Today, I’m pretty excited to be hosting the third stop on Amy and Danielle’s blog tour. Amy is the author of The Arotas Trilogy and Danielle is the author of The Twin Flames Trilogy. The three of us (The Authors From The Boonies Of Maine Trilogy?) will be among the 35 writers attending the Stamford Author Event on August 10 in Stamford Connecticut (we would all LOVE to see you there). Danielle and I have been good friends for several years (you may remember her from this interview a few years ago) and I’m looking forward to finally meeting Amy in person. But without further ado, allow me to present Amy Miles and Danielle Bannister…

Between the two of you, you have a pretty large fan base. What would you say is the ONE question they want answered most, and are you willing to answer it here?

 Amy: There are several burning questions that I hear quite often.  Will Gabriel and Roseline end up together? Does Sadie live?  Will Bastien return in the sequel to Defiance Rising?  Am I Team Bastien of Team Eamon!

If you have read my books, you know that I don’t make romance easy for my characters.  Life happens, people get hurt, hearts get broken.  I love a happy ending just like the next gal, but I also like realism.  If my characters are going to be happy in the end, they are going to go through some tribulation along the way.  Also…I hate to be predictable.

 Danielle: I think most people want to know if Pulled Back Again will finally deliver the happily ever after ending they are looking for. All I can say is…maybe? Ha!

 What is one thing you wish fans would ask you more about?

 Amy: What my favorite food is.  Seriously?  I’m willing to take bribes for sneak peeks into my upcoming books. Haha.

Um…this is a hard one to answer because I’m pretty open about things happening in my life.  If you follow me on Facebook, you know I’m rather vocal about my obsession with Game of Thrones, my love of movies/books and I’m always bragging on my guys.  I’m an open book!

Danielle: I guess what I’m working on?  This is a hard one.

 Okay, then. You are currently working on a couple of projects. Can you tell us a little bit about them—spoiler free of course.

 Amy: Oh my, I am always working on something.  Usually more than one thing at a time.

I’m currently diving into the final draft of a new novella, FACELESS, that will jump start readers into my Cherished Hearts inspirational romance books.  I’ve always had a passion for inspirational romance, but up until this point have always remained in the fantasy realm.  It’s great to break out of that every once in a while.

I’m also obsessing over the completion of my Arotas Trilogy.  REDEMPTION has a lot going on, with several POV shifts and tons of action so it’s kicking my butt right now!  As soon as I finish with REDEMPTION, I will be jumping straight into the prequel, IMMORTAL ROSE.  I hadn’t actually planned on writing this book but so many of my fans wanted to know Fane and Roseline’s tale, so I caved.

I’m also currently working with Danielle on NETHERWORLD.  This joint venture has been a lot of fun, melding romance with fantasy and of course banshees ROCK!  I’ve having a blast designing the underworld and playing around with some mythology.  It’s a good thing Danielle loves writing about human’s cause there is no way I would give up working on the hot and steamy, Aed, god of the Netherworld!

Danielle: Amy and I came up with the idea to co-write Netherworld almost as a joke. A sort of ‘We should totally write a book together!’ But the more we chatted about it, the more it makes sense. We write in completely different genres, I do romance she does fantasy. So we thought what if we had a fantasy sort of character fall in love with a human character?  We tossed out some ideas and soon the Netherworld was born. We’ve just started drafting the early scenes and I’m really excited about what we’re coming up with! The Netherworld puts us into the world of the Banshees, the mythical creatures sent to carry the dead to the other side. The Banshee’s are supposed to be unseen by the living, but one mortal sees a banshee. What happens when they fall in love?  It’s soooooo cool!  She writes the fantasy parts, I write the human parts! It’s perfect!

What is one goal yet unaccomplished in your life?

Amy: I want to see the pyramids in person.  I have always been fascinated by mythology, no matter the race it pertains to and Egypt is on the top of my list.  As a kid, I used to write notes to a friend in hieroglyphics.  Yes, I was that child!

Danielle: I want to go to Greece. I want to walk on the first stages!

 If you were trapped on a desert island with ONE of your characters and ONE endless supply of one type of food, what would they be?

