Interview: Laura Strickland

1. What sparked your interest in writing a story set in the world of Robin Hood?

Answer:  When my daughter was very young, she loved playing Barbies with Mom.  As soon as the supper dishes were done she’d sidle up to me with a hopeful look on her adorable, winsome face and ask, “Can we play?”  Well, of course I couldn’t refuse but as a then stay-at-home Mom in desperate need of stimulation, just dressing up a crowd of dolls didn’t cut it for me.  My daughter’s other love was Robin Hood, so we ended up putting the two together, and “Robin Hood Barbies” were born.

Oh, what adventures those Robin Hood Barbies had!  The space beneath the dining room table became a dungeon and the edge of the sofa a cliff in Sherwood Forest.  The very handsomest of the Ken dolls became Robin, and the ugliest the wicked Sheriff of Nottingham.  Eventually I got so into it, I sewed them all period clothing!

Little did I know then I was building a world I would revisit many years later when I decided to take on the legend of Robin in a Historical Romance.  All the pieces were there – the brave fight against Norman tyranny, the loyalty and courage, and most of all the love. The writing went easily for me, probably because it was so grounded in that world my daughter and I created.  That’s why I dedicated Daughter of Sherwood to my daughter, Alix.

2. Do you have a favorite quote/part of Daughter of Sherwood? What is it?

Answer:  There are many parts of Daughter of Sherwood that fill me with delight.  You have to understand that once I finish writing a book, it doesn’t feel to me as if I’ve written it.  The characters always become so real, they seem to have told their own story and spoken their own lines – I just write it all down.  So I don’t feel as if I can take a great deal of credit.    Many people who’ve read the book have told me their favorite part is this passage when Wren first encounters the spirit of her father, Robin Hood:

In the gathering gloom, the man looked tall and slender, a shadow seen only indistinctly. But she knew him, had seen him numerous times in both dream and imagination.

                A sob burst from her throat. "You are dead."

“But I live on, here in Sherwood. That to which we give our love in life is never lost."

This is something I believe very strongly, that the people, things, animals and even places we love – truly love – in life can never be taken completely from us.  Echoes of the love always remain, just as the echoes of belief founded so long in Sherwood Forest remained to form the magic Wren experienced, in the story.  This particular line did seem to resonate most strongly with my readers.

3. What were some of the biggest challenges when writing Daughter of Sherwood?

Answer: It’s always a challenge to take on History and make it vital and accessible to readers.  It was challenging to present the magic I wanted to include in the book in a way that would be believable.  But without doubt, the biggest challenge was taking on the legend of Robin Hood.  His story’s been told so many times, and is familiar to so many people.  Ever since the time of Sir Howard Pyle, Robin’s been a staple of English literature.  Did I dare?

Yet the idea just wouldn’t go away, so I decided to begin my tale after Robin and Marian were both gone from the picture, and populate it with all new characters.  What if Robin had a daughter?  What if once grown she discovered she had an identity as a Guardian of Sherwood, destined to carry her father’s magic and his people’s fight for justice?  What if she needed to bond with two young men in order to maintain a circle of protection?  And what if ultimately she must choose just one of them upon whom to bestow her heart?  When I wrote Daughter of Sherwood, I had no idea it was the first book of a Trilogy.  That came later, after the book was already contracted.

4. Is there any advice you'd give to aspiring authors?

Answer: The road to publication can be a long and often very rough one.  Don’t embark upon it unless you are totally committed, and have complete faith in yourself and your work.  Try to grow a tough skin, because you’ll need it.  Rejections are plentiful and positive feedback difficult to find.  Not everyone will love your work: people don’t all even like the same food, movies, cola, chocolate, music or anything else!   But there will be those who love it, who “get” you, and jump on board with where you’re going.  Write for them, and because you can’t bear not to, and would write even if no one ever paid you a cent.

With the advent of Print On Demand publishing and ebooks, it’s a brave new world out there for writers.  Research publishers well, before you query them.  I studied the Wild Rose Press and their submission guidelines thoroughly before I wrote the first of my Historical Romances, Devil Black, to meet those guidelines.   They contracted that book and four more, so it pays in the long run.

