Author Interviews

It does exactly what it says on the tin :)

by

Interview with…Author Suzanne Lilly

Today we’re welcoming author Suzanne Lilly for an interview…

———————————

First off, let me just say these questions are the most fun I’ve had in an interview yet! Okay, now I’ll dive in and tell you my answers.

 

If you could have any superpower what would you choose?

The power to make people’s dreams come true. So you want to drive a Mercedes? Zap! You’ve got it. World peace? Zap! No problem. If I could make dreams come true, maybe the world would be a happier place.

 

In one sentence only, tell us why we should read your book.

If you found sunglasses that tell the future, wouldn’t you want to try them on?

 

Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects?

Untellable is coming out in February 2013. It also takes place in Honey Creek, Ohio, where Aspen Dwyer has run away to hide from her father who is a murderer. While she’s in Honey Creek, she meets the man of her dreams, Colton Moraine. He’s kind, strong, thoughtful, and good looking, and he doesn’t know anything about her past, which is just how Aspen likes things. But when her father gets out of prison and shows up looking for her in Honey Creek, all bets are off.

 

Everyone has a guilty pleasure – what TV show do you watch that you’d be embarrassed to admit?

I’m still watching Survivor. Can you believe it? I can’t seem to give it up. If Big Brother ever comes back on for another season, I’ll be watching that, too.

 

The one book I wish I’d written is….

Chocolat. The words are magic, the story is magic, and in the movie, Johnny Depp is, as always, magic.

 

How do you like to spend a rainy day?

Curled up on the couch with fluffy pillows, a soft blanket, a warm fire, and a fantastic book. I’ll need some hot chocolate, too.

 

What is something people would be surprised to know about you?

People always seem surprised to find out I took Tae-Kwon-Do. When I tell them, they just back away, real slow.

 

Where have you been on your travels that you loved? 

I love seeing new places! I loved going on an Alaskan cruise, and this past year I went to Rome. I heart Roma.

 

What are your favourite sweets?

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. I hope they have those in heaven.

 

Any Pet Peeves?

People who say li-beary instead of li-brary. There’s an r after the b, people.

 

Social networking…Facebook or Twitter?

Twitter all the way! My phone cheeps when I get a tweet from my friends.

 

Print or Ebook?

Both! I adore my Kindle, but I like a paperback when I’m at the pool or the beach.

 

Thanks for joining us today for an interview! 

Thanks so much for having me on your blog today! Before I go, here’s a little bit about my newest book, Shades of the Future.

What would you give to see the future? Would you make your dreams come true? Would you change the things you didn’t like?

Mariah Davis loves animals, running, and her hunk of a boyfriend, Kevin Creamer. Everything looks bright for her until the day she finds a pair of sunglasses that allow her to see the future.

When she glimpses a disaster looming, she tries to avoid it but fails. She has a car accident that lands her in a wheelchair, smashing her hopes for a running scholarship to the veterinary program at Ohio State University. She pushes Kevin away, thinking he’ll want to end their relationship now that she can’t walk.

Will she ever learn to trust and love again? She could search for an answer in the sunglasses. But she’s afraid what they reveal might destroy her.

 

I’m on blog tours during the month of July, celebrating with a giveaway of a pair of designer sunglasses to one lucky commenter. I’ll be posting the schedule with dates and blogs on my author website, http://www.suzannelilly.com, and my TeacherWriter blog, http://www.teacherwriter.net. Follow me and comment each day to increase your chances of winning!

——————————————————————–

Want to know more? Check out the links!

Twitter: http://twitter.com/suzannelilly

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Suzanne-Lilly/e/B006HY79IY

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5258804.Suzanne_Lilly

Author website: http://www.suzannelilly.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/AuthorSuzanneLilly

TeacherWriter blog: http://www.teacherwriter.net

Fridays at the Honey Creek Books blog: http://www.honeycreekbooks.com

Suzanne Lilly on Google +: https://plus.google.com/115758832631616324955/about

 

by

Author Interview…with Michael Cargill

On Tuesday I reviewed Michael’s latest piece of writing and first novel Underneath – you can read the review here or my previous review of Shades of Grey. Today he’s back with us for an ‘official’ interview, which we’ve been hoping to get from him for a while…so here goes! 

———————————————–

Hi Michael, welcome back to Aside from Writing, thanks for joining us for a ‘proper’ interview. So can you tell us a little about yourself and how you came to be an author?

I’m a 2-month old bumble bee, and my mother tried to eat me when I was a grub.  It was for this reason that I morphed into a 33-year old bloke, who lives in the UK.

