Why I write

I thought it would be a good chance for me to tell you a little about me - the writer me.  DISCLAIMER  I will not edit this, so if there is a punctuation problem... deal with it.  If I have a run on sentence.... deal with it.  I write like I think... random.

I live in the South and I'm from the Midwest.  I live in a house, at the end of a street, with one husband (I think it's illegal to have more than that... I'm not a sister wife) and one teenager that apparently got a book titled ALL THE THINGS TO DO TO DRIVE YOUR PARENTS CRAZY and studied it.  He made an A+ .  I have a twenty year old daughter that bought the book ALL THINGS DRAMATIC and studied it.  She made an A+  My husband bought a book.... no he didn't.... he doesn't enjoy books the same way I do.  My husband bought a magazine... for the articles... no he didn't.  No... he says I never talk about him.  My husband is from the South and hates the Midwest, he eats loudly (he is having a bowl of Raisin Bran and I actually double checked he didn't have chips in the bowl)... he puts up with me and doesn't beat me (I'd beat me.... no I wouldn't, I'm an angel).

Why I write.... well, because the Easter Bunny left me poems in my basket - it was a treasure hunt and the poems were silly.... I'd have to find one egg and it would have a clue for the next egg, until there was a big prize at the end.... I love a big prize!
     
              Happy Easter Stefanie Dear
              Can you believe it's been a whole year?
              Put on your shoes, don't move like a snail
              Go take a look where the man leaves mail.

That was really elementary and they did get harder as I got older.... I would write the little poems and make my own treasure hunt and one year I got a book - Poetry for children... I loved that book... and I got Where the Sidewalk Ends.  One day in sixth grade a teacher read The Raven out loud to the class... my love for Edgar began that day.  I wrote poetry, it was dark, it was creepy, it was about death and life and pain and anguish... and my mom read it... Oh crap.  She rushed me to a shrink to make sure I wasn't going to out myself.... I was given a clean bill of life.  I loved the feeling of expression... I wrote silly stories, I wrote deep stories.... I wrote and wrote and wrote. I grew up and didn't have time... I've started so many books but never finished them.... and a character came to life in my head, his reality was brought to life with my keyboard.... Abel was born as was the story about the Great Wolf.

 

I love writing.  I love reading.  I love my husband.  I love my children.  I still write dark poetry.  I have about five characters for five different books living in my head.  

Repost from my Livejournal account

Win Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

My best lovie is having a awesome giveaway - she is doing the Show Me Your Teeth Giveaway Hop - a lucky winner will receive a autographed copy of Bloodlines by Richelle Mead - now that is some serious swag!  Go to her blog to enter - much love to all - I am writing so I won't be blogging this week .. I know... much sadness.

http://thebooklovie.blogspot.com/2011/08/show-me-your-teeth-giveaway-hop.html  

Time

Time - My enemy

All of the things I don't have time for.....

I don't have time to sit on FB reading everyone's status and hope something interesting comes up.
I don't have time to read tweets all day hoping to find a good link to market myself
I don't have time to watch everything recorded on my DVR
I don't have time to walk the dog
I don't have time to play with my birds
I don't have time to sleep 12 hours (I require 12 hours of sleep a night....research for vampires)
I don't have time to cook dinner
I don't have time to clean the house
I don't have time to wash the clothes
I don't have time to smell my beautiful roses
I don't have time to have coffee with my neighbor
I don't have time to talk on the phone
I don't have time to blog
I need more time to write on my book......

I find vlogging so much easier - be sure to watch my vlog later this week - I will have some swag to give away!  I need a title for my second book - any ideas?

Muah xoxo

Interview with Daniele Lanzarotta

Recently I had the opportunity to meet the lovely and talented Daniele Lanzarotta the author of the Imprinted Souls series.  Her latest book Wide Awake (the Academy of the Fallen) was recently released and promises to be epic.  Her website http://www.danielelanzarotta.com  is pretty awesome.  Make sure to check out her book trailers - they are mesmerizing and will have you buying the book instantly.    Daniele will be gifting one of my lucky readers with an e-book of their choice of Imprinted Souls or Wide Awake.  


It is easy peasy - but it doesn't come without rules.  Just go to her blog  http://danielelanzarotta.blogspot.com and come back and tell me who her question and answer on July 26, 2011 was with.   Easy right?  The winner will be randomly picked.  Happy reading! 


Interview questions

1. Where did you come up with the idea for Wide Awake?

I was actually working on Bloodlust (Imprinted Souls Series 2), when Kayla (Wide Awake) popped in my head.  I knew that with my next series I wanted to create a new world at some point in the storyline, so that was when I came up with the concept for the Academy.

2. Was it easy going from writing the Imprinted Souls series about vampires to writing about fallen angels?

Absolutely!  I can switch back and forth between characters and what they are pretty easily.   Here is a fun fact though; in Imprinted Souls you will meet one very special vampire, who was a fallen angel before she was turned.  Still, she is very different from the fallen in ‘Academy of the Fallen’.

3. Do you have a certain process you do to get the creative juices flowing?

I usually get ideas at the most unexpected times, but as far as actually sitting down to write the stories, music seems to be the key to my creativity.

4. How long did it take you to write Wide Awake?

This is an interesting question.  Wide Awake was a little different than my other books.  I wrote the first part of Wide Awake (what I call ‘before the Academy’).  I then shared my time between writing Divine Ashes and Wide Awake.  For Wide Awake alone, took about 4-5 months.

5. What is one thing about you that your fans don’t know?

* laughs * I really don’t know.  If they follow me on Facebook or Twitter, they probably know it all!

6. If you had one super power what would it be?

This is a tough one. I would like to say read minds, but that would be a curse.   *laughs*  Mind control seems pretty powerful.  I think that would be my choice.

7. Would you prefer going to the park for a relaxing picnic or are you an amusement park roller coaster person?

* laughs * I’m totally NOT a roller coaster person.  I will go for the relaxing picnic at the park.

8. What are the last five books you’ve read?

Passion by Lauren Kate, Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, and the 3 Mortal Instruments books by Cassandra Clare.


9. What author has inspired you the most through your career?

Only 1?!  Okay… well, being that I have to pick only one, I would say Richelle Mead.  Her character development is flawless.  If you know me, you know how attached I’m to my characters...

10. What is the story behind your title and cover?

Most of my titles and covers fall under the ‘it just came to me’ category.  My best story behind a title is for Divine Ashes and that was pure coincidence (in a creepy way).  In Divine Ashes, you learn the back-story of Lydia (Lexi’s past life) and Loren.  One of their scenes is at an Opera House in Venice.  In real life, there was a fire at that Opera House and when they rebuilt it, they named it La Fenice Opera House.  In the book, La Fenice is where Tyler meets Lexi.  The name of the Opera House relates to it “rising from the ashes”, which is exactly what happens to one of the characters in Divine Ashes.  The weirdest part is that in the book, Lydia and Loren’s story happened in the same year as the fire.

11. What do your order at your favorite coffee shop?

White Chocolate Mocha! Yum.

12. When will your book be released and where can we buy it?

You can find ‘Academy of the Fallen: Wide Awake’ and ‘Imprinted Souls Series’ 1-3 (Imprinted Souls, Bloodlust, and Divine Ashes) on Amazon, Kindle, Nook, Kobo, iBooks, Smashwords… you can also find the paperback through my publisher’s website at http://shop.rsp-llc.com/  Blood Bound (ISS #4) will be released this October, and Nephilim (Academy of the Fallen 2) in 2012.