Her Book Self

Just five short days left before Halloween and today I get the pleasure of introducing all of you to A.M. Harte who wrote the delightfully funny yet creepy anthology of zombie love stories Hungry For You.  Along with answering all my questions about reading, writing, and surviving the zombie apocalypse Ms. Harte has generously offered to provide one lucky reader with an eBook version of Hungry For You!  Check out the details after the interview. (And if zombies aren't your thing, this could be a great chance to score an eBook for a friend as an All Hallows Read gift!)  Please join me in a warm Her Book Self welcome to A.M. Harte!

*applause, applause*

I have to start with perhaps the most obvious question about your book - why zombies?

I hate horror. I can’t watch scary films, I can’t read scary books, and despite being somewhat grown-up, I’m still convinced there are monsters under my bed.

But a key aspect of being a writer – and of life in general – is pushing past your comfort zone and trying new things. There’s nothing worse than being stuck in a rut, either because you’re afraid of what’s outside or you’ve grown too comfortable. Yes, there could be a giant scary monster out there, but there could also be a double rainbow waiting to be discovered.

Fear is a great motivator because it shows you where your comfort zone lies. And tackling my fears by writing about zombies – the epitome of horror – was a challenge I couldn’t turn down.

On your blog you mentioned that the zombies in your work "evolve from faceless, insatiable voids mindlessly destroying the world and become people, individuals with whom [you] can relate." How did you develop this concept? Was it difficult for you to write from such a different angle as compared to traditional zombie lore?

I’ve very little experience with traditional zombie lore, so I can’t say which version of zombies I would find easier to write.

Traditional zombies cater to two very human fears: the fear of the unknown, and the fear of disease and death. Since I’m a scaredy-cat, it came naturally to write about zombies from a different angle to make them less frightening. So I gave my zombies human emotions and desires, making the stories less about disease and death, and more about the darker sides of love and relationships.

I think my lack of experience with traditional zombie lore was a boon – it made it easy to come to the subject from a different angle.

Which of the works in the collection is/are your favorite(s)?

It’s hard to say! I like each story for a different reason, so it’s difficult to compare.

The title piece, “Hungry For You”, is some of my best work and was the piece that most inspired the collection because of its tragic human/zombie love story. “Dead Man’s Rose” is another favourite: the creepy imagery and obsessive love really capture my imagination, and I put a lot of work into weaving subtle clues throughout the story.

I have a love/hate relationship with “The Perfect Song”. It’s about undying love and tea addiction, and sometimes I think the concept’s great, and other times I scoff at the faux-literary writing style.

And of the shorter pieces, it’s a toss up between “Alive”, which is about missing out on love and hits very close to home; and “Electricity”, because it lies somewhere between a very short story and a poem.

Have you always been a short story writer? Are there any pieces that you considered expanding to novel length?

I still struggle to think of myself a short story writer! I’ve always imagined myself to be a novelist – but I somehow ended up writing a short story collection instead. That’s life, I suppose, but I’m not going to complain. I’ve very much enjoyed the experience: writing short stories teaches you a lot about writing succinctly and writing well.

I don’t think I’d expand any of the shorts in Hungry For You into a novel, although if I had to pick one, it would probably be the title piece. I envisioned the short stories as just that – short – and so I’d be afraid of ruining them by trying to bulk them out into novels. Besides, I have thousands of other ideas waiting for their turn on the stage!

A friend once told me she didn't want me backing her up in the event of a zombie apocalypse because she didn't think I would be capable of destroying my own loved ones if they were turned into zombies. I was both flattered at her note of my compassion and insulted at her underestimating my ability to loot a Wal-Mart and wield a shotgun (beating Resident Evil 5 in co-op with my husband had to be good for something!) I responded that in the event of a zombie apocalypse I would most likely play the role of the mad scientist who captured zombies and attempted to cure them. I digress...there's a question in here somewhere - Do you imagine you would last long against hordes of undead? How would you picture yourself surviving?

I’ve never wielded a gun, I’m hopeless at video games and my pain threshold is embarrassingly low. Also, I run away screaming from all kinds of creepy crawlies. Chances of survival: not looking good. That said, I was on the varsity cross country team and have stayed relatively fit, so perhaps I’d be able to outrun the zombies whilst you covered my back with that shotgun of yours!

My zombie survival plan has always involved a boat with a built-in greenhouse and salt water purifier. I’m banking on the fact that zombies don’t float and can’t swim (even though one of the zombies in Hungry For You does both).

Along with your work as a writer you're one of the editors at 1889 Labs. Do you prefer editing to writing or vice versa? Can you explain the significance behind the press's unique name?

Ooh, tough one. Writing is my first love, but it’s a very tempestuous relationship with extreme highs and lows. Editing is the steady, comfortable relationship (assuming I get along with the author).

What I like about editing is that I see it as midwifery: assisting an author in the birth of their book, without the actual strain of giving birth. When I’m helping an author, I’m also learning more about the process and craft – all lessons that help me as a writer. But I think I’ll always be a writer first.

As for the press’s name, you’ll have to ask MCM, the company founder. He picked the name and has been fairly tight-lipped about its meaning. Personally I think it’s his year of birth....

What projects are you currently working on?

I’m serialising Above Ground, a post-apocalyptic science fantasy where humans live underground and the infected (werewolves, vampires, etc) roam the surface. It’s an action-packed novel following the adventures of Lilith Gray, a human girl who is unexpectedly trapped on the surface.

The Above Ground series ( http://amharte.com/abovegroundseries ) is my biggest project, actually. The main series will eventually become a trilogy, and I am tinkering away at accompanying side stories and novellas set in the same universe. For example, I recently published Belonging, an Above Ground short story which explores the origins of the human/infected divide.

Other than that... I’ve a lot of editing on my plate, and I’m still working on my master plan to try chocolate from every country in the world. I recently added Russia to the list!

Where can we find out more about you and your work?

My main hub is http://amharte.com so that’s the best place to start. I’m also on twitter as @am_harte and on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/annamharte

I love to chat and am always excited to hear from readers – so don’t be afraid to get in touch. Especially if you come bearing chocolate.

And now for the giveaway! To enter, leave a comment below with an email address or way to contact you (blog, Librarything/Goodreads, Twitter) and answer the question, "How do you imagine yourself surviving - or not surviving - a zombie apocalypse?" You can also gain up to two bonus entries by leaving comments on my review of Hungry For You and today's post on Anna Harte's blog. (Be sure to check out Anna's blog - there's an additional bonus for commenting over there!)  Giveaway is open internationally and the winner will receive a code for a free download from Smashwords.com (to download the eBook in any format of your choosing). Winner will be drawn using Random.org on Monday, October 31st! Good Luck!

 I'm pleased to start this week as a stop on Becky Banks' Legendary Blog Tour celebrating her novel The Legend of Lady MacLaoch! Be sure to check out my next post with my review of the book and after reading through this author interview, leave a comment with your best guess to the trivia questions as an entry to win a paperback copy of the book - details below!