Not really sure how I came to be an author actually.  At school I had no real desire for writing, and instead developed a passion for IT.  Once I joined the rat race, and entered the world of office workers, I was often sending out silly emails to people.  Most people liked them, and asked for more, to which I obliged.  The occasional misery guts asked me to stop, so I slagged them off behind their back.  Anyway, in the middle of 2011, I decided to bite the bullet and publish some of the emails for free, and the beast was unleashed!

This week we’ve read and reviewed your book Underneath. Where did your inspiration for the story come from?

For a while, I had an idea for a story involving a sociopath bouncing around in my head, and it just bloomed from there really.  I also had a separate idea for some characters who were police officers, and they ended up in the story as well.  I did a bit of research into sociopaths, which took me about five minutes on Wikipedia, and realized that my initial idea for the character wasn’t really realistic – originally, I was going to make him very intelligent, and analytical.

In your creative writing you build ‘real world’ settings and characters very convincingly – what aspects of your ‘normal’ life or ‘day job’ do you find have helped you in your writing?

As a bumble bee?  None at all.  To be honest, it’s quite hard to answer this question definitively.  Some of the personality quirks, or minor situations that appear in my stories, are based around people or events that I have experienced personally.

We particularly love the characters you create in your stories; when you’re developing a new character for a story, where do you start?

God knows.  One thing that people are very good at, is compartmentalizing different parts of their lives, which is where the contradictions come from.  It’s how physicists can believe in God, or a boxer can shake hands with an opponent after the fight is over.  Or how I like chocolate, but don’t really like chocolate cake much.  To be honest, that doesn’t really answer the question.  I sometimes think of a basic personality for a character, and then just throw in some contradictory quirks further down the line.

There are some quite particular traits we’ve noticed in several of your characters: are you writing about what you know (i.e. basing them on yourself or people in the ‘real world’)?

It’s a bit of everything really.  Sometimes I won’t even know where some of the traits have come from, whereas other times I have stolen them from someone’s head.

Casting question! Who could you see playing the key roles of Hugh, Clare, Robert and Abigail if Underneath were made into a film?

Ooooh, tricky one.  For Hugh, I reckon Heath Ledger, as he did a good job with The Joker in Batman.  Or maybe Guy Pearce.  For Clare, I would go with… dunno.  Not Liz Hurley, ‘cos she is rubbish.  Geena Davis could do it, I reckon.  Robert would be played by… Christian Bale, maybe.  Or Johnny Depp.  Virginie Ledoyen could be Abigail.

What do you find are the best parts of being a writer?

Being able to make things up, without getting told off by anyone.

And the worst…?

The editing.  My God, the editing.  It’s like having the opportunity to get a bar of gold, but you have to carry it through a disused Somalian sewer, barefoot.

Any advice for people who have an interest in creative writing?

Patience, practice, poverty.  You have to realize that not even the best writer can come up with a perfect story by themselves.  It gets filtered and corrected by hordes of editors, proof readers, and God knows what else, long before it gets anywhere near the shelves.  It’s all about getting the ideas down on paper, and then cleaning it all up afterwards.

Ignore the poverty bit, I just wanted a third ‘p’ word.

So – what else do you have planned for 2012?

Avoiding the rain during this lovely, British summer.  Get my face painted for the Olympics.  Get the book I am working on now, finished.  Oooooh, did I say what you think I said?  I believe I did.

Random Questions:

If you could be a character from any book – who would it be and why?

Batman, ‘cos he is the Batman.  He is a billionaire who does what he wants.  I reckon he would sort this credit crunch nonsense out, once and for all.

Favourite fictional world – where would you live?

Jurassic Park, before it all goes wrong.  Saying ‘coochy coochy coochy coo’ to them raptors would be brill.

Best super-evil baddie?

Jesus.  Seriously, how many fishermen did he put out of work when he fed the five thousand?  It’s the first written record of a recession.

 ———————————————-

About the Author: Living in England, Surrey and about to break the 33-years old barrier.  I can honestly say that coming to terms with getting older is worse than puberty.  At 14 every extra hair was greeted with rapturous applause and a desire to show it off at school.  Every time a small breeze blew I would worry that it was going to blow away.

These days whenever I spot a new nasal hair I can hear it laughing at me.  I even have to make use of electronic devices to prune it back.

————————————–

Want to know more? Check out the links!

Blog – http://michaelcargill.wordpress.com/

Twitter – @MichaelCargill1   Facebook

The Books…

Author Page on Goodreads

 Trailer for Underneath  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUBrxs38Dkc

Smashwords

UK Amazon

by

Interview with…Patricia Lynne

This week we’re welcoming author Patricia Lynne to the blog for a short series of features. Today we’ll be finding out more about her with an interview, on Saturday her book Being Human will be under the spotlight and finally on Sunday, she’ll be sharing some of her thoughts and experiences of writing in a guest post. Phew! With all that to get through, let’s get started with the interview! 

