20 Questions
(Author Interview)
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Book Nook Nuts
1. Where do you write from?
Anywhere I can. I’ve written notes at restaurants, typed scenes in the notes app on my phone while traveling, made voice recorded memos while driving, and typed blocks of dialogue in emails to myself while at work. But most of my hard core typing is done on my laptop at the kitchen table.
2. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
I’ve been writing stories since I was a child, but it wasn’t until 2014 that I actually became determined to publish.
3. How long does it take you to write a book?
Too long. I have a family and a 40 hour a week job, so I don’t get to write as often as I’d like. It took two years to complete Mackenzie’s Distraction. I’ve been writing book #2 for about a year now. I hope to have it finished within the next couple of months.
4. Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
Everywhere. It varies greatly. Mackenzie’s Distraction was loosely based on real people. My idea for book #3 came from a song. I get some ideas from other books, movies, and news stories. I just add to them or combine more than one of the plots.
5. When did you write your first book and how old were you?
I started writing my first published book in 2014, if finally published when I was 35 years old.
6. What do you like to do when you're not writing?
Read, and hike. Not at the same time, of course.
7. What Genre do you write?
New Adult Romance
8. How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?
Actual books, not counting stories just for fun, I’ve only completed one. I’m close to being finished with my first draft on book #2, and I’m about 6000 words into book #3. Mackenzie’s Distraction is my favorite book, since it’s the only one so far. A short story I wrote called The Return is my favorite story I’ve written. It’s on my WordPress, posted in May 2016, if anyone is interested.
9. Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?
Not as much as I’d like. They love my characters, and they enjoy the humor that’s mixed in with all the other emotions throughout the story.
10. As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
When I was really young, I wanted to be a writer. In middle school, I decided I wanted to be a lawyer; in high school I realized that was out of reach and I decided on a paralegal. Now that I’m an adult, I’ve decided I want to be a child.
11. Tell us about your current project.
Book #2 is about a young man that finds a girl beaten and left for dead.
12. How do you handle writers block?
I haven’t had to yet. But I’ve heard a few tips I think I’d try if needed. One is to stop in the middle of a sentence so next time you sit down to write, you already know where you’re going with it and will hopefully just keep going. One is to exercise or go for a walk, take a break. Another is to start writing about something else, just to get the creative juices flowing. I think one for me would be to go take a shower, or go for a drive. I always seem to come up with great ideas when I can’t write them down.
13. What one subject is TABOO in your writing?
Politics
14. If there was one book you wish you'd written, which would it be?
Hmmm…I can only pick one? That’s a tough one, but right now I’d say It Ends with Us.
15. What is your biggest pet peeve?
In life, or with writing? In life, people not putting things back where they got it from.
In writing, not capitalizing “I”. Most software corrects it for you if you mess up, so if you post something, or publish something with “i”, it kills me. There’s just no excuse for it. I’ve done it on purpose before to see if anyone would point it out; they haven’t, but I find it hard to believe that I’m the only one that get annoyed by it.
16. Is there one current TV show that is a "can't miss" for you?
The Walking Dead
17. Who was your greatest influence?
My mom, because of her love of reading. Jennifer Armentrout and Colleen Hoover are two authors that inspire me to keep writing.
18. How do you choose your book covers?
Mackenzie’s Distraction’s cover was chosen because the girl fit Mackenzie’s description and looked kind of “distracted”, or deep in thought.
19. Something personal about you people may be surprised to know?
I’ve worked for the same company for 17 years. Given that I’m 36 years old, most people are surprised by that.
20. How would a reader find you online? IE: Website, Facebook, Twitter, Street Team, Reader Group.
Here are the links to order Mackenzie’s Distraction:
Kindle www.amazon.com/dp/B01BL4H20E
Paperback www.amazon.com/dp/1523378328
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