Hi Becky! Tell us a bit about yourself. How did you get started as a writer and how did a girl from Hawaii end up writing a book set in Scotland?

Alooooooha! Mahalo nui loa (thank you very much) Lisa for having me! Well, the two-second explanation on how a girl from Hawaii got to Scotland is, by plane. Iceland Air, specifically.

Ha-ha! No, really though, I first attended college here in Oregon (go Beavs!!) then settled down in Portland and started my career in the environmental field. A handful of years went by and in 2009 my husband and I took a trip to Scotland. At that time I had already dabbled in novel writing, I had written but not finished two manuscripts and with the excitement of the trip began my third. After Scotland, being immersed in the history and ancient lore of places like Portree, Urquhart, Drumnadrochit, Sterling, Elgin, and Dunvegan the tapestry of The Legend of Lady MacLaoch took shape.

What type of research went into constructing the details of this novel?

Being curious by nature and having a knack of never forgetting certain details, the majority of the book came right out from memory from the ten days we spent in Scotland. The biggest research portion was the fighter jet scene at the beginning. Right at the beginning *spoiler alert* Rowan and co-navigator Vick are cruising in a jet and get struck down. Now, I’ve logged my fair share of mileage in planes traveling to and from the islands from the mainland, but an airline is called an airbus for a reason. It’s pretty much a different world from being in a fighter jet. I feel that one can be told or read about what it’s like to be in the cockpit of a jet but for me nothing can replace seeing it, or being there. I have a healthy fear of heights so I wasn't about to sign up for ride in one. Enter YouTube. I spent hours flying in jets, doing flybys and ejecting all via uploaded videos. You’d be surprised on how many ejection videos there are on there – and some recorded from the cockpit!

On your website, you have a poll for readers to choose which Scottish actor they most picture as Rowan MacLaoch. Did you have any of these highland hotties in mind when writing Rowan?

Ha-ha! Oh, great question. Actually, Rowan is none of these men. He lives and breathes as a bartender in Portree on the Isle of Skye. Of course I took a few major liberties on his persona, using his looks and physique as the inspiration. I did little more than converse briefly with him (he being a MacLeod) and when he overheard my husband and I talking about visiting the MacLeod castle estate that day he said, “Ye visited my castle today, aye?” One look at him, and into the story he rolled.

What would you say are the highlights and challenges of working as an independent author?

My other profession, besides being an author, is in the marketing field. I have been involved with taking an environmental start-up company with a bootstrap budget to a successful nationally recognized leader in its industry. With this experience under my belt I thought going independent would be easier than trying to go the traditional route with the manuscript. I also need to confess now, I am a control freak. As an independent author I have control over my novels from beginning to end. From cover art to editing styles. The other great part of being independent has been choosing my own team. As you may have read in the acknowledgement section, this was a community effort to create The Legend of Lady MacLaoch. My editing team are an awesome set of talented women, my peer reviewers too are amazing and each of them make being an independent author a major highlight of this career. The challenge however, is finding time to do it all. Because I take on more roles than just writing as an independent author, I find that writing, plus working a day job and still finding time for the rest of my life can be a little difficult. But despite that challenge, being an independent author is bliss.

What authors or works have inspired or influenced you?

Well, I have to say two books influenced me the most. The Berenstain Bears and Madeline L. Lingle’s A Wrinkle in Time. I wasn’t a huge fan of reading as a kid so these stuck with me because I can remember, still, reading them for the first time. Though I have to say that it wasn’t necessarily books or authors that influenced me the most, it was cinema. One of my most beloved pastimes was watching movies with my father. We seldom had extended time with him so when he would bring home movies we (my brother and I) would just go nuts. The action adventures with strong female leads are the ones that resonate deepest with me. One in particular that is a wonderfully fierce and funny movie called The Long Kiss Goodnight. I still love this movie; it’s right up there with Top Gun. Ha-ha!

Your blog recently mentioned a tribute to your late grandmother (you have my condolences) and you referred to her as a "certified badass" who instilled her spirit of strength and confidence into you. Do you see her present in Cole's character?

That’s a very interesting point! (And thank you for your condolences she was truly and amazing person) Gran and Cole do have many things in common, both are southern ladies who have more of the Wild in them than they do the Lady and both have a stubborn streak. :0) Cole also has an analytical air to her when it comes to research – in that she sees the data and sometimes gets pigeonholed there not seeing the world that the data exists in. Hence she has a hard time believing in coincidences. However, my gran was more an observer of the world, she enjoyed the stories that people told, and everyone whether they knew it or not had a story to tell. For her, the more coincidences and outliers, the better the story.

What projects are you currently working on and where can we find out more about your work?

The next project that I’m currently working on is another novel, its working title is The Mechanic. The Mechanic, is very very different from The Legend of Lady MacLaoch, as it is set here in the US and is much more of a gritty love story. The main character is a woman named Eva Rodgers. She’s a businesswoman and chief editing officer for a large magazine, the man in the story is a man named Nathaniel Vellanova. Nate is a street-wise European auto mechanic with a brutal past. The grit comes out in strong language, even stronger characters and a storyline that is about fast cars, smart yet tragic youths and intense life changes. Oh, and the bond of it all? Love. Currently planned to release early 2012.Thanks for having me Lisa and if people want to get more info or personally drop me a line visit me at www.beckybanksonline.com.  Happy reading!!

Thanks for joining me, Becky!

And now for the giveaway! One lucky Her Book Self reader will win a paperback copy of The Legend of Lady MacLaoch!  The contest will run from now until October 1st and is open to entrants in the US and Canada.  To enter leave a comment below with your name and email address and your best guesses (or well researched answers) to these two trivia questions:

Question 1: What castle is Castle Laoch in The Legend of Lady MacLaoch loosely based upon?
Hint: This answer can be found in the comments at the first tour stop at www.romancing-the-book.com.

Question 2: What does laoch mean in Gaelic? As in MacLaoch.
Hint: Lisa's last name translated from Spanish has the same meaning.

You can gain up to three entries for this contest - one entry for making a guess at each answer, one entry if you get both answers correct and a third entry for leaving a comment on my review of The Legend of Lady MacLaoch!  Good Luck!

As mentioned in my previous post, Fairy Tale Fridays and Indie in Summer have merged together this week with my review of The Curse Girl and today's interview of the book's lovely author!  Please join me in welcoming Kate Ellison!

Kate Ellison's "Portrait of a Writer"

*applause, applause*

Hi Kate! Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get started as a writer?

I've always been addicted to telling stories, even before I knew how to read and write. I wrote fan fiction mostly as a teenager, and I dabbled in terrible poetry. When I was in college, I decided I would write a novel and get it published, but I knew almost nothing about how to do that, and I got discouraged and quit after a few months. After several years of no writing and a lot of creative stewing, I was inspired by some things I'd read, and I started writing again in earnest. I wrote a few books and began submitting short stories to various markets to build up some publishing credits. Then I read about the changes in self-publishing and the rise of the indie author, and I decided to give that a try. Now I have one novel out and more on the way. It's been an exciting journey and I'm absolutely thrilled to be where I am now.

