Interview with Chris Stevenson

Today we're talking with multi-published author Chris Stevenson about his latest release, PLANET JANITOR: CUSTODIAN OF THE STARS.

Welcome, Chris. Tell us a bit about yourself.

I'm California born and raised, and have just moved to Alabama, which is quite a culture shock for me. I've been a mechanic most of my life (35 years), having served in all areas of auto repair, products, management and sales. I served as a federal police officer for three years, responsible for patrol and post duties for the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park and Palo Alto, California. The law enforcement gig was the most exciting and interesting. I received a commendation for bravery from the government, for putting out a building lab fire and evacuating the area.

How long have you been writing?

I've been writing for about 36 years, but only began submitting material to agents and publishers 23 years ago. I read my first short story in Twilight Zone magazine and got the notion that I could write just as well as the author did, and proceeded to do so. It took me a year and about 90 rejections to sell about 18 short stories, three of which were prestigious enough to land me in the Science Fiction Writers of America. I've written about 18 novels and non-fiction books, seven of which have sold and are published.

PLANET JANITOR: CUSTODIAN OF THE STARS is certainly an interesting title. What’s the story about?

Captain Zachary Crowe and the crew of Planet Janitor Corporation are adept at handling environmental clean-ups and close system jumps to collect precious ores and space trash. The problem is they have yet to complete an assignment without a mishap to add to their not so stellar record. Scraping the bottom of the barrel, Orion Industries contracts Planet Janitor for a clandestine operation that no one else wants, offering them more money than they could spend in three lifetimes. The mission entails a 12 light-year trip to a newly found habitable planet in the Tau Ceti system. The crew will lose 26 years on Earth due to the cryo jump, but that is the least of their problems. What they find on Tau Ceti will rattle their wits, test their courage, and threaten their very survival.

How did the idea of the story come to you?

I really wanted something different about Planet Janitor to stand out. The original idea did not spring from my forehead all at once, but came in stages. I had a friend who wanted to start a water ionization business called Planet Janitor, 15 years ago. He never started the company but I never forgot the company title – it had an environmentalist quality about it. Fast forward 14 years; I thought what would happen to a crew who landed on a planet that was knee-deep in skeletons from horizon to horizon? That idea simmered. A few weeks later, I read an article about space junk, reclamation, retrieving and recycling precious metals, like titanium, gold, silver, magnesium and aluminum. This gave me the idea for a crew who were adept at capturing space trash. Suddenly I knew I had the entire plot structure and outline for a book. I had a planet besieged by a genocide and a naive crew of environmentalists. Land the crew on the planet, to accomplish a routine mission, but confront them with the planetary killers responsible for the genocide. That’s when I knew I had a Starship Troopers meets Robinson Crusoe on Mars.

What are you working on next?

I'm putting the final editing touches on a YA distopian tale. It takes place in the near future, when the economy has tanked, over-population and housing is stressed, and we've had yet another stock market crash. A system is devised by which heads of households can pawn off family members to a corporation called Family Trade and Loan, so they can pay bills and avoid prison terms. So dad gets it in his head to pawn off his only daughter to cover gambling bills and back-taxes. My MC is an 18 year-old female, who is ranked 8.5 on the talent and desirability scale, sent off to the Tranquility Harbor Moon base, which houses a huge mining facility. My gal ends up as an exotic dancer, forced to entertain the grubby, disgusting (but filthy rich) miners, who are called Prairie Dogs. Of course, her father defaults on the loan and she becomes temporary property of FTAL. She then has to devise a way to escape this brutal and possessive company.

Besides your agent, do you have a critique group/partner or beta readers, or do you self-edit?

My beta readers are mostly women who help me put essential character touches on my female leads. I need help with female emotion, sensitivity and motivation more than anything else in my writing. I wrote a book that was a cleverly disguised female "Iron Man" which everyone is chomping at the bit to read. Alas, my paraplegic female lead needs that critical emotional essence before the presentation is perfect. I've got to take some of the Terminator edge off of her before she is believable and simpatico with the reader. Otherwise, I'm a lone wolf editor, praying for the best. My agent does give me some help, but not in a detailed copy-edit venue.