 Amy:  Oh dear.  How do I choose?  My characters are all so much a part of me that it would be hard to pick just one, but I think if forced to I would choose Bastien.  He’s hard core but compassionate.  He makes sacrifices when he must for the woman he loves.  Plus he’s H O T!!!  Yeah, I would go with him.  Food…oh goodness me.  I would totally go with Ranch Doritos. Those suckers are worse than Chinese food filled to the brim with MSG!  Oh phooey, now I’m craving Chinese food!  Do you think they deliver?

Danielle: This is so not an easy question! I guess I’d wanna be stuck with Etash, so I’d have a warm body to snuggle up against! As for food…hmmm…I suppose wine doesn’t count as food, so I’ll have to go with egg salad. Love that stuff!

What drives you to write?

Amy: I fully believe that writers are born, not created.  Just like painters are born to move beyond stick figure people (which I have not!) or chefs are moved to create culinary excellence.  The gift is within you.  Sometimes it can take years to unearth it, but the talent is still there.

I write because I have to, I yearn to.  Sound a tad dramatic?  Trying living in my head.  Haha.  I’ve got four books worth of characters fighting to be heard at the same time!

Danielle: The tiny voices in my head of course! Seriously, I ache to make people feel something. Maybe that’s the actor in me, but there is something satisfying in making people react internally to something you’ve written. It’s magical.

Is there anything unique about yourself that you’d like your readers to know?

Amy: Washing dishes grosses me out.  I have a different favorite color each day depending on my mood.  I adore 80’s rock.  I love to eat my mashed potatoes mixed with KFC coleslaw.  I go to Cardinal’s baseball games for the food. I despise Opera music.  I’m a firm believer that vampires don’t sparkle.  I’m terrified of spiders, no matter their size.  I’m not a lover of chocolate and I can spin an entire book plot in less than 5 minutes.

Danielle: Reading Amy’s list I don’t feel so crazy now! Um, let’s see. I suck at all things sports and math related, I have a really bad memory for important things but can tell you exactly where that balled up sock is you threw across the room two weeks ago ended up, and I’ll eat the chocolate Amy won’t.

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AMY MILES:

Amy Miles has been a carbaholic since birth and is hopelessly addicted to Dr. Pepper. When she’s not chatting with fans on Facebook she can be found goofing off with family, traveling or stomping her husband at Scrabble. She is an obsessive writer and an avid reader and loves to chat about all things books.

Her teen paranormal romance books, Forbidden and Reckoning, have been on several of Amazon’s Top 100 lists as well as best seller lists in both America and the UK. Her highly anticipated final book in the Arotas Trilogy, Redemption, is due out 2013.

She is currently hard at work on a two new series, The Rising Trilogy and The Remnant Trilogy.

DANIELLE BANNISTER:

Danielle lives in Mid-Coast Maine with her two children and husband. She holds a BA in Theatre and a Masters in Writing and the Teaching of Writing. She has two novels currently out, Pulled and Pulled Back and is working on several others, including Pulled Back Again, releasing soon, and Netherworld which she is co-writing with author Amy Miles, which is due out in December, 2014.  She also has a collection of short stories, brilliantly entitled, Short Shorts, and her work is also featured in several anthologies: GooseRiver Press 2012 Anthology and the Maine Writing Project’s anthology, Writious. Both titles are available on Amazon.  When not writing, she can be found pouring her heart out on the stage.

I read this article about sex in fiction this morning (via The Passive Guy) in which author Julian Barnes is quoted as saying:

“Writing about sex contains an additional anxiety on top of all the usual ones that the writer might be giving him- or herself away, that readers may conclude, when you describe a sexual act, that it must already have happened to you in pretty much the manner described.”

I know he’s not alone, because I’ve heard other writers say similar things. I’m probably a freak of nature, but writing sex scenes doesn’t affect me this way. I assume that my readers assume – because my author bio broadcasts the fact that I’m an adult, married woman with children – that I have had sex. Similarly, I assume – because statistics and human nature have thus informed me – that the majority of them have had sex as well. If, after reading some of the steamier parts of Waiting For Spring, my readers conclude that what’s written there must already have happened to me in pretty much the manner described, so what? Should that make me ashamed? Chances are it’s happened to them in pretty much the manner described, too…and high five! Good for us! I’m much more concerned that my readers may conclude that I, like Tess, had once been an accessory to murder or discover that I, too, sometimes shop at Walmart.

