Monday 16 December 2013

When does a split personality require practice? Meet @DeborahJay2 #Giveaway


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.
 

 

 

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.

The Romance Reviews