Your book The Curse Girl is a modern adaptation of "Beauty and the Beast", do you have a favorite version (besides The Curse Girl) of the story?

Hmmm. It's hard to say--I think maybe Robin McKinley's Rose Daughter. But I also always loved the Disney version too.

Was it difficult to choose how much or how little to vary your story from the source material?

With a retelling, I like to use the original tale as a jumping off point and then see where the story takes me as it unfolds. When you set up certain constraints from the beginning, they shape the way the story plays out, but beyond that I wasn't devoted to a strict adherence to the source material. I did, however, want to preserve some of the original themes, and I think I did that.

Have you always been a fan of fairy tales? Besides "Beauty and the Beast", which one(s) is/are your favorite(s)?

I have always adored fairy tales. When I was a little girl, I had 3 or 4 big collections of them that I read them over and over. I liked seeing how different versions told the stories differently.

My favorite fairy tale might be Cinderella, not really for the story itself, but for all the lovely retellings it has inspired (Ella Enchanted is my favorite, followed by Ever After. Plus I have a Cinderella retelling that I'm itching to write!)

The Curse Girl begins at the moment Beauty, also known as Bee, is arriving at the house of "The Beast". Though I wanted to know more about her family and the reason she was there, I loved that you thrust the reader immediately into the story. How did you choose to begin the tale at that scene?

I probably could have started earlier, like the original tale does, but I felt it was unnecessary. I wanted to jump in right to the moment of action--since we all know the story, I felt like I could trim the extras without confusing anybody.

What are your thoughts on "happily ever after" endings - great conclusion or overdone cliche?

I like them. Some of my favorite book endings ever include the epilogue in Robin McKinley's The Blue Sword and the ending of Pride and Prejudice, which are both pretty happy. You don't always get them in real life, and they might seem a little naive to some people, but I enjoy having them in literature. On the other hand, I also love dark, realistic stories that don't quite resolve, like Margaret Atwood's stuff, so I equally appreciate that sort of ending as well. I guess it depends on the story and what fits it.

Zombies vs. Unicorns: Zombiecorns

Your website features some pretty funny stick-figure cartoons, what prompted you to start expressing yourself with these drawings?

Well, probably two things. I was raised on a steady diet of Calvin and Hobbes comics (not stick figures, but humorous and definitely an influence on what I find funny) and I always loved Calvin's hilarious expressions. I'm also an avid follower of the blog Hyperbole and a Half, so her style influenced me. Plus I like expressing myself with humor. It's a nice change of pace from writing, and it's a great creative outlet when I'm frustrated with a book that isn't coming together the way I'd like.

What would you say are the biggest challenges and rewards to being an independent author?

The biggest challenge is probably being taken seriously/getting treated badly within the industry. The traditional/self-publishing debate is almost as polarizing as politics. A lot of people are awesome and very supportive of indies, but unfortunately, some writers look down on people who self-pub and either 1) dismiss their work as terrible or 2) dismiss the authors themselves as simply impatient hacks who were unable to get a traditional deal (although this mindset is thankfully changing). I hadn't expected to encounter this attitude and I was speechless the first time I did. It was a HUGE eye-opener for me. I never tried to get The Curse Girl published traditionally because I really wanted to try being an indie author. I wanted to do it out because it sounded awesome, not because I was impatient or incapable of doing anything else. These attitudes aren't fun to encounter, but I think the solution is to continue to behave professionally and treat other writers with support and graciousness no matter what path to publication they choose.

The biggest reward of independent authorship is total creative freedom. I love designing my covers, I love choosing my release date, and I love writing my own book blurbs. These are the reasons I wanted to be an indie! The only thing I don't love is paying for my own advertising (ha!) and doing my own copy editing (hopefully I'll be able to outsource that one soon ...)

What projects are you currently working on?

Several very exciting things are in the works! I have three books I'm working on right now--a dystopian novel about a group of people living underground who have never seen the sun, a fantasy about a human and a fairy who fall in love, and a paranormal monster story that takes place in wintery Maine. I also have a zombie book that keeps getting put on the back burner.

Where can we find out more about you and your work?

You can find out more about me by visiting my blog: http://thesouthernscrawl.blogspot.com/ or following me on Twitter: @KEllisonWrites I love meeting new people!

Thanks for joining me Kate!

In my last post I was raving about the latest Kindeal - $0.99 for the eBook of Revenge by Mark Young - and now it's my pleasure to introduce the author himself.  Please join me in welcoming a man of many talents of which writing is only one, Mark Young.

*applause, applause*

Hi Mark! Tell us a bit about yourself. How did you get started as an author?

After combat in the Vietnam war, I returned to college to become a journalist and picked up a copy of Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom The Bell Tolls. His writing about war and human conflict resonated with me because I knew he was writing from experience. His writing started me thinking about writing fiction. Shortly thereafter, I took the next step—since I was already writing news—and began to think of writing a novel …someday in the future. Many years later, after writing two other novels, I decided to become an indie author/publisher and launch Revenge.

The intricate suspense story and the character development were wonderfully balanced in Revenge. Which of these aspects did you more enjoy crafting? Was either easier or more of a challenge for you?

I find writing suspenseful plots easier than creating believable characters. Story plot lines come easy to me, and I found my past career in law enforcement gave me ample material to work from as I created stories. Every writer, I imagine, has strong and weak points. Character development is one of my weaker points. So, I’ve tried to focus on developing my skills and knowledge to create solid, believable characters that readers can visualize and relate to in some fashion. My main characters—Travis Mays and Jessie White Eagle—are vividly alive in my own mind. In fact, they still talk to me from time to time—but that’s another story.

Your book also has a wonderful setting and captures the mountains and rivers of Idaho as well as city streets of California. Are your travels as varied as those of Travis Mays or are your descriptions from research of those locations?

All my scenes in Revenge are from places I know well. This plot concept arose from my life-long goal to learn how to fly fish and where I honed my fishing skills along the Lochsa and Clearwater rivers in central Idaho. As I traversed those rivers and learned about the history and people of those mountains, the story began to unfold.

I really appreciated that your Native American characters were believable and not drawn as stereotypes. What prompted you to include characters from the Nez Perce tribe?

First, their land and history in Idaho intrigued me, a nation whose boundaries once extended into eastern Washington and western Oregon before the Treaty of 1861.

Also, I am part Cherokee on my mother’s side, and have always had an interest in Native American issues. Before I became a police officer, I worked on a number of newspapers. One publisher allowed me cover the 1973 takeover of Wounded Knee in South Dakota. I was able to sneak onto the reservation and interview American Indian Movement leaders Russel Means and Dennis Banks before federal authorities closed it off to outsiders.

Finally, I did not feel my main character—Travis Mays—could be involved in anything along the Clearwater tributaries without including characters from the Nez Perce nation. And Jessie White Eagle is quite a character.

Photo from author's website

Travis and Jessie White Eagle begin their relationship when she serves as a river guide to him. Do you share Jessie's talent for kayaking?