Author – Patricia Lynne

Hi Patricia, welcome to Aside from Writing, we hope you’ll enjoy your time on the blog. Let’s get started with your interview!
If you could invite any 5 people to dinner who would you choose?

Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, Heather Brewer, Mike Rowe, my mom (because otherwise she’d be miffed I didn’t invite her!)

If you could have any superpower, what would you choose?

Hmmm, I’d say it’s a toss up between super speed because I hate car rides and being able to fly because Rogue of the X-men was my favorite and she could fly.

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Mackinaw Island Fudge. It’s vanilla ice cream and fudge and oh so good and is a Michigan specialty.

Wow – that sounds amazingly good – how far is Michigan from Manchester?! 🙂 OK – still thinking of food – what is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?

I never wake up in time to eat breakfast, because let’s face it, mornings are evil, so let’s count lunch as my breakfast so grilled cheese and tomato soup.

Lastly…a drink to go with your meal…Coke or Pepsi?

Neither. Mountain Dew. I love my elixir of life.

OK – now back to books! Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book.

Because if you don’t I’ll send Tommy after you and he has no qualms about getting flesh stuck in his fangs. 😉 Oh, sorry, did you want a serious answer? Being Human is a new take on a myth that’s been done a million times over, but with no sparkling.

You know – that might not be a bad thing for me – on the basis that the cover image is a very gorgeous guy, who is saying ‘please bump me to the top of the tbr pile’ with his sexy stare – I think it is enough to keep refusing. And let’s face it – we like vamps because of the danger 😉 

What are you working on at the moment? Any new books in the works? 

I have a few books that are in various stages of editing and I’m hoping to have at least one ready to get published soon. The one I’m most hopeful to have finished soon(ish) is called Snapshots and it’s about a boy who can see the future in others eyes so he keeps one eye covered earning him the nickname Cyclop.

What’s been your best experience from being published? 

This may seem mean but I highly enjoy hearing my story has made someone cry. Writers all strive to create stories that resonate with readers and make them feel, so hearing my book made someone happy or sad enough to cry is very rewarding. I did a good job.

What was your favorite book to read when you were a child?

I loved all the Clifford the Big Red Dog books. I had them all and I’m pretty sure my mom still has them stashed somewhere.

When you were little, what did you want to be when you “grew up”?

At one point I wanted to be a ballerina, but mostly I wanted to be an artist like my grandpa. I even when to college at Grand Valley State for a year in art.

How do you feel when you get a bad review? And how do you deal with it? 

I’ve only had one really bad review so far and I whined to my husband and a few friends privately, and then I got away from my laptop and got slightly (no, really) drunk. Then I didn’t really care about the review. Plus, the people I was with reminded me that every movie, book, TV show get bad reviews.

Take us through a typical day in your life…

Well, I lay in bed thinking about how I need to get up for way longer than I should. Then I finally force myself to jump up and go through the usual things (brush teeth, deodorant, get dressed) I check twitter and my email, comment on blogs or reply to emails. For some reason, I can never motivate myself to write until after I eat lunch. I can spend all afternoon writer/editing while checking twitter too much while having Mythbusters, Criminal Minds or Dirty Jobs playing in the background. I can’t write to music, but the TV is fine. I don’t have a real job (I have a small online handmade jewelry store and deliver a paper on the weekend) so I never have to worry about squeezing writing in between work. I make dinner when my husband gets home. If it’s nice out, we go for a walk and I try not to bore him with writing talk and he tries not to bore me with computer related jabber. Shower and then it’s back to writing, but usually I’m a bit worn out on writing and waste time on twitter talking about how I need to be writing. Around midnight, I trudge to bed and glower at my husband for being able to fall asleep in two seconds while it takes me a half hour.

———————————

Patricia will be going under our author spotlight on Saturday – so come back and find out more about her and Being Human then!

And don’t forget the giveaway to win your own copy of Being Human – just comment in any of the features from Patricia posted this week and you’ll be entered to win an e-copy supplied via Smashwords!

by

Interview with…Stephen Herfst

Author Stephen Herfst returns to the blog today for a ‘proper’ interview – let’s say “Hello!” 🙂

Hi Stephen, welcome back to Aside from Writing, thanks for joining us for an interview. So can you tell us a little about yourself, how you came to be an author?

Thank you for taking the time to read and review my book – I am always happy when someone reads and enjoys my story.

