A Notepad and a Dream - Melissa Brown

In a series I'm calling 'A Notepad and a Dream', I'll be interviewing up-and-coming authors about their books, their writing process and their future plans.  If you have a book shortly due for release and would like to take part, or know someone else who would, please let me know via the 'Contact Me' page above.

In the latest 'A Notepad and a Dream' episode, Melissa Brown is dying to talk about Grim Reapers.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your novel?

 
I'm an American author that wishes I was still a teenager. I teach work in a library and teach English.  My novel, Becoming Death, is about young grim reaper that tries to rebel against her destiny to save someone she loves.
 

What made you decide to write a book with a supernatural theme?

I was researching fairy tales and folklore for an university paper when I needed an idea for Nanowrimo that year. I thought the idea of a modern female grim reaper sounded fun to write and would allow me to create a new world. 

How does your book differ from other books with a similar premise?

Books about grim reapers are few and far between.  I feel Madison isn't the normal YA protagonist, she isn't a chosen one, she isn't brilliant or beautiful.  She is just trying to get through life/afterlife in one piece.  She's a fan girl that loves comic books and fan fiction, not something that normally pops up in YA novels.

Have you always wanted to write for a YA market?

Yes, I love the YA book market, there is such variety and it's the type of book I would gravitate towards as a reader. 
If you could choose any writer as a mentor, who would you pick?

R.L. Stine.  He's the reason I decided I wanted to an author as a kid.  I was addicted to his Goosebumps and Fear Street series; they were my introduction to horror and the paranormal.

Do you have any further plans for the characters in the 'Becoming Death' world?

At the moment, I'm working on another book about cupids but you never know - I might revisit Madison and her family again at some point.  I've always toyed with the idea of writing a book from her mother's point of view.

A Notepad and A Dream - Zoë Sumra

In a series I'm calling 'A Notepad and a Dream', I'll be interviewing up-and-coming authors about their books, their writing process and their future plans.  If you have a book shortly due for release and would like to take part, or know someone else who would, please let me know via the 'Contact Me' page above.

In the latest 'A Notepad and a Dream' episode, Zoë Sumra talks gangs, heists and space opera.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your novel?

I'm a born Londoner but spent some years living in northern England and in Scotland: I'm now back in London and enjoying it.  In addition to writing, I fence - I was thirty-fifth in the UK at sabre in mid-2013, and late last year, thanks to a freak combination of results, was just inside the top fifty at sabre and the top hundred at foil at the same time.

 
'Sailor to a Siren' is a gangland thriller disguised as a space opera novel, or possibly the other way round.  It's about a drugs heist that goes perfectly to plan up to the point at which an even-more-suspicious-than-expected item turns up among the haul.

Can you introduce us to your main characters, and give us a quick insight into their motivations? 

Connor Cardwain is a gangland queenpin's lieutenant, and is very good at his job.  Connor would be good at most jobs that involved rationalisation and quick thinking, as he grew up on the streets of the galaxy's poorest sector, organised crime was the best career open to him, and to date he has taken every available opportunity to advance himself in his boss's eyes.  While he wants to improve his own position, his priority is making sure his younger brother, Logan, stays alive.  He hopes to achieve both at once by making enough money to set up his own business.

Logan has, putting it mildly, some anger management issues.  These date from his teenage years but worsened when he fell in love with a woman whom he now never expects to see again.  He works as a gun for hire to the same gangland queenpin as Connor, but his tendency to outbursts of verbal or physical violence puts him at risk of imminent expulsion or death.

Éloise Falavière is Logan's ex-girlfriend: she hails from a more stable area of the galaxy than Connor and Logan.  She follows her civilisation's basic morality with a dedication that comes from most members of that civilisation being able to read minds, despite almost no one in that civilisation being able to read hers.  Two years ago before the start of 'Sailor to a Siren' she saw no handicap to falling in love with a ganglander, but now she has been hired as a police officer's temporary enforcer and bodyguard, and finds her loyalties severely tested.

Is there a message or theme in your novel that you want to convey to readers?

 

The main message that the characters learn from the story's events is about trust - when an already dangerous situation becomes exponentially more so, the number of people that one can trust reduces to practically zero.  Family ties become incredibly important to all my characters.
 

Do you write solely in the sci-fi genre, or do you explore other genres as well?

