobo

And add it to your Goodreads TBR list!

Synopsis:

 In the year since she cast her sunbolt, Hitomi has recovered only a handful of memories. But the truths of the past have a tendency to come calling, and an isolated mountain fastness can offer only so much shelter. When the High Council of Mages summons Brigit Stormwind to stand trial for treason, Hitomi knows her mentor won’t return—not with Arch Mage Blackflame behind the charges.

Armed only with her magic and her wits, Hitomi vows to free her mentor from unjust imprisonment. She must traverse spell-cursed lands and barren deserts, facing powerful ancient enchantments and navigating bitter enmities, as she races to reach the High Council. There, she reunites with old friends, planning a rescue equal parts magic and trickery.

If she succeeds, Hitomi will be hunted the rest of her life. If she fails, she’ll face the ultimate punishment: enslavement to the High Council, her magic slowly drained until she dies.

Intisar’s bio: 

Intisar Khanani grew up a nomad and world traveler. She has lived in five different states as well as in Jeddah on the coast of the Red Sea. Until recently, Intisar wrote grants and developed projects to address community health with the Cincinnati Health Department, which was as close as she could get to saving the world. Now she focuses her time on her two passions: raising her family and writing fantasy. Intisar’s current projects include a companion trilogy to Thorn, featuring the heroine introduced in her free short story The Bone Knife, and The Sunbolt Chronicles.

Connect: 

Website: http://booksbyintisar.com

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/intisar_Khanani

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/booksbyintisar

Twitter: http://twitter.com/BooksByIntisar

Happy reading!

Book Launch: The First Chill of Autumn, W.R. Gingell

~ Alina ~ 6 Comments

Hey everybody!

I’m not going to lie–one of my favorite things about being an author, especially an independent author, is getting to meet other authors. Unlike much of the world, I’ve found the book community to be a really team-focused, everybody-can-win environment. Which is how I was lucky enough to meet and interview W.R. Gingell, a fellow fantasy author.

Today is launch day for W.R.’s latest novella, “The First Chill of Autumn.” To celebrate, W.R. has graciously stopped by my blog for an interview!

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Welcome, W.R.! So tell us–how did you first get started writing?

Well, I remember that my first story was written in 1st grade, and was something about a family following a sea-turtle into the sea and having an adventure underwater with mermaids, shadowy, dangerous sharks, and underwater volleyball (?!) That wasn’t really the start of it, though. I wrote that because I was told to write a story. I don’t think I wrote it because I wanted to write it. The second was a 10-page saga (IT WAS A SAGA IN MY TINY MIND, OK?) when I was about grade two, and that was written because it was adventurous and featured my then-best-friend Kylie. It involved lions, tigers, bears, and anacondas (on an Australian mountain, no less. My tiny mind had no idea of geography, just which animals were the most ferocious and adventurous). It was, oddly enough, written from 1st person POV, but with the actual heroine being observed from that POV. I think that shows some greatness of mind…or maybe I was always just a bit weird…

That story was closer to being written because I wanted to write it, but I didn’t really begin to write because I wanted to write until I was about ten or eleven. That was after years of reading and having my head stuffed with ideas that just wanted to come out, and when I began to really write, I never looked back. I started with drawings and character-word lists, but found that stopped me really writing; so I gave up on those and concentrated on getting the actual story down. I don’t think any of those earlier projects were ever finished, but I do remember my first finished book (80k-odd words, I think) at fourteen. It was called Those Mad Bradleys. Since then, it’s seen a complete rewrite, and will see another before it is (hopefully) released next year…

Wow! You got started early! So what draws you to fantasy/fairy tales?

I’ve always loved fairy tales. There’s a magical, dangerous feel to them, and all the earlier ones were written with huge spaces for creative freedom in their plainness. It meant that I could take them and shape them and turn them into whatever I wanted to, while still keeping the magic.

What inspired your current series?

I have two current series. One is the Two Monarchies Sequence, which is one book in (I’m working on the second at the moment); and the other is the Shards of a Broken Sword trilogy, which is being finished May 31st! TMS was inspired by fairy tales (Spindle is a sort of a cross between Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel), and SOABS was inspired by Jack Heckel’s Charming Tales, which are light-hearted and rather hilarious. His dragonish POV and a tickling question or two that his books raised in my mind went on to be the story seeds of two of those novellas.

Did anything unexpected happen as you were writing your new book?

No 😦 I’m such a boring person. Though I did get a resurgence of bronchitis, if that helps?

Oh, wait! I rediscovered my love for Owl City and found out that I can write standing up (and dancing), so there’s that…

I think that counts as interesting! So why did you choose self-publishing? What’s your favorite thing about it?

Ah! My creative freedom! My much-larger-cut of the royalties! Seriously, though, I love almost everything about it. I originally chose SP over TP (wait, that doesn’t sound right…) because I loved the immediacy of it, the better pay factor, and the fact that I wouldn’t have to change things I loved because someone else had a different vision for my books. I love being able to choose my own cover artist. I love learning what works and what doesn’t work in advertising. I love the new worlds that have opened up to me, and the new people I’ve met. It gets overwhelming sometimes (especially when I’m sick), but by and large, there isn’t much I’d change about it.

Wow! Especially because you run all aspects of your writing business, you have to be really disciplined. So what gets you into creative mode?

Sometimes it’s music. Sometimes it’s a day-dreaming session. More often, I’m not in the mood, and I have to sit down and write anyway. Sometimes you have to wake up the creative mode before it wants to get out of bed. It’s a moody teenager, but it’s worth making it work for you rather than the other way around.

I love it! What are three books you’d want with you on a desert island?

Oh, so hard! I would definitely have Pride and Prejudice. I would also probably cheat and take my Barchester Chronicles omnibus (thus bringing about six extra books); and I would bring either Kate Stradling’s Kingdom of Ruses or The Legendary Inge.

An omnibus is possibly cheating, but since I’d do the same, I’ll overlook it. Which character in your new book do you relate to the most? Why?