Are you a planner or a pantser?

I definitely fly solo without an outline. I find that if I outline my plot, I most often deviate from it because I feel trapped or confined. The characters most often run away from my plots, doing things that I least expected – changing the storyline, creating new sub-plots, acting out of character, and just plain being unpredictable. I’m too safe when I outline. I take great risks when I fly by the seat of my pants. Great stories demand risk, with a certain breeziness and non-conformity. I'm usually two chapters ahead in my plotting, and that's the way it's always been for me. While I'm writing one, I'm thinking how it will spill into or dovetail into the next. I believe in really prominent chapter hooks, ala Dan Brown.

What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

I love to write; it's no chore. Editing is a necessary bother. I'm totally in love with submitting to agents and editors, and that's where I differ from the normal writing crowd. But promotion and marketing are the most time and labor-draining aspects of this entire business for me. Marketing online is an art form that requires finesse, maturity and persistence. Social networking is so important for an author’s book launch, that without it, sales and reviews can suffer in direct relation to its neglect. Conference attendance, radio and TV interviews, book signings, answering fan mail – all of it is so important for effective promotion and marketing, yet it is so devastatingly, so emotionally and so physically draining for me that sometimes there is not enough time in the day to craft one sentence, let alone fill a word quota.

What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?

Must haves: fresh coffee, a line-ruled notebook and a pen that won't skip, and Roget's thesaurus. I also have my time-out set for five minutes, so if I'm blocked or stuck on a passage, my screen goes to my default picture, which has the lovely Judy from Lost in Space, smiling at me and telling me to get back to work and stop mind-wandering.

Best cures for writer's block?

Sit down with an entirely different attitude when you're blocked. Writer's block is nothing more than work avoidance. And there lies the problem--don't look at writing as work. Consider it an escape, guilty, sneaky pleasure. Fun. Before you begin your first sentence, repeat after me, "I don't even have to do this, so I'll just mess around for now." Give yourself that slack to play with it. Writing is play time, writing is play time. Try and impress yourself with a stunning first paragraph, if you're the more serious, disciplined-type writer. Then tell yourself you can do that again. It won't be long before you convince yourself that the ink you've just splashed is a keeper.

If you could have any super power, what would it be?

I'd like to be Flash so I could write a hundred books a year. And out of that hundred I would hope that one was good enough for New York. Even if it took me five years. Oh, and I could speed-read too, catching up on ALL the latest bestsellers, allowing me to study and learn from them.

Can I have those powers too? LOL. What's the weirdest thing you've googled?

"Green Boots." Green Boots is the story of a mountain climber who to attempted to scale Mt. Everest, but froze to death during a storm. Nobody could get this poor man down into the safety zone to save his life. They had to pass right by him from both directions, knowing that he would soon die. Green Boots did die, and he still is up on the mountain, along with 202 other individuals, all frozen in some horrific death poses. So sad.

That's awful, wow. Switching gears—Quick writing test! Use the following words in a sentence: monsoon, escalating, and exclamatory.

The escalating monsoon prompted the captain to give out an exclamatory order. "Slacken the main, pull in the mizzen and hoist the storm jib, mateys. We're if for real blow!"

Great sentence! Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Let's hear your shout outs.

I want to thank everybody that has bought and reviewed Planet Janitor Custodian of the Stars. It has recently rose in sales beyond my expectations, until readers began to take notice, and this has been just recently. Thanks for pushing me in the top 100 lists. Thank you for the word of mouth praises. Thank you for your ideas and support.

SPECIAL THANKS TO DOROTHY FOR ALLOWING ME TO SPLASH INK HERE!

You're welcome!

I feel I'm not worthy of these holy pages, so I have to thank God I'm here.

And finally, where can people find you online?