I think we, as a society, might need to reexamine our priorities and, maybe, grow up a little.

I said I would blog every day and then I didn’t. Here are the reasons:

1. I was sick for awhile (seriously, I was).

2. I was working on my book for a change.

3. Then I forgot about the blogging every day thing.

Sorry. To make up for my big fat lying, I’ll…well, I’ll try to not be sick, to work the blogging in with the writing of books, and to stop forgetting about blogging. Honest.

I’ve been battling a pretty nasty chest cold recently. I’ll be back doing the blog thing tomorrow or Wednesday. 

I had planned to post an interview with Todd Keisling today as part of his blog tour promoting The Liminal Man (the very excellent sequel to the page-turner A Life Transparent). He was supposed to call me earlier in the week to answer some questions I had. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that it was Dr. Albert Sparrow on the line instead. I’m a roll-with-it kind of gal so I, well, rolled with it. Fortunately Todd’s giveaway is still going on even in his absence. (I sure hope he’s okay…) Enter below for a chance to win:

• Signed hardcovers of A LIFE TRANSPARENT and THE LIMINAL MAN
• A t-shirt sporting The Limanal Man’s “Leaping Man” cover design
• An “I Am Donovan Candle” Coffee Mug
• An eBook package that includes books by R.J. Keller (hee!), Anthony J. Rapino, Moriah Jovan, and others

Click HERE to enter the contest at Todd’s Facebook page. You can like his page HERE (and you should).

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RJ Keller: I appreciate you taking the time to speak with me today. Can you tell us a bit about yourself? Just who is Albert Sparrow?

Albert Sparrow: Predictably a loaded question, but I suppose inquiring minds want to know. I’m Dr. Albert Sparrow. I earned my doctorate in Sociology, but my interests range from philosophy to human psychology—and perhaps a little metaphysics as well. I used to fashion myself as a self-help guru, but lately I’ve expanded my focus to other, more lucrative passions. In fact . . . you might say I’m an old man who wants to be a god. Metaphorically speaking, of course. [He chuckles.]

RJK: I’ve heard great things about your first book, and it was even a bestseller a few years ago. Tell us a little about A Life Ordinary: A Comprehensive Study in Human Mediocrity.

AS: My book—ALO, as I like to refer to it—is both a reflective study of our culture’s decline into mediocrity and a self-help guide meant to direct readers through a series of steps toward personal fulfillment. Throughout my studies, I’ve discovered a certain lack of desire in our culture to achieve our full potential. When we’re young, we have so many dreams and aspirations, goals which we want to achieve; as we age, we lose sight, settling for a paycheck, settling for . . . less. We find ourselves slowly fading into life’s many gray areas. These negative spaces are stagnant pools into which we will lose our dreams. My book offers a way out of those middling spaces—for only $29.95 in hardcover. I hear the paperback is due out next spring, but admittedly, I haven’t been “in the loop” for about a year now.

RJK: It’s funny you mention that, Dr. Sparrow. That was going to be my next question. A year ago you seemed to vanish from a book signing event at Harrison & Main Booksellers—

AS: Oh. Yes. I suppose I did—[Static.]

RJK: According to the news reports, you interrupted your reading, abandoned the lectern for a trip to the restroom, and just disappeared.

AS: Disappear isn’t the exact way I’d describe it—

RJK: Can you tell us what happened? Why have you decided to speak out about it now?

AS: What happened? [static] I’ll tell you what happened, Mrs. Keller. Donovan Candle is what happened. That arrogant son of a bitch thought he could disrupt everything I’d worked so hard to accomplish, and— [His rant is garbled by electronic interference.]

RJK: Dr. Sparrow? I’m losing you. Are you still there? Hello?

AS: —Of course I’m still here. I’m everywhere. In your phone, in your television, a paragon of mediocrity ready to consume the world—I am the Monochrome King!

RJK: Uh . . . right. Can we get back on topic?

