Happy Monday! I'm delighted to be interviewing author Deborah Jay today about her new book Desprite Measures. Please make her feel welcome.
I'll be giving away one copy of her book to one lucky person who comments on this post. So make sure you leave a comment.
On to the interview...
Q1) Welcome to me blog, Debby. Can you tell us a little about yourself
I have a split personality – or perhaps
there’s two of me?
By day, professional rider and trainer of
dressage horses, and published author on the subject under my daytime name of
Debby Lush.
By night, my imagination unleashes fantasy
writer Deborah Jay.
Both sides of my life require dedication,
hard work and much practice – which is why my house is a tip, and I survive on
ready meals. Actually, the latter is only part true – it’s also because I’m a
hopeless cook.
Q2) I like the term split personality. I think most authors are that way. Have you always wanted to be an author?
I have always been an author, from the moment
I could write. My first book (Samantha, the Adventurous Poodle) appeared when I
was 8, then at 10 I produced my own weekly comic, complete with terrible
illustrations – I’m not much of an artist!
During school years, with my best friend, I
wrote alternating chapters of a romance saga that went on for years. Then at
University I began my first proper novel, an adult SF story that was more like
Star Trek fanfic. After that, I joined a writing group and started to learn how
to write seriously for publication.
Q3) How fascinating, Debbie. Do you have any favorite writers?
Who do you feel has influenced your writing?
There are so many! Currently I would say Kim
Harrison, Richelle Mead and Laurel K Hamilton.
At an earlier stage of my career, everything
I wrote was influenced by whoever I was reading at the time. Now, I like to
think I have developed my own style. At least, I hope I have! I can still see
the influence of my current read (if it happens to be good) in my first draft,
but when I edit, then it becomes all my own.
Q4) It's hard not to have your favorite authors rubbing off on you. Since you've been writing for a while, what is a typical writing
day for you like?
As I have a day job which takes up all
daylight hours, I start writing once it gets dark. I’m a night owl anyway, and
I’ve always written my best late at night, between 10pm and about 1am. I need
the quiet and solitude to write, and my imagination flows best when all other
considerations of the day are out of the way.
Q5) Let’s talk about your new book. Can you tell us a little about it?
It’s the story of a spirited but slightly
naïve water sprite trying to get to grips with life – and love - in human form.
Mankind has rendered her native waterways unviable, with dams and pumping
stations and sewage plants, and although she’s doing her best to live
unobtrusively, someone knows her secret…
Here’s the blurb:
On the surface
she's a cute and feisty blonde, a slender pocket rocket fitness coach. But
Cassiopeia Lake has a secret; she's really a force of nature – an elemental.
Water sprite,
Cassie, has lived undisturbed in her native Scottish loch for eons. Now, one
encounter too many with modern plumbing has driven her to live in human guise
along with her selkie boyfriend, Euan. It’s all going fine - until a nerdy
magician captures Cassie to be an unwilling component in his crazy dangerous
experiment.
Escape is only
Cassie’s first challenge.
She’s smitten by
her fellow prisoner, the scorching hot fire elemental, Gloria. But how do you
love someone you can never touch?
And what do you
do when your boyfriend starts to hero-worship your persecutor? Not to mention
that tricky situation of being the prize in a power contest between two rival
covens of witches.
So when Gloria’s
temper erupts and she sets out to murder the magician, can Cassie keep her
loved ones safe from the cross-fire, or will she be sucked into the maelstrom
of deadly desires and sink without trace?
Book links: AMAZON US AMAZON UK KOBO NOOK
Q6) I like the sound of this. How did you come up with the idea for
this story?
Ten years ago I bought a house in the
Scottish Highlands, and the mystery and majesty just begged for a book to be
set there.
In ‘The Prince’s Man’ (my first published
novel – an epic fantasy), I had a sprite as a minor character, and I found her
rather interesting. While Cassie is nothing like as mischievous and malevolent
as that first sprite, she’s proving a great character to develop.
Q7) So what is up next for you?
I’m currently writing the sequel to The
Prince’s Man, and after that I’ll get down to the Desprite Measures sequel.
Q8) What is the best piece of advice you
would give to a budding writer?
Read, read and read. Then write, write and
write. You need to know your subject, and if you read good authors, you’ll pick
up good writing habits. Then there’s no substitute for practicing your writing
skills – if you want to be a writer, you need to write literally millions of
words.
Q9) Great advice, Debbie. What is the next book on your To Read
Pile that you are dying to jump into?
I’m a bit behind on the Kim Harrison Hollows
series, so in paperback next up is ‘Where Demons Dare’, and then on my kindle,
next in line is one ‘Outcast’ by Kiru Taye!
Q10) Is there anything else you would like to
add?
Just a big thank you to you, Kiru, for
inviting me here today, and to all those lovely people who bought The Prince’s
Man and tell me they will also be buying Desprite Measures!
Favorite Quiz
Favorite city: Wellington, NZ
Favorite beverage: whisky ;)
Favorite place you’d like to visit: I
think I’ve been to most of them, but I’d like to go back to Middle Earth (NZ)
again.
Favorite place to write: in my Scottish
hideaway.
Favorite hobby: judging dressage. I was
lucky enough to be part of the judging team at London 2012.
Favorite movie: Lord of the Rings (all 3
parts!)
Favorite book: A Wizard of Earthsea by
Ursula K Le Guin.
About Deborah
Deborah Jay writes fast-paced fantasy adventures featuring
quirky characters and multi-layered plots – just what she likes to read.
Living mostly on the UK South coast, she has already invested
in her ultimate retirement plan – a farmhouse in the majestic, mystery-filled
Scottish Highlands where she retreats to write when she can find time. Her
taste for the good things in life is kept in check by the expense of keeping
too many dressage horses, and her complete inability to cook.
Her debut novel, epic fantasy THE PRINCE’S MAN, first in a
trilogy and winner of a UK Arts Board award, was published in July 2013, with
THE PRINCE’S SON due out summer 2014.
Urban fantasy, DESPRITE MEASURES, is the opening novel of the
projected five book CALEDONIAN SPRITE SERIES.
She also has non-fiction equestrian titles published in her professional
name of Debby Lush.
Find out more about Deborah at http://deborahjayauthor.com/ or follow
Deborah on twitter https://twitter.com/DeborahJay2, facebook https://www.facebook.com/DeborahJay and Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7172608.Deborah_Jay
No comments:
Post a Comment
I love to read your comments. Please share your thoughts.
If you're having problems using blogger to comment, please use the Facebook comment box at the bottom. Thank you.