Well, I had an interesting childhood, having lived in Germany, South Africa, Holland, England and Australia. Each place I travelled to has in some way contributed to what I am today. I work in IT as a software engineer and, although you wouldn’t think it is very creative, it has put me in good stead. My inspiration to become an author came to me when I was reflecting on what I really wanted to do. It all began when I remembered the sports articles I wrote for my company’s soccer team and how they were well received. From there, I decided that I would work at becoming a successful author (still working on it).

We recently read and reviewed your book Zed (click here to see the review). It’s an interesting take on the zombie genre – what made you want to write this story?

Having watched an episode or two of The Walking Dead, and being bored to tears, I decided that the zombie genre needed a change. And that was how Zed came to be.

I wanted a story that would twist the traditional zombie genre and gave a different perspective to the well-worn stumbled path set out by George Romero. I wanted something that was humorous, funny and not gory – it was challenge to me to write a story that would appeal to the general public as well as the die-hard zombie fans.

What do you find are the best parts of being a writer?

The best part is being able to write the stories that you want to see or read. Being able to write your vision for a story and change things until you are one-hundred-percent happy is wonderful. It definitely appeals to my OCD!

 

And the worst…?

Translating your thoughts into a coherent and entertaining story can be quite harrowing! Even though I only took about a month to write the first book, it felt like a long time. I cannot visualize writing one story for a year or more – I think I would go insane!

What aspects of your ‘normal’ life or ‘day job’ do you find has helped you in your writing?

I find being able to divide my mind into a logical path and a creative path helps me. I have separated each path and I think clearer, I imagine better, my writing flows better. There is nothing quite like approaching a problem scientifically to gain a creative solution, strange as that may be.

 

What’s an ideal day for you – and how do you fit your writing into that?

An ideal day for me is to listen to good music while watching TV and writing while my laptop rests precariously on my lap. My writing environment is quite organic and I believe that my writing reflects that as well.

Any advice for people who have an interest in creative writing?

I would definitely recommend starting a blog, writing a novel without understanding the rules and being willing to say ‘I am wrong’ and being willing to go back on your hard-written writing and delete. The ‘I am wrong’ bit is the hardest part to do, let me tell you!

So – what else do you have planned for 2012?

I plan to write the remaining two books over the next six months (or less) – I have started writing the second book and it is going well. The story arch is better realized than the first and the new characters I am/will introduce are working well within the world I have created.

 

Random Questions:

If you could be a character from any book – who would it be and why?

I would love to be Paul Atreides from Dune (by Frank Herbert). Where he changes from a young prince into the messiah controls the spice thanks, in part, to his evolution into the Kwisatz Haderach. It is a very heavy book but a wonderful tale.

 

Favourite fictional world – where would you live?

I would love to live in Xanth by Piers Anthony. I think his world would be lovely to work through all the challenges and experience all the cheesy puns first hand while I am on a quest to Save the Princess (like a good hero should).

 

Best super-evil baddie?

Even though Smeagol isn’t really a baddie, I would have to pick him – I always found him creepy. The things that weren’t written about him painted him far more eerily than he the way he ever was shown in The Lord of the Ring films.

 

Thank-you for taking time to talk to us today!

————————– 

The story revolves around a teenage girl’s promises to save Zed from the human hordes.

Zed is not your typical zombie. He is cursed with the affliction of thought … although he tries to make the best of a bad situation. The goals for his unrest are simple: to improve his stride, to taste a lightly-seared pork loin once again and avoid Activists at all costs.

His life was predictable, controlled and good until chaos crashed the party. In just one day his world is destroyed and his ability to survive is tested. Would he be able to get through this in one piece? And would he somehow be able to survive the unstoppable force that goes by the name of Chase?

———————————————-

Want to know more? Check out the links!

