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Welcome to my blog about life as a writer and the craziness it involves with struggles of daily life. Make yourself at home but only if you don't mind a little messiness from time to time. This isn't the Home and Garden blog or Martha Stewart so don't expect cute little crafts with homemade goodies. That's not happening in the world of vamps, weres, and other things that go bump in the night...well...maybe homemade blood cakes topped with 'scream a la cream' sweetness along with the sexy alpha males who serve it up.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Writer's Wednesday...Angela Blount


Author Angela Blount
My special guest for today is author Angela Blount.  Angela and I met through our local RWA chapter (Heart of Dixie) and I quickly learned how much we both love science fiction and paranormal.  I'm really excited that she's sharing a piece of her writing process and her personal interests with us.  So without waiting any longer, let's give a warm welcome to her. 

Hello, Angela! *waves*  Thank you for spending time with us today!  Please sit and relax....I promise I won't bite.  Lol.

Seriously though, I look forward to hearing your thoughts on writing.  Let's begin with:
What is the most difficult for you to write: Characters, conflict, emotions?

For me, it's emotions. I like to think I'm a pretty even-keel, well controlled sort of person. But to convey intense emotions properly, I've found that I need to make myself feel them. Whatever emotion I'm writing about, I try to reach back through my memory and let myself relive a moment when I experienced that same feeling--dredging up the physical sensations and thoughts that came with it. Sometimes it's a pleasant experience. Other times, it's a bit like self-induced Post Traumatic Stress. >.<

I absolutely agree with you.  Dealing with emotions can be mentally and physically exhausting as a writer.  Tell us a bit about your process for selecting a character in your book.  How likely are people you meet to end up in your next book?

No one is safe. I'm incredibly guilty of borrowing small pieces from people I come across and stowing certain quirks away for future use. I hope they can consider it a compliment. If not, then I hope it's not recognizable enough to be proven in a liable lawsuit. ^_^

I always love hearing about a person's real life romance.  We would love to hear about yours.  Please tell us about it.

Mine is actually a pretty long and unusual story, which is why it ultimately became my first book--a coming-of-age memoir titled 'Once Upon A Road Trip.'

As a naive 18-year-old fresh out of high school, I decided to go on a 2-month road trip all around the eastern U.S. and Canada--visiting landmarks I'd only read about in books while staying with the generous families of friends who, up until that point, I'd only known over the internet. (Sounds a little crazy, I know. You should have seen my poor mother's reaction. >.<)

I'll skip over all of the intrepid details and just say that the last person I met on that trip is now my husband. I mistakenly thought that he couldn't get too attached to me in 4 days time. I'd never had a boyfriend before, and a long-distance thing sounded like a hopeless way to start out my first relationship--so when he asked to keep me, I turned him down. I left thinking I'd had a sort of abbreviated summer romance, and that was the end of it. Wrong again. Never underestimate the sweet tenacity of a love-struck southern boy.

Our 10-year anniversary is coming up this summer. ^_^

Wow!  Congratulations on your upcoming anniversary!  I love stories like that.  Thank you for sharing it with us.  I actually got goose bumps from hearing it. 

Here's a safe question for you.  If you could time travel would you go forward or backward?

Forward. I'm a bit of a speculative sci-fi junkie--I can't wait to see what happens next. ^_^

While I respect history, it never held a lot of appeal for me. History involves dates...which are really just numbers...and numbers remind me of math. *shudder*

Math. UGH!  *shudders*  Yeah, not my strong suit either.  I guess that's why we love to write, huh?  Heehee.

Tell us a little about your WIP.

My current book is a dark, contemporary YA romance. I say dark only because it touches issues like depression and self-injury. I never imagined I'd be writing about modern day high school dynamics (without throwing in a were-badger or mutant superpowers), but this story just won't go away quietly. So hopefully I can do it justice.

Those are definitely some serious issues in our society today, especially with our youth.  I applaud you for taking on such strong topics.  I'm sure this story will be a great read as well as a instrumental tool to help troubled youngsters. 

Ok one last question for you, Angela.  What advice would you give aspiring authors?

Get connected. If you can't find a knowledgeable writing group that meets near you, join one online. Your skills will advance much faster within a support group that can offer you workshops and feedback. I didn't know how much I didn't know until I joined the RWA. And honestly, that's probably for the best! If I'd realized the learning curve I was about to scale, I might have been intimidated into having second thoughts.

Also, take the time to review books you're reading. Even if it's just for your own archival reasons on a site like Amazon or Goodreads, reviewing will help you analyze what you do and don't like about books and why. It has a lot of potential to give you a new insights into your own writing.

Wonderful advise, Angela!  Thank you again, Angela, for being my guest on the blog.  I can't wait to have you back and discuss your book releases which I truly believe will be in the near future!  

To learn more about Angela and her work, please feel free to visit the following sites:

http://perilous1.blogspot.com/

https://twitter.com/#!/Perilous1

http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4269099-angela-blount


5 comments:

  1. Great to read your story! I love hearing about how people's personal romance story gets started. You were so brave to go on such a journey at such a young age. When I was over forty I finally took a road trip on my own. It was quite liberating!

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  2. Hello Stephanie! And thanks for dropping by. ^_^
    I appreciate you using the word 'brave.' I'm pretty sure that's what I was going for at the time, but the usual words people used to describe it were 'stupid' and 'dangerous.' Although, those adjectives did have moments of pure accuracy along the way... but I like to think that's true of many worthwhile endeavors. ;P

    Good for you--I'm glad you found it rewarding! To this day, I'm convinced that people can learn a lot about themselves on a good long road trip. There's just something about the open road...

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  3. I would love to ride off into the sunset...the kind of road trip where you just keep going. Good luck with your book! Sounds really good.

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  4. Hey Patricia!

    There's definitely an appealing freedom in it when you don't have a strict schedule...or a particular location in mind. ^_^
    Thanks for the well-wishes! I hope it'll be a worthwhile read for people someday soon.

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  5. Pretty cool about the road trip that ended in romance! So nice to know more about you and your writing process. Good advice on writing reviews. I used to hate doing them because I never knew what to say. But now because I've had more practice, I can pick out what I like and don't like, but I never tear anyone down. Putting yourself out there through writing isn't easy so I'm always mindful of that. Your YA sounds very interesting and kudos to you for dealing with topics that are so relevant today. All the best Angela!

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