That’s also kinda tough. It would be either Aerwn or Dion. Dion for the pure fact that her physical weakness of shaking and throwing up when under pressure or under unpleasant circumstances is something that I struggle with on a weekly (sometimes daily) basis. I’m used to being forced to do things while feeling awful, just because they need to be done and I’m the one who has to do them. I feel for Dion because she has to do much bigger things than I need to do, while feeling worse.

Aerwn, I relate to because she’s the one looking on. She wants to be the one to do things and she’s impatient, because she knows she’s not the one who has to do the things. She has to sit back and watch, because she’s not the special one. So she has to do what she can in the background. She has to fight and struggle and work, and she’ll never be the hero. But she keeps working anyway, because what she’s doing also needs to be done.

 

Thank you so much for stopping by, W.R.! It’s great to hear about your creative process, and congratulations on your new book launch! 

Here’s where you can find a copy of “The First Chill of Autumn” online. It’s only 99 cents at the moment, so check it out!

Amazon
B & N 
iBooks  
Kobo
Smashwords 

To follow W.R., check out her blog and sign up for her e-mail newsletter! 

Here’s her author bio:

W.R. Gingell is a Tasmanian author who lives in a house with a green door. She loves to rewrite fairytales with a twist or two–and a murder or three–and original fantasy where dragons, enchantresses, and other magical creatures abound. Occasionally she will also dip her toes into the waters of SciFi.

W.R. spends her time reading, drinking an inordinate amount of tea, and slouching in front of the fire to write. Like Peter Pan, she never really grew up, and is still occasionally to be found climbing trees.

And a description of “The First Chill of Autumn”:

Llassar is an occupied country– but nobody seems to know it.

Fae began to filter slowly into the land shortly after the birth of the crown princess, Dion ferch Alawn, supposedly fleeing a dark threat in Faery known as the Guardians. But that was fifteen years ago, and now there isn’t a town in Llassar that isn’t populated by or under the control of the fae.

Smaller, weaker, and less talented at magic, Llassarians are quickly finding out that there’s no fighting the invasion that crept in so quietly and politely. Even the castle isn’t free of fae: those closest to the king and queen are faery advisors.

When Dion ferch Alawn returns from a carefully sanitised tour of Outer Llassar, the most exciting thing she expects from the near future is the present her twin sister Aerwn promised for their seventeenth birthday.

Then her carriage breaks down, and Dion gets a taste of what the real Llassar has become: desperate, enslaved, and ripe for rebellion. Getting home safely is just the first problem she faces: the real struggle begins when Dion returns to the castle. Her new knowledge is inconvenient and unwelcome– to declare it, treason.

 

Inside Creative Minds: Jenn Castro, Children’s Author

~ Alina ~ 2 Comments

Well, I know it’s not summer anymore, but this blog series seemed too good to truncate when I got an interview with Jenn Castro, author of the charming picture book MOM ME. Listen in as she talks about her writing process, urban homesteading, and how to get kids to love reading.

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1.     Welcome, Jenn! So tell us–how did you first discover that you loved writing?

When I was 10, I read Marjorie’s New Friend by Carolyn Wells. Reading about her red diary made me want to keep one. That year, I bought a diary. It’s green tweed and has a lock. Since then, I’ve kept many many journals, quote books, and scraps of paper in boxes. When I get an idea, I have to write it down. Eventually the need to write the story is so strong, I have to tell the story.

2.     What are some of your favorite books/authors?

My favorite children’s picture book authors are Margaret Wise Brown (Wait Til The Moon is Full), Leo Leonni (Swimmy), and Marie Hall Ets, (In the Forest). I love these authors because they respect and honor children’s imagination and intelligence. In elementary school, Beverly Cleary was a favorite. As an adult, I enjoy reading her books because she is very skilled at structuring a story. In high school, I liked books about seemingly real teen experiences (i.e., Mr. Pigman, by Paul Zindel). As an adult I am pulled to books about day-to-day life. Barbara Kingsolver’s series including Pigs in Heaven still top my list because of her fresh use of metaphors.

3.     How did you develop the idea for MOM ME?

I can’t say I developed the idea for MOM ME because the story came directly from funny things my kids did, including wiping their noses and mouths on my clothing! Some of the material came from how I played as a child: adults offering their shoulders as diving boards and carrying me across a pool on their backs name two.

4.     What’s one thing you wish someone had told you before you started the book publishing process?

Since publishing MOM ME and starting Hippowl Press, I’ve developed huge respect for the publishing industry. The writing, illustrating, front and back matter, printing, marketing, distributing, etc. is a huge endeavor. I think if anyone had told me all the steps, I might never have done it. So perhaps it’s better that I jumped in without knowing all that.

5.     Which came first for your book–the words or the illustrations?

The words came first. When my youngest was learning to sleep through the night, I’d wake to help him. While awake, I’d grab any nearby piece of paper and scribble a memory from the day. Images for illustrations followed quickly. I loved working with my illustrator on the story images because we saw the story so similarly.

6.     What divides your time from writing? How do you balance it all?

Without my kids, family, and community commitments, I’d have nothing competing for my time. Having so little time to write forces me to become very efficient and put any free time I have to writing. The stronger the story, the more compelled I am to sit and finish. My husband is very supportive and encouraging.

7.     What are some of your hobbies?

Coloring with magic markers on vellum paper is relaxing. I also enjoy painting fabric, bike riding with my teenager, playing cards with my youngest, and urban homesteading with my husband.

8.     What’s the best thing about being a published author? The hardest?

The best thing about being a published author is the satisfaction of finishing my first project. The hardest is finishing my next one.

9.     What do you think is the best way to help a child develop a love of reading?

Children learn to love reading when they see adults in their lives who enjoy reading. Kids (and adults) like to talk about books. I frequently ask kids what they’re reading and talk to them about the books. My own kids tell me about the stories they’re reading and I stop and listen to them. Showing I’m interested, shows them that discussing books is important and valuable. When they see that I value reading, it develops their love of reading.