Goodreads Author Page

Author Blog

Zed at Smashwords

Zed at Amazon.com


by

Interview with…Loukia Borell

Today we’re pleased to be hosting an interview with author of Raping Aphrodite, Loukia Borell…let’s find out what she has to say!
Welcome to Aside from Writing, can you tell us a little about yourself and your book?
My name is Loukia Borrell. I am a native of Toledo, Ohio, but my family moved to Virginia Beach when I was eight. After graduating from Elon University with a journalism degree, I was a newspaper reporter for about 20 years. I am married and have three children. “Raping Aphrodite” is my debut novel. The book has two story lines. The first is about Tash and Christian Colgate, a married couple with a very intense, passionate history. They finally get together after a long separation, but when they agree to an exhibition of artifacts from Cyprus for their art gallery, they open the door on Tash’s secret past, something that poses a new threat to their relationship. The second story line is about a Peace Corps worker who escapes a hostage situation in Cyprus and walks to get help for the rest of her group. Toward the end of the novel, both story lines come together.    
How did you come up with the idea for your book? 
In the fall of 2009, my oldest daughter had to write a short story for English class. She was supposed to place a fictional character into a real period in history, like World War II, the Civil War or whatever. She chose to put her fictional character in Cyprus, when the Mediterranean island was invaded and divided by Turkey in 1974. My parents, her grandparents, are from Cyprus and we had a lot of relatives still living there in 1974, when the island was invaded. My maternal grandparents were killed and just about all our other relatives were refugees. I was impressed by her decision to explore the events in Cyprus and decided to give it a try. A year later, I had 75,000 words.
What do you consider to be the biggest influences on your writing? 
My personal experiences with other people, losing family members, my close relationship to my husband, my travels, working different jobs in various cities and meeting people. All of those things have shaped my thinking and made me the person I am today. I think my writing reflects those influences. 
Have you always wanted to be a writer? 
I think I gravitated toward writing in high school, because I made better grades in English, so it was a natural progression in college and after.
What’s your favourite aspect of being an author? 
I like controlling my characters and figuring out what they will do next. I also enjoy creating scenarios and dropping myself into their world to hang out with them. Of course, I am thrilled when someone has told me they saw this story I did, or read that. It is a cool way to reach people. 
And the most challenging aspects?
Finding the time to get things done and working through periods when I don’t feel motivated to write.
What’s coming up next for you? Are you working on something at the moment?
I am still doing interviews like these, and have begun to think more about the prequel to Raping Aphrodite, which I hope to begin later this year.

Now for the ‘Random Questions’…If you could be a character from any book – who would it be and why? 
Golly, am I supposed to say Scarlett O’Hara? I think I would like to be Wilhelmina Murray from Bram Stoker’s Dracula. To be obssessed by a vampire and swept away. 
Favourite fictional world – where would you live? 
This is hard. I tend to want to be in real places, like a small, historic town with cobblestone streets and terraces with blooming flowers, or a small cottage in the mountains, overlooking valleys. I don’t see myself in a fictional world, but if your readers can pick one they think I would like, based on what I have told them about myself, I will pick my favorite and send them a copy of Raping Aphrodite. Let’s do it! That sounds like a great challenge – post a comment on this post with your idea for Loukia and she can pick a winner at the end of the week! Get your thinking caps on! 🙂
Best super-evil book baddie? 
Tom Ripley from Patricia Highsmith’s novels. He is the neighbor you don’t want. A very bad guy who kills inconvenient people, but cultured enough to fool you into thinking otherwise.
——————————
Thank-you for taking time to talk to us today!
 Thanks for having me as a guest!
I can be found on Book Blogs, Goodreads, and on Twitter @LoukiaBorrell.

 
by

Interview…with author Larissa Hinton

Today we’re welcoming author Larissa Hinton to Aside from Writing for our first author interview in quite a long time…With Indie Author Month starting in a few short days, we thought it would be a good time to ‘ease’ you into all the upcoming author features and interviews with one today…so let’s see what Larissa had to say…

———————————–

Link to Larissa's Goodreads Pages

About the Author: The young adult fantasy and paranormal romance author, Larissa Hinton, grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia and Chesapeake, Virginia. She now lives in northern Virginia, but she always looks forward to going back to the sweet smell of the salty ocean.

Larissa has always loved writing since the age of 12 and hasn’t stopped since. After many years of writing whimsical tales of romance and fantasy, she is now proud to be a self-published author. When she’s not writing, she’s teaching English at a local middle school.

When seen out of the classroom, Larissa is shopping for the next great Wii game, searching for undiscovered treasure (a.k.a. sparkly jewelry) and plucking some fresh fruits (or vegetables, dependent on the year) out of her small garden.

—————————————-

Hi Larissa, welcome to Aside from Writing. Let’s start with your writing: how did you come up with the idea for your book?

Funny enough, my ideas came from my professors at the time (for Everblossom). You see, I was taking a Creative Writing class and for the first time ever, I had to write short stories. Before this point in my life, I never wrote a short story but I found something funny about it: I loved it. I was able to delve into the characters I loved, create new stories that would inspire bigger ideas, and it was a way to play with the inner thoughts that floated my mind. Even at one point, my professor told me that all of my novel ideas were really short stories. Granted, at that time, I did not appreciate him saying that, but some of my ideas were short stories. I just never knew it.