I share Jessie’s love of the mountains and rivers. Though I like to kayak, I would not consider myself an expert. As part of my research for this novel, I signed up with a female guide from the Three Rivers rafting company to take me down the Lochsa River whitewater on a raft.

Confession time: I fell in the Lochsa River twice and my guide, Tasha Lyons, fished me out both times. She is an amazing athlete, who works on the river during the summer while working on her teaching credential the rest of the year. And, yes, the Three Rivers company in the novel actually exists, but all the characters are a figment of my imagination.

One of the more turbulent whitewater rapids, dubbed Grim Reaper in the novel, actually exists by that name. It’s aptly named. This was one of the two places I fell in, and it was from this experience that I could write so vividly. Hanging upside down in white turbulence is quite an adventure. One of the rookies on my raft—who thought she was helping—hung on to my legs as I was face down in the turbulence. I couldn’t get back up without smacking her. Fortunately, Tasha jumped in and told her to back off, then she helped me climb onboard. True story!

What authors or works would you say have inspired or influenced you?

Ernest Hemingway, of course, was one of the first authors to really inspire me about writing. I have been an avid reader all my life, hiding away in the library on Saturdays as a child after my chores were done. Though I’m more inclined to write police/mystery/action-adventure novels, I enjoy mixing up my reading choices. Among my favorite contemporary mystery suspense and thriller authors are Michael Connelly, Tess Gerritson, John Lescroart, David Balducci, Lee Childs, and James Scott Bell. These and other genre writers I read regularly to study their styles, techniques and writing craftsmanship.

What do you find to be the greatest challenges and rewards of being an indie author?

The greatest challenge as an indie author is that everything falls on your shoulders once the novel is written—editing, formatting, cover design, marketing, and advertising. I pay others for editing services, because an author who self-edits is akin to an ailing medical patients performing surgery on themselves. But the indie author still needs to coordinate with others to get all these tasks done, or do it all themselves. Another big challenge is getting the word out to readers. An indie author generally does not have a large advertising budget, nor do they generally have access to other avenues of publicity open to traditional publishers. Sometimes you feel like David facing the Goliaths of the publishing world. Opportunities like this interview on your wonderful blog help indie authors connect with readers.

The greatest reward is that you don’t have to wait eighteen months to two years before your novel reaches readers. Once everything is in place, a few clicks and the novel is up and ready to be sold in a matter of a day or two. You have more control over price, distribution, and content. Once an indie author determines who their readers are and what those readers want, the writer does not need to water down or change their characters to meet a broader market as defined by traditional publishers. They have the freedom to write the kind of unique character their readers expect and want. Finally, an indie writer does not have to wade through hundreds of rejections from traditional publishers or agents as they try to get their works before the public.

What projects are you currently working on?

I am working on an international thriller titled Off The Grid, with an expected release date the first week of December. The main character is Gerrit O’Rourke, a Seattle cop with a doctorate in computers and nanotechnology, and a veteran from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. He and a mysterious woman, Alena Shapiro, find that they must team up with others to live Off The Grid when they stumbled over a conspiracy that threatens national security. Their foes have unlimited resources, and Gerrit and his companions must learn to elude a highly-technological manhunt. And for Travis Mays and Jessie White Eagle fans, they make a limited appearance in this novel as well.

Which brings me to a point about the characters in my novels. From my own experiences as a cop for twenty-six years, I learned that the law enforcement community is relatively small. I’ve maintained friends and acquaintances in local, state and federal agencies, as well as contacts around the nation and other counties. So, in my novels it is not unusual for a Travis Mays character to have contact with a Gerrit O’Rourke, as well as other characters in my novels. You just never know when your favorite character might suddenly emerge in someone else’s novel.

Where can we find out more about you and your work?

Unfortunately, the only place right now is on my blog, Hook’em and Book’em. Before the release of Off The Grid in December, however, I will finally have my web sit up and running at MarkYoungBooks.com and a blog—connected to that web site—simply titled Mark Young. Meanwhile, you can connect with me on Twitter or Facebook, or shoot an email to me at MarkYoung@MarkYoungBooks.com.

The print version of Revenge should be out later this summer, and eBook version is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Thank you for agreeing to this interview!

Thanks for inviting me on this great blog, Lisa. It is a privilege to be able to share my passion for writing with your readers.

As Monty Python once said, and now for something completely different!  As I've been constructing features and posts for Indie in Summer, I crossed paths again with the delightful British author Helen Smith.  Last year, with my review of Alison Wonderland I was able to feature an author interview with Ms. Smith, and now that I've read (and loved) her newest short story Three Sisters Helen was kind enough to join Her Book Self again for another interview, this time in the voice of her heroine Emily Castles!  I've always imagined how fun it would be to sit down and have a conversation with my favorite book characters so here's a little piece of what that would be like!   

As a special bonus, Helen Smith has offered to sponsor a giveaway of one ebook copy (your choice of format) to one lucky reader!  Check out the details after the interview!

Hi Emily! Thanks for joining me! Tell us a little about yourself.

Hello Lisa, thanks for inviting me here. I live in London in a quiet street that is typical of many residential streets in London: some of the occupants have lived here all their lives, others have come to live in London from abroad – there are Somalis, Jamaicans, Japanese and Australians; there are people with families, elderly people and young people who are living together and splitting the rent. Since going to a wonderful party in a big house at the end of my street that had been temporarily taken over by artists and circus performers, I have got to know some of my neighbors. I have realised there’s a secret behind every front door!

As this is a book blog, do you consider yourself a reader? What are some of your favorite books and/or authors?

I love Agatha Christie – she’s my favorite author.

I'm so sorry about the loss of your dog, Jessie. It seems that most people without pets have a difficult time understanding the bond between humans and canine companions. How do you best describe the relationship to them?

Thank you. Jessie was really old but I was still sad when she died. Looking after a dog is a huge responsibility as it’s your job to make sure they’re healthy and happy. But it can be very rewarding as dogs are really good companions; they just seem so cheerful all the time. For much the same reason that you yawn when you see someone else yawn, or cry when they cry, or smile when they smile, when you see a happy dog, it makes you happy. When that dog is your dog, it makes you feel proud: everything is OK with one little part of the world that you are able to control.

It was a pretty big step for you to attend your neighborhood party despite still grieving for Jessie and I'm sure you never anticipated what an eventful evening it would be. With all that occurred, do you regret at all your decision to go out that night?

It was one of the most exciting nights of my life! I met some very interesting people, solved a mystery and got to know my neighbors. I’m really glad I decided to go out that night.

Your neighbors display a wide variety of circus type talents. If you had to join a performing troupe, what would be your job?

I’d love to be an aerialist, doing all sorts of daring tricks on the trapeze.

Could you share your recipe for cheesy potato bake?

Ha! It turns out I’m better at sleuthing than cooking. I just throw the ingredients together and sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. You’d do better to follow a Jamie Oliver recipe than follow one of mine.

Have you embarked on any adventures since what happened in Three Sisters? (Any hints about what's next to come in The Emily Castles Mysteries?)