10.    Are you working on another book project now?

Yes, I’m working on a young adult novel. I also keep a regular blog, jenncastro.com, where I write about daily life as a mom, including searching for termites under my house, hiring myself to pull weeds, and many seemingly mundane activities like cooking pancakes for dinner and hanging laundry to dry.

11.    What’s one piece of advice you would give to aspiring writers?

When you have an idea, write it down. Inspiration is fleeting and it’s important to hang on to it so it doesn’t slip away.

Thanks for stopping by, Jenn! 

To find more information about Jenn or MOM ME, check out her website!

Inside Creative Minds: Shelley Adina, Author (on steampunk and chickens)

~ Alina ~ Leave a comment

I’m so excited to welcome author Shelley Adina to the blog! Shelley is the author of a mind-blowing 30 books, from steampunk to romance to Amish fiction. Her book, Lady of Devices, was my introduction to steampunk, and I’m now gobbling up the series, cheering for the spunky Lady Claire as she dominates at engineering and chemistry in between making witty Victorian retorts. Listen in as this prolific writer talks costume design, chicken rescues, girl power, and teatime with the Duchess of Devonshire.

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AS: Welcome, Shelley! We all know that good writing comes from good reading. So tell us–what are some of your favorite books?

SA: The list is so long I hardly know where to start! I cut my teeth on English authors like Elizabeth Goudge (The Little White Horse and Linnets and Valerians were my favorites). Then I read the grandes dames of suspense, like Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart, and Phyllis Whitney. When I got into publishing, I read books by people I knew and liked personally—Jennifer Crusie, Kristin Hannah, Bella Andre. Now I read all over the place—mysteries by Donna Leon and Linda Castillo, steampunk by Scott Westerfeld and Devon Monk, urban fantasy by Jim Butcher.

AS: You wrote your first novel when you were 13. What was it about?

SA: Since I read all the Nancy Drew books one after the other, my first novel was a total Mary Sue/Nancy Drew, with international art thieves and cruise ships and three teenagers who solved it all. My happiest hours were spent writing that book, on yellow typing paper with dots of white correction fluid. Sadly, when I sent it off to a publisher, my budding genius was not recognized and it came back with such speed I wondered if they’d even opened the envelope. But inside was a letter saying that while they were declining, they could see I knew how to tell a story, and to keep going. So I did.

AS: What are some of your non-writing hobbies? How do those inform your writing?

SA: I like to do creative things. I’m a costumer, and really enjoy making dresses related to the books I’m writing. When the Magnificent Devices series goes back in time to Lady Claire’s ancestors in the Regency period, I’m going to have such a good time! I also play the piano and the Celtic harp, and I rescue chickens. There is a chicken somewhere in every book I write, even if it’s only a pattern on the kitchen wallpaper 🙂

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Shelley in a Victorian costume of her own making!

AS: You’ve done quite a bit of traveling. Is there a place that’s particularly inspired your writing?

SA: So far I’ve been to 27 countries. But London inspires all kinds of steampunk ideas—which isn’t surprising, since many books in the genre are set there. I’ve been there four times, I think, the most recent in 2012, when I was researching the locations in the Magnificent Devices series, like Bedlam, and Wilton Crescent, and Vauxhall.

Book 1 of the Magnificent Devices series, set in an alternate London

AS: What’s the best thing about being an author? The hardest?

SA: The best thing about being an author is hearing from readers who enjoy living in my world as much as I do. I say, the more the merrier! The hardest thing is curbing my impatience to write everything all at once. I have books laid out for the next two years, and it’s like reining in the mental horses when I want to do it all at once!

AS: You write in a variety of genres: steampunk, romance, young adult, even Amish women’s fiction. Do you see common themes that link your books together?

SA: Oh, yes. After 30 books, I’m discovering that writers often have a “core story” that they can’t help but express on the page, no matter what the actual plot of the book is about. My core story is the young woman breaking free of the cage of other people’s expectations to find her own path. It seems that no matter what genre I write in, some aspect of that core story comes out. Maybe that’s why people like them—because it’s a kind of universal experience that’s at the same time specific to that book and that character.

AS: As a hybrid author, you’ve self-published some of your books and had others traditionally published. How would you compare the two experiences? Do you prefer one over the other?

SA: My current publisher, Hachette, has been very good to me and I adore my editor, Christina Boys. The tradpub and selfpub experiences are very different, but these days, most of the marketing falls on the author no matter which path you take. I love the control that I have with self-publishing, in scheduling the books, in writing them, in not worrying about whether this or that will be acceptable to someone in marketing. All that matters is whether it’s acceptable to the reader, and I love that direct connection.

AS: If you could have tea with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?

SA: Wouldn’t it be lovely to have tea with the Duchess of Devonshire (1757–1806)? She was such an influential woman in a time when women were only expected to be decorative and produce children. She had star power, that girl. And a difficult life, for all her wealth.

AS: What’s one piece of advice you would give to aspiring writers?

SA: First of all, read widely. One of my biggest fears is that I’ll be derivative, so I love to read what others are coming up with. I’m amazed at the power of the imaginations out there. And secondly, don’t be afraid to pull out all the stops and push your own limits. Stretch yourself so that you can find your own space in which to create worlds and people that are unique to you.

AS: What’s next for you?

SA: I’ve got a bunch of things going on. Here’s a partial list—

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• Herb of Grace, book 1 in my Healing Grace series written as Adina Senft, comes out on August 5. I turn in book 3, Balm of Gilead, on August 15.
• Immediately afterward, I begin work on The Leftover Bride, a romance set in Lucy Kevin’s “Four Weddings and a Fiasco” Kindle World.
• Once that’s done, I begin work on A Lady of Integrity, book 7 in the Magnificent Devices series, which will take me to the end of the year.
• In between all these, I’m re-releasing my All About Us teen series, which will be renamed the Glory Prep series, with all new covers and updated content.

A busy remainder of 2014!

Thanks for stopping by, Shelley!

