12 Days of Christmas - Day 9 - Special Guests!

Day 9! Doing something a little different today. I interviewed two aspiring authors who are currently co-writing a novel. Keep reading… there are some fun questions ahead… AND one of my favorite fictional characters came up in this Q&A! *laughs*

Welcome Amanda and Jessica!

Tell us about what made you start writing.

Amanda: It's something we have wanted to do for a really long time and when Jessica approached me about this amazing idea she had and we started brainstorming- it immediately took on a life of its own. So it was something we both knew we had to attempt.

As an aspiring author, what are some of the obstacles you have run into so far?

Amanda: Being that we are co-writing a series together, we have run into some scheduling conflicts and having to make sure that we are on the same page with the characters and plot development. But we see eye-to-eye on most of it. Also, the series we are writing involves a lot of mythology and the research can be pretty overwhelming at times.

Do you have any tips for other aspiring authors?

Amanda: Write something every single day. It doesn't matter if it is only a sentence and makes absolutely no sense whatsoever make sure you write something every single day.

I agree 100%. Sometimes you may think that you have nothing to write and then you sit down and 5 pages later… :)

What is your favorite thing about writing?

Amanda: Your imagination is your only limit. You can go anywhere and do anything, create a new world, new characters, new fiction, and an entire new genre if you like. Basically, you can do anything you want within the scope of your mind. And a great writer can, not only take you on a journey through their imagination but can also make you imagine your own scenarios within their world.

Jessica: Agree with everything Amanda said. It is a way to live a completely different life than the one you have. You can live vicariously through each character you write about. Just because you can’t afford that romantic get away to Ireland or Italy doesn’t mean you can’t have one of the best vacations ever, probably even better…your characters have only an income budget of whatever you decide it to be.

Tell us about what you are working on right now.

Amanda: I'm only going to tell you that it involves three incredibly close friends who are thrown into a world that no one believes in anymore and that it will have everything that we (as in Jessica and myself) love in some of our favorite books i.e. romance, intrigue, some really kick-ass bad to the bone women (and men), wit, charm, good v. evil, life and death, etc.

Keeping it mysterious… I like it!

What is your favorite genre and why?

Amanda: Paranormal Romance. It's got everything a person could want in a great book. Mystery, intrigue, romance, science fiction, great characters, usually good v. evil, and I have found that, so far, (and this is just my own personal opinion) the storylines tend to me more unique.

Jessica: Same for me. There is no limitation to what you do or where you can go.

What are your last/current/future reads?

Amanda: I am currently reading the Dark Swan series by Richelle Mead. And there are simply too many books on my "to read" list right now! There are so many interesting books and so little time!!!

Jessica: I am currently reading the Succubus Series by Richelle Mead. After this I will re-read the Hunger Games (I like to do this before the movie versions come out). After that I hope to pick up the Highlander Series.

What are your top 3 favorite books? … and you are welcome… I thought it would be unfair to ask you to pick just one. *winks *

Amanda:

1. Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

2. The Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning

3. The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon

(I know- that is technically 19 books, but it's like picking a favorite chocolate or shoe- I can't choose just one)!!!!

Jessica:

1. Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

2. The Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning

3. A tie for third place, between the Hunger Games; House of Night series and the Tudors era books from Philippa Gregory.


Now, my favorite question: If you could go on a date with a book character, who would that character be and why? (Make sure to tell us what book the character belongs to.)

Amanda: This is a really hard question and I think my answer may surprise a lot of people. There are simply so many amazing book characters to choose from…. Dimitri from Vampire Academy; Shane or Michael from the Morganville Vampire series; ALL of the men created by Karen Marie Moning (including but not limited to Drustan, Daegus, Cian, Christian, Ryodan, V'lane, and Barrons); Roger from the Outlander Series; Nicholas from the Imprinted Souls series, etc. However, I think the date would go to Jamie Fraser from the Outlander Series. He is this Scottish-Highland warrior from the 18th century that is intelligent, funny, sweet, charming, ruggedly handsome, witty, and an honorable man who has a passion for life. His family is more important to him than anything else and he sacrifices and shoulders a huge burden to make sure that they are taken care of. Oh, and did I mention that he a Scottish warrior?!?!

Jessica: No way I can answer with just one guy. Dimitri from Vampire Academy; ALL of the men created by Karen Marie Moning (including but not limited to Drustan, Daegus, Cian, Christian, Ryodan, V'lane, and Barrons); I honestly can’t choose between Barrons or Cian. My husband says I have multiple personalities, so I guess one appeals to each one of my personalities.

What would be the perfect date with the character above?

