Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Author Interview - Greta Alp


Greta Alp is a UK based novelist who lives with her wife, young son, and two cats. Saltwater is her debut novel coming out this November 2022.

Genre: Dark romance/contemporary romance

Q&A

Q1: What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?

My latest book is called Saltwater. I had had the idea in my head for a long time and I have finally put it down on paper. I was inspired in part by my own grief after the loss of a loved one. Violet, my main character, returns home after the death of her twin and struggles to find her new identity in this turmoil. I really let the idea flourish when visiting a beach in Brighton. There was a storm brewing and the drag of the sea in and out inspired the dark, paranormal aspects of the book as well as her tumultuous relationship with her new neighbour.

Q2: When you’re writing an emotional or difficult scene, how do you set the mood?

I always write whilst listening to music. I have a playlist particularly for emotional scenes and I really lose myself in the feelings of my characters when writing.

Q3: What authors, or books have influenced you?

Wow – so many! Tessa Bailey (It Happened One Summer) had some influence on the seaside location and grumpy MMC (male main character). I have been really influenced by Penelope Douglas and her exploration of the forbidden romance, as well as Megan Nolan and the poetry of Nikita Gill.

Q4: Which of the characters do you relate to the most and why?

My main character Violet. She’s going through the grief that I went through and trying to find her way in this changing world. She’s looking for somewhere to call home and finds it in the most unlikely person – just like I did!

Q5: What advice would you give to a writer working on their first book?

Write first, edit later. Let yourself into the flow of the story and fix bits later. Also get yourself an editor who will go through it as you write – it’s so motivating to have people reading your work as you go and encouraging you.

Q6: How much research did you need to do for your book? 

A bit. I researched the area Saltwater is set it in and I needed to know police procedures for after someone commits suicide.

Q7: What was your hardest scene to write, and why?

The funeral scene. I was heartbroken for Violet as I wrote it and I cried a lot! It brought up a lot of memories too.

Q8: What is your writing process like? Are you more of a plotter or a pantser? 

I think a little of both. I find it important for myself as a writer not to over plot as things can change all the time, but I did write out a rough outline for each chapter and where I wanted to my characters to end up so I knew their motivations.

Q9: What are you working on now?

Currently I’m working on promotion for Saltwater for its release in November, but I am already brimming with ideas for a second book.

Q10: What are you currently reading?

I’m currently reading Does it Hurt by HD Carlton.

Connect with Greta Alp by checking out her Instagram @petalledpages

Saltwater - a dark forbidden romance - is due for release in November 2022!

Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Author Interview - Micah Campbell


My name is Micah. I am the author of the bestselling book Urban Legends, Ghost Stories, and Folklore. I am currently writing volume II of ULGSaF and working on an anthology based on terrifying tales set in my favorite time of the year: Autumn!

 

I have written 19 published articles, developed 2 Apple Top 100 podcasts in the last 2 years, and have over 15 years of writing experience, including myriad white papers and technical documents within a multistate healthcare system. I also have 20 years of audio/studio experience.

Genre: Horror, Folklore, Fantasy

Q&A

Q1: What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?

My current and only published book to date is Urban Legends. Ghost Stories and Folklore. I’ve always been drawn to and fascinated by the darker, more mysterious things. I love the stories and the sense of dread that a lot of old urban legends tend to illicit. I guess the inspiration for this book was that nagging, annoying little voice that we writers all have in the back of our heads: “But, why?”

I made it my mission to seek out and research these stories. I went all the way to the beginning. It was great fun and I really hope that everyone enjoys it.

Q2: What’s your favourite and least favourite part of publishing?

Favorite part? That’s easy… LAUNCH DAY!!!! Least favorite? Um, that’s also easy. Marketing!

Q3: What authors, or books have influenced you?

Stephen King has been a huge influence on me. Not only in the darker things in general, but in the way that he is able to weave those into very small or very LARGE spaces. Tolkien, of course. My first book was The Hobbit and I read The Lord of the Rings at least once every couple of years. Oh, and Patrick Rothfuss’ The Kingkiller Chronicles. Wow, are those incredible books! Oh, and I’d better throw Sanderson in there, too. The Mistborn series is phenomenal!

 Q4: What is your schedule like when you’re writing a book?

Shoot, I work full-time and have 3 kids… what schedule? No, honestly, I just write when I can. An hour here, 30 minutes there… Just whenever I can get the time.

Q5: What advice would you give to a writer working on their first book?