The poems in the anthology however, were inspired by mostly my personal life. And other times, by the urge to write it down. I don’t think I could fully explain it properly, but when an idea hits me, it’s like lightening and I’m alert and aware that a poem is in me that needs to be written. I’ve literally tried to go asleep with that feeling, but I couldn’t. I had to write it down into poetic form. It doesn’t happen so often (like once or twice a month) but when it happens, I have to write that poem down or I can’t think straight.

 

What do you consider to be the biggest influences on your writing?

The biggest influence on my writing is my life. It can stressful, crazy and fun at times to be me, but it has the biggest impact on my writing.

 

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

Always. I’ve always loved to read and write since I began learning how to do so. I haven’t stopped since.

 

What’s your favourite aspect of being an author?

I know for me, the most rewarding thing about being a writer is getting back reviews from people who have bought and loved your book. And understood your ideas! I was really wondering about the poems I wrote called WSV (Words Speak Volumes). For the longest time I debated about publishing them in the first place since all they were was words written down a page telling a story in an odd way. I thought that maybe people just wouldn’t get it.

It warmed my heart that not only did people understand my poems, they loved them! I couldn’t be more thrilled since my poems have never been out to see daylight (yes, I get the Emily Dickinson irony there)! Therefore, I’m always glad to receive somewhat of fan mail on how my writing has made people think in a whole new way once they read Everblossom: A Short Story and Poetry Anthology.


And the most challenging aspects?

The hardest part about writing is putting your idea on paper and making it come across right. Especially for a novel. It’s a long journey from the first page until the last and to make sure it’s projecting the idea from cover to cover from word to word is the most difficult part. As a writer, you have to be consistent, persistent, and have excellent time management to be able to complete a novel with style, grace and be sane. Seriously. Ask some writers if they haven’t pulled their hair out over a story that just wouldn’t translate from their brain onto the paper right. Ah, the makings of a novel.

What’s coming up next for you? Are you working on something at the moment?

Absolutely! Right now, I’m editing Angel Diaries, a young adult paranormal romance. Incidentally, I just got the final proof for my cover! Here’s the blurb: Lindsey’s life couldn’t have been any more ordinary. So, she had two guys fighting over her, a psychic friend and a school dominated by Goths but, other than that, life was good. That is until horrible nightmare start about her mother being ripped apart by a monster, changing her life from the inside out. Literally. Her whole world was full of lies. She’s not human. She’s an Angel.


Thank-you for taking time to talk to us today!

Thanks for the fantastic opporunity!

——————————–

Want to know more? Check out the links! 

Buy the Book:

http://www.amazon.com/Everblossom-Short-Poetry-Anthology-ebook/dp/B005H5GKIY/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1313954227&sr=1-1

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/80600

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/everblossom-larissa-hinton/1104907595

Blog: http://teacherwritebookaholicohmy.blogspot.com/

Email: pocahantas89@yahoo.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/AThreeWayTieL

by

Indie Author Spotlight…Sara Zaske

Indie Authors Spotlight is a BRAND NEW weekly meme that will be held on every SATURDAY in the month. It is hosted by Beckie @Bittersweet Enchantment & CYP @A Bookalicious Story.
————————————
The Author…This week’s spotlighted author is Sara Zaske.
Sara Zaske has lived a variety of places including eight years in Oakland, California where The First is set. A former journalist, she currently works as a freelance editor and writer in Berlin, Germany. She also hosts the book blog: YA Fantastic Book Review [link: http://sarazaske.wordpress.com] Occasionally, she still dreams of California.
 —————————————–
The Interview

Your book sounds like a genre-bending read – where did your inspiration for it come from?

I wondered how ticked off dryads, mythical tree spirits, might be if I dropped them into the the modern world. But dryads in Greek myths are kind of wussy, always running away from lustful gods and turning into things, so I took it up a notch and made up my own more powerful group of magical people who are closely connected to nature.

The genre smash is my attempt at better defining the book. The term urban fantasy doesn’t tell you much: all it means is there’s a magical element, and it takes place in city. By eco-thriller, I mean that the book centers around the theme of environmental responsibility and then, I threw in a lot of action and life-threatening peril in the story–you know, to make it fun.

Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book.

Magic, romance, friendship, wild animals, environmental destruction–all under the golden glow of the California sunshine–what more could you want?

Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects?

I am revising my first novel (Yes, ironically, The First is my second novel). It’s about a girl with an uncontrollable fire talent who gets abducted by a dragon.

Then I have a really scary ghost story in my mind that I need to get on paper, so I can stop thinking about it. It’s kind of creeping me out.

What inspired you to want to become a writer?

Fairy tales. My mother read to me every night, but after she left and turned off the light, I’d still want more stories, so I started making up my own.

