...in books

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Jennifer is the author of many awesome YA book series, like the Convenant and Lux series (read my review of Obsidian here). She was so nice to agree in doing an interview for My Life...

You published a lot of books during the last years. Many of your books are parts of series. Could you describe how you write those novels? Do you write one book after the other or do you write the whole story and divide it into the individual books afterwards?

I typically write the next book in the series after doing final edits (copy editing/proofing) on the book that comes before. That helps get me back in the story and the world. Sometimes that doesn't always work out. But I rarely write any book in a series back to back. By the time I'm finished one book, I'm ready to focus on something else.

What inspires you to write those amazing stories? I assume that there wasn’t an incredibly hot alien knocking at your door, telling you his story and begging you to write it down (if there was could you send him over to Austria, please).

If there was an incredibly hot alien knocking on my door, I'd be a happy girl. I'm sure a lot of authors have these amazing inspirational stories, but I really don't. I bore very easily. Writing is a way to ease that boredom.

Obsidian and especially Daemon has a huge fan base and right now there is the Daemon Invasion going on. Bloggers all over the world love your books. How important is the contact with your readers to you?

I'm completely blown away by the response to Obsidian. I didn't think it would become that popular, because when people hear the word 'alien' they're typically like "Uh, What?" Contact with readers is super important to me. I love hearing from people all around the world and knowing that people out there are enjoying the series.

You recently filmed book trailers for your Lux series. Could you describe the production of those a bit? How was seeing your figures come life? Did you always picture Pepe and Sztella as your protagonists and why did you choose them as Daemon and Katy?
The production was hectic but really fun. Pepe and Sztella were great to work with and really hung in there when the hours got really late. It was great seeing the characters and scenes come to life. Sometimes a little embarrassing when you see the "Laptop Scene" filmed about twenty different times. I didn't choose them for the cover. The publisher's did after the book was written. It was just crazy luck that they resembled the characters in the book so much.

Could you tell us a bit about your upcoming projects?

Right now I'm working on a YA Paranormal that I had started back in 2011, but couldn't figure out the plot and pacing problems then. I'm almost done and hope to have it ready for submission very soon. It's a project I've been excited about!

The books in the Lux series:

• Shadow
• Obsidian (read my review here)
• Onxy
• Opal (will be published on December 11th 2012)

The books in the Convenant series:

• Daimon
• Half-Blood
• Pure
• Deity (will be published on November 6th 2012)
• Elixir (will be published on November 27th 2012)

The stand-alone novel Cursed was recently published!

Thank you Jennifer for doing this interview with me and if you want to know more about Jennifer and her wonderful novels check her Homepage, Blog, Facebook and Twitter pages.

Come back tomorrow for the Cover reveal of Opal (the third book in the Lux series)!

...in books

Author: Ali McNamara

by Dan Martland

Ali is the author of the wonderful novels "From Notting Hill with Love...Actually" (read my review here) and "Breakfast at Darcy's" (read my review here). Her new novel "From Notting Hill to New York...Actually" will be published on November 22nd 2012. 

Your next book “From Notting Hill to New York … actually” will be out this November. How long does it take you to write a book (from the idea to the printed book)?

Difficult to say from the initial idea, as I have them floating around all the time! But from research to completed manuscript about a year.

What inspires you to write?

So many stories to tell, so little time to do it in!

How is your typical day when you are writing?

I don’t have one. I’m a very disorganised writer and don’t have a particular routine, (I sometimes wish I did!) But it seems to get done!

And when you are not writing?

I like to exercise and keep fit; either in the gym, or by cycling, or walking my dogs.

Who is your favourite characters of the books you wrote and why?

Definitely Oscar from From Notting Hill with Love…Actually. He was so popular with readers in the first book, that he plays a much bigger part in the new sequel. He can get away with saying all sorts of things that my other characters wouldn’t be able to!

I have the impression that you treasure contact with your readers and that you are an author who tries to reply to all your readers via Twitter, Facebook, E-Mail, etc. and you have an amazing homepage that is updated almost daily, right? How important is the contact to your readers to you?

Very. Getting feedback from them is one of the best things about what I do. The fact that people take the time to write to me means so much it’s the least I can do to reply, and I try to, to everyone.