5. Are there any books you would recommend to readers who enjoyed Daughter of Sherwood?

Answer: Oh, wow – there are so many wonderful Historical Romances out there, and as I’ve just said, not everyone enjoys the same thing.  I tend to read everything from Fantasy to Romance to Steampunk, depending on the mood I happen to be in, so I reach for many kinds of stories.  But if someone’s hungry for good Historical Romances, they needn’t look further than the Wild Rose Press’s catalog at www.thewildrosepress.com.  I’m not saying that just because they publish me, but because I’ve had the opportunity to read some of my fellow Wild Rose Press authors, and there are some absolutely amazing stories out there.   Barbara Bettis’s Silverhawk tells the tale of a Medieval knight-turned-mercenary, trying to avenge his past.  And if you crave Civil War stories, you simply couldn’t do better than Nicole McCaffrey’s Northern Temptress.

Of course, if you really did enjoy Daughter of Sherwood, the second two books of my Trilogy are coming very soon!  Champion of Sherwood, Book Two of the Guardians of Sherwood Trilogy, will be released on Amazon on December 27, 2013, and Book Three, entitled Lord of Sherwood, is now under contract.  I’m hoping Lord of Sherwood will be available next autumn.   The three books of the Trilogy are not interdependent.  A reader can read only one of them and enjoy a complete story.  But I’m particularly proud of the way all three fit together and form a complete, magical circle.  My Scottish Historical Devil Black is also still available.

6. Anything else you'd like to add?

Answer: I’m so grateful to those of you who still love to read in this mad, busy and demanding world in which we live.  There’s a certain beauty in the written word, whether it appears on a paper page or a Kindle.  The medium doesn’t really matter, does it?  It’s the reasons we read that count: because we love to see pictures a writer has painted in our minds, because we love to walk in the shoes of an outlaw or even a scullery maid for a time.  I believe that, like music or even sleep, reading has the power to heal and renew us.  A chapter a day keeps the doctor away, so read on!

Genna Rulon Interview + Only For You Giveaway!

In case any of you missed it I recently reviewed Genna Rulon's novel Only For You! This week I had the chance to ask Genna a few questions as well as team up with her to host a giveaway of Only For You!

Giveaway:

Four winners will be chosen to receive a copy of Genna Rulon's novel Only for You (in .mobi format) and 10 more winners will receive a signed bookmark from Genna!

To enter click below!

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Disclaimer:

Winner will be chosen randomly through random.org. Please ask your parent/guardian before entering if you are under 18 years of age. LovelyBooksBlog will not be held responsible for technical problems occurring outside of LovelyBooksBlog. Cheating of any kind is prohibited and if it is found that an entrant has been cheating all entries will be deleted. All shipping information and email addresses will be forwarded to Genna Rulon for distribution of the prizes.

Interview:

1. Only for You has quite a bit of darker content, especially with the attacks on the female students of Hensley, but these darker moments are balanced out with a lot of light and fun ones. Was it hard for you to find the perfect balance or did it come naturally? 

Overall the balance came was naturally.  During the editing process I did try to perfect the timing so the humor and gravity weren’t competing, but flowed smoothly.  I didn’t want to characters to feel callous or dismissive of a very serious situation, but if you don’t take moments to laugh during adversity you will go insane (my personal opinion).

I do this in my own life, find opportunities to lighten dark moments for myself and those I love. Laughter is so healing.

 2. Do you see bits of yourself, as well as family and friends, reflected in your characters or are their personalities entirely made up?

The characters are definitely their own entities in my mind, with their own voices and thoughts (I realize this makes me sound crazy).  When I wrote Hunter and Griffin, I did ask myself what type of men would I want my sons to grow up to be.

What I tried to do as an homage to my loved ones was include little factoids or anecdotes about them when they made sense to include, so that person would know I was thinking about them.  One of the most obvious examples is when Hunter is providing Ev with random facts about himself.

I think all authors pull little pieces of their lives into their work, whether consciously or not.  I picked aspects of relationships I wanted to focus on.  For example, when my best friend read the book she called me and said, “Sam is totally not me…and you are not Everleigh.”  I had to laugh, and of course she was right.  My BFF definitely has a filter where as Sam has none.  But, the loyalty, support, and sisterly love was representative of my BFF.

 3. Were there some parts of this novel that were harder to write than others? If so, what was one of the hardest scenes for you to write?