I've spammed myself to the world, so there's several places:
My blog, Guerrilla Warfare For Writers:
http://guerrillawarfareforwriters.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2012-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=13


My cheap, no nothing website:
http://www.freewebs.com/uncle1/


My Planet Janitor Website, which has some astonishing artwork:
http://planetjanitor.com/Home.html


I'm a senior member of the AbsoluteWrite forum. My handle is Triceretops (yep it's spelled wrong).

It was great having you on the blog today, Chris. I wish you lots of success with all your books!

Interview with Lisa Lilly

Today is "Rosenmontag" - or Rose Monday - in German speaking countries. It's followed by Violet Tuesday, also known as Mardi Gras. In the spirit of the flowery names, I've brought you an interview with a Lilly. Author Lisa Lilly, that is. Let's get to know her.

Welcome to We Do Write, Lisa. Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m an attorney and a writer. I’ve practiced law for over eleven years, and three and a half years ago I started my own firm. I love being my own boss. I've had short stories, poems and articles published, and recently I published my novel THE AWAKENING independently. Being on my own for my law practice worked well, so I decided to try to translate what I’ve learned about running a business into my fiction writing career as well.

How long have you been writing?

I started when I was 6 or 7 after visiting relatives in Pennsylvania. My cousin LaVonne, a teenager, kept a notebook where she wrote poetry and journal entries. I thought everything she did was cool, so I bought a spiral notebook at the local drugstore as soon as I got home. I had no idea how to write poems, except that they should rhyme. My first one included lines about a cow that kneeled in a field. (Hopefully, I’ve improved since then.) After that, I didn’t stop. One of my grade school friends and I used to write novels and trade them back and forth, sometimes inspired by current books we were reading, sometimes based on original ideas. At least, to us they seemed original.

Let's hear about THE AWAKENING. What's the story about?

It’s about a young woman, Tara Spencer, whose mysterious pregnancy turns her life upside down, starting with sidetracking her plans for medical school. I strove to be realistic as to how the people around her would react in real life, as opposed to in a book or a movie. Her fiancé severs all ties with her, assuming she must have slept with someone else, and her parents question her mental health when she insists she’s never had sex. The only person who believes she’s still a virgin is a stranger, Cyril Woods. He belongs to a religious order  that is investigating whether Tara’s child could be the next messiah, fulfilling signs from the Book of Revelation. But when Tara reveals her child will be a girl, the order turns against her, seeing her as the potential mother of the anti-Christ who must be destroyed before she can trigger the Apocalypse. Tara must fight for her life as she seeks answers to whether she and her child are meant to save the world or destroy it.

Wow, interesting! Is this a series?

Yes, I’m planning a four-book series. The second book is well underway.

How did the idea of the story come to you?

Since I was a teenager, I’ve been troubled by how religious establishments view and treat women and how our culture reflects that. A few years back, I read a lot of books about women and spirituality, and the goddess cultures versus the three major religions today, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, which are male-centered. At the same time, The DaVinci Code was very popular, and I was struck by how no one talked much about what I found so interesting about the book, which was the idea of a female heir to Jesus Christ. I started thinking about what life would be like for a young woman today if she became pregnant as a virgin, particularly if she wasn’t religious at all, and she just wanted to be left alone to figure out what was going on with her body. What would that do to her life? Would anyone believe her? And if they did, how would that change when she discovered her child would be a girl? And, finally, what might she and her child mean for the world?

Do you have a critique group/partner or beta readers, or do you self-edit?

All of the above. When I started The Awakening, I submitted my outline and first three chapters to a thriller writers’ retreat and was accepted. My teacher was author Gary Braver (an amazing writer – my favorite of his is Elixir), and he and the aspiring writers in the group provided detailed critiques. I later joined an on-going critique group. I also spend two or three revisions toward the end of the writing process focused solely on line editing – sentence structure, grammar, flow, proofing. Finally, I have a friend, also a lawyer, who is a wonderful editor and who can read the same manuscript ten times and still catch typos and continuity errors. Lucky for me he is willing to do this free, as I could never afford the hourly rate he gets for doing that in his law practice. :)

Are you a planner or a pantser?