Find Shelley online at http://www.shelleyadina.com and http://www.adinasenft.com. Sign up for her newsletter or friend her on Facebook. Or chat with her on Twitter @shelleyadina !

If you have a question for Shelley, leave a comment! She’ll be around to answer it today! 

Another Stop on the #MyWritingProcess Blog Tour

~ Alina ~ 6 Comments

Happy Fourth of July!

A few weeks ago, I was tagged in the #mywritingprocess blog tour by my good friend Angela Wallace, herself an author of thrilling, imaginative fantasy and urban fantasy. So, considering interviews are a theme of this summer’s blogging, I thought I’d take a turn and give you a peek inside my writer brain 🙂 I’ll answer four questions, then pass them on to two other writers.

What am I working on?

I’m currently writing like a freight train to finish the sequel to The Illuminator’s Gift, a book which is scheduled for publication this December! At this point I think I can safely say that it’s quite different from the first book, but is still a continuation of the same story. If you enjoyed the characters in The Illuminator’s Gift, I think you’ll enjoy watching them grow and face new dangers, enemies, and challenges in the sequel.

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Dunollie Castle, Scotland; an image on the mood board for my 2nd book!

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

The Illuminator’s Gift is fantasy, but truth be told, I’m not a die-hard fantasy lover. (Did I say that out loud?) Of course I enjoy discovering new worlds and encountering mythical beasties, but those aren’t enough for me to fall in love with a book, either as a reader or a writer. Dragons and swordfighting alone aren’t enough to make me care. So my work combines genres–some fantasy, some theology, a dash of history, a sprinkle of fairy tale, a little travel writing. I love to read cross-genre books, so why not write them?

Why do I write what I do?

Fantasy books like The Lord of the Rings trilogy and C.S. Lewis’s Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Great Divorce have been some of my best friends and truest guides as I have navigated the roughest places in my life. What I really love about fantasy is its ability to grapple with deep truths and teach us how to tackle life’s difficulties and darknesses, all without triggering our defense mechanisms or putting us to sleep. So when I write, I seek not only to spin a good fantasy yarn, but to infuse it with truths I’ve learned along the way, because I think all good stories have truth at their center. Not that I have it all figured out! Often I find myself exploring and growing right alongside my characters, which is part of what makes writing challenging and fun 🙂

All good stories have truth at their center.

How does my writing process work?

Hehe. Today or yesterday? As with many important disciplines, I don’t think writing habits are something you learn once, master, and practice like a machine for the rest of your life. The way I wrote my first book is not the way I’m writing my second. Part of that is because I learned from a few mistakes the first time around! I consider myself a “pantser,” meaning that I tend to write by the seat of my pants, letting the story develop organically rather than planning out a whole book in advance. This time, however, I did start with a sketchy, big-picture outline of the story’s events, leaving big gaps for serendipity to happen. I think the general outline has helped me stay on track (and write faster), but some of my favorite scenes have come from the serendipity gaps 🙂

And the blog tour continues with two other splendid writers, both of whom I hope to introduce to you via interview this summer!

Shelley Adina is the author of over twenty books, from Victorian steampunk to Amish women’s fiction.

Jenn Castro is the author of Mom*Me, a charming picture book for young readers and their moms.

If you’re local to the SF Bay Area, come say hello at Village House of Books next Thursday, 7/10! From 6-8 PM, illustrator Amalia Hillmann and I will be there, signing The Illuminator’s Gift and answering questions. Plus lots of family-friendly activities including face painting, snacks, an art contest, and a drawing for a free book! We’d love to see you there!

Inside Creative Minds: Hannah Jayne, Ninja (I mean, writer)

~ Alina ~ Leave a comment

This week’s creative mind is a real treat. Meet Hannah Jayne, a multi-published author of urban fantasy and YA thrillers who’s wickedly funny and maybe also the nicest person you’ve ever met. I had the privilege of meeting her at California Bookstore Day, and she broke the ice and had me laughing in seconds. Join us now as she reveals her secrets about writing, penguins, SWAT teams, strong heroines, and the Disney channel.

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L to R: A.R. Silverberry, Amalia Hillmann, yours truly, Hannah Jayne, and Erica Goss. Photo credit: Rebecca Hillmann.

AS: So excited to have you on the blog, Hannah! So tell us–what are some of your favorite books to read?

HJ: I am the most weirdly eclectic reader. I love YA mysteries–anything by April Henry or Barry Lyga especially, thrillers, Southern lit like Jill McCorkle, funny memoir stuff from Celia Rivenbark and Jen Lancaster, psychological nonfiction, short stories, hard-boiled detective novels, new author discoveries…have I covered everything? lol!

AS: How did you first fall in love with writing?

HJ: I was in the 2nd grade and was assigned to write a 3-page story. I wrote 12 pages. Stayed in through recess, just kept going. I loved the idea that I could create my own world. Granted, it was a horrible world with penguins or time travelers or orphans or something, but still.

AS: You seem to find (or create) humor wherever you go. So what is one of the funniest things that’s happened to you as you’ve spoken to audiences about writing?

HJ: I was doing a school visit and talking about how I get to do such cool research for my books. I think I was actually talking about the time I got to kick in doors with the SWAT team and I said something like, “but my mother doesn’t know that part” because we were in a location on a case. My cell phone rang immediately and I went to turn it off–then realized it was my mother calling! I actually answered and the crowd said hello to her. It was really funny. And no, they didn’t rat me out!

AS: You are a prolific writer and have a new book coming out! Tell us about it.

HJ: My latest novel hits shelves July 2nd and is called THE DARE. Brynna Chase dared her best friend to jump off a pier one night at an end of the school year party. The girls, Brynna and Erica, jumped together but only Brynna came back to the surface. Erica’s body was never found but 18 months later, Brynna gets a tweet from the account of EricaNShaw with the simple message: Remember me?

Hannah’s latest novel, coming July 2

AS: You write in multiple genres: urban fantasy, romance, and young adult thrillers. Do you see a common thread that links them together?