Don’t focus on the newest shiny thing. whether that be a genre, a POV, or whatever. The internet loves to talk and it loves to make up new things to talk about… One of the dumbest conversations I heard recently was an argument about “third-person omniscient” or “third-person semi-omniscient.” What?!? Dude, shut up, get off the internet and write!

Q6: What do the words “writer’s block” mean to you?

Oh, I think it’s very real, but I also think it’s a pretty convenient crutch for laziness or lack of inspiration. If you’ve got yourself some writer’s block, switch it up, or take a day or 2 off. Go refill your inspiration meter by reading a different genre or watching a movie or play. It is real, but don’t let that keep you down.  

Q7: What part of the book was the most fun to write?

Honestly, the parts where I was able to break the 4th wall and really let my sense of humor shine through a bit. I think that is everyone else’s favorite part, too. It’s just fun!

Q8: How would you describe your book’s ideal reader?

I like that Urban Legends. Ghost Stories and Folklore can appeal to just about anyone. Anyone, at any age, could just pick it up and start reading it pretty much anywhere in the book and enjoy it. So, pretty much everyone should buy my book!

Q9: What are you working on now?

I am thrilled to be working with a handful of other authors on a horror anthology set to release this Halloween! The level of talent and imagination in these writers is on another level! The best part about this project is that 100% of every single penny of Amazon purchases will go toward ending child sex trafficking. We’re not making a dime from it. I couldn’t think of a better cause!

Q10: What are you currently reading?

Right now, I’m reading 11/22/63 by Stephen King. It is so good! I highly recommend it to anyone, King fan or not.

To find out more about Micah Campbell, check out the social media links below. Keep scrolling for a sneak peek at Urban Legends. Ghost Stories and Folklore.

Instagram
Amazon Author Page
Website

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Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Author Interview - Aisley Oliphant

Aisley Oliphant has been in love with writing since she learned how to hold a pencil, creating wild stories about mermaids and far-fetched adventures with her friends. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing from Weber State University, became a writing tutor for the WSU Writing Center where she helped students one-on-one to self-edit and improve their writing. She went on to work as a writer and editorial assistant for Utah Business Magazine, and a freelance writer for her church, editing and publishing more than twenty-five articles in between them. In the summer of 2022, she graduated with a Masters of Publishing from Western Colorado University. 

Currently, Aisley is preparing to start developmental edits on her debut fiction novel, and has also begun production on a graphic novel series. She was on the editorial staff for the Gilded Glass: Twisted Myths & Shattered Fairy Tales anthology by executive editors Kevin J. Anderson and Allyson Longueira, and republished The Elusive Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy in a new edition for the WordFire Press Classics collection. On the weekends, Aisley can be found running, reading, or geeking out about Spider-Man, dinosaurs, and Harry Potter. She loves snuggling her husband and cats, going on camp trips, cooking delicious dinners, and having a good time with friends and family.

Genre:

Non-Fiction, Booked to the Gills is a book about time management and work distribution for busy writers.

Q&A

Q1: What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?

Booked to the Gills: How to Crush Thirty-Day Writing Challenges for Busy People

I was inspired to write this book because I realized I had developed a strategy for winning NaNoWriMo even when I was doing a million other things, and it was something that I could teach other people.

Q2: What’s your favourite and least favourite part of publishing? 

My favorite part of publishing is being involved in every step of the process. I also like making decisions. The hardest part of publishing is also making decisions.

Q3: What authors, or books have influenced you?

It’s so hard to pin down just a few! My current fiction WIP was influenced by Dan Well’s The Partials Sequence (the toxic wasteland he constructed was evocative!), but I’m also really inspired by Brandon Sanderson’s business sense.

Q4: What is your schedule like when you’re writing a book?

When I’m drafting, I’m doing all I can to fit time in the cracks. I also try to have multiple projects going at once so I can take a break doing other steps in the process, such as researching or outlining.

Q5: What advice would you give to a writer working on their first book?

Remember the first one is always the hardest. Keep pushing and work a little bit every day and eventually, you’ll finish. But you have to show up and you cannot give up.

Q6: What do the words “writer’s block” mean to you? 

To me, it generally means I need a break. When I hit writer’s block, I have to take a step back and do something else so my brain has time to work on what has me stuck in the background. Then eventually, I’ll feel fresh enough to go back and the problem generally has solved itself!

Q7: What part of the book was the most fun to write?

In fiction, I love writing beginnings and the inciting incident.

Q8: How would you describe your book’s ideal reader?

Bookedto the Gills’ ideal reader would be someone who has a desire to compete in a thirty-day writing challenge similar to National Novel Writing Month, but feels like they don’t have time to.

Q9: What are you working on now?