I have written epic fantasy, though not for about fifteen years, and my only completed short story is urban fantasy.  It's not impossible that at some point in the next ten or twenty years I will write an urban fantasy novel set in London.  For now I'm devoting all my time to space opera.
 

Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

I have many favourite authors in different milieus!  My favourite active author is NK Jemisin.  All her settings are very vivid and her work circumnavigates genre conventions in a refreshing way.
 

What will you do next now that 'Sailor to a Siren' is published?

I'm currently working on two first drafts: a sequel to 'Sailor to a Siren' set roughly two years later, and a much later volume - which has been eating my brain for about twenty years - set sixteen years after 'Sailor'.  There will hopefully be much more to come in this universe.

'Sailor to a Siren' is now available to buy in ebook format.

Kobo: (bit.ly/SailorSiren-Kobo)

Nook: (bit.ly/SailorSiren-NookUK and bit.ly/SailorSiren-Nook-US)

GooglePlay: (bit.ly/SailorSiren-Google)

Amazon UK: (bit.ly/SailorSiren-KindleUK)

Amazon US: (bit.ly/SailorSiren-KindleUS)

Amazon France: (bit.ly/SailorSiren-KindleFR) 

Ten other Amazon sites and iTunes: (bit.ly/SailorSiren-iTunes).

A Notepad and a Dream - Nadja Losbohm

 
In a series I'm calling 'A Notepad and a Dream', I'll be interviewing up-and-coming authors about their books, their writing process and their future plans.  If you have a book shortly due for release and would like to take part, or know someone else who would, please let me know via the 'Contact Me' page above.

 In the latest 'A Notepad and a Dream' episode, Nadja Losbohm talks translation, and stories that find themselves.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your novella series?

My name is Nadja, I’m 32 and live in Berlin, Germany.  Actually, I’m a dental nurse, but at times I transform into an author, writing fantasy stories for people all around the world.  I started writing at the age of 19.  My first German novel, called 'Alaspis', was published in 2012.  Since then I have been working on the self-published project, 'The Huntress'.  Parts 1-5 are available in German, but there’s also an English edition of Part 1 called, 'The Beginnings'.  This series of books is about a young woman who isn’t the right kind of person to be a supernatural heroine, but she and the reader find out that there’s more to her than being a faceless girl in the crowd.  I had a lot of fun writing the books and I think you notice that.

The protagonist in the 'The Huntress' series is Ada, a young woman who is selected to protect the world from supernatural devastation. To what extent does your own personality come across in your main character? 

I think it’s difficult not to add certain things to your characters.  It’s something that makes the people in your book vivid.  So, Ada and I do share a few things, like some of the experiences she goes through, our sense of humour, our will to not give up. Ada also doesn’t like Brussels sprouts, just like me, though I don't eat green vegetables at all.  But that’s another thing.


'The Huntress' contains elements of Urban Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult and Humour. Are there any particular challenges with trying to fit so much into one series? 

The writing process was quite easy.  It wasn’t me who found the story.  The story found me.  It wanted to be written, it seems.  'The Huntress' told me what she wanted to include and what not to. The only thing that challenged me was to write fighting scenes. That was a bit tough.

Which other self-published authors do you most admire, and why?

There are a few I admire for different reasons.  I’m very impressed by author Jason Tru Blood, who writes so many different stories: fantasy, romance, historical fiction, crime and lots more.  I cannot imagine writing in so many different genres myself.  I also admire authors Leisl Kaberry and Kasper Beaumont.  The worlds they've created in their books are just amazing, plus they’re very kind people.  I wish I could read more self-published authors.  There are incredible talents out there without a big publishing company behind them.

As someone who speaks (excellent!) English as a second language, how easy did you find the process of arranging for your work to be translated?

Getting 'The Huntress' translated was a nightmare.  I worked with a translator who quit after a few months for health reasons.  Then someone else translated the book, but I was told it wasn’t the way it should be.  So, the translating process had to be done again. It took more than eighteen months to finish the English version, a real emotional roller coaster ride.  But I just couldn’t give up.  That was not an option for me.  There she is: the huntress in me.

As a successful self-published author, what advice would you give to those seeking to follow in your footsteps?

Don’t give up! Do what you can, follow your heart, be grateful for every chance you’re given.

If you’d like to get in touch with Nadja, visit her on Twitter or Facebook.  She posts in English and German.

You can find all her books on Amazon, and she's hopeful that there will be more opportunities for readers to check out 'The Huntress' in future.