AS: If you prefer. Don’t fucking ask me about that day at the bookstore. Strike that from the record. Understood?

RJK: Sure. Whatever you like. May we continue?

AS: Please, Mrs. Keller. Continue.

RJK: Right then. You mentioned being the “king” of the “Monochrome?” What is that?

AS: The Monochrome is a metaphor I use in ALO for the gray areas of reality. The place beneath the murk, where your dreams go to die. The place that will consume society one bite at a time. [He pauses for a moment.] Or, Mrs. Keller, perhaps it isn’t a metaphor at all. [His laughter dissolves into static.]

RJK: Hah, very funny, Dr. Sparrow. I just have one more question before we wrap up this interview: Who is Donovan Candle?

AS: [Silence.]

RJK: Dr. Sparrow? Hello?

AS: [Static.] Donovan Candle is a worthless man. He is a coward. He is the reason I’m stuck in this place, and I will have my retribution. There are only gods and insects, Mrs. Keller. I am not an insect. I am the King of the—

RJK: The Monochrome. Right. Got it. I think that’s about all for now. Thanks for your time, Dr. Sparrow.

AS: DO NOT MOCK ME— [His words fade into a garbled mess. The line goes dead.]

I picked up Past Imperfect by Julian Fellowes over the weekend and plan to get going on it today. What are you currently reading?

I’ll admit I was a little late to the Harry Potter train (pun intended). Well, a lot late. My mom tried to get me to read the books after the third one came out back in, I believe, 1999 and didn’t let up until I finally agreed in late 2010. By then all the books had been released, which was probably a good thing. I’m not good at being patient and I can’t imagine what it was like having had to wait 10 years between the first and final books. I’m kind of horrible that way. But I ended up falling very hard for the series and devoured all seven books in about two or three months.

Being the nerd I’ve always been, I’ve since done a lot of behind the scenes reading about the characters, settings, spells, history, etc. I really love digging into fictional worlds, especially when they’ve been created with the kind of care and attention J.K. Rowling put into these books. But something I’m not super fond of (and I’m probably alone here) is the extra “off page” information she’s given out about what happens to the characters after the final page of Deathly Hallows. As far as I’m concerned, if something isn’t written in a book, it’s up to the reader to fill in the blanks. It’s why I don’t answer questions about what happens to Brian and Tess – or any other character – after the final page of Waiting For Spring. Those stories belong to you.

Am I alone here?

This is about the tenth time I’ve done the I’m Going Grey thing. This time I think it’s going to take.

I’d like to say that my decision to let the grey grow in is because I want to be a healthier, more natural person. It’s not. I’ve finally become too lazy to keep up with the coloring and too cheap to pay someone to do it for me. I was thinking about adding some funky colors to the whitest parts from time to time. Bright red for Valentine’s Day, green for St. Patrick’s Day, purple for Grape Jelly Day. That kind of thing. But that would mean taking a break from the whole lazy thing and I’m not quite ready for that.

I’m materialismally challenged. (Shut up, spellcheck! That is totally a word! So is spellcheck!)

Recently a good friend of mine sent a text inviting me to go shoe shopping with her at the mall.

ME: Ew! I hate the mall. And shopping. And shoes.

HER: But they’re 30% off!

ME: What’s the sale price?

HER: Around $60.

ME: BLERG!

I didn’t go, of course. She knew I wouldn’t. I’ve never paid $60 for a pair of shoes in my life, not even for my wedding. My go-to store is Goodwill. Look at this awesome outfit I got from there right before Christmas. $2.99 for the shirt, $1.99 for the tank top, $4.99 for the jeans.

But that doesn’t make me cheap. It just means I was able to take the money I saved on clothes to buy this sweet $32 necklace from SurlyRamics.

And it’s not just clothes. I got this really cool chair for free:

And used the money I had set aside for furniture on this set of Harry Potter books. It was $120, but it came with a Hogwarts trunk! It’s a cardboard trunk, but still!

Hufflepuffs are particularly good deal finders.

Also, the cool multi-colored patchwork pillow on the chair up there? $42.

So I’m not cheap. I just have really weird financial priorities.

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