Interview with Adrian J. Smith
How much of yourself is hidden in the characters in your book?That’s a funny question, especially with this book. I’m very much like Darcy. I had a hard time writing Darcy a personality, and I’m pretty sure it’s because she had to be so much like me, and I really didn’t want her to be. Talk about being egotistical or something! I never wanted to write myself into my book, but it happens. There’s little traits in each character that are exactly me.
James’ love of beer and good beer. Addy’s love of wheat beer. Darcy’s shyness and no-confidence in herself when it comes to relationships, her love of dating older women who find interest in her, and her intense need to do what is right.
Lily and I share a troubled teenage years, although…I was a bit better than her (you’ll find out if you read the book =P).
There are small traits in each character that I share with them. You just have to figure out what those traits are!
How much of a story did you have in mind before you started writing?
For this novel I had the ending and that was about it. I knew it was going to take place about 10 or 11 years after the first book, and I knew it was going to be Lily-centric. I knew the ending, but that was it when I started writing. My friend posted an image on Facebook and said “caption this” and that’s what inspired the first few paragraphs of the entire novel.
I should also mention that the ending I had in mind didn’t actually happen. It’s close, but not the way I had envisioned it at all!
Can you tell us what genre you write?
I write urban fantasy with a touch of romance. It’s taken me awhile to clarify the genre, but that’s what it is. It’s not paranormal romance; it’s clearly urban fantasy with a romance subplot, drama subplot, and action adventure subplot.
How do you cope with writer's block?
Simple—I don’t believe in it. Writer’s block to is simply just another way to procrastinate. Writing isn’t an inspirational creation; it’s a practiced creation. I’ve always told authors who say they have writer’s block that in order to get inspired, you have to send inspiration an invitation. If you don’t take the time to write, or spend time on your craft at all, you’re going to losethe ability to do it.
How do you develop and differentiate your characters?
I give them each quirks to keep them on track of being different. James likes beer, tries to be one of the guys and has a soft heart. Lily has a deep-rooted anger, obsession with fire, and no fear. Darcy is shy all-around, sticks to herself and is enamoured with James. That helps to keep them separate and also helps when writing the story to make them distinct.
Do you have specific techniques you use to develop the plot and stay on track?
Not particularly. I have at least 3-4 main scenes when I go into a writing a book. From the 1st to 3rd chapter, I’ll just pants it. Then about 4-5 chapters in, I’ll start outlining 1-2 chapters beyond where I’m writing, just to keep everything on track and make sure word count is going well. It also helps when I’m feeling tired of writing because it’s already laid out for me on where I need to go. Oh! And by outlining, I mean 2-3 sentences of a 2-3 scenes going to happen in that chapter.
How (or when) do you decide that you are finished writing a story?
Honestly, the story decides itself. The main plot points are usually wrapped up. The subplots are wrapped up enough but still give a sense of continuing on, and the story has come to a close. That doesn’t mean the overall story is finished, it just means I’m done telling this particular part of it. I think this is how series are created.
Is there a message in your writing you want readers to grasp?
LGBT folk are just the same as straight folk. They don’t need their own special categories just to get recognized in fiction. In my stories, it doesn’t matter that the MC is lesbian, all that matters is the story is good and keeps on moving. The lesbian aspect is just an aside, an extra facet to the character that we get to learn about her.
What are you working on right now?
I’m currently working on two novels. Fallen from Grace (Spirit of Grace book 2), which is about Deputy Grace Halling. She’s a patrol officer, and it’s written as a police procedural from a patrol officer’s POV. That means lots of weird calls going on throughout her shifts. There’s also an over-arching plotline throughout the series, which will be about 3-4 books long.
I’m also working on a brand new series called Quarter Life. The first book, Unbound, is a story about a “girl” named Emma. Emma is not your ordinary person; she’s sarcastic, blunt, stubborn, and most importantly, manipulative. She’s got this idea in her head that this facility knows the information she wants, and she’s bound and determined to infiltrate it. I have no idea how many books will be in this series, because the nature of it allows a very long life-span.
Have you always wanted to be a writer?
No, and I still don’t want to be a writer half the time. I fully enjoy my day job and have no intensions of quitting any time soon. I have always wanted to publish something, ever since I was about twelve years old. But I never thought it would be possible—guess what?! It happened! Never say never. And I’m still publishing. I thoroughly enjoy the process of writing, and why not get paid for something I love doing!
At what age did you discover your love of writing?
I was twelve. And I was writing slash Lord of the Rings fanfiction with my two best friends. We also wrote ourselves into a fanfic, which is about 300 pages long! We had a lot of time on our hands.
What was the first story that you wrote?