Being a writer is a dream job for almost every book addict. What would you be if not a writer?

I’d like to write film scripts, or develop concepts for new TV shows. I have so many ideas floating around in my head, its not thinking of ideas to write about, it’s finding the time to put them all down on paper!

Do you have a favorite author or book?

Enid Blyton. I loved her books as a child!

If you could be part of any book ever written (as long as you want – doesn’t have to be forever) which one would you chose and why?

Toughie! Probably Pride & Prejudice. It would be lovely to dress up in the costumes of the day, speak to each other in that wonderful language, and obviously fall in love with a gorgeous, yet brooding Mr Darcy!

Do you have plans for a new book yet?

Yes, I’m currently working on my fourth novel, due out in November 2013!

Thank you Ali for doing this interview! 

I am looking forward to reading your new novel!

...in books

Author: R. Rodriguez

R. Rodriguez is the author of Grace - An Eternal Beloved Novel (check out my review here) and she agreed to doing an author interview and a giveaway of an a-copy of her novel here on My Life...

During the preparation for this interview I mentioned that this Special Guest post will go online on July the 20th and she answered that this is her birthday. 

Happy Birthday R. Rodriguez! I hope you have a fabulous day!

What inspired you to write your novel “Grace”? How did you get the idea?

After high school and during the college years, women are faced with different dilemmas that can affect the rest of their lives for better or worse. My concern for this audience sparked my ideas. I didn’t want the books to be so serious, so I combined my message with my love of paranormal romances, to create a book with a message in a paranormal romance setting. Grace is about a young woman who has always wanted to commit suicide. She almost achieves it, but is saved unexpectedly. Death has already noticed her, though and doesn’t let go. The book details her efforts at self development, her setbacks because of bad decisions, and the power, only she has, to change her destiny. The main themes are suicide and abuse. This series is not a saga or a trilogy. 

How many parts of the Eternal Beloved series are planned?

The Eternal Beloved Series is a series that will contain four books in total. Every book in this series has a female protagonist that tackles a central theme in a paranormal setting. 

How does your typical writing day look like?

I am career woman, as well as a writer so I schedule in two hours to write every day. Some people have asked me if I have a writing ritual. I don’t. I do have some preferences, though. I like writing by hand first, on a legal pad and then onto my laptop. I also listen to my iPod during the whole creative process. I can write various chapters by listening to just one song over and over again. There are certain songs that inspire me during the creation of a certain part of the story. 

Do you have a favorite authors or book?

I am an avid reader so I have many favorite books. I would say that I have favorite books for every one of my life stages so far. As a kid, it was the Ramona Quimby Series, anything by Judy Blume, and V.C Andrews.  As a teenager, my favorite books were The Catcher in the Rye and The Outsiders. As an adult, I enjoy many genres. My favorite books include Memoirs of a Geisha, Anna Karenina, The House of Spirits, The Twilight Series, and especially Paulo Coelho’s books.

Can you tell us about the next book in the Eternal Beloved series “Chastity”?

Chastity is the second book in the series. It should be out by the end of July. In Chastity, the themes of promiscuity, neglect, and the pain caused by tragic death are explored.

Do you have any tips for new authors? How do you motivate yourself? What do you have to do to self-publish?

This is a tough business. While breaking into traditional publishing is brutal, being a self published author is even harder. The best advice I can give an aspiring author is to be persistent. Giving up is not an option in this business. Fortunately, with the appearance of eReaders we have more options to become published.  Writing is my passion so that’s my motivation. It doesn’t feel like work because I extremely enjoy it. To self publish, you have to not only write a book, but take care of all the behind the scenes aspects of publishing that a publishing house would normally take care of. Some of these tasks are editing, formatting, marketing, and distributing your book.

Is there something else you want to tell my readers?

I hope to touch as many lives with my writing as I can. My target audience with my first series is young women. I hope to build a network of young women in search of empowerment.

My books are available at Smashwords.com, Amazon, and Lulu.com.

You can follow me on Facebook.

