Today's post is from YA Supernatural Romance author Allie Jean.
Allie Jean was born with an overactive imagination. At a very
early age, a child, her days were spent inventing stories, directing her
sisters in made-up plays or telling elaborate ghost stories. Her mind never
took breaks, or shutdown, even when she slept. When her eyes shut at night, she
would have vivid dreams complete with extensive, elaborate plot lines, and good
overcoming evil villains.
Now, living in California with her husband of ten years, her love of storytelling had taken a back seat with the arrival of their four children. As a busy wife, mother and working full-time outside the home, somehow she has been able to write down her relentless character’s story. Her once secret hobby and private world, is now released for other’s to enjoy.
Now, living in California with her husband of ten years, her love of storytelling had taken a back seat with the arrival of their four children. As a busy wife, mother and working full-time outside the home, somehow she has been able to write down her relentless character’s story. Her once secret hobby and private world, is now released for other’s to enjoy.
OR
Twitter:
@AllieJeanDS
1. Who's your favorite author, and why?
I love this
question and here’s why. I am a HUGE fan of authors who can create their own
worlds, something original and clever, which has its own set of rules the
characters living it have to go by that cannot be broken or bent. This is
incredibly hard to do, for I’m attempting to do that with my own series. There
are some people, however, who have mastered it. J.R. Tolkien for example, but
I’d say my favorite author right now is J.K. Rowling. The world she created for
Harry and the others is so intricate, inspirational, and complex that it will
be hard for anyone in the literary world to match that scale, and for that, she
is amazing to me.
2. If you could have a conversation with
one of the characters in your most-recently released novel, which one would it
be and why?
Oh, hands down,
it would be Mathias. First off, we don’t learn exactly how old he is, so that
would be my first question. And second, I’d want to know more about the history
of his race, stories about the hunt for more females like Chantal, and exactly
when he knew he was falling for her. I’d also want to know why his brother is
so up-tight. He he . . .
3. Where do you get the ideas and
inspiration for your characters personalities?
Oddly enough,
the entire idea for this series came from nightmares I used to have frequently
when I was young. I don’t know why − I never had a
horrible past or anything like that − but I’d have
violent, twisted dreams that would play out as if it were a story, where I was
the main character. During these times, I’d wake up at night, and if I wasn’t
screaming my head off, I’d be sitting in my bed terrified. One day, I saw a
shadow in my room that resembled a figure of a man. At first, I was terrified,
but when I realized it was just a shadow, he became an imaginary friend.
As I became
older, I wondered what would happen if that shadow hadn’t been just a shadow .
. .
And Legacy of a Dreamer picks up from
there.
Chantal is a
mixture of myself, a bit of each of my sisters, and a big part of the kick-ass
girl, Miss Buffy Summers. In fact, one of my sisters is on the cover of the
book! In all seriousness, Chantal has been a part of me since I was very young.
Since the idea came to me for this world many moons ago, Mathias has also been
a slow work-in-progress, but I’m extremely happy with how he’s turning out,
especially in the second book, which I’m writing now.
4. What is the best thing (in your opinion)
about being a writer?
The ability to
tell my stories is the best thing about being a writer. I have always been a
storyteller. I’d make up ghost stories or write countless tales in my journals
at home. Even when I became older, writing became a way of coping with whatever
crap life had dealt me. The ability to have my stories out there for people to
enjoy means a lot to me. It’s almost cathartic in a way. Kind of like “here,
have a dish of this craziness” to the world.
*sigh*
Makes me feel
so much better.
5. How did you find your agent/publisher?
I actually
entered a competition through The Writer’s Coffee Shop at the GREAT
encouragement of some friends of mine. It happened to be a Romance competition,
and I thought my story based on my nightmares kind of fit, so I entered the
first eleven chapters, not thinking I’d win a darn thing. But as it turns out,
the folks over there loved it and offered me a contract. And here I am!
6. What's the best piece of writing advice
you've been given?
“Write how you
see it.”
In this series,
there are a ton of fight scenes and creatures that are only visible in my head
– basically things that haven’t been adapted in Hollywood or anything. The
person I actually asked this advice from was Cassandra Clare, the author of the
Mortal Instruments series. She’d read something I’d written at one time and
said she loved it. I asked her advice and that’s what she said: “Write how you see it.”
For me it’s
huge from her because she writes in the same kind of action packed, alternate
universe type genre, and I’ve never wavered from it. I picture the scene in my
head like a movie, slow it down, and describe it. So far, it’s helped a ton.
7. Biggest mistake you've made as an
author?
In this book,
probably naming the villain Damon. I didn’t realize the guy in Vampire Diaries
was named Damon, but what the heck! Oh well . . .
Other than
that, I’m sure I’ve made mistakes with my research when I reference things. I
try to be a good investigator, but the internet can be very tricky and point
you to false information. I’ve done that in the past, but not with anything
I’ve published.
Holiday-themed questions:
1. What would the lead character of your
latest novel want for Christmas?
She’d probably
want some new clothes. The poor girl has been an orphan most of her life, and
what she did have was kind of destroyed, so I’m thinking she’d want something
to wear that didn’t look like army digs worn by a seven-foot muscled man. (she
needs some pretty shit-kickers)
2. Favorite Christmas music?
Anything off
the White Christmas album. That movie was a family tradition of mine growing
up, so those songs bring out my holiday spirit. My kids don’t get it,
especially when I play “Sisters” for them. It has nothing to do with Christmas,
but I sit there singing away, decorating my tree, while my kids argue with me
over my song choice. Those are the moments worth living, I think.
3. What was the best gift you ever
received?
I could say my
kids, which is a given. But I won’t go sappy on you. I think the best gift I
received was back in 2005, my in-laws bought me an IPod. Just a little Shuffle
2GB, but I was stoked. And why was I so happy? Because I had four kids, three
of them still in diapers, and I had ZERO time to read. With the IPod, I could
download audiobooks and listen while I cleaned up poop. That’s actually how I
“read” the first Twilight book, I believe. That tiny box of miracles got me
through night shifts at the hospital, late night feedings, and a mountain of
laundry a day. I could pretty much say it was priceless.
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