Today marks a foray into new territory: author interviews!
My first guinea pig guest is Alicia Dean, a fellow author at The Wild Rose Press. Alicia’s latest book, End of Lonely Street, was published on January 8.
Thanks for joining me today, Alicia!
Thank you for having me!
Tell us a bit about you. Where do you live, and how long have you been writing?
I live in Edmond, Oklahoma, although I lived most of my teen and adult life and raised my kids in Moore, Oklahoma. I have been writing since I was eleven.
What inspired you to write End of Lonely Street?
I am fascinated with the era of the fifties, and I am a huge Elvis fan. I thought it would be fun to set a story in 1957. And it was! 🙂
What does your writing process look like?
I am a plotter, but not an intense, in-depth, graph and story board plotter. I strive to sketch out an outline with the inciting incident, the major turning points, and the black moment. Then I go through and write a list of scene notes based on what ‘might’ happen between each of those points. I turn the notes into crappy scenes, then polish those crappy scenes until I have a complete story. (I actually wrote a short ‘how to’ guide about my plotting process called ‘Find the Magic’ – How to Plot a Story in 10 Easy Steps.)
What do you do when you’re not writing?
I work a full-time job. I edit for The Wild Rose Press and freelance edit. I watch a lot of TV, and I hang out with my family and friends.
What are you working on now?
The question should be what am I NOT working on! 🙂 I am writing a sequel to my Isle of Fangs vampire series and a sequel to my Northland Crime Chronicles series. I’m also putting the final touches on RUINED, my story in the Martini Club 4 series that I wrote in conjunction with my friends and critique partners, Amanda McCabe, Kathy L. Wheeler, and Krysta Scott. There are four novellas, and they are set in 1920’s New York. The stories are stand-alone, but are connected to one another, and all four are available for pre-order now.
How many books do you have under the proverbial bed? Will they ever see the light of day?
The first complete novel I ever wrote was called Lady Killer, and it is under the bed. The story line was pretty good, and surprisingly, it actually won a few contests, but I doubt it will ever see the light of day. I have too many new ideas to revisit a story that needs so much work.
I tend to work through story ideas when I’m driving or in the shower, both of which are, of course, places I can’t write anything down. Do you have any strange writing habits?
I don’t know if it’s a strange writing habit, but I always find images of people, normally celebrities, and I model my main characters after them. I make a Pinterest board of those images and setting images. I also hang a few on the wall around my computer.
Neat freak or not so much?
Not so much. I would like to be neater than I am, but writing and editing definitely come before housework, and I’ll never be caught up on either. 🙂
Thanks for hanging out on my blog, Alicia! Good luck on your release!
End of Lonely Street, by Alicia Dean
Can she let go of the past, before it destroys her future?
All Toby Lawson wanted was to go to college to pursue her dream of becoming a teacher and to be free of her alcoholic mother and the painful memories of finding her and the guy Toby loved kissing. But when her mother nearly burns the house down, Toby must put her dreams on hold and return home to care for her. The only time she isn’t lonely and miserable is when she’s listening to her heartthrob, Elvis Presley. His music takes her away, helps her escape from everything wrong in her life.
Noah Rivers has always loved Toby, but no matter what he says, and even though she knows her mother initiated the kiss, and that he didn’t kiss her back, she can‘t seem to get past what happened. He soon realizes that the true problem lies in Toby’s belief that she’s not good enough for him and in her fear that she will be just like her mother.
What will it take to prove to her that she deserves to be happy, and that he would give anything to be the man to make her dreams come true?
Excerpt:
Nothing else calmed her and lightened her heart like listening to Elvis. She could escape into his music and all the bad just…faded away. When Elvis sang, there was no drunken mother, no failed dreams, no dying Miss Murdock. Toby didn’t only listen to his music, she felt it. It seemed to vibrate through her blood.
Although she was embarrassed to admit it, sometimes listening to him, watching him on television, made her all squirmy and hot—just like Noah made her feel. Especially that one night, when they had almost gone all the way.
Available on Amazon.
GIVEAWAY!
(Entries accepted up to noon on January 22, 2015)
Three prizes:
Elvis Gift Basket including DVD, CD, plus more
$25 Amazon Gift Card
$10 Amazon Gift Card
(First place winner has first choice, second place winner has second choice, third place winner receives remaining prize.)
Find Alicia at:
Website: http://aliciadean.com/
Blog: http://aliciadean.com/alicias-blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008364070487
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Alicia_Dean_
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/aliciamdean/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/468339.Alicia_Dean
*** 10% of all of Alicia Dean’s net royalties for End of Lonely Street will go to
The Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation http://www.graceland.com/epcf/ ***