Giveaway

I will give away one e-copy of R. Rodriguez's first novel  

Grace

 

VII - very important information:

• to enter please follow the instructions in the rafflecopter form
• you must be at least 13 years old or have your parents permission to enter
• this giveaway is open internationally.
• the winner will be announced on the blog after the giveaway ends.
• to protect your privacy please do not leave your e-mail adress in the comment section.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

...in books

Author: Michelle Madow

Michelle is the author of the wonderful novels Rembrance (read my review here) and Vengeance (read my review here) and she agreed to doing an author interview for my blog.

When was the first time you saw yourself as a writer?

I've always loved to write -- in second grade I was always "that kid" who would write twelve page long stories on free write journal day and then share them with my class! In high school I journaled a lot, and then I started writing fan-fiction in my freshman and sophomore years of college. Then in my junior year of college I signed up for Intro to Creative Writing. I'd always had lots of original ideas, but never knew how to share them with people (or if people would even be interested in reading my ideas), so I figured the class could be fun. For the first homework assignment I turned in the first chapter of Remembrance. My teacher and classmates loved it, so from there I decided to turn it into a book!

Timeless will be released at the end of this year, right? Do you have plans for any new books?

I've actually written two other books besides the Transcend Time Series, both which are starts of their own series. In March I signed with agent Molly Ker Hawn from The Bent Agency on my most recent book, a fun contemporary YA. I'm currently working really hard on editing that book, so it's looking like Timeless will be coming out sometime in 2013.

What is your favorite book/what are your favorite books and who is your most favorite author?

I have so many favorite books that it's hard to choose! Some of my all-time favorites are the Harry Potter series, Divergent, Twilight, the Gone Series, the Iron Fey series, and the Vampire Academy series. I just started reading The Selection and am loving it as well. My favorite author is J.K. Rowling -- what she created with the world of Harry Potter amazes me.

What would you have become if you hadn’t become an author?

I was in college while I was writing Remembrance, so I was trying to figure that out. I was considering going into editing or publicity for YA novels.

Can you describe your daily writing routine a bit?

It all depends on which stage I'm in! When I write a book I do character bios first, then outline the whole story, then first draft, then editing. When I'm actually writing the first draft, I usually write in the afternoon and try to write 1,500 words a day. I wish I could do more than that, but I tend to feel "juiced out" after reaching 1,500 words and need a break by then. I've heard of authors writing first drafts in two weeks or a month, which I think is amazing, but I could never work like that. I'm all about keeping a steady pace.

I love to drink coffee. Do you have a favorite?

I drink coffee black. I love the coffee drinks at Starbucks (particularly vanilla lattes), but I'm lactose intolerant, so I can only drink them if I remember to bring lactase enzymes with me -- and I usually forget to put them in my bag!

Thank you so much for interviewing me! 

For more information about Michelle visit her Homepage, super cool Blog, her Facebook and Twitter pages.

... in books

Author: Monica McInerney

This month's Special Guest is Australian born author Monica McInerney.

Monica, 47, grew up in a family of seven children in the Clare Valley wine region of South Australia, where her father was the railway stationmaster and her mother worked in the local library. Since then Monica has lived all around Australia (in Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart) in Ireland (in County Meath and Dublin) and in London and also travelled widely.

She was a book publicist for ten years, working in Ireland and Australia and promoting authors such as Roald Dahl, Tim Winton, Edna O’Brien and Max Fatchen and events such as the Dublin International Writers’ Festival.

She has also worked as an event manager and organiser of tourism festivals in the Clare Valley; as a freelance writer/editor and in arts marketing in South Australia; a public relations consultant in Tasmania; a record company press officer in Sydney; a barmaid in an Irish music pub in London and as a temp, grapepicker, hotel cleaner, kindergym instructor and waitress. Her first job out of school as a 17-year-old was as wardrobe girl (and later scriptwriter) for the children’s TV show Here’s Humphrey at Channel 9 in Adelaide. She is now a full-time writer.

For the past twenty years she and her Irish husband have been moving back and forth between Australia and Ireland. They currently live in Dublin.

source: Monica's Homepage (adapted)

For more information about her books visit Monica's Homepage

Monica also agreed to do an author interview

I love your books and all I read so far have an Australia and Ireland based storyline. How come?