HJ: I think ultimately, I like to write about women finding their strength. In my Underworld books, Sophie Lawson starts out quite the sniveling weakling, but book by book she evolves to a pretty bad-ass chick. Each of the teens in my YA are put in some pretty horrible situations, but it’s always their brains that get them out of it.

AS: Love it! You’re now a full-time author, but what are some of the other jobs you’ve held along the way?

HJ: Ha! Good question! I folded towels at a home superstore; I made hand-painted (God-awful) sweatshirts; I worked as a bookkeeper (this after very nearly failing every math class ever); a very bad personal assistant; a cheerleading coach…

AS: Wow. So what’s the best thing about being a published author? The hardest?

HJ: The best thing is all the people I get to meet and connect with. The fans are amazing and meeting other writers is awesome. The hardest part can be the loneliness since writing is such a solitary thing. Also hard is the fact that I write from home where the refrigerator lives. It’s not so much hard on me as it is on my pants.

AS: What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

HJ: When am I not writing?! 🙂 I love to hike and basically do anything outdoors. I’m a world-class napper. I love to cook, adventure, travel, spend time with my family and friends. I watch Investigation Discovery like it’s going out of style and pretend I watch the Disney channel for research purposes.

AS: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

HJ: Keep knocking until someone opens the door!

AS: What’s next for you? 

HJ: I just sold a new YA thriller called Out of the Woods and I’m working on a middle grade paranormal and an adult thriller that changes by the minute! And I’m totally DVR’ing the new episodes of Wives with Knives on Investigation Discovery.

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Thank you so much for stopping by, Hannah! I feel lucky to have one of your books signed in orange Sharpie 🙂

Check out Hannah’s books for a dose of heart-pounding action mixed with wonderfully off-the-wall humor! You can connect with her on her website, Facebook, or Twitter.

Inside Creative Minds: Erica Goss, Poet

~ Alina ~ Leave a comment

Please welcome Erica Goss to our Creative Minds series! Erica is the Poet Laureate of Los Gatos and a lovely person who’s as elegant as she is whimsical. I’ve always loved reading and writing poetry, but meeting Erica at California Bookstore Day inspired me to work on my craft (and teach it to my students). Listen in as she talks about incurring traffic tickets, juggling multiple jobs, and finding inspiration in parking lots.

Erica Goss
AS: Delighted to have you, Erica! So let’s go back in time: as a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

EG: Lots of things: a dancer, an artist, a scientist, a mother, besides being a writer.

AS: How did you end up in poetry (versus fiction or nonfiction)?

EG: I starting writing poems as a young child. Poetry was always the most attractive literary form to me, the one I most enjoyed writing and reading. I also write non-fiction, as in creative non-fiction or memoir, but poetry was and is the most natural fit.

AS: What are some of your favorite books?

EG: That’s a hard one! The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson, Anna Karenina, Wuthering Heights, Beowulf. I’m drawn to 19th century fiction. Virginia Woolf’s essays, Sylvia Plath’s Ariel, Wanda Coleman’s Mercurochrome – these are books that feed me. A novel that I read about once a year is Housekeeping, by Marilynne Robinson. I think Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is one of the best non-fiction books of the last five years. I read poetry constantly, and a current favorite is Terrence Hayes. As a child I loved Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, and the fairy tale collections edited by Andrew Lang.

BEOWULF: one of Erica’s favorite poems! Public domain image courtesy of the British Library

AS: Do you have another job (or more than one)? How do you balance it with your creative writing?

EG: In addition to writing, which includes poetry, blogging, magazine articles, etc., I work as a grant writer and as a freelance teacher.

AS: Wow, that’s quite a load to juggle! So when you’re writing, what are some of the most unusual places you’ve gotten ideas for poems?

EG: I have a secret muse: parking lots. For some reason, I find these sad stretches of concrete more inspiring than Yosemite. I think it’s because I like the idea of claiming a neglected space as my own, a place no one has seen the value in yet. I advise my students to find some place like that – an alley, or a dumpster, or the back of a building – and embrace it. Describe its climate and inhabitants. Do research about your place. Visit it often and note the change of seasons. Immortalize it in poetry.

AS: What is one of the funniest things that’s happened to you as you’ve spoken to audiences about poetry and writing?

EG: At Village House of Books’ Author Day, I made exactly enough selling books to pay for the parking ticket I received that day.

AS: Ooh, ouch. So do you have a daily creative routine? What does it look like?

EG: I try to be at my desk every day by 8:00 a.m. I catch my best ideas early in the morning. I write until noon, eat lunch, and then switch gears to more mundane tasks. Often I will have a burst of energy late in the afternoon.

AS: One of my other jobs is tutoring students in writing. So why do you think it’s important for students to learn to write poetry, as opposed to just essays?

EG: Poetry is a lot more fun than essays. Poetry can get students excited about writing. They know that the poem they write is a true expression of their inner life, and for that reason alone writing poetry is valuable.

AS: Anything new coming down the writing pipeline for you?

EG: My first full-length collection of poetry, titled The Museum of Moving Parts, is making the rounds of poetry publishers. I’m working on a series of poems based on the previous year of my life, tentatively called “Time Lapse.”

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Erica’s published book, “Vibrant Words,” is a collection of prompts ideal for teaching poetry.

AS: What’s one piece of advice you would give to aspiring writers?

Turn off all distractions and read. Read widely. Start with classic fiction, then read great works of non-fiction like In Cold Blood by Truman Capote and Black Boy by Richard Wright. Read a poem every night before you go to sleep. Find an author you enjoy and read all of his or her books. Try more challenging work. Read the poetry of many eras and countries. Read travel writing, food literature, science fiction and fantasy. Read children’s books. You can’t become a writer without reading. Visit your local library and discover its gems.

Here’s a great quote from Ray Bradbury about the importance of libraries: “I spent three days a week for 10 years educating myself in the public library. You can get a complete education for no money. At the end of 10 years, I had read every book in the library and I’d written a thousand stories.”

Thank you so much for stopping by, Erica! 

To connect with Erica, visit her website or Facebook.