Very much a planner. For my first serious attempt at a novel, I didn’t outline and ended up tossing out half the manuscript when I realized the story really started right about at what I’d thought was the middle. For a while I created extremely detailed outlines, but I found that too restrictive. Now I outline major plot turns, then write from one to the next.

What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

Turning off my internal editor. It’s the voice in my head, which sounds a lot like my mother, that picks apart every word I write so that I’m tempted to spend hours rewriting the first paragraph instead of moving forward. It kicks in when I’m writing the first draft of a legal brief, too. The good thing is that for my legal work, I’m always writing on a deadline. I’ve learned to tell that voice that it doesn’t matter if I write something bad, I’ve got to get something on paper, and I can fix it later. The reality is, usually what I write is much better than it feels like it is at the time, and I have lots to work with.

What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?

A cup of tea. Often it’s cold by the third sip, which is a good thing, because it means I’ve gotten really absorbed in my writing and forgotten it.

If you could have any super power, what would it be?

The power to heal people, both physically and emotionally. Life is wonderful in so many ways and also can be very hard. I’d like to offer healing and peace to everyone.

What's the weirdest thing you've googled?

Probably the lifespan of genetically-altered worms.

LOL, yeah that qualifies as weird. Quick writing test! Use the following words in a sentence: river boat, mountain goat, and promote.

This could easily come out a lot like my first poem!

“The artist sat on the river boat deck, sketch pad in hand, hoping the scenic trip would inspire her to draw an eye-catching mountain goat for the advertising contest, and wishing she didn’t need to go to such lengths to promote her art.”

Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Let's hear your shout outs.

Thriller writer Gary Braver, who I mentioned. He’s provided so much useful advice, and, just as important, encouragement, and I love his books. Also the writers and volunteers at the WoMen’s Literary Café, especially author Melissa Foster. They provide a wonderful support network for writers and also many ways for readers and writers to connect. And my friend Steve, editor and attorney extraordinaire. Most important, everyone who has read The Awakening and my short story collection. Thank you for buying the books and for investing your time in reading them. I do my best to make it worth your while.

And finally, where can people find you and your books online?

The Awakening is available on Amazon for the Kindle and Barnes and Noble for the Nook:


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005CDXXY0


http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-awakening-lisa-lilly/1104252756?ean=2940012849618


The Tower Formerly Known as Sears and Two Other Tales of Urban Horror is available on Amazon:


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005PTWKJ0


My author website, where you can also find links to my blogs: www.lisalilly.com


Look for me on Twitter: @lisamlilly

Lisa, thank you so much for chatting with us. Your book sounds so intriguing, I'm already dying to know what happens! I wish you lots of success.

Thanks so much for interviewing me! It was great to talk with you!

Interview with Amy Lignor

Happy Valentine's Day, beloved ones! I've brought you a special treat today: an interview with the fabulous author of The Angel Chronicles, Amy Lignor. So sit back, indulge in a box of chocolates, and enjoy!

Welcome, Amy! Tell us a bit about yourself.

I am the daughter of a career librarian who taught my sister and I very early on that books were far better than T.V. and video games. (Even though we didn’t like that idea at first, I’m glad we listened). I love to read, and every story helps when it comes to writing your own. You learn more technique, develop skills, and books just take you on this truly fantastic journey that can’t compare to anything else. My daughter, Shelby, is stunning and highly creative (she writes books, as well). I have a loving mother who I look up to and hope to be ¼ of the woman she is someday; and, a huge dog named Reuben who always sits right beside me while I type to give me inspiration.

How long have you been writing?

I began writing when I was 13, when we were on a truly horrific family vacation. It wasn’t just me, my parents were having an awful time, too. I started writing a book of humor called: My Life: A Comedy & A Tragedy, and I haven’t stopped since.