I tried to feel the emotions the characters would be feeling so I could accurately express them in some of the more poignant scenes.  I am trying not to be a spoiler, so I will stick to an example that is less spoiler-ish.  The scene where Ev and Hunter implode very hard for me.  I really felt Ev’s pain while writing it.  I found myself listening to sad break-up songs for a couple days afterward.  My husband asked if I was trying to tell him something.  LOL.

 4. Are there any novels you would recommend to readers who enjoyed Only for You?

That is a great question.  I think Easy by Tamara Webber, Beautiful Disaster by Jaime McGuire, Slammed by Colleen Hoover, The Edge of Never by J.A. Redremski, Wallbanger by Alice Clayton, Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker, all share elements that someone who enjoyed Only For You would also enjoy reading.

 5. I’ve heard a lot about indie authors not being taken as seriously as traditional authors. Have you had any experience not being taken seriously by other writers/reviewers ect? Do you have any advice for authors looking to publish independently?

Ah, I could go on and on about this topic.  LOL.

I have not personally had any negative experiences as an indie author, but I am also new to the scene.  I am sure such I will experience what so many others have at some point.  I did find a number of review blogs that will only accept review requests from traditionally published authors.  I have no opinion on this decision, as it is their blog therefore their call to make.  Everyone is entitled to make choices about what is best for them based on their personal experience and preference.  I respected their position and didn’t waste either of our times by sending a request.

As for people who say someone is not an author if they are not traditionally published, I say bullshit.  I did not call myself an author until I had written my book, published it (myself), and sold the first copy.  For me, that was the definition of being an author (in the professional sense).  I write + readers buy = I am an author.  I could elaborate endlessly, but in the end it is that simple—in my opinion.

For authors who are considering publishing independently I have a few pieces of advice:

i.            If you are serious about publishing your book with the aspiration of writing being your profession, then you have to treat it as such.  Think of publishing as a job and commit time to learning what industry standards are and do your best to meet them.  Always present yourself in a professional manor to bloggers, reviewers, readers.

ii.            Pay to have your book professionally edited.  Yes, it is an expense that may be difficult for some to bare, but if you are going to charge for your work your readers have a reasonable expectation that they are purchasing a certain standard of product.  Think of it as an investment.  If a reader buys a book that is riddled with errors they are not going to buy your future releases.

iii.            You can’t just upload on Amazon, B&N, etc and expect your book to sell.  You could have the BEST book ever written but if you don’t promote it, it won’t sell.  I know you are asking ‘how do I promote my book’, that is a whole other topic, but you can research how others have promoted books…google is your friend.

iv.            Be patient, even overnight success stories rarely succeed overnight.  You need to fix your mind to the fact that it may be a slow uphill crawl before you reach sales volume that you would like.

v.            DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT ever comment on or respond to negative reviews or feedback.  Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and their opinion may be that your book sucks.  I’m sorry, but it’s true.   You need to accept before you click the little publish button that not everyone is going to love your baby.  Some people are going to tear it to shreds.  Either don’t read reviews, or try and find something constructive in each review (good or bad).

These are my suggestions and based on my research and personal experience.  I could write a book (pun intended) about indie publishing and what I’ve learned, my successes and failures.   It is a topic I am passionate about—and opinionated.

 6. Is there anything else you’d like to share? Hints about the next book maybe?!

Pieces For You will be released on December 17, 2013.  It can be read as a stand-alone, but I do recommend reading Only For You first as it will enhance the reading experience and you will gain additional insight into the characters.

I am not a spoiler, so there isn’t much I can say, but here are answers to a few questions I am frequently asked.

Yes, Everleigh and Hunter will make appearances in Pieces For You so you will get to read about them and how they are doing.  How could I write Sam’s story without Ev?

Yes, Pieces For You will pick up where Only For You left off.  Technically there is actually an overlap in time.

Yes, you will meet the main characters for the third book in the For You series in Pieces For You.  No I won’t tell you who them are ;-)

Yes, Griffin IS as hot as you think he is…actually, he’s WAY hotter.  LOL.

The Perfect Victim: Interview

The Perfect Victim by Natasha Snow follows the story of Rachel, a high school student so desperate to be a part of a relationship that she starts an unhealthy relationship with Dominic, a boy at her school that she meets online. As she begins to become uncomfortable with the horrible way he is treating her she soon turns to drugs and cutting, unable to step out of the vicious cycle she has been drawn into.