If you’re interested in learning more about poetry, Erica will be starting monthly poetry readings at the Los Gatos Library on Sunday, September 21. They’ll be called “The Poetry Kitchen,” and each session will open with a poem about food. There will be a featured reader and an open mic.

Inside Creative Minds: A.R. Silverberry, Author

~ Alina ~ 5 Comments

With Memorial Day behind us and summer around the corner, it’s time for something new on this blog. Which is why I’m launching a summer series, taking us “Inside Creative Minds.” Interviews with writers, artists, and other creatives will give us a peek inside their lives and creative habits.

Our first guest is novelist A. R. Silverberry. We became book friends after swapping titles at California Bookstore Day.

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Photo credit: Amalia Hillmann

Welcome, A. R. Silverberry! So tell us–how did you first fall in love with writing?

Well, I’m in love with other people’s writing! I’m pretty hard on my own. What I love is the creative process, discovering things I never planned or anticipated, discovering connections that were completely unconscious on my part. I especially love when a character steps on stage and announces herself, fully born. All I have to do is get out of the way and let her speak! Other characters, I have to really work at to know, and I better pray they aren’t main characters or I’m in for a tough time. I love writing the first draft. I don’t love writing the final draft. By that point, I’m aware of what I call my Waterloo chapters, those spots where I just can’t complete things to my satisfaction. Ironically, it may be a single sentence that’s hanging me up.

Do you hear that scream? It’s my wife after I’ve asked her for six months straight which permutation of a passage she prefers!

 

What are some of your favorite books to read?

A Tale of Two Cities, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Lacuna, and all things Tolkien. I grew up on fairy tales, myths, and the Oz books. Nowadays, for pure fun, I read Dean Koontz.

 

You publish both paper books and e-books. As an avid reader yourself, which medium do you prefer and why? 

I had the good fortune to go into a Shakespeare museum and got to look at a book written in 1606. Imagine! Shakespeare could have touched the same book! Physical books are an art form. As long as there are people, art won’t die, and neither will physical books. I’ll always prefer them. How do you cozy up to an e-reader? But darn if those e-books aren’t kind on old eyes. I love that I can enlarge the font, look up words I don’t know, and most surprising, my reading speed increased.

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You can’t get a signed e-book…

What are your two novels, Wyndano’s Cloak and The Stream, about? Are they related? 

They’re unrelated. Wyndano’s Cloak is a fantasy adventure for children. The Stream is tale for adults, in the same genre as Siddhartha by Herman Hesse and The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

Wyndano’s Cloak in one word: Empowerment. More specifically, girl power, though the message to believe in your inner gifts applies to all, young and old alike.

I asked one of my beta readers what she thought The Stream was about. She replied, “Good heavens, what is it not about?!” Here’s the best I can do:

What if your world was six miles wide and endlessly long?

After a devastating storm kills his parents, five-year-old Wend awakens to the strange world of the Stream. He discovers he can only travel downstream, and dangers lurk at every turn: deadly rapids, ruthless pirates, a mysterious pavilion that lures him into intoxicating fantasies, and rumor of a giant waterfall at the edge of the world. Defenseless, alone, with only courage and his will to survive, Wend begins his quest to become a man. Will tragic loss trap him in a shadow world, or will he enter the Stream, with all its passion and peril?

Part coming-of-age tale, part adventure, part spiritual journey, The Stream is a fable about life, impermanence, and the gifts found in each moment.

Stream Small Cover 2

 

Wow! Two powerful books, quite different from each other. So who or what inspires your writing?

Ideas tumble into my mind from every conceivable corner. Take The Stream, for instance. The initial impetus was a conversation I was having, where I used the metaphor of a stream. I kept thinking about that metaphor. In a few hours, the character of a small boy, alone, defenseless, trying to understand the ways of the world, popped into my mind. I saw images of him confronting the challenges we all face in life: love, loss, pain, losing your way. The next morning, I put aside the novel I was working on (it wasn’t working anyway), and started writing. It pretty much tumbled out of me and didn’t let go until it was done.

 

What appeals to you about fantasy stories?

The unique thing about fantasy as a genre is that it’s not limited by the laws of physics. Anything can happen. Magic exists. Unexpected things can and do occur. Conflicts are painted in bold, broad strokes. The hero or heroine is up against unspeakable power, power beyond human ken. If they can triumph over that, I can triumph over the foibles of my life.

 

What’s one piece of advice you would give to aspiring writers?

Be wary of advice, except mine of course! And here it is: read a lot; write a lot; learn the craft, but don’t be a slave to it; and break the “rules” if it helps the story. Don’t try to write like anyone else. There is only one you. Let the beautiful voice inside you sing.

 

Do you have another job? How do you balance it with writing?

I’m a psychologist, working primarily with children and adolescents, though I see adults too. I try to write every morning while my mind is clear and closer to the dream world. I wrote Wyndano’s Cloak while commuting on Cal Train! It worked out great. The sound of the train triggered me into writing mode. I wrote three hours a day, five days a week. Between the train and work, I walked for twenty minutes, taking notes about snippets of dialogue or description. The biggest loss to my writing was when we moved away from that train! I have to drive now, but I’m listening to a lot of audio books!

 

Are you working on a new book now? Can you tell us anything about it?

I never reveal the plot of anything until I’m ready to release it, but I’ll say this: It’s a dystopic young adult sci-fi fantasy trilogy. Say that five times as fast as you can!

 

Thank you for joining us! It’s been a pleasure! 

A. R. Silverberry will be answering questions in the comments today, so ask away! Check out Wyndano’s Cloak and newly released The Stream on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Peter Adler

 

About A. R. Silverberry:

A. R. Silverberry writes fiction for adults and children. His novel, WYNDANO’S CLOAK, won multiple awards, including the Benjamin Franklin Award gold medal for Juvenile/Young Adult Fiction. He lives in California, where the majestic coastline, trees, and mountains inspire his writing. THE STREAM is his second novel. Visit his website or connect with him on Facebook or Twitter!