Love the cover of UNTIL NEXT TIME. What’s the story about?

I know, Tribute Books did a fantastic job on the cover! They are the absolute best!


There are a great deal of YA’s out there, and now that the ‘fanged ones’ have started to fade a bit, the ‘winged ones’ are truly arriving in force, and I very much wanted to write a story that would be different from all the rest. My characters, Matt and Emily, were created for a specific job. They are new - ‘fresh’ beings - if you will. They are not ‘fallen’ souls or tormented creatures, they’re just looking at the world through completely innocent eyes.

They are raised and trained as the ultimate angel/warrior team, so their job is to save, defend, judge and forgive, depending on the ‘life’ they’ve been assigned. What they don’t realize is that the power of human emotions, such as love, anger, passion and fear can take over even the best of souls, causing them to make mistakes and follow paths that lead to confusion and heartache. So the core of their story is how this angel/warrior team must find a way to keep the faith they have in each other in a world that’s ripping them apart.

Sounds amazing! How did the idea of the story come to you?

I'm a big fan of YA books. I had a thought one day, after reading about one of the ‘fallen,’ whether or not an angel - brand new - would come here and even want to help the world, seeing as that everything is so negative down here - war, poverty, pain, anger, etc. Would they want to defend and protect? And if they did, could they survive and want to come back down yet again? So these are some real lessons they have to learn, while trying to understand the love they suddenly feel for others.

Are you a planner or a pantser?

I am a planner. I want to have those character’s in my mind. But as everyone knows there is no way to actually do an “outline” for a novel. Once I get into it, all these twists and turns come up, so even I’m thrilled. I feel like the reader, because I don’t know what’s coming next.

What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

The title. That is the one thing that has to be right and make complete and utter sense to me. By the time you’re done with the book and you write, “The End,” those few small words on the cover have to really sum up what you’ve tried to say. I admire those out there who can come up with the title before they even begin writing. Now, those are planners!

Source: cainhopwood.com

What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?
A pen and paper. I know, technology is just fine…when it works, and I do use a computer to create the books. But my mind is working so fast that I need to have that “tangible” writing material so that I can jot down exactly what I want to say three chapters back or three chapters ahead, or an idea I just got for a ‘twist,’ or a special line, etc. You should see my office, there are scraps of paper everywhere with ideas scrawled over them. It looks like I’ve plastered the walls with my hideous handwriting.

If you could have any super power, what would it be?

Time Travel. There are so many things ‘way back when’ that I would love to see live and in person. I don’t want to see the future, but I would love to see the past.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve googled?

God, I love history. I write a historical adventure series titled, Tallent & Lowery, and I am always googling things like - Aleister Crowley, the Winchester Haunted Mansion, what Plato may have looked like - all kinds of odd things.

Quick writing test! Use the following words in a sentence: transformer, love letter, and ballet shoes.

Many gifts were given to the mammoth Transformer, Optimus Prime, on his birthday, including the love letter from Bumble Bee and the pair of pink ballet shoes that were definitely NOT going to fit!

(I had to. My daughter plays this movie constantly!)

LOL, it's awesome! Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Let's hear your shout outs.

Shelby - MY angel.


Mom - the ‘best of the best.’


Michelle Horst (and Sid) - a fellow writer and best friend.


Nicole Langan - she works like a fiend and she truly believes.


Amy Ferris, Syrie James, Pam Jenoff, and all the authors who are so supportive. I can not even begin to tell you how much you’ve helped me along the way.


Connie, Ellen, and all the reviewers and review sites who take the chance, who help and support - and all the bloggers who have gone into this with me!


Marla Mase - music and people don’t get any better than this.


‘The Reaper Cheerleaders,’ and everyone in the Y.A. world on Goodreads…Thank you!


And, Dad - your spirit, your love, your magic - you may be gone from ‘down here,’ but I always see you ‘up there.’ You are never forgotten!

And finally, where can people find you and your books online?