Amanda: Well, horseback riding through the Scottish Highlands while the heather is blooming, then on to a picnic where I could just listen to his Scottish burr for a few hours while he tells stories of growing up in the Highlands. Then I would ask him to teach me how to fight. Which would probably make him laugh but he would do it. Hopefully, he would call me Sassenach (just once would be enough for me).

Jessica: Barrons…never leaving his bedroom or his garage (the floor with the cars in it, not the rooms below the garage). Cian, curled up in his arms in front of a roaring fire while he reads out loud to me. He could probably read the periodic table of elements to me and it wouldn’t bother me, but hopefully something a little more romantic.

Is there a character that annoys or who you just want to smack every once in a while? * laughs *

Amanda: Lol. Yes, I have wanted to smack a few characters! But that is actually a good thing. If I am so engrossed in a book that I want to smack a fictional character, then kudos to that author for making the books so emotionally real.

Jessica: All of my favorite books have been thrown across the room (or the iPad gets taken away from me very quickly) I yell at my books all the time. So yes there are plenty of characters that annoy me, but that is one of the things I love so much about books, I want all emotions to come out while reading not just a few.

If you were a book character in a paranormal novel, what kind of supernatural would you be and what kind of power would you have?

Amanda: Wow…. This is a really hard question. I think I would want the ability to read minds as long as I also had the ability to turn it off…. I think it could really come in handy sometimes. But I also just finished the Georgina Kinkaid series who had the ability to shape-shift which could also be a lot of fun!

Jessica: Shape- shifting would be fun but one thing I like so much about the House of Night series is that Zo has control of all five of the elements but I am not sure if I could choose what type of supernatural I would want to be.

In you opinion what is the best movie adaptation of a book that you've read?

Amanda: So far, it has been Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. All of the Harry Potter films stayed relatively very accurate and true to J.K. Rowling's books and the adaptation was amazing. I watch them almost every time they are on and own all of them and I still find them as entertaining as I did the first 100 times I saw them. However, I am really looking forward to the Hunger Games and to the Fever series.

Jessica: I honestly can’t say it any better than Amanda except that I watch a HP movie every night to fall asleep to.

Is there a book you’d like to see as a movie and do you have a dream-cast for it?

Amanda: I would really like to see the Morganville Vampire series become a tv show… I would also like to see Imprinted Souls (Alex Pettyfer for Nicholas, anyone?!?!) as well as the Dark Hunter Series. I was hoping and praying for the Fever Series and those prayers were recently answered because Dreamworks has announced that they are making them.

Okay… I LOVE this answer. *laughs* Morganville needs to be a TV show. Even if each book was to be one movie… there is just too much to cover. Imprinted Souls and Alex Pettyfer as Nicholas… YES, PLEASE! *laughs* I’m curious about the Fever series as a movie… just like Morganville, it has too much to cover. I personally think that the Fever Series would be an awesome HBO series, but I will take the movie too. *winks*

Jessica: I would like the House of Night series to be made into a television show (not a movie) and have long had the cast picked out. The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory, I have about half of the cast picked out.

I think House of Night would be good as either, but I hope they rush to book 3… the movie needs Stark! *laughs*

Paper or e-book?

Amanda: Paper. I love the convenience of e-books (and the fact that they are cheaper) but I love the way books feel and smell. I love having to turn the page and feeling their weight in your hands. I have switched to e-books because they are better for the environment and they are more convenient but there are certain authors that I will continue to buy the paper versions of their books. I also really like looking at my bookshelves and saying "wow, I've read all of those!"

Jessica: Paper, I am addicted to the smell of that paper and the more worn out the book the better. I like having an actual library. The e-Books are convenient but I want my grandchildren to know what an actual book feels like.

Standalone or Series?

Amanda: Series. I hate it when I love something and it ends too soon!!!

Jessica: Series. I really enjoyed the Dark Hunter series having each book be centered around a different character but all of them interacting together in each of the books.

Cliffhangers: yes or no?

Amanda: Yes, even though there have been several that have literally driven me insane! Completely and totally insane!!!!

*hides* I didn’t have anything to do with that, did I?

Jessica: Yes and no. I read a trilogy once and when I got to the end of the 3^rd book in the series and realized that there was either a mistake with the copy of the book I had or what. I had to wait over a year to find out that there was indeed being a fourth book and it took another year for it to be published…I haven’t even picked it up to read it yet. I will most likely have to read the first 3 again.

Is there a book you wish you had written?

Amanda: Oh yes, many, many, many of them! Why, do you want me to name them?

*laughs* …because it is fun making you choose.

Jessica: Once again I completely agree with Amanda on this but The Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. I want to re-write the last 15 pages of that book so bad.

*laughs* My husband would agree with you on that one. He didn’t want it to be over… well… neither did I, but I was happy with how it ended.