Check out an interview with the author, Natasha Snow, below and be sure to pick up a copy of The Perfect Victim from Amazon!

                                                             Interview:

What made you interested in writing The Perfect Victim?

• This book is actually based on true events that I went through when I was in high school.  The end of the book was actually the beginning of my journey.  Dominic’s real life character contacted me on Facebook, and from then on I couldn't ignore what had happened to me.  I needed to find an outlet to finally let this go.

The main character, Rachel, is obviously going through problems but nobody notices, do you think troubled students are often overlooked in schools?

• I think this is often the problem.  There are a few out of many that are recognized as having behavioral/emotional problems, and those are the lucky ones.  I know occasionally teachers suspect students have deeper issues, but sometimes these students’ issues are hidden so well they do not appear well enough to be as troubling as they really are.

You said that you wanted this book to help somebody someday; do you think other girls will take comfort in the fact that they are not alone?

• Spending as much time as I have on Facebook and Twitter, looking at different profiles, I see so many people looking for other people.  I think a great deal of that is to make connections, and I think oftentimes people take comfort in knowing they are not alone.  It doesn’t make the situation better or hurt any less, but at the very least you know you can learn from or talk to other people about it.  Maybe you can even find a solution.

Rachel feels like she has nobody she can trust to talk to, what you would say to teachers, parents, and other adults trying to gain the trust of troubled teens?

• Well, first everyone wants to feel like they are respected.  So, offer all of our young adults some respect.  Next, don’t lie to them.  Developing a relationship with teens takes time.  You need to get to know them, their interests, stay up with what’s current, but if you make the investment, it is worth the time.

The Perfect Victim deals with a lot of tough topics, were some harder to write about than others?

• The most difficult things to write were the scenes related to sexual abuse.  When someone is going through sexual abuse there are conflicting feelings about whether or not something was your fault or not.  It’s easy to blame yourself in these types of situations, especially when you’re dealing with an individual with a narcissistic personality.  It was a struggle to write because I had to capture many old feelings I once had, I had to do justice to victims everywhere and dig deeper into how I felt about things than I had ever attempted before, and recalling those events brought back many questions I never had answered before.

Rachel wants nothing more than to be loved and that’s why she continues going with Dominic, do you think a lot of high school girls feel this way?

• I think there are many girls out there that feel like there is no one out there for them and want to be in a relationship so they can get rid of that feeling loneliness.  Middle school and high school is all about status; who you’re dating, what you’re wearing, and what makes you look cool.  Teens at this age are trying to figure out who they are, and who they want to be, so sometimes I think it’s not even a matter of wanting to be loved…it’s a matter of maintaining a status.  Having a boyfriend means you’re desirable, and some people will do anything to maintain a certain status.  Even if it’s not a healthy one.  This book has many components about it, but Rachel wanted to stop feeling like she was alone, and once she didn't care about being alone anymore and just wanted Dominic to go away, she wanted to get out of it without ruining her reputation.

What advice would you give to girls going through the same thing as Rachel?

• Trust your instincts.  If your body is telling you that something is wrong, it probably is.  Find an adult you can trust and confide in them.  If you don’t have that level of trust with someone yet, find a way to make a connection with someone so you have someone to talk to.  Lastly, find an outlet.  I used writing as mine, but there are so many things you can use to channel your feelings, and find peace with the difficult situations that you may be feeling.

The Eye Dancers: Interview with the Author

Our Author Spotlight book of the month is The Eye-Dancers by Michael S. Fedison! Throughout the month of January Lovely Books Blog will be hosting exclusive interviews, character profiles, and other exciting features! Check back on alternating Friday’s and Saturday’s to be the first to see exciting new posts!

For our final post this month we have an exclusive interview with the author of The Eye-Dancers, Michael S. Fedison! Check out the interview below and don't forget to pick up his novel, The Eye-Dancers, from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, or Kobo!

Interview:

What inspired the idea behind The Eye-Dancers?

Way back around 1990, while still in high school, I had a dream—the kind of dream that really leaves a mark and stays with you.  In this dream, I felt drawn to look out the front window.  When I did, I saw a little girl, perhaps seven years old, standing in the road, beneath the streetlight.  Except . . . she wasn’t an ordinary-looking girl.  The light from the streetlamp filtered through her, as if she were only partly there—more spirit and ghost than girl.  And she had the bluest eyes I’d ever seen.