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0071LLL2M/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=tributebooks-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0071LLL2M

Barnes & Noble - NOOK
http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=dcSBhG3Rj8w&subid=&offerid=239662.1&type=10&tmpid=8432&RD_PARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.barnesandnoble.com%252Fw%252Funtil-next-time-amy-lignor%252F1108191925%253Fean%253D2940014052627%2526itm%253D1%2526usri%253Duntil%252Bnext%252Btime%252Bthe%252Bangel%252Bchronicles

Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/126226?ref=tributebooks

Also, we have a PDF buy link at:
https://www.payloadz.com/go/sip?id=1554857

Publisher’s Site:
http://tribute-books.com/index.html

And I hope everyone can check out:
http://the-angel-chronicles.blogspot.com/

Thanks so much for chatting with us today, Amy. Your book sounds fantastic, and I wish you tons of success!

Thank you so much!

On the Bright Side: Review

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE tells the story of Gabby, a young teen who's been hopelessly in love with a boy named Michael since they were in kindergarten. After an accidental death-by-texting, Gabby enters Cirrus, the place most people think of as Heaven. Gabby soon discovers that she is a Bright-in-Training and can only earn her wings once she carries out guardian angel duties. What she doesn't count on is the human she's assigned to being her number one enemy (and former best friend) Angela. What's more, Gabby not only has to endure watching Angela flirt with and date  Michael, but she's actually expected to HELP Angela in her efforts. What's a BiT to do?

I really enjoyed this story, and I especially adored S.R. Johannes's clever, tongue-in-cheek world-building language. The witty names for certain people and items and places in Cirrus had me chuckling with every page. Gabby proved to be the type of spunky character you want to shake and ask what she's thinking while at the same time rooting for her to succeed. I recommend this book to teens of all ages.

Available from Amazon here

Available from Barnes and Noble here

PRAISE FOR ON THE BRIGHT SIDE

 "S.R. Johannes delivers a cute paranormal thrill ride for middle graders! Even in death there is a BRIGHT SIDE!" - Addison Moore, author of the bestselling Celestra series and soon to be TV show
 
“Full of charm and adventure, this heart-warming story is about deadly crushes, friendship, and spunky girls in the after-life. This book is flipping adorable!” -Robin Mellom, author of Ditched: A Love Story and The Classroom (June 2012)

"Clever and charming, ON THE BRIGHT SIDE is the story of a reluctant guardian angel, her still-breathing crush, and the frenemy she’s assigned to protect. A great read!" -Suzanne Young, author of A Need So Beautiful, A Want So Wicket (6/12), and The Program (2013)

“ON THE BRIGHT SIDE is both hilarious and heart-warming – a tale that’ll have you hoping that there really *are* spunky and determined angels like Gabby who’ve got our backs.” - Kristin O’Donnell Tubb, author of Selling Hope & The 13th Sign (2013) (Feiwel & Friends)

"With a smart, snappy heroine and a heart-warming crush, ON THE BRIGHT SIDE is a page-turning new take on guardian angels that left me begging for a sequel!" - Gretchen McNeil, author of Possess and Ten (9/12) (Balzar + Bray)

S.R. Johannes is the author of Untraceable (a teen wilderness thriller) and On The Bright Side ( a tween paranormal). She lives in Atlanta Georgia with her dog, British-accented husband, and the huge imaginations of their little prince and princess, which she hopes- someday- will change the world. After earning an MBA and working in corporate america, S.R. Johannes traded in her expensive suits, high heels, and corporate lingo for a family, flip-flops, and her love of writing. 

Interview with Tiffany Allee

Happy Monday, everyone! Today we're chatting with author Tiffany Allee about her debut book BANSHEE CHARMER.

Tiffany, it's great to have you here. Tell us a bit about yourself.

First of all, thank you so much for having me here! I am a thirty-something married woman with a background in accounting and finance. While this probably doesn't sound like the most likely background for a writer, I have loved reading and writing my whole life, and becoming a published writer has always been my dream.