Australia and Ireland are the two countries I know best in the world. I grew up in South Australia and have lived in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Hobart and also travelled widely around the entire country. I’m married to an Irishman and for the past twenty-one years have been living in Ireland, in County Meath and Dublin. I love to set my novels in places I know well or have visited myself – so as well as Australia and Ireland, my novels are set in London, the US, Cornwall, Scotland… It’s one of the great things about being a writer, everywhere I visit is a possible location.

What inspires you to write these long novels?

Families – I’m fascinated by all the layers within family life: the drama, the comedy, the different, complex characters all trying to get along, the secrets, the hardships but also the hopeful times every family in the world faces at some stage. I love to explore all those themes in my novels.

How do you plan your novels? Do you plan the plot and the characters or does your story develop while writing?

I start with the characters, and spend a lot of time thinking about the sort of people they are, their family relationships, their hopes and dreams. I then put the main character right into the middle of a tricky situation and the story takes over from there.

How important is it to you that your stories are lifelike? Those Faraday Girls has a totally realistic ending but it wasn't the one I expected. Is it more important to you to write realistic stories or stories that totally fulfill the reader’s expectations?

I try very hard to make my characters as real as possible. I write a lot of scenes which don’t end up in the final book, but which help me get to know their personalities inside out. The endings to my books sometimes surprise me too, as in Those Faraday Girls. Without giving away too much about it for anyone who hasn’t read it, as I got closer to the end of the story, I realized it had to finish that way. If I can’t always have a 100% happy ending, I aim for a hopeful ending, where the reader can put the book down and feel that somehow all the characters will be okay, that everything they have been through has been worth it. But I do still think about the Faraday family and there may yet be a sequel!

Could you describe your typical writing day?

I am at my desk by 8am most days. I aim to write at least 2000 words every day. I may end up cutting most of it, but I find a daily goal helps me to keep the story moving forward. Writing a book is like building a house, you have to do it brick by brick. I usually write the new scenes early in the day and then spend the afternoon editing and rewriting.

As far as I am informed your books all have a female protagonist. Is it important to you to write from a female perspective?

Many of my novels do have a female main character, but as I write family comedy-dramas, there are of course also plenty of male characters – fathers, sons, brothers, uncles. I like to get right inside the heads of all my characters. I’m lucky in that I grew up in a big family, with three brothers and three sisters and many uncles, aunts and cousins, so I have plenty of experience to draw on.

Is there one of your novels you like the most (and why)?

I like each of them for very different reasons (because it was my first, because it was my last, because I liked a particular character, because I especially liked the ending), so I can’t choose, sorry!

How long does it usually take you to write one of your books?

I think about each book for about 6 months before I start writing it, and the writing and rewriting and editing usually takes about a year from the blank page of Day 1 to the moment (usually a minute before midnight of my deadline) I send it to my publishers around the world.

Do you have a favorite book and/or author?

I have hundreds of favourite books and authors. I try to read at least 3 books a week, everything from novels, to poetry, non-fiction, children’s books. Some of my favourite authors are Clare Chambers, Rosamunde Pilcher, Anne Tyler, Tim Winton, Joanna Trollope, Charlotte Bronte, JK Rowling, Kristan Higgins, Garrison Keillor, Helen Garner, Curtis Sittenfeld, Janet Evanovich…

If some reader would ask you what places you have to see when visiting Australia what would you recommend?

I would definitely recommend they visit my homeplace of the Clare Valley in South Australia. It’s a beautiful winegrowing area, with lots of vineyards, rolling hills, old stone cottages to stay in, lovely little restaurants and country pubs. It features as a setting in four of my novels, including A Taste for It, Upside Down Inside Out, The Alphabet Sisters and Lola’s Secret. An historic Georgian mansion in the Clare Valley called Martindale Hall was also the inspiration for Templeton Hall in At Home with the Templetons. I love Melbourne too – I lived there for nearly five years and also love to use it as a location in my novels. Tasmania is also very beautiful – I lived there for three years and used it for the setting of Those Faraday Girls.

Giveaway

I will give away one signed copy of Monica McInerney's novel  

Those Faraday Girls 

in either English or German. 