Yes, my neighbor Victoria owns a dance and drama school for children – she used to be an actress. She has been receiving poison pen letters and has asked me to work undercover in the school to find out what’s going on. Apparently someone has uncovered a secret in Victoria’s past. She’s being very cagey about it but I need to try and find the truth about what happened twenty years ago to shed light on what’s happening now. Someone who works at the school has died and I’m sure the events are connected.

 
Thanks for joining me, Emily!  

And for everyone who enjoyed this little peek into the life of London's latest detective, be sure to enter for your chance to win an ebook copy of Three Sisters!  To enter, check out her blog, and then come back here and leave a comment on this post - or my review of Three Sisters - telling me something interesting you learned about Helen or her work!  (Contest will be open internationally from now until July 20 JULY 29 - Be sure to leave a way to contact you if you win!)

It's time for another fabulous author interview!  My guest today has a bright and witty personality, topped only by her talent as a writer.  Her debut work Take the Monkeys and Run was a quarter-finalist for Amazon's Breakthrough novel award and it's sequel Citizen Insane has leapfrogged up my TBR list.  Please join me in welcoming Karen Cantwell!

*applause, applause*

Tell us a little bit about yourself, how did you get started as an author?

I'd like to say it started with a delightful (if I do say so myself) book I wrote in the sixth grade called The Adventures of Frog and Mr. Toad. However, any success I hoped to achieve in publishing THAT masterpiece ended when I discovered a little novel titled, The Wind in the Willows. Gee, I thought I was being SO original! Well, my mother thought it was good (thank goodness for mothers), so she encouraged me to keep at it. In high school, I wrote for the yearbook, and in college I studied literature and wrote screenplays. Then came real life, jobs, and kids. I finally hit the ol' keyboard more recently, determined to write and complete a novel. That novel is, Take the Monkeys and Run.

You have a great talent for writing from the perspective of a wife and mother. Are you a family woman?

Oh yes! I'm married and have four amazing kids. No, really. I mean it -- They're AMAZING.

Barbara Marr was a wonderful protagonist and she encounters some crazy circumstances from witnessing suspicious activity at a house in her neighborhood to a yard full of monkeys (just to name a few!) How much of your own personality is mirrored in your character? Do you think you would react the way Barb does in similar circumstances?

My relationship with Barbara Marr is . . . interesting. She has curly hair like me, but that was an accident. She was supposed to have straight, dirty blonde hair. She didn't care for it. So, many people think Barbara Marr IS me. This isn't entirely true. Many of her thoughts are thoughts I have had, but I would say that these are the universal sorts of thoughts many women and mothers my age have had as well. I put Barb into chaotic scenarios, because let's face it, the everyday life of a mother often lacks the adventure we crave. THEN I watch her react. Barb never reacts the way I would -- that's because she's not a royal chicken when the rubber meets the road like I am! Nope, I'm a freaky foul through and through. Ultimately, Barbara Marr is the heroine I dream of being.

The mystery in your book was really well done with multiple layers that kept me guessing - and laughing - throughout the story! Was it hard to balance the suspense of a murder mystery with your humor and wit?

YIKES! Yes, it's the hardest part of writing these books. I write humor, because I think there's enough sadness on TV and in the world today, and I'd rather give people a chance to escape from that. BUT, it's hard to inject humor into a story about murder and keep it believable enough to entice the reader to continue reading instead of throwing the book out the window! I feel like I'm walking a very thin tightrope when I write these Barbara Marr mysteries.

How did the different aspects of the mystery develop as you constructed your ideas for this story? With all the classic elements - motive, suspects, clues, red herrings, suspense, and intrigue - where did you begin and how did the novel come together?

I started with an idea for WHODUNNIT (the end), then went back to the beginning and wrote my way there. I knew I wanted monkeys and a long-vacant house in the tale. The rest came as I wrote. When I got to the end, the WHODUNNIT had changed enough, that I had to write a few more drafts before it was cohesive enough to say THE END. I'm not sure I could write another Barbara Marr novel that way now though. Many of those characters in her life, sprung from my twisted imagination, but now they exist, so writing future stories for her, I find I have to plan more - outline.

I noticed that Take the Monkeys and Run is one of many books you authored. Will you share a bit about your other works? Do you have a favorite among the pieces you've written?

Thank you for asking! (You ask wonderful interview questions, by the way!) I released a Barbara Marr short story collection in November of 2010 titled The Chronicles of Marr-nia. One of the stories in that collection is a between-the-novels short, "Missing Impossible" - it takes place between Take the Monkeys and Run and the second novel, Citizen Insane (just released). There are also three other family life stories in that collection. I also co-authored a fun chick-lit, Foxy's Tale, with women's fiction author, LB Gschwandtner which we released just this year.

I've also had a historical mystery, "The Recollections of Rosabelle Raines," published in the anthology, Chesapeake Crimes: They Had it Comin'. I'm very proud of that story.

I will say, that the piece that holds the most special place in my heart is a short story titled, "Taming the Hulk" - one of the family life shorts found in The Chronicles of Marr-nia. It's funny and touching at the same time, and mothers often tell me that it actually made them cry.

What would you say are the biggest perks to being an indie author? What are the greatest challenges?

The biggest perk is the freedom. I choose my own titles and covers. I publish when I want to, not when it's convenient for a publishing company. I have instant access to my sales numbers. I'm paid on a timely basis. It's all great stuff. I love every minute of it.

The challenges are that I must promote on my own. Finding an audience is much trickier when your access to the greater purchasing population is limited.

I first checked out your writing because of a recommendation from author J.C. Phelps! In the spirit of paying it forward, who is/are your favorite indie author(s)?

Oh! JC is great, isn't she???? She's amazing, so of course, she's on my list! Also, I love LC Evans, Michael Wallace, Debbi Mack, Maria Schneider, Barbara Silkstone, LB Gschwandtner, Michael Crane (gee, I have a thing for Michaels, don't I?), Cathy Wiley (I'm just reading her mystery, Dead to Writes, right now, and it's wonderful - she's a very good writer), and Misha Crews. There are more I'm sure, that I'm probably missing, but these are all authors that I have read and absolutely LOVED their writing.

What projects are you currently working on?

Well, I just finished and published the second Barbara Marr novel, Citizen Insane, so I'm going to get right to work on the third - Silenced by the Yams. I would also like to write another between-the-novels short story, as well as finish a middle-grade novel I started some time ago, called My Cupcake Summer, about a rather dramatic young girl who thinks her problems are the worst in the world, until she meets another young girl who is suffering a serious illness. Not only does she realize her problems may not be so bad, but she learns to reach inside the caring part of herself, and find a way to help her new friend.

Where can we find out more about you and your work?

I love for people to stop by my website - www.KarenCantwell.com !

Thanks so much for being part of Indie in Summer!

Thank YOU, Lisa! This was such fun, and I truly appreciate the opportunity to blabber on about my passion for writing. :)

As I mentioned in my last post, I've never been to France (nor England) but I do love that books can transport me oceans away and provide me with much needed scenic vacations throughout my urban commuting.  It is my pleasure to chat today with an author across the Atlantic from my Midwestern self who whisked me away to a beautiful countryside in The Tapestry of Love!  Please join me in welcoming author Rosy Thornton!

