by A.E. Albert
@aealbert23
Book Title: Beast Within
Genre: Fantasy/Young Adult
What inspired you to write your first book?
When I was in middle school, I started writing poetry, not your normal, here's-my-feeling poetry but more like stories in poetry form. You learn a lot about effective use of language and emotion writing poetry.
Then, I moved to short stories, learning about sketching out characters in a few paragraphs, drama and dialog. My first book, which is awaiting a rewrite, was almost an homage to one of my favorite writers, Georgette Heyer, who wrote Regency Romances.
It's somewhat far and gone from what I write mostly now, which is fantasy or science fiction. The first really complex novel I wrote was based on the first short story I had published which was criticized, rightly, that it was too much to cram a world into a short story. So I made it a book.
Is there a message in your book and/or books?
There are always messages in my books, common themes. I'm something of a humanist and I like to endorse the notion that everyone deserves consideration and to be treated with respect and decency. I don't like labels. I do like finding the individuality in everyone. I don't like to preach it, but rather make this something that comes through my writing naturally.
I read an agent say they didn't want to read books that had a point to make, but I don't agree. I want my books to be entertaining, naturally, but if I didn't have anything to say, if my characters didn't learn anything, I think that would be a terrible waste. Characters should, in my opinion, grow and you don't grow if you don't learn anything.
I also have a few other quirks. Rapists do not fare well in my books. I have strong female and male protagonists. I like intelligent characters. And there is always--always--at least one cat. So far, I've managed to sneak a dragon in each book as well, through one means or another, though I had to be creative with Saving Tessa since it was near term science fiction.
Is there anything in your book and/or books based on real life experiences?
I write fantasy and science fiction, so no. However, I'm also something of a history buff and I do keep to scenarios I could back with examples in the past. I want my scenarios to be plausible and, though my worlds are contrived and different in many ways, I think most people will be able to identify with the situations within them.
My characters are often heavily influenced by reality. My characters, at least my protagonists, all generally have a strong streak of me mixed with other people I like, different facets of my own personality, often taken to an extreme or in a different direction than I followed.
Many of my side characters, particularly those that are funny or charming, often were inspired by a friend or someone that I met who I found amusing, charming or intriguing.
What books and/or writers have influenced you the most?
My tastes are very eclectic so you'll find Michener and Clavell, Poe and Shakespeare, Nora Roberts and Georgette Heyer, Robert Heinlein and Robert Ludlum. Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.
I like writers that create effective characters and you hopefully will see that in my writing. My books are very character-centric. I don't know that their work inspired me (except in the case of that first novel) so much as taught me.
I'd read a book, get so lost in it I forgot to tear it apart to note what was good and bad, then reread it over and over until I figured out what it was about it that I loved so much. Then try not so much to duplicate it but to incorporate that thinking in my own writing.
Actually, of the four novels that are out right now, all of them were at least partly inspired by manga which my daughter got me hooked on a decade or so ago.
What has been your greatest challenge when writing?
Time. I'm a single mother, with three children (one of them in college) and a full time job (rocket scientist).
I also don't fit neatly with the methods most writers I know use. I can't sit down and write 500 words a day. I mean, I can, but they'd be crap. My mind tends to take an idea, which I might write down, or a scene or a concept or an image, maybe even a chapter or two. Then it will sit fallow and my subconscious will be working on it when I'm off doing other stuff. When whatever I needed to make it good comes to me, all of the sudden, I'll be ready to write.
My last three novels were all written in about six weeks in near final form. I won't write for months and then I'll sit and write 4-5 thousand words a day for two months. It's fun and a time-saver that it comes out that way, but sometimes I don't feel like I'm even part of the process.
What are you working on right now?
I almost always have eight or so ideas kicking around at any given time. At this current time I have:
· Two super geniuses in a futuristic society where they are used by a tyrannical empire to help subjugate others, but they escape.
· A mage-hermit, raised by a dragon, who has eschewed the ungrateful world of men until a stubborn stray (human) shows up on his doorstep and changes his mind.
· A space drama set on a space station with "codeslingers" who have had a chunk of their brain removed for a communication device that allows them to transfer data instantly from one another. But they can only survive in the zero-g of space or their nerves will atrophy.
· A third Bete novel centered on Rem.
· A smart hard-talking techie who gets caught up with the mob and framed for murder in Las Vegas so has to outsmart cops and mobsters while on the run.
· Another cop story with a somewhat eccentric forensics expert.