Now that Booked to the Gills is finished, I’ll be revising my adult, post-apocalyptic science fiction book Demon Fall and the second prequel book in my YA fantasy graphic novel series, Guardians of the Umbra.

Q10: What are you currently reading?

As of this questionnaire, I’m rereading The Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson. Next on my list is Not Even Bones, by Rebecca Schaeffer and Unnatural Acts, by Kevin J. Anderson.

To find out more about Aisley Oliphant, check out the social media links below:

Facebook

Instagram

Website

Tuesday, October 4, 2022

Author Interview - Cydney Daemon


CydneyDaemon, first and foremost, is a human being. She is definitely not a demon of chaos taking human form in order to collect as many books, black cats, and items of gothy wonder as possible. When she is not hyper fixated on writing whatever has possessed her brain, Cydney can be found arguing with her dog, playing referee to her two house panthers, consuming media things meant to scare her for fun, and testing the limits of Dr Pepper consumption on the human body. Alternatively, if spotted in the wild instead of in her cave of darkness, she may be seen rambling to herself about anything from book ideas to how many times she had to walk down that aisle before remembering to grab the damn chips she came here for. Prior to becoming a published author, she worked in customer service—which was a grave mistake on everyone's part. She currently also works as a freelance writer, writing the session notes for mental health professionals. With an origin story that includes poverty and severe childhood trauma, mental health and empowerment for everyone has always been extremely important to her. Cydney seeks to write books that have their own heart and soul and that can help those in the way books helped her growing up, whether that be by providing an escape or an inspiration.

Genre: Gritty Post-apocalyptic fantasy – Adult/Upper YA

Q&A

Q1: What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?

CHAOS is the title of my debut. It follows four teenagers who come together to try to solve the murder of someone they’re all connected to. They begin to uncover secrets about their city involving a cult and the ancient mythology behind their powers. Originally, I started writing it just as a fun side piece many years ago with no intention of sharing it, but the story and the characters grew on me. It was initially about teen superheroes, thanks to my deep love of the X-Men. There’s still a small hint of that in the book, but it’s so much more now with a darker, grittier tone.

Q2: When you’re writing an emotional or difficult scene, how do you set the mood?

It depends on the scene and my mental state. Sometimes my brain sees and feels things so vividly that it just flows without me needing to set the mood. Other times, it helps me to listen to music and/or to read a couple of other scenes I’ve already written. There are other times when it’s really difficult because the scene is so emotionally draining, and I don’t really know how to set the mood and just sort of have to power through it.

Q3: What authors, or books have influenced you?

Bram Stoker, especially Dracula. Not only is it my favorite book because of the story itself (though I side with Dracula and believe he was framed), but the prose is beautiful and the structure is very unique. I’m also definitely inspired by a lot of the classics and Greek mythology. For more modern inspirations, I would list Rachelle Mead’s Vampire Academy series, The Nevernight Chronicle by Jay Kristoff, and Shea Ernshaw’s books The Wicked Deep and Winterwood. I love beautiful prose and books that I can feel the tone and the vibe in every word and on every page. Specifically with CHAOS, I went through a major overhaul between the 1st completed draft and the 2nd completed draft. The 1st draft had a very juvenile feel, which has its place but wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted something darker and more heavily grounded in reality with the tone and the vibe. Vampire Academy and Nevernight really helped me figure out how to tell the story in the way I wanted and how to tell it in a way that felt authentic to me and my own style.

Q4: Which of the characters do you relate to the most and why?

There’s part of me in all 4 main characters. And even in a couple of the side characters. I think it comes across in the most obvious ways with Henry based on a lot of his kind of weird behavior and Charlotte’s background with being Indigenous and not having a connection to her community. For Wesley, I didn’t realize until recently that I was pulling from my own experiences with a loved one’s death and how that affected me. I can’t really provide an explanation for Elsey though without giving away spoilers except for her scars and my own experiences with being bullied and mistreated due to scars, appearances, or perceptions from other people.

Q5: What advice would you give to a writer working on their first book?

Have fun with it and make sure you’re writing for yourself. Focus on writing the book you want to write, not the book other people want you to write. You’ll never please everyone, but at the end of the day, you need to be happy with what you’re doing and love what you’re writing otherwise you’re going to resent your story and maybe even want to walk away from it altogether.

Q6: How much research did you need to do for your book? 

An extensive amount. I have collected classroom syllabuses, school schedules, science articles, photography information, weapons information, combat information, etc. From looking up calendars in the future in a certain location to get the exact moon phase on that date to looking up what type of glass a window would need to be to avoid fracturing in a given situation, everything has been thoroughly researched to make sure I could be as accurate and grounded in reality as possible.