*applause, applause*

Tell us a little about yourself and your journey as an author.

Hello, and thank you for inviting me here to your blog.

I’m Rosy, I’m the mother of two daughters and I lecture in Law at the University of Cambridge, where I’m a Fellow of Emmanuel College. For the first 41 of my 47 years it never crossed my mind for a moment to write a novel, or even so much as a short story. It didn’t occur to me that I’d have any aptitude for it; lawyers, after all, are concentric, analytical thinkers, dissectors and distinguishers, who devote their time to the pedantic splitting of hairs. We are famed for our lack of imagination. But as an academic I was at least used to the process of writing, of putting words on paper for others to read, which is a large part of the job. And I suppose I had always had a rich – if unacknowledged – fantasy life; as soon as I did put fingers to keyboard, the ideas began to flow. It was as if I’d spent twenty years exercising only the left side of my brain, and my right brain was longing to strike back.

My first novel, ‘More Than Love Letters’, was published in 2006 by Headline Review, and three more have followed, to date. ‘The Tapestry of Love’, which came out in October last year, is my latest.

The setting of Tapestry of Love is delightful and you really brought to life the region of the National Park in the Cévennes Mountains. How did you choose this beautiful region as the story's backdrop?

I wanted to write a book about a woman who begins a new life in an alien environment, in order to map the challenges she faces and to consider the question of how we put down roots in a place and in a community. France was the obvious choice for me, as my brother (when he married a Frenchwoman) and then my parents (when they retired) have all made the move to live there. The Cévennes itself was just somewhere I’d visited; I spent a fortnight’s holiday there almost twenty years ago, but somehow it laid a powerful hold on my imagination. It is remote and ancient and underpopulated, allowing me to explore issues of loneliness and isolation. And, for anyone who doesn’t know it, I can tell you that it’s also the most beautiful place on earth.

Your book taps into the desire that many people have to experience a simpler life and a retreat to the countryside away from the fast pace of city living. Do you consider yourself a city or country person? How does your style of living compare with that of your protagonist Catherine Parkstone?

I suppose I am a country girl at heart. I was brought up in a village in Suffolk and live in a village again now. It’s true I commute into Cambridge to my job at the university, but Cambridge is a small city in rural East Anglia – really just an overgrown market town. The main difference between Catherine’s life and mine is that my own is hectically busy, juggling a full-time job and a family as well as the writing – so escaping with Catherine to her existence of peace and solitude in the mountains, with only herself to please, was a glorious fantasy for me! I also spend most of my time working with my brain – whether it’s doing law or writing fiction, it’s all thinking of one sort or another. I do cook, and I used to paint a little when I was younger, but I’d love to spend more time in activity which is physically creative. Catherine’s life, therefore, with her tapestry work and seamstressing, her cooking and her gardening, is perhaps the embodiment of another of my fantasies.

The supporting cast of the novel was very realistic and I loved Catherine's family and neighbors! Did you have the entire cast in mind before you began writing or did new characters pop into the story as you went along?

I began with only a vague notion of the three main actors in what passes for a plot: Catherine, her sister Bryony, and her new neighbour Patrick Castagnol. I’m not one of those authors who plan their work meticulously in advance; I’m what is known in the trade as a ‘pantser’ – that is, I write by the seat of my pants! When each new character is introduced, I have only the haziest notion of what he or she is going to be like: an age and sex, perhaps a glimpse of some basic physical characteristics, and some sense of their key personality traits. They start out as little more than ‘types’, but as I write, as they begin to speak and to interact with the rest of my cast, they gradually take shape and become themselves. I can’t sit down in the abstract and ‘design’ a fully fledged character out of the context of a story. I find I have to get to know them slowly, through what they do and say and how they react to events, just as we do the people we meet in real life.

Did you have extensive knowledge of tapestries and needlework already or did you research the topics specifically for this book? Where did you learn so much about Catherine's craft?

I must admit I can’t so much as sew on a button, myself, without its falling off again within the week. But my mum used to design and stitch her own needlepoint tapestries – until, very sadly, the encroachment of Parkinson’s in recent years obliged her to stop. And I have always admired the fabulous tapestries which adorn the walls of so many French châteaux – as well as harbouring an inexplicable interest in the history of the European silk industry!

(Purists, of course, would argue that Catherine’s tapestries are not really tapestries at all, being stitched and not woven – just as the Bayeux Tapestry is not a tapestry either. But I decided to dare their wrath; the French use the word ‘tapisserie’ for creations of both types, and I was happy to do the same.)

Tapestry of Love is the only work of yours that I have read (so far) but I notice you have three other books I can be looking for!  Will you share a little about your other books? Do you have a favorite among your own novels?

Two of my other three books are essentially romantic comedies, though the first one, ‘More Than Love Letters’ also has an edge of political satire. It is an epistolary novel, about an idealistic young schoolteacher who writes campaigning letters to her local MP, and ends up falling in love with him.

My favourite book, however, is probably ‘Hearts and Minds’, which is a campus novel set in a fictional Cambridge college, with all its political manouevrings and backstabbings. I had great fun writing it (winding up my colleagues by telling them they were going to be in it), and no shortage of material to draw on – though I actually had to tone down some of the eccentricities of the place to make it believable to an outsider!

What authors or books would you say have inspired or influenced you?

I was inspired to begin writing fiction by Elizabeth Gaskell’s ‘North and South’ – or rather, more specifically, by a BBC television adaptation of the novel which was screened in 2004. Or – even more specifically, and to be perfectly candid – by leading actor Richard Armitage, who enslaved half the female population of Great Britain with his smouldering portrayal of millowner John Thornton. After watching the series, I went online to find out more about it, and discovered the world (previously unknown to me) of internet ‘fanfic’. Here were people posting online their own stories based on Gaskell’s characters. I was impressed by the quality of the writing, and felt moved to have a go myself; four months later I found I had written a full-length pastiche sequel to ‘North and South’.

It was complete bilge, of course, but by then I was thoroughly smitten with the whole adventure of writing fiction, and went straight on to start my own independent story – the novel which became ‘More Than Love Letters’. It is no coincidence that the heroine of that book is called Margaret after Margaret Hale from ‘North and South’ – or that the hero’s name is Richard. No prizes for guessing who was in my mind as I imagined him…

What projects are you currently working on?

I have one more novel completed and in the process of submission, and another just begun – both of them set back in England in my native East Anglia. But, if you’ll forgive me, I never like to say too much about my books until they have a publisher, for fear of jinxing things!

Where can we find out more about you and your work?

Please do drop in a see me at my website, here: http://www.rosythornton.com


Thank you so much for your interesting questions, Lisa, and for having me along to talk to you.

As promised, it is my pleasure to introduce Eleanor Brown, author of The Weird Sisters, to all of you wonderful blog readers!  Along with being a fabulous writer, I found Ms. Brown  to be a friendly, intelligent and engaging person, and I hope everyone out there gets a chance to read her book!  Any author who can capture so perfectly the love of books that permeates a reading family, is incredibly welcome on Her Book Self!

