Friday 4 March 2011

Author Interview - Amy Rose Davis


It is with great pleasure that I welcome indie-author Amy Rose Davis to my blog, author of two epic fantasy books – the novella Silver Thaw and novel-length Ravenmarked.


Please tell us a bit about yourself.


I’m a wife of 20 years, mother of four beasties (two boys and two girls), and obsessive writer. I live just outside of Portland, Oregon, in the great Pacific Northwest.

You've self-published two books now. What are the worst and best things about being indie?

The first book, Silver Thaw, was sort of my test run and experiment. It’s just a novella—only about 50 pages—and was my way of setting up accounts and making sure I had the guts to go through all the promotion and such to sell my own work. Ravenmarked was my real “baby.” I wanted to make sure I was ready when it was.

Worst things: Sometimes, the noise of the Internet makes it really hard to figure out where the best marketing efforts are. Is it best to hang out in forums? Tweet? Interact on Facebook? Blog and comment on blogs? I’m doing some combination of those, but I haven’t really figured out what is making the biggest impact. And some people say the biggest thing is just having good content and multiple titles. I think I have pretty good content that’s getting good reviews, and multiple titles just take time. Plus, the formatting side of things is kind of frustrating for me. As soon as I’m earning a decent income, I’ll be paying someone else to do that!

Best things: Far outweigh the worst! Creative control, running my own business (which I’ve done before, so it was a natural thing), working on something I’m passionate about, connecting directly with readers, speed to market with my work...


Ravenmarked is the first book of The Taurin Chronicles. Do you have an idea of how many books you plan to have in the series?

I’m planning on five books in the series. Each book will have a different protagonist, but all five will tie together in one overall arc. I am also planning a series of spin-off stories about a minor, off-screen character. Those stories will be shorter—perhaps short novels or long novellas—and won’t be directly related to the main story arc.


What inspires/inspired you to write?

Everything! I can hardly walk to my car without something triggering an idea. My husband inspires my hero characters, and a lot of Connor Mac Niall’s best lines came straight from my husband’s mouth.


Which comes first for you – a character's looks, personality or name?

The personality. Sometimes I use names as placeholders, but once the personality and then physical description emerge from the writing, I’ll go back and change the name. Mairead, the heroine of Ravenmarked, was something else for two drafts, but the name didn’t suit her at all. Oddly, Connor was Connor Mac Niall from day one. He sort of jumped into my head as a very vivid, fully developed person.


Any tips for aspiring authors?

Study structure! And read books on craft. Study the masters. But in the end, write what comes to you, because only you can tell the stories in your head.

If you had the power of time travel, is there anything you would go back and change? Why/why not?

No. I take a holistic view of everything. The life experiences I’ve had, including my biggest blunders and worst experiences, have shaped the person I am today. I’m pretty happy with who I am right now. :)

Questions for fun:

What super-power would you choose?

Oh dude, I would totally be Elastigirl if I could. She rocks. I wish I could cook dinner with one hand and reach downstairs to smack my kids around when they’re fighting with the other hand.

Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), Mel Gibson (Sir William Wallace) or Bruce Willis (Korben Dallas)?

That is a completely impossible choice! :) Aragorn is such a classic hero. You love him for his nobility, strength, passion for Arwen, and the way he backs up his friends. But Wallace fought for freedom from tyranny and injustice, and that just resonates with me in so many ways! Dallas—he’s just a badass, and you love him. But he’s also fractured and imperfect and a man in process, and I love a hero I can identify with. “Wonder where he learned to negotiate?” ;-)
(I have to confess that is one of my favorite lines from 'The Fifth Element')


Coffee or whiskey?

Coffee in the morning, whiskey at night! Or how about Irish Coffee? Or at least Bailey’s in my coffee... :)

What is your favourite book? (aside from one of your own!)

I have too many favorites! The Mists of Avalon, Call of the Wild, Little Women, Pride and Prejudice are a few that leap to mind.

Favourite genre and why?

That’s easy. Fantasy, mainly epic. I just love the settings, and it’s nice to be able to explore the “what ifs” of other places in the space/time continuum.

Favourite colour?


All shades of dark green.

Upcoming news and plans for the future?

A whole big bunch of writing. I hope to have book two of The Taurin Chronicles, Bloodbonded, published by the end of the year. I’m also planning to release a new novella within the next month. It’s called Servant of Dreams, and it’s a short piece about a friendship between a royal lady and her servant.

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us! If you'd like to know more about Amy and her writing, please check out the links below.


Amy’s books are available in all major e-bookstores.

Author contact information:

E-mail: amy@amyrosedavis.com
Author Website: www.ravenmarked.com
Blog: www.modicumoftalent.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/amyrosedaviswriter
Twitter: www.twitter.com/amyjrosedavis

Books:

Ravenmarked
Silver Thaw

Bloodbonded

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for having me here, Pip! Fun questions! I appreciate your support!

    Amy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pippa that was really interesting. Thanks for bringing another fantasy writer to my attention - we can never have enough!!

    ReplyDelete

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