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

Seek out and learn to use criticism. Find people–not relatives, spouses or good friends–who will read your work and tell you honestly what they think. My writing group continues to help me really grow as a writer.

Which authors have influenced you most and how?

Two of my current heroes are Ursula Leguin and Margaret Atwood.

I love the way Ursula LeGuin uses fantasy and science fiction elements to get at larger issues in the “real world.” Plus she’s simply a great story teller. Margaret Atwood has a fantastic, sharp sense of humor, and she’s not afraid to write in any genre.

I can only walk in their shadows, but I strive to be like them by incorporating important issues in my stories while placing a premium on humor and story telling.

Give us a glimpse into a typical day in your day starting when you wake up till you lie down again.

Oh no, it’s too boring. Just cut to the montage of a typical working mom juggling caring for kids, editing for clients, housework, writing, errands, etc. Life is full. Some days I don’t get to actually sit down at the computer and write–fiction anyway. But I make a conscious effort to write in my head during every spare moment. That way when I do get screen time, I know what I want to say. It does make me a bit dreamy sometimes though, and I’ve been known to get on the wrong train and go several stops without noticing.

Finish the sentence- one book I wish I had written is….

The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne Valente. Not that The First is like this book. It’s not. But I love fairy tales and Valente does something very unique in her book. I envy that fact that she got to spend her days writing in that imaginative world.

——————————————————–

The Book 

A young adult urban fantasy/eco-thriller, The First, follows 15-year-old Cassie Craig as she discovers that the strangest girl in her class is more than just a little weird. She’s part of a group of people who were here on earth long before us. Powerful people. And they aren’t exactly happy with the way we’ve been treating their planet.

The First is available for a free download on Earth Day weekend, April 21-23! Available on Amazon – so don’t hang around – grab your copy today!! 

[link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007UZ72K4]

——————————-

Want to know more? Check out the links!

Book Links: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007UZ72K4

Website: http://sarazaske.wordpress.com

by

meme…Indie Author Spotlight – NEW!

Indie Authors Spotlight is a BRAND NEW weekly meme that will be held on every SATURDAY in the month. It is hosted by Beckie @Bittersweet Enchantment & CYP @A Bookalicious Story. The idea of this meme is to promote indie authors and to help them and their books to get recognize. This will be a great way for book bloggers to take part in helping these authors be spotlighted for their hard work. Please visit their site to check out the rules if you’d like to join in 🙂
As you’ll know – with our Indie Author Month in May – we love finding out about new authors and so a weekly spotlight is perfect for us! Join us this weekend to see who we spotlight and if you’d like to feature in the future, please get in touch via the usual contacts.
by

30 Days of Hunger Games…Interviews with Suzanne Collins

Our fourth post as part of 30 Days of Hunger Games event is a selection of links out to the best interviews we’ve found with Suzanne Collins about the Hunger Games trilogy. Take a look and see what you think…

Scholastic – Teachers Q&A Session    New York Times – April 2011     School Library Journal – 2008

Author Page at Scholastic    Interview on Mockingjay   Various Interviews on The Hunger Games

by

Interview…with author and blogger Marie Landry

Our interview today will be of interest to authors and readers alike as our guest is Marie Landry, author of Blue Sky Days and book review blogger on Ramblings of a Daydreamer. Let’s see how these two very distinct areas of interest have influenced one another…

Hi Marie, welcome to Aside from Writing, can you tell us a little about yourself, how you came to be a blogger and then an author?

Thank you so much for having me here today! Over the years, I’ve started several blogs, but none of them really stuck. When I started Ramblings of a Daydreamer, it was mostly a place for me to share my writing—I was writing articles for online magazines and websites—and little bits of my life. I wrote a handful of book reviews for one of the sites I worked for, but didn’t do any reviews on my blog. In April 2011, I joined the A to Z Challenge, which challenged bloggers to write 26 posts during the month of April—one for each letter of the alphabet. I hadn’t really gotten serious about blogging yet, so I knew this was perfect for me—I wrote mainly about writing and books, and the challenge helped me get into the habit of blogging every day.

It was while visiting the other participants of the challenge that I discovered the world of book blogging. I don’t have many friends who like to read, so finding all these people who not only loved to read, but loved to talk about books, opened up a whole new world for me. I started writing reviews for my blog, participating in weekly book memes, blog hops, blog tours, and other features.

When I realized that the majority of book bloggers I came across read mostly YA books, I was intrigued. I hadn’t read many young adult books since my teens, but I decided to give them a try, and I fell in love. It was then that I decided to turn Blue Sky Days—which I’d written seven years before, and which had been an adult romance—into a young adult book.