*applause, applause*

Tell us a little about yourself. How did you get started as a writer?

I've always been a reader and a daydreamer, and at some point I figured out that I could write down all the stories I made up in my head, which was a great excuse for daydreaming even more! I wrote short pieces for a long time - essays and short stories, mostly - and then when I turned 30 I decided I wanted to take a crack at writing a novel. I wrote some really, really terrible novels in a number of different genres, and was about ready to give up, until I decided just to take a number of things I was trying to figure out and write a story about them, and that became The Weird Sisters.

How did the concept of The Weird Sisters develop?

I'd had an idea for a story about three sisters kicking around in the back of my mind for years, but I never really figured out how to make it happen. What I really wanted to explore through those sisters was birth order theory, the idea that where we are born in our family influences the people we become. As I wrote, I incorporated other things I was interested in or trying to figure out, like what it means to be an adult, and how families communicate, until I had a complex enough story to really call it a novel.

Did you have quotes from Shakespeare in mind to use for certain conversations in the book or did you look them up as you wrote the story? Or did you - like the Andreas family - pull them from memory?

I had a long list, culled from extensive research I had done before I started writing, of quotes I wanted to use. Most of those got tossed to the wind, however; I realized that I couldn't write a scene just to use a quote, and I wanted to limit the number of 'famous' quotes I used, because this is a family whose knowledge would extend beyond the ones anyone can name. So ultimately I ended up doing a lot of running back to my Complete Works and looking for something appropriate to the conversation. I wish I could quote extemporaneously like the Andreas family can!

As the youngest child in my family, I recognized certain attributes of Rose, Bean, and Cordy in myself and my two older sisters. To which of the three sisters do you most relate? Which one was the most fun and which the most challenging to write?

I'm so glad to hear you found them recognizable! I relate to all three of the sisters - part of writing about them was an attempt to try to reconcile the parts of me that are often at war - the little bit of me that wants independence versus the part that wants to be taken care of, or the part that wants adventure and drama with the part that desires safety.
Rose was the most difficult to write because it would have been easy to have her just come off as bossy and controlling. I wanted the caring, supportive aspects of her to be equally strong. I found Bean and Cordy easier - though their difficulties are of their own making, they also have positive qualities that were easier to tease out.

I found the voice in the book to be unique and refreshing. The "we" and "our" pulled me into the story and hooked me from the start. At what point in your writing did you decide to compose in the first-person plural form?

From the start! I'd tried to use the first-person plural voice before, but I didn't have the writing chops to pull it off yet - it's tricky. But the first line ("We came home because we were failures") came to me before I even started writing and the rest of the voice flowed from that. I'm glad to hear you liked it - I know for some people it will turn them off the book, but I felt it supported one of the points I was trying to make about the way we carry our families with us no matter how we feel about them, and I felt strongly enough about it to keep it there.

Along with being a book about family, friendship, and self-discovery, The Weird Sisters is about dealing with cancer and the effects of treatment on an individual as well as those around him/her. I work in cancer research and I was impressed with how accurately you chronicled this journey. What type of study went into this portion of the story?

I refer all compliments on accuracy to my wonderful experts - cancer survivors and oncology professionals, who were gracious enough to read early drafts and answer questions. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was in high school (she is celebrating her 21st year as a survivor) and I have been trying to write out what that meant to her and my family ever since. It was difficult, because I knew I didn't want that storyline to be central, but I didn't want it to be an excuse, either. Nonetheless, the more I saw people around me fighting cancer, the more I knew I wanted to be part of the conversation about how it impacts families.

I loved that libraries played an important part in the book, too. Do you have a favorite library memory from your youth?

I have tons - libraries have been a lifelong sanctuary for me, and I owe so much to the librarians who placed books in my hands over the years and transformed my life in the process. My family vacationed in the mountains in Maryland, and the branch we visited there during the summers (the Ruth Enlow Library in Garrett County, MD) was where I discovered Edward Eager and E. Nesbit, among others. It's also the building on which the library in the book is modeled. I can still remember the way it smelled!

Shakespeare being the obvious one, what other authors would you say have inspired or influenced you?

My idols are varied - Pat Conroy and Alice Hoffman for their painfully beautiful writing, Maeve Binchy for her warm voice, Jodi Picoult for her complex plots. I really love contemporary fiction and think there are so many wonderful things happening; I'm just happy to be part of the conversation!

What projects are you currently working on?

I'm very superstitious about talking about works in progress, so I'll just say I'm working on another family story, this one centered more on love.

Where can we find more about you and your work?

Visit me on the web! I'm on Facebook (www.facebook.com/eleanorbrownwriter), Twitter (www.twitter.com/eleanorwrites) and I have a blog that I update far too infrequently at my site (www.eleanor-brown.com).

Thank you so much for your time and for writing your lovely book!

If there's one thing I enjoy more than books that can make me laugh, it's authors that can do the same!  Along with taking the time to answer my questions, Tominda Adkins, author of Vessel (Book I: The Advent) is sponsoring an awesome giveaway of her hilarious and fun novel.  Check out the details after the interview, and join me in a warm Her Book Self welcome to Tominda Adkins!

*applause, applause*

Welcome, Tominda!  Tell us a little about yourself - How did you get started as a writer?

Coming up with stories has always been my bliss. Four days out of five, I was that kid at recess who just got on the swingset and did nothing else. Except I wasn't just swinging, I was completely spacing out and building intricate plot lines about dragons and god-knows-what-else in my head. I was always writing up character profiles, drawing them, creating maps and new nations, and building story outlines. By the age of eleven I pretty much knew that I wouldn't be content until I published a book, and yet I never planned for a writing career. Majoring in English never crossed my mind. I wasn't interested in English; I was interested in my stories, and in telling them the right way. I discovered the right way by reading a lot, and by writing a lot.

How did you come up with the concept for the Vessel series?

The short story: Too much anime as a kid! My personal favorites were Ronin Warriors and Sailor Moon. The long story: When I was twelve, my best friend Lindsey and I stayed up until dawn writing separate epic fantasies. The notebook I filled that night hardly resembles Vessel, but the seeds are there: five young men, elemental powers, and comedic situations. It just kept evolving from there. Anyone who knew me in high school can tell you I was never without a spiral-bound neon notebook filled with this ongoing story and supplemental manga-esque doodling. I went to college, put it away for a few years, and tried writing some light literary fiction, which never got anywhere. And then one day, Jordan invited herself into my head and the rest of Vessel just came pouring out of me. It all fell into place, and this time I knew it was mature enough, it was good enough, so I dropped everything in order to get it published. Now I am finally able to share it with readers, and I couldn't be happier with the response so far.

One of the things I loved about Vessel: The Advent was that it is a road trip novel. I've always enjoyed stories where a physical journey parallels the journey of character development. Are you a fan of road trips? What is your favorite destination and method of travel?