How long have you been writing with the purpose of getting published?

I've been writing since I can remember, although I've only focused on writing for publication during the last couple of years. But during that time, I've spent thousands of hours writing, and enjoying every minute of it.

The cover of BANSHEE CHARMER looks great! What’s the story about?

Thank you! The story is about a half-banshee police detective trying to track down a serial killer, with a gorgeous, mysterious man at her side. The story has danger and romance and mystery. And even a vampire or two, haha.

Sounds cool! How did the idea of the story come to you?

You know, I get this question a lot. To be perfectly honest, I can't pinpoint the exact moment the idea hit me. I know that when I started writing it around a year ago, the idea was pretty firmly built in my mind. When I come up with ideas, they generally hit me as a one sentence plot or character summary and build gradually from there.

Is this going to be a series?

Yes, this is the first novella in a series that currently has four titles planned. The second one will be out in April.

Tell us about Entangled Publishing. I've heard great things about them.

Entangled is a fabulous publisher that combines high quality editing, cover art, and marketing with really unique and wonderful writers. I am very lucky to be a part of such a talented group of people.

Besides your editor at Entangled, do you have a critique group/partner or beta readers, or do you self-edit?

I self-edit and have two amazing beta readers who always give it to me straight. They're not only helpful when it comes to my writing, but they're awesomely supportive and hilarious. They're also both wonderful writers, and I'm in awe of their work. I don't know how writers work without beta readers or critique partners; I'd be lost without mine.

I totally agree. Are you a planner or a pantser?

I am a planner—down to the scene. That being said, my stories always end up varying from my original outline. The changes aren't usually huge, but they can be significant. When this happens, it's almost always to the benefit of the story.

What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

Oh wow, it depends on what I'm doing at the time, haha. Seriously though, I love writing and revising and editing and polishing. The hardest part for me is picking what I want to write next. I want to write all the things. And I want to write them right now. Unfortunately, I haven't figured a way to do that, haha.

I know what you mean. I'm still waiting for someone to invent a machine that downloads story ideas from my brain directly to my computer in a millisecond. What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?

If I'm zero drafting it really helps me to have music in the background—not loud, just background noise. Or if that's not available, silence. But the only thing I must have is a comfortable place to sit or stand, and my laptop.

If you could have any super power, what would it be?

I think being able to fly would be fantastic.

What's the weirdest thing you've googled?

Oh jeez. Well I've googled weird things like how long it takes for a body to start to smell, and what police databases are used in Illinois. Um…demon types and names. Lots of mythology and legend stuff—leaning toward the creepy. I'm pretty sure I'm on a watchlist or two. *waves to the FBI*

LOL, I'm sure writers are big on the watchlists. Quick writing test! Use the following words in a sentence: fiber, conducted, and misdealt.

The coarse fiber of my gloves caressed my fingertips as I misdealt him the extra card on purpose, but he conducted himself as if I'd done it accidentally. Sucker.

(Please don't judge my writing from this sample, haha!)

I thought it was mysterious and intriguing. :) Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Let's hear your shout outs.

Thank you to all the wonderful readers who are willing to take a chance on a new author by buying my book! I'd also like to thank all of the great people at Entangled Publishing for their support, especially my editor, Kerry Vail. Also a shout-out to my fabulous beta readers and my family. You all rock!

And finally, where can people find you and your book online?

Website: http://tiffanyallee.com/
Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/authortiffanyallee
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/TiffanyAllee


BANSHEE CHARMER is available at Barnes & Noble:
 http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/banshee-charmer-tiffany-allee/1108122582?e%3Ean=2940013712102&itm=1&usri=banshee+charmer 

And at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Banshee-Charmer-Otherworlder-Enforcement-ebook/dp/B0070J7IEK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328477015&sr=8-1

Tiffany, thanks so much for letting us get to know you and your book. It's been great talking with you, and I wish you lots of success with your series!