Literature, Kniterature

~ Alina ~ 3 Comments
Today I’m tickled to host my second-ever author interview! My good friend Audry Nicklin has designed, written, and published Lit Knits, a book of ten knitting patterns inspired by works of classic literature that allow you to “wear your favorite story.” 

What a delicious stack of old books!
Ever since I decided I wanted to be a writer at age 14, I’ve loved reading interviews with authors. I love to get inside their heads and learn their habits and tips. Maybe it’s my secret hope that the literary prowess will rub off. 

Let’s go behind the scenes of a real live author’s creative process. Welcome to my virtual living room, Audry! 

1. We all know that a book takes a long time to produce. How long has your book been in the making, from concept to publication?


This book has been a long time coming. It took me roughly 2.5 years from concept to publication. And within that 2.5 years, I was also working part time at a yarn shop and submitting patterns to other publications.
2. How did you get the idea for Lit Knits?

After reading Anne of Green Gables in early 2011, I was inspired to make a shawl that had bits of the story knit into it. So I made up a stitch pattern that looked like the house, Green Gables. Below that I knit a texture of a fence followed by a field of flowers leading down to the Lake of Shining Waters. 

The “Avonlea” shawl from Lit Knits. I love Anne of Green Gables!
After completing the shawl, I started working on a pair of mittens inspired by the white rabbit in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. One thing led to another and I realized that I had a solid theme for a collection of patterns. It did take some time to figure out how to make the collection as cohesive as possible. I thought about doing a knit for A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens and one for The Raven by Poe. But Anne of Green Gables and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderlandare considered classic children’s literature, so I kept within that theme.

3. Of the 10 patterns in the book, which is your favorite?


I can’t say that they are all my favorite, can I?

Each pattern represents a different part of my knitting journey, so I like each one for a different reason. “Down The Rabbit Hole” is based on one of my favorite childhood stories. But the “Robin Hoodie” represents the culmination of all my knitting abilities. I couldn’t have written that pattern when I started the book. But I gained enough experience while writing the other patterns to make it a reality. 

The “Robin Hoodie,” the culmination of all of Audry’s knitting abilities.
4. What would be the 11th work of literature you would add if you could?

This collection almost had 12 patterns. Before I designed each garment, I read the book I wanted to base the knit on. I read Little Women and Heidi, but when it came down to it, I had trouble designing knits that didn’t look kitschy. So I cut the collection down to 10 patterns.

5. The photography in your book is incredible. However, we all know that serene images don’t always come from serene photo shoots. What were some funny stories that happened while you were taking pictures for this book?

Well, you were part of one of the more amusing photo shoots. Since the socks you modeled were Black Beauty themed, we needed to have horses in the background. After getting permission to go to a field where there were horses, we couldn’t find them! It took a good half hour of circling around groves of trees before we found the herd. Then three curious horses came over to investigate. Just as we would shoo one away from the equipment, another one would sneak up and have a look. I still have horse spit stains on my camera bag.


Glamor? More like cold mist, grass stains, allergies, and horse spit. Photo credit: Juliet Nicklin
I know you were cold during that shoot since it started to mist by the end of it, and I had horrible allergies for two days afterwards because I spent the entire time with my face practically rubbing the grass. And I never did get those grass stains out of my jeans.

6. I know you made extreme efforts to use authentic props in your photo shoots. What was the coolest prop you collected for this book?

I was lucky to have all sorts of neat props for this book. But my favorite prop was the real Piece of Eight that I used in the “Sail To Treasure Island” shoot. It came from my Opa’s coin collection and was minted in 1744 during King Philip V of Spain’s rule. 

The “Sail To Treasure Island” blanket, its inspiring book, a compass, and a real Piece of Eight. 

7. Okay, let’s get into your secrets of creative success. On a “normal” day, what does your creative routine look like?

I know some people like to have strict time schedules. I find that keeping up with a schedule stresses me out, so I just have an order I do things. I’ll get up mid to late morning, shower, and walk the dog, Scooter. Then I walk myself to and from a local coffee shop to get tea, after which I eat lunch and read a little bit of a book before I sit down and work. I typically make a list of what needs to be done the night before, so I just start working down the list. Then it is a second dog walk followed by more work. After eating dinner, I might watch a little TV with Scooter while knitting. (He gets grumpy if he doesn’t get at least a half hour of TV time.) 

Audry’s four-legged creative muse, Scooter.
Depending on what stage I’m at in a design, I might be doing “work” knitting or “personal” knitting. After TV time with Scooter, he and I head to bed, where I might work into the wee hours if things are going well. If not, I give up and go to bed. Before my head hits the pillow, I’ll typically list a few things that need to get done the next day.

8. 2 1/2 years of dedicated work is a lot. What kept you from quitting on this project when the road got tough?

My options were to either finish the book or go look for another job. Working on the book looked like the better option. After a while, I had told so many people about the book that it would have been terribly embarrassing to not finish. So avoiding humiliation is what kept me going after a while. That, and I didn’t want to disappoint my parents.

9. Self-publishing v. traditional publishing is a big conversation in the book world these days. Why did you choose to self-publish rather than seek traditional publication? Are you glad you did?

I chose to self-publish because I didn’t want to sign over the rights to my work. The thought that a publisher could do one print run and let the book go out of print was a little too much to take. However, this also means that I am in charge of all the promotion. So while part of me is frustrated that I don’t have the resources to promote Lit Knits as widely as a publisher could, I’m still satisfied that I’ve chosen to self-publish. I’ve been lucky that my background is in print design. I don’t think I could have done it myself without that experience.

I’d say she did a pretty good job designing her own cover.

10. Now that Lit Knits is done, do you have another creative project in the works? Can you give us any hints?

I think I’ll always be working on some sort of knit. I have 2-3 more book ideas, but at the moment, I’m working on some single-pattern proposals for knitting magazines. It’s been interesting seeing how each of my previous jobs has led to the next. I look forward to seeing where this book takes me.
Thanks for having me, Alina!