I do love road trips! I'm generally content on the road, whether alone or with friends. I love driving, and I adore diners (I've honestly fantasized about being a trucker). Two summers ago, I drove from West Virginia to Seattle in four days. My car broke down five times and the AC was kaput for the entire journey. Despite what my travel companion will tell you, it was the best trip ever.
Honestly, my favorite destination is someplace I've never been, and my favorite method of travel is by horse. But since I don't own a horse and rarely get the opportunity to ride in Seattle, I'll say that 'by car' is a close second. It's when I'm driving around listening to loud music that I start to visualize key scenes for Vessel. Probably not the safest way to craft a novel, but it works for me.

Was it difficult to develop so many characters concurrently?

Character development always feels like the easiest part. One thing that consistently amazes about writing is the way characters tend to dictate their own creation. You start to get a feel for them, but sometimes when you begin priming them to be a certain way, they flatly refuse. You want specific relationships to form, or you want a protagonist to show strength before he's ready, but the characters have a way of pointing you in the right direction and thus improving the story itself--if you let them. It's truly a group effort. I sit and type, and I've got these guys glaring over my shoulder the whole time, saying: "Are you kidding? I'd never do that!" or: "I'm wearing what?" and: "Yes! Yes! I'd totally say that!" and so on. When this whole thing started, for instance, Corin was supposed to be a total ditz. He wound up being the most sensible character I've got. I wanted Ghi to stand out as the key male protagonist for Book I, but Jesse absolutely jumped up and stole the show. There was no stopping him. All these developments were for the better, though, and I have my characters to thank for it.

 Whose storyline was the most enjoyable to write?

Jesse is obviously a ball to write, but Khan's storyline is probably my favorite right now. There's a lot of mystery to him--not just concerning his past, but his current actions. Doing a character who doesn't speak is a challenge, but a fun one. Readers sometimes ask why he doesn't talk. It's not that he doesn't know English; he just doesn't see the point in speaking in most situations. Or maybe he's just a total sociopath. I don't know. Heck, I created the guy, and I hardly know what he's thinking half the time. He has a lot of depth, though; he's a lot sweeter and selfless than readers realize right now, and I can promise that he'll continue to surprise.

Your website has a Vessel character quiz - which character is most like you and which is the least?

This is a fun one! I think a lot of people would guess that Jordan and I are the most similar, but I don't see it. Friends do tell me that reading Vessel is like sitting with me while I tell a story, and I guess the way I talk really does show through in Jordan's narration . . . but she's just so cranky. I like to think that if I were stuck on a tour bus with the Vessel, I'd have a darn good time. So I'll say that I'm most like Jackson. He's loud, friendly, up for anything, and rarely in a poor mood. I can identify with that. The least like me is probably Khan. He and I don't have much in common, except maybe a predilection toward tattoos.

Another aspect of the book that I found really entertaining was Jordan's narration and her witty banter with Jesse. Do your friends and family consider you a funny person or is most of your humor saved for your writing?

I see humor in everything, and I'm always bursting to tell someone a funny story. I'm a total ham, sure, but it helps that the most outrageous (and usually embarrassing) things always happen to me. I don't know why that is. I'm like a Seinfeld situation magnet. I can't walk out the door in a long skirt without it winding up over my head in a strong wind, or ripped completely off by bicycle gears, or half-digested by pygmy goats. You see? There's this stereotype of authors using their sorrows to inspire, or writing to make use of their pain. I suppose, then, that I write to make use of my absurd circumstances. So when a naked man accidentally locks himself in my kitchen pantry (true story), I just think: "Yep. I can use that."

Using a haiku, how would you persuade someone who had never read the book that Vessel: The Advent is a work they will love?

What an original question! Here goes:

Earth is in peril!

Five gods, one girl, add liquor . . .

Oh no. We're all doomed.

The Hollows were also a delightfully creepy new concept and I liked that you took a new spin on zombies as an adversary. Are you a fan of zombies in books and movies? How did you come up with your reinvention of them?

I had eight zombie apocalypse nightmares in 2010! I wouldn't call myself a zombie afficianado, but I do appreciate a well-done zombie movie or graphic novel. Zombies terrify me for the same reason that sharks do: you absolutely cannot reason with one, and it wants to eat you. You can't reason with a toddler, either, but a toddler can't gnaw out your intestines. Unless it's a zombie toddler.
Zombie movies definitely helped inspire the Hollows, who've undergone some major evolution throughout re-writings of Vessel. They used to be demon spirits in another dimension, then vampire-like beings, and probably other things I'm forgetting. For a long time, I wasn't sure what their endgame was, what they were after, you know? "Taking over the world" is overdone, and there are too many civilized vampires out there who kill with moral discrecion. I wanted the adversary to be savage, calculating but insatiable, and scary. Then I saw this bad movie a few years ago about seances, with this black ectoplasm floating up out of a kid's mouth, and I was like: Yes! That's what my evil is! It doesn't think, it just feeds--like zombies! No political goals, no dreams of eternal life, no name even--just a hunger. A hunger that takes the shape of the people it has fed upon and emptied. Hollows. Bingo.

You already have some plans for future books in the Vessel series - what can you reveal about the next book?

Well, there will be five books in all, and each one will shine a little extra light on one Vessel in particular. Jesse got Book I. Next up is Jackson. In Book II, we'll learn a lot more about the Luna Latum, the Vessels' abilities, and their drink preferences. Basically, the boys get a few months of R&R at their new digs, the Elysium (where Jordan is miserable, of course). Then they are called to Egypt by the Luna Latum Consulate, where sand is displaced and trouble is had. My website promises "cults, prosthesis humor, the bloody return of a certain not-quite-dead princess and her flesh-eating horse, and, naturally, a gay disco club". The book doesn't have a subtitle yet, and in fact I'm holding a contest to name it. The winner will have a doomed character named in his or her honor!

What other projects are you currently working on?

I write the occasional speculative short story, but right now Vessel is all I have time for. I'm always looking to do cover design, typesettng, and e-book formatting for other authors, though. Eventually, I want to expand my publishing capabilities and promote works other than my own. As for what I'll be writing after Vessel, who knows!

Where can we find out more about you and your work?

ReadVessel.com is a great place to start, and the Elysium blog: TomindaAdkins.blogspot.com. I'm always trying to keep things interactive and show visitors a good time. And, of course, anyone is welcome to email me: vessel.tom@gmail.com. I love questions, comments, suggestions, rants, recipes, weather updates--whatever you want to send my way.

Thank you so much for sharing your time and work!

Thank you for the questions, Lisa! This has been a pleasure. Happy reading!

And now for the giveaway details!  Great news for eBook fans: for a limited time only there is a FREE download available at the book's website!  In case that's not awesome enough, Tominda Adkins will also send a paperback copy of the novel to one lucky Her Book Self reader!  To enter the contest for the paperback copy, leave a comment below with your email address and answer to the question, "Are you a fan of road trips? What is your favorite destination and method of travel?"  Giveaway is open to US and Canada mailing addresses and ends on April 13th! 

Winner will be selected using random.org and will have three days to respond via email with a valid mailing address; if no response, a new winner will be chosen.