You’ve recently been working hard on the book launch (January 2012) and blog tour for Blue Sky Days – what were the best bits about going through this process?

Hands down, the best part has been connecting with readers. I made quite a few friends and acquaintances in the book blogging community, so I had a lot of people to reach out to when the time came for me to start sending out ARCs of Blue Sky Days, and planning the blog tour. Getting to know fellow bloggers and book lovers has been an incredible experience.

Having hosted authors and tours on your own blog in the past, was your recent experience of doing it yourself what you expected it to be?

Yes and no. I knew the logistics of it from hosting guest posts, interviews, and giveaways, so I knew there was a lot of work involved, but it was so much more than I thought. I did everything on my own—a lot of authors find or hire other bloggers to plan their tours, but I planned it all on my own, which meant contacting people, then sending out the books, and scheduling dates, plus then all the interviews, guest posts, and other features I had to write, as well as sending out books to giveaway winners. I also visited every blog along the tour, and spent a lot of time promoting on Facebook and Twitter.

Do you think being a blogger has helped you with your creative writing and/or launching Blue Sky Days? And if so, how?

Absolutely. I think that if I hadn’t started out as a blogger, I would have been virtually unknown when I published Blue Sky Days. A lot of authors are unknown when they publish their debuts, but traditionally published authors have a whole team behind them helping to promote the book and take the author from an unknown to a potential star. As for helping me with my creative writing, I think blogging has helped, because it’s gotten me into the habit of writing on a daily basis and keeping those creative juices flowing.

What’s an ideal day for you – and how do you fit your writing, reading and blog work into that?

An ideal day for me would be one without distractions, but that rarely happens (and that’s often my own fault, because I’m addicted to social media, and check it compulsively). I work from home, and I spend almost all day working on one thing or another. If I’m not writing I’m reading, if I’m not reading I’m blogging, and round and round the cycle goes.

Any advice for bloggers who have an interest in creative writing?

Write every day, even if it’s just a few sentences. Learn from others—there are thousands of bloggers out there who write about tips, tricks, and their own personal experiences. If writing is something you want to do professionally, build a platform, even if it’s just as a book blogger at first—get your name and face out there so people know who you are. Make connections, make friends, but be genuine about it. Most importantly, keep writing. Don’t let anything or anyone stop you if it’s what you really want to do.

Alternatively, do you have any advice for other authors looking to network with bloggers for reviews and support with marketing?

Again, be genuine. I think most bloggers are smart enough to know when someone is sucking up to them because they want something, and when someone is genuinely trying to make a connection. One of the best things you can do is be seen, and that’s usually by visiting and commenting on other blogs. Hop around from blog to blog—almost every blog has a blog roll of other bloggers they love, so take time to visit some of them and leave thoughtful comments or join discussions. There are also always a ton of events going on in the blog world—hops, giveaways, read-a-thons. Participate in those, and be visible to bloggers so your name is familiar to them.

If you could only do one – the blog or write books – which would it be?

Write books. Creative writing has always been my first love, and I think and hope it always will be. I was born to tell stories.

So – what else do you have planned for 2012?

Right now I’m switching gears from YA to adult, and writing what I guess people would term chick lit, or women’s fiction. I’m a romance junkie, so there’s a romance in the story, but it’s not the main focus of the book like it was with Blue Sky Days. After that, I have ideas for several projects, but I’m not sure which I’ll start next. I might go back to YA and work on an idea I’ve had for several years that involves faeries—but that’s all I’m saying!

Random Questions:

If you could be a character from any book – who would it be and why?

It would probably be Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables. She basically led a simple life, but she had the most vivid imagination that let her live a life that seemed anything but ordinary. She made the best of every situation, and even though she got herself into a lot of trouble with her imagination, she was happy and free-spirited, and a good and loyal friend. Plus, I love Prince Edward Island, where the book was set, and I was totally in love with Gilbert!

Favourite fictional world – where would you live?

Hogwarts, without question. It’s my absolute favourite fictional world—the school itself, the people, the magic, getting to go to Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. I love it all.

Best super-evil baddie?

I’m sticking with Harry Potter and saying Voldemort. He was so evil and cruel, but he was also clever and devious. And not only that, but he represented so much more than just a villain—good versus evil, the power of friendship and love—JK Rowling is an incomparable writing in my opinion.

Thank-you for taking time to talk to us today!

————————–

Marie’s debut novel Blue Sky Days is out now!

Would you like to know more? Check out the links! 

Debut novel, Blue Sky Days, available now on Amazon and Smashwords
Blog: Ramblings of a Daydreamer Author blog: Marie Landry, Author
Facebook fan page, Facebook book page, Twitter, YouTube