The first non-fanfic story I ever wrote was my own. In middle and high school I was very interested in memoir and autobiography. I had a story to tell and someone was going to read it! In college I took two classes, both memoir and autobiography; I enjoyed one and hated the other. I still have those stories on my computer, deep in the archives. I had to find an external floppy drive to get it off though—that’s tougher than it sounds!
When were you first published? How were you discovered?
This is a funny story—not really. I was first published in March 2013. In October of 2012, I sent one of my very good fanfiction authorly friends a message and asked him to read the first 5 chapters of this novel I’d written and to be honest and tell me if it was utter crap. I’d already stalked him and his publisher, and I was planning on submitting it once I had actually edited the whole thing—unless of course he told me it was shit and then I’d go back to the drawing board.
Well, he loved it. He sent me back his publishers info (which I already had, but this was the in) and told me to use his name. So I’d planned on it, really I had. But I didn’t do it. Two days! I mean TWO DAYS after he emailed me back, the publisher emails me, said he had sent the chapters over, she had read them and wanted to publish my book. Like ummm…what? Pinch me? Was this real? Why yes, yes AJ, it was real.
And that, ladies, gentlemen and queer-folk, is how I was discovered.
What is the most difficult part of the whole writing process?
For me it’s revising. I hate revising. I’m pretty good about getting everything in there the first go-around, but sometimes I miss things. Okay, I miss things a lot. Like in Ashes Fall…I had quite a few things I needed to go back and add in. Like a personality for Darcy. Whoopsies! Totally forgot that one!
The other most difficult part—editing and finding all the darn words I overused. Talk about head desking it so many times that I bruise my skull!
What do you like to read?
I read almost anything. I read erotica, urban fantasy, paranormal romance, crime/mystery, lesbian fiction and heterosexual fiction. What I don’t read is M/M or gay romance. Don’t ask me why, but I’m so not interested. I also don’t read main stream authors very often. I tend to stick with the indies.
What writer influences you the most?
Probably David B. Coe (and yes, I realize he’s a mainstream author and thus debunks my previous statement of reading indies mostly, but hang on for a second). When I was fifteen, I really discovered the joy of reading. It was one of the first times I’d ever picked up a book and wanted to read it for pleasure. There’s a good reason behind that—I suck at reading, and I always have. I scored so low on my national reading levels that they considered holding me back in school. So…never say never…
David B. Coe taught me 1) it’s fantastic to read for pleasure. I say that even though I never finished his series. I should get on that! 2) interact with your fans. When I was 15, I read his books. I think I was on book 2 or 3 in the Rules of Ascension series. I had a burning question, and so I emailed him. And OMG, he emailed me back! I still have the damn email. Such a little fangirl here. He emailed me back and said “Keep reading” as an answer to my question.
That was so NOT what I wanted to hear. So stubborn me put the book down and didn’t pick it up for months. Finally I went and picked up the book, started reading again, and discovered the answer to my question was in the next chapter. (Here’s another one of those head desk moments).
3) write a good story. I still remember those books, can tell you what happened in them, can probably get out some characters names. The last thing he taught me was to write a good story.
If your book was made into a TV series or Movie, which actors would you like to see playing your characters?
This is my least favorite question of all. I’ve answered this question for the first two books in this series, but since Ashes Fall takes place 11 years after book 1, I’d need all new actors unless I made the fans wait 11 years for the next movie!
James – Zooey Deschanel
Lily – Abigail Breslin
Darcy – Nicki Clyne
Addy – Katharine Isabelle
Rob – Robin Dunne
Where can people learn more about you?
The interwebs! Here’s some awesome linkies!
@AdrianAJSmith
Wordpress
Goodreads
The Independent Author Network
Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself?
I’m afraid of Muppets. So if you post a photo of a Muppet anywhere I can see it, you get on my naughty list! It’s very hard to win enough points to get off it (yes, I have a point system for everyone. Don’t worry, though, I lose track of who is where often, and I never keep an accurate tally).
About The Author
AJ loves to read and write lesbian fiction, simply for the fact that strong women make her swoon and when two are involved her knees turn to jelly and she falls head over heels in love. AJ travels around the United States, and sometimes the world, gathering up stories for her novels. Currently, she lives in the middle of nowhere of the middle of nowhere and is rather difficult to find except on the internet, where she spends a lot of her time.
At least 10% of all AJ’s proceeds from book royalties go to Sanctuary For Kids. It’s a fantastic organization that sends money to help children around the world. Charity and children are an extremely important part of my life and supporting them in any way possible is magnificent.
About The Book
And nothing can stop chaos from ensuing.
Links
Buy Links Coming Soon
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