Enter here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

... in books

Author: Claire LaZebnik

Welcome to my new Blog Feature! 

I am really excited to present it to you and I am even more excited to have Claire LaZebnik stop by for my first author interview. Her novel “Epic Fail” was the first Young Adult novels I read since I was a young teenager and after reading it I fell in love with YA novels.

Claire agreed to do an author interview and here are her answers to my questions:

What gave you the idea to publish your novel Epic Fail?

Epic Fail is loosely based on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, one of my favorite novels of all time. I've been writing novels for adults for many years, but I wanted to try writing a YA novel and thought it would be fun to update such a funny and romantic book.  I was lucky enough to find an editor at HarperCollins who agreed!

Was it easy to write it with such a well known story as your basic storyline?

The hardest part was figuring out Derek's character. I wanted the other students at school to treat him like he's special, but wasn't sure how to give him all that status in a believable way. When I decided to make him the son of two famous movies stars, everything else sort of fell into place. Well, not everything - I did struggle a bit with Webster (the villain) - how to make him evil enough to hate, but not so evil it would be upsetting to younger readers. I think I worked it out, but it took a few drafts.

Who is your favorite Benton sisters and why?

Elise is my favorite, simply because she's the most relatable one. Juliana is a little too nice and kind and the other two can be annoying. Elise is funny and smart and insightful and yet still finds herself in embarrassing situations, so she's pretty likable. Her one flaw is that she's so determined not to fawn over Derek because his parents are famous that she goes too far in the other direction and doesn't give him enough of a chance with her.

Was it easy to write a YA novel and what are the differences in writing one to an adult novel?

It was definitely FUN to write a YA novel - I don't know about easy. There's always a lot of work in producing a finished 300 page manuscript, and this was no exception, but I loved the characters and knew where the plot had to go, so it wasn't the hardest thing I've ever written. 

I'd say there are two main differences between writing for adults and writing YA. The first is obvious: I tried to keep it "clean," so anyone could read it, by avoiding swear words (for the most part) and not including any sex scenes or anything like that. The second major difference, for me at least, was that I tried to make it very clear what was going on in Elise's mind at any given moment. I expect adult readers to infer a lot and fill in the blanks, but I wanted to make sure the younger readers were completely included in Elise's thoughts and motives.

What inspires you to write?

I love to read. It's my favorite way to relax, so I feel like if I can provide that pleasure for other people, I'm doing something I can feel good about. And I genuinely enjoy writing (although you wouldn't know it from the way I procrastinate). When a book is really working, really moving along, it's as pleasurable to write it as it would be to read it - you have the same sense of discovery and enjoyment. I learn to care about my characters and I want to see them safely through to a happy ending (I like happy endings).  

How would you describe your typical writing day?

I get up, get the kids off to school (after making their lunches), feed and exercise the dogs and cat, catch up on emails and my various author pages, and then run any errands I need to run. Once I've done all that - and assuming the kids are at school and not home sick or on vacation and I don't have any meetings - I try to get some writing done. I am not disciplined. I write a little, check Facebook, write a little more, play with the dogs, write a sentence or two, eat lunch and walk the dogs, and so on until the kids come home from school and I'm doing stuff with them or cooking dinner. Sometimes I squeeze a little work in after dinner - especially if I have a deadline looming - but usually I'm too tired.

When was the first time you saw yourself as an author?

I'm not sure I've ever really seen myself as that! I always feel like a bit of a phony, like I'm getting away with something when an editor agrees to publish a book of mine. But I guess when you see a published book in a bookstore with your name on it, it's pretty validating. My great hope is one day to stumble across some stranger reading my book on an airplane or at a pool or some place like that. That would be really exciting - but it hasn't happened yet.

Do you have a favorite book and/or author?

Emma by Jane Austen, probably. Pride and Prejudice runs a close second. I chose P&P to base a book on, though, because there's a movie called Clueless that's such a perfect update of Emma, I knew I could never do as good a job. I reread both those novels regularly.  

 

Thank you Claire for taking the time to answer all my questions!

Claire already wrote her next YA novel called The Trouble with Flirting which is due out in winter 2012/3. 

Keep your eyes open for that and check out my review of Epic Fail!