My pleasure! It was a fun privilege for me to both copyedit the manuscript of Lit Knits and model a pair of socks. But above all, seeing my friend successfully pioneer her own book enterprise inspires me to take my own novel seriously and see it to completion. 

If you love to knit, know someone who does, or just like whimsical pictures of cool, literature-inspired clothes, check out the book on Audry’s web site. She’s got a special preorder deal going until September 25. You can also find her author page on Facebook.
Have more questions? Leave a comment! Audry and I will both be around for some Q&A! 
Unless otherwise noted, all photos are courtesy of Audry Nicklin. 

11 Questions for a Real Live Author

~ Alina ~ 3 Comments

Ever wondered what a day in the life of a published author is like? Does the muse sing gracefully while fingers race on the keyboard to keep up? Or is it more like piles of coffee cups and shredded drafts? Do published authors have second jobs? What are their geeky secrets? And what do they think about e-books vs. paper?

Free image courtesy of stock.xchng and nkzs

Well, today we’re lucky enough to find out, because I’m doing my first author interview on this blog! Local author (and my good friend) Angela Wallace has just self-published her 5th title, an urban fantasy called Earth Tones, which is the third in her Elemental Magic series. She is now sitting in my virtual living room, ready to reveal her secrets. Muahaha.

I mean, welcome, Angela.


1. Let’s talk about book love (since that’s obviously one of my favorite topics). How old were you when you fell in love with reading? Can you remember what book/ books inspired you? 

I fell in love with reading the moment I learned how. I’d go to every Scholastic book fair and read enough books to get a prize every time. Some of my favorite books were Tamora Pierce’s quartets Song of the Lioness and The Immortals. They started with a young child with dreams or special powers, and the books followed their growth into young adulthood. I loved the journey. And the fantasy worlds. 😉


2. What was the first story you ever finished about? 

It was a YA sci-fi about a teenage rebel group in a post-apocalyptic United States. I guess the correct term would be dystopian, but it was heavy with space pods and ray guns. I wrote it when I was ten.



3. If you could have lunch with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why? 


A. W. Tozer. I love his book, The Pursuit of God, and I imagine it would be an extraordinary conversation.


4. Juggling jobs is one of my biggest challenges. How does a published author support herself? Is writing your only job? 

I’m also a sign language interpreter. I work at a couple local colleges interpreting classroom lectures. It’s great because I get to keep learning new subjects, but don’t have to work for a grade!


5. What is the geekiest thing about you? Because we have to know 🙂

I know how to write a form of Tolkien’s elvish runes. I used to exchange letters with a friend in high school written in them. It also makes a very handy code to keep passwords in.

6. What are some of the weirdest ways you’ve gotten story ideas? 

Dreams, for one. I’ve dreamed a few complete story plots from beginning to end, though they don’t often get written down. If I could just dream about the novels I’m actually working on, I could save time!


7. Now that you can look back on the completion of your latest book, Earth Tones, what was your favorite part of writing this book? 

Hm, I think it was getting to know a new main character, plus getting to play with a new element. There was a lot more opportunity for Nita to communicate with animals, and the earth wielding in fight scenes was fun too.


Angela’s latest book, Earth Tones, is the third in her Elemental Magic series.

8. You publish both paper books and e-books. As an avid reader yourself, which do you prefer, and why? 

It depends. I do like paper books, seeing the cover on the front, seeing my progress as I turn the pages. But some of them are really fat and it hurts my wrist to hold them, lol. Then I like e-books better because it’s much lighter to carry around.

9. Online self-publishing gets a lot of media attention these days. So what do you like about self-publishing? 

I like keeping control over my story. (Yes, I’m a control freak.) I also like working at my own pace. I can be a drill sergeant on myself, but am well aware that “life happens.” It’s easier to give myself permission to be flexible than it is to ask for it from someone else.


10. Anything you don’t like about it?  

The marketing, lol. Though, traditionally published authors have to do much the same. Putting together this blog tour was a big step for me!


11. Are there are any fun scenes in Earth Tones that didn’t end up in the final draft? 

There was this cute scene I wanted to use, but it just didn’t fit anywhere in the story. Nita and her boyfriend Keenan are leaving the house when they find a moose on the porch. I learned that this is a very dangerous situation and that people are actually trapped in their homes until the moose decides to leave on its own. Now, Nita could just tell the moose to get lost with her earth magic, but instead she says they’ll have to put their plans on hold, and with a suggestive smile, hints that they can figure out something else to fill their time with.

Thank you for your time and insights, Angela! 


If Earth Tones captures your fancy, check it out on Amazon. 

And watch the book trailer on Youtube (trailers aren’t just for movies anymore)! Authors nowadays–especially self-published–are Jacks and Jills of many trades, and Angela turned moviemaker to promote her new book. Check it out.  


You can also read the book description:


Nita Young doesn’t know if she has a future with college sweetheart Keenan Donovan—two star-crossed lovers of opposing elements—but she invites him up to Alaska to see if Earth and Water can rekindle their old flame. When a series of wild animal attacks strike the inhabitants of Yakutat, Nita has to put her romantic plans on hold. Mangled bodies are turning up, and a mysterious black panther has been spotted in the woods. Fur, scales, and a venomous bite suggest the cat is supernatural in origin—and evidence indicates that someone not only summoned it, but is using it to target those Nita cares about. It’s the perfect murder weapon: no fingerprints, no evidence. And in a town this small, the killer is someone she knows. Nita’s strength will be put to the test as she faces losing her friends, her town, and the man she loves.


To connect with Angela:
Angela Wallace loves gun-toting good boys and could have been a cop in another life except for the unfortunate condition of real blood making her queasy. Good thing writing gun and sword fights isn’t a problem. In her books you’ll find the power of love, magic, and redemption. 

Blog: http://angelawallace.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Angela-Wallace-Author/232511253453440
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AngelaRWallace

I hope you enjoyed this interview! If you leave a comment to this post, both Angela and I will be answering them today. Open Q&A time. Hint, hint 🙂