She gestured for me to come outside.  She seemed agitated.  But she scared me, startled me, and a moment later I woke up.  Right away I knew I had something—but what?  What had provoked such a dream?  Who was this strange little wraith-like girl?  And, the writer that I am, I wondered:  How could I place her in a story?

For days afterward, I thought of potential story lines involving the blue-eyed “ghost girl.”  Novels, novellas. short stories, you name it.  But nothing worked,  Reluctantly, I gave it up, jotted down a note about the dream, and mentally stored the whole thing away in an “idea box.”  Maybe some time, some day, I would come up with a plot to revolve around the “ghost girl.”

But nearly two decades went by, and nothing.  Then, out of the blue, in 2008, I had the same dream!  There she was—the “ghost girl”—standing in the street again, beckoning, calling. . . .  This time, upon waking up, the genesis of The Eye-Dancers was in place.  It’s always an amazing feeling when an idea strikes like that, out of the ether, and demands you to write about it.  This was like that.  I didn’t have the whole story yet, but I had enough, and I began chapter one shortly thereafter.  Anyone who has read chapter one of The Eye-Dancers will no doubt recognize the “ghost girl” from the dream I experienced.

Put all that together with a desire to write a story incorporating some of the memories and experiences I had growing up along with a plot that explores the very concept of what we term “reality,” and The Eye-Dancers was born.

What made you interested in writing science fiction instead of other genres?

I’ve always enjoyed science fiction.  From the time I was a kid, I’ve liked stories that introduce you to new and different worlds, places, time periods.  I also have been a lifelong lover of old comic books—and they certainly would fall under the genre of sci-fi/fantasy as well.

Many of my short stories are mainstream, not sci-fi.  For The Eye-Dancers, I wanted to have some fun and explore some of the questions and themes that only science fiction can navigate.

Which character was most fun to write about?

They were all enjoyable.  But of the four main characters, I would say Marc Kuslanski was the most fun.  I have always had a soft spot for science geeks and know-it-alls.  They can be annoying to talk to in real life sometimes, but they are an awful lot of fun to write about.

Are the characters based off people you know or are they entirely made up?

A little of both.  No question, the four main characters, and even a couple of the supporting characters, are inspired by some of the friends I grew up with.  There are even a few “inside jokes” thrown in for good measure.  (Hopefully I chose those “inside jokes” that will appeal to a broad audience and not just me and my childhood friends!)  But as so often happens when you create fiction, the characters rapidly took on a life of their own.  They fleshed out, became their own unique personalities, and as I wrote the book, I often no longer even thought of my childhood friends who initially inspired them.

What was the most difficult part of the writing process?

I think, just the grind of writing a novel when you can’t devote yourself to it full-time.  I do have a “day job,” and so I always have to be able to fit my creative writing in to an already busy schedule.  And sometimes, when I hit a tough chapter or slogged through a sequence that just wasn’t clicking, and continued needing work, it was hard to stay motivated.  Writing a novel is a humbling experience and takes a lot of want-to on the part of the author.  But ultimately, I cared deeply about the book’s characters, and I had a story I very much wanted to tell.  So I kept on going, and got through the rough patches.

How long have you been interested in writing?

For as long as I can remember!  I was writing short stories way back in the third grade.

What were some of your favorite novels growing up?

Probably my all-time favorite novel is To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  I also enjoyed some of the great Victorian novels, from David Copperfield to Wuthering Heights and all the way down to Anne of Green Gables.  A Separate Peace is a favorite, along with some of Stephen King’s earlier novels (The Shining, It, The Dead Zone).  I read My Antonia by Willa Cather in college, and thought it was one of the most beautifully written novels I’d ever come across.

Do you have plans for any future novels?

I am in the planning stage for a sequel to The Eye-Dancers.  I hope to have all the necessary details in place within the next couple of weeks so I can begin the writing process.  I’m looking forward to delving into that world again.

What books would you recommend for readers who enjoyed The Eye-Dancers?

I would recommend any young adult sci-fi novels or stories that tackle questions of parallel worlds, alternate realities, etc.  Perhaps The Maze Runner by James Dashner or The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman.   Or any novels, really, that deal with the confusion, feelings, and struggles of adolescence and the ability of the main characters to confront and hopefully overcome them.