Okay, so I hadn't heard of Amy Bartol until about a month ago. I am soooooo embarrassed. Several friends had recommended her Premonition Series to me and I kept meaning to get around to reading it. I routinely find books that pull me through their pages with lightening speed and I force myself to put it down around 2 a.m when I know I have to get some sleep. I rarely find a series that consumes my every waking second - to the point that all I wanted to do was find out what was on the next page! If you haven't read her series, you NEED to. If you have read it, you NEED to recommend it to ALL of your friends!! They will thank you for it! With that said, I'm pleased that Amy let me interview her on my blog today.
1. What do you look for in the
books you read?
I mostly look for
romance. If there is even a hint of it in a book, I'll read that
book cover to cover. I like other books as well that are creative:
ones that can transport me to another world as an escape. I enjoy
becoming the character in a story as I read. Anything short of
that is disappointing.
2. Who is your
favorite author? Favorite book?
A FAVORITE BOOK?
That's like asking me which book boyfriend I like the most.
I love them all. :) I could go old school and tell you
about my obsession with Diana Gabaldon and the Outlander series, or Dean
Koontz's Odd Thomas, or J.K. Rowling (the books I should not have to name) or
Markus Zusak's I Am The Messenger, but let me tell you about the
newcomers...
There are new
authors on the horizon. Here are some to watch: Charlotte
Abel/Enchantment, Shelly Crane/Significance series, Quinn Loftis/Grey Wolves
series, Samantha Young/ Fire Spirits series, M. Leighton/ Madly series, Georgia
Cates/The Vampire Agape series, Angeline Kace/Vampire Born series, Colleen
Hoover/Slammed, Chelsea Fine/The Archers of Avalon series, Tiffany King/The
Saving Angels series, and no one should miss Nancy Straight/Destiny
series!
3. What is the best
part about being an author?
Readers.
I have finally found where I belong. Growing up, no one I
knew liked books like I liked books. No one else spent all of
their money solely on books like me, or hoarded them because I couldn't part
with them since I knew I would want to re-read them at least a dozen more times
before I could even put them on a shelf. I found my people after I
published. I found that there are so many readers like me out
there and we understand each other.
4. What is the worst
part about being an author?
Rejection.
Part of being a creative person inherently means that I'm perfectly
flawed. I find beauty in imperfection. Some people
do not. I sometimes fail to reach those people. But,
I'm learning every day to fail better.
5. What do you want
others to know about you?
I secretly wonder
about things all the time. I wonder if the guy in the car in front
of me with his right turn signal on ever actually intended to turn right.
I wonder if the government knows that any plot to overthrow them
will have been hatched while waiting in line at the DMV. I wonder
why MIT is working on a non-stick ketchup bottle. I wonder why
we're here and what else is out there in the universe. I
wonder.
Oh, and I sometimes
narrate things I want my husband to do. Like I'll watch him for a
second and then I'll say, "Tom, sitting alone at his laptop in the kitchen
reading about the debt crisis, suddenly gets an overwhelming urge to change the
burned out light bulb in the bathroom." Sadly, however, it rarely
works.
6. What is the last
book you read?
The last book that I
read was Significance by Shelly Crane. Thankfully, it only took me
a couple of days to read it because it was getting awkward not being able to put
it down. I volunteer to teach language arts on Wednesdays.
I found that I couldn't leave the book at home. I brought
it with me intending to leave it in my car, but after I locked my car and
crossed the street, I had to go back across the street and get the book out of
the car to take with me into the school. I put Significance in my
purse, but I found I was really distracted while teaching because I had anxiety
that someone might take the book from my purse (not take my wallet or my credit
cards, but take my Significance book). Yeah, I'm that kind of
crazy about books.
7. Where do you see
yourself in 1, 5 and 10 years?
When I wrote
Inescapable, it was with the thought that I wouldn't show it to anyone—that it
was just for me to see if I could do it. I thought that that would
be enough. After I finished it, I found that I wanted more.
I wanted to see what someone else thought of it. Once I let
the story escape from my computer, a need built within me to publish the
manuscript. I still wasn't dreaming big; I thought that maybe just
selling a few copies of it would be something, even if it was ephemeral, it
would be okay. That's not what has been happening lately.
Lately, reality is teaching me that I should dream bigger.
So, I don't know
what the future holds for me...but, there is this dream I have of slouching down
in a red, high-backed theater seat as the house lights darken.
When the movie begins, I'll get goose bumps and my throat will tighten
because Inescapable will spill across the screen. If that
happens, I'll know that my dream came true.
8. Who is your
favorite Book Blogger?
Answering that
question is a little like gathering all of your most intimate friends, the ones
who've helped you at your weakest points, and announcing to them which one is
the Maid of Honor. Instead, I would like to thank the ladies at
The Book Hookup (who are: Celeste, Ana, Jag, Christina & Amy), Mystmusician,
The Library Mouse, Late Bloomer Online, Dark Angel Reader, SupaGurl, and I know
there are a ton I haven't mentioned (and when I think of them all I will cringe
and carry the guilt around for weeks.)
9. What project are
you working on now?
I'm working on the
fourth book in the Premonition series entitled Incendiary.
10. If you could
meet anyone (alive or dead) at Starbucks for a cup of White Mocha Latte, who
would it be?
I'd like to say God,
but I don't know if that's true. If I had a chance to meet God in
a coffee shop, I'd probably sit outside the shop in my car trying to gather up
the courage to go in and speak with Him. I mean, how does one open
that conversation? With a joke? Say something
like, "Phhst, can you believe those crazy Babylonians..."
Thank you, Nancy
Straight, for giving me this wonderful opportunity. I'm grateful.
I look forward to meeting you in person! No, thank you, Amy! I'm sure you hear it all the time - but you need to write faster and I'm thrilled you agreed to let me interview you!!
You can find Amy:
1. Twitter
ID: @Amy_A_Bartol
2. Amy's Goodread's Profile: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5286855.Amy_A_Bartol
3. Amy's Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/amyabartol
4. Link to her books on B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/inescapable-amy-bartol/1104829106?ean=2940032950813
5. Link to her books on Amazon
6. Link to Amy's blog: http://www.amyabartol.com
Aww! What a sweet interview! :) You gals kinda rock!
ReplyDeleteI seriously heart Amy!!!!
ReplyDelete