Q7: What was your hardest scene to write, and why?

There’s a scene between Henry (one of my main characters) and his dad, and it was very difficult to write not only because of the content it shows but because Henry is such a precious sweetheart of a character. He holds so much emotion inside while being an absolute cinnamon roll and writing things that hurt him is physically painful for me. Every time I even think about the scene or have to read over it, I actually have to verbally apologize to him even though I know he can’t hear me.

Q8: What is your writing process like? Are you more of a plotter or a pantser?

My writing process has changed so much over the years. I used to be a pantser, but with the risk of plot holes and realizing that my brain just wasn’t equipped to be a pantser with how vividly I see stories in my head, I made the shift toward being more of a plotter. Now, I write a summary of what I want to happen as detailed as possible and break it down into scenes and organize it in the order I want it to be in. Some scenes, though, I don’t have an exact plan for what’s going to happen, but I have an end point in mind or I’ll know a scene is needed in a certain spot and in the outline, I’ll write something like, “scene between Charlotte and her dad,” and then I just let the characters guide the scene and decide what happens.

Q9: What are you working on now?

At the moment, I’m going to allow myself to take a break so I can relax a little bit and get some other fun projects done and maybe watch a show or a movie or two. But then I’ll get to work on writing book 2 in the CHAOS series.

Q10: What are you currently reading?

Currently, I’m reading Mary, Everything by Cassandra Yorke, and next I’ll be reading Heir by P.K. Reeves.

To find out more abour Cydney Daemon follow the social media links below, and keep reading for a excerpt from CHAOS.

Instagram

Goodreads

Amazon Author page

Website

Twitter


Bitter pain wound her heart into a solid knot. Elsey Hallen bit her tongue and tried to breathe.

The pungent aroma of cabbage and pork choked the air from the room. For every note the cellist flubbed, she gritted her teeth. Her shchi remained untouched.

Surveying the room, Elsey noted every detail. Eight people around the table, herself included. Two exits—one on the far right and one on the left. Golden damask wallpaper. Cream crown molding. A gold chandelier trimmed in gleaming crystal. A string quartet in the—

“Elsey.” The man across from her mother placed his elbows on the table. He rested his hard, flat chin on top of his folded hands.

Her striking blue-green eyes sliced to him.

Gray peppered Micha Adamson’s slicked-back chestnut hair. His tailored navy suit hugged his wide shoulders, complementing his speckled robin’s egg eyes. A crooked nose offset the features of his otherwise magazine-worthy face. He wore an arrogant sneer that seemed to fit with his prominent cheekbones and strong square jaw. Towering over the other attendees, his strapping build demanded recognition. His skin shone under the lights like raw pine treated with a layer of varnish.

“You always seem to be growing.” Micha’s stare lingered on the sweetheart neckline of her black velvet dress. “What are you now? Seventeen?”

“Yes.” Her voice—like a crackling flame—carried an extra bite. “The same age as your son and daughter.”

A pinch nipped her left side. Elsey jerked from her mother’s grasp. Digging her black nails into her dress, she ignored the look she received from her father, Gregor, at the head of the table.

Micha’s thin lips twisted up. “My last girlfriend was eighteen.”

If Elsey had a weaker stomach, she would’ve vomited. “I’m not taking applications at this time, and I’d still pass on yours even if I were of legal age.”

“What legal age? There are no laws dictating what I can and can’t do.” He burst into laughter, slamming his hand on the table. The dishes rattled. All eyes fixed on them. His gaze narrowed. “Don’t worry. You’ve always been too willful for my liking.”

The bitter pain knotted even tighter into her heart.

“Besides,” he continued with a voice colder than frost, “what would a man want with a girl who looks like a jigsaw puzzle?”

Her face grew almost as scarlet as her long, voluminous curls. Every stare felt sharper. Elsey felt too aware of her appearance. The jagged line cutting from her forehead into her right brow. The deep hole creating a concave against her high cheekbone under her right eye before cutting into a sickle down her face. The pitted dip in her chin that forked at the end. The hollow stitch of skin at the left corner of her heart-shaped lips. The strained skin twisting around her left eye and slicing toward her jaw. The thick line carved along the valley of her left cheek. And underneath her long-sleeved dress and flesh-toned stockings, more scars—rough lines and gouges—defiled her entire body. Turning her creamy muted rose skin into a map of puckered and gnarled terrain.

Rage unfurled its wings in her chest. Burying all her pain in a shallow grave.

She gripped the table.