· A woman who happens to be the catalyst to bring the mundane world and the magical world back together who accidentally speaks a spell that makes something of a mess.
· Four five other concepts I'm kicking around.
What have you learned and do you have any advice for other authors?
I don't know from personal experience, but I do know many people who pursued writing alone and often felt pressured to write what others wanted. I'm not criticizing that choice. I get it, but I'm personally grateful I have a career apart from writing because it allows me to write only the things I want to, only the stories that are meaningful to me, focus on the sort of work I like to read most.
That's a luxury and, for any aspiring author out there, I'd recommend trying to keep a corner sacred, whether you're writing for other people mostly and only for yourself part of the time or doing some other day job, to hold on to that aspect that made you love reading, that inspired you to write, so what you do write for yourself is the kind of work that makes you happy. Writing is blood, sweat, and lots of time. You ought to feel good about the final product.
About Stephanie Barr
Although Stephanie Barr is a slave to three children and a slew of cats, she actually leads a double life as a part time novelist and full time rocket scientist. People everywhere have learned to watch out for fear of becoming part of her stories. Beware! You might be next!
You can find this Beast Within at:
Smashwords
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Kobo
Also available at the Apple iPod Store
https://www.facebook.com/stephanieebarr
She also has three blogs:
Rocket Scientist: http://rockets-r-us.blogspot.com
Rockets and Dragons: http://stephanie-barr.blogspot.com
The Unlikely Otaku (Manga) http://askthers.blogspot.com/)
About A.E. Albert
Contact me if you are interested in an Author Interview.
What inspired you to write your first book?When I was in middle school, I started writing poetry, not your normal, here's-my-feeling poetry but more like stories in poetry form. You learn a lot about effective use of language and emotion writing poetry.
Then, I moved to short stories, learning about sketching out characters in a few paragraphs, drama and dialog. My first book, which is awaiting a rewrite, was almost an homage to one of my favorite writers, Georgette Heyer, who wrote Regency Romances.
It's somewhat far and gone from what I write mostly now, which is fantasy or science fiction. The first really complex novel I wrote was based on the first short story I had published which was criticized, rightly, that it was too much to cram a world into a short story. So I made it a book.
Is there a message in your book and/or books?
There are always messages in my books, common themes. I'm something of a humanist and I like to endorse the notion that everyone deserves consideration and to be treated with respect and decency. I don't like labels. I do like finding the individuality in everyone. I don't like to preach it, but rather make this something that comes through my writing naturally.
I read an agent say they didn't want to read books that had a point to make, but I don't agree. I want my books to be entertaining, naturally, but if I didn't have anything to say, if my characters didn't learn anything, I think that would be a terrible waste. Characters should, in my opinion, grow and you don't grow if you don't learn anything.
I also have a few other quirks. Rapists do not fare well in my books. I have strong female and male protagonists. I like intelligent characters. And there is always--always--at least one cat. So far, I've managed to sneak a dragon in each book as well, through one means or another, though I had to be creative with Saving Tessa since it was near term science fiction.
Is there anything in your book and/or books based on real life experiences?
I write fantasy and science fiction, so no. However, I'm also something of a history buff and I do keep to scenarios I could back with examples in the past. I want my scenarios to be plausible and, though my worlds are contrived and different in many ways, I think most people will be able to identify with the situations within them.
My characters are often heavily influenced by reality. My characters, at least my protagonists, all generally have a strong streak of me mixed with other people I like, different facets of my own personality, often taken to an extreme or in a different direction than I followed.
Many of my side characters, particularly those that are funny or charming, often were inspired by a friend or someone that I met who I found amusing, charming or intriguing.
What books and/or writers have influenced you the most?
My tastes are very eclectic so you'll find Michener and Clavell, Poe and Shakespeare, Nora Roberts and Georgette Heyer, Robert Heinlein and Robert Ludlum. Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.
I like writers that create effective characters and you hopefully will see that in my writing. My books are very character-centric. I don't know that their work inspired me (except in the case of that first novel) so much as taught me.
I'd read a book, get so lost in it I forgot to tear it apart to note what was good and bad, then reread it over and over until I figured out what it was about it that I loved so much. Then try not so much to duplicate it but to incorporate that thinking in my own writing.
Actually, of the four novels that are out right now, all of them were at least partly inspired by manga which my daughter got me hooked on a decade or so ago.
What has been your greatest challenge when writing?
Time. I'm a single mother, with three children (one of them in college) and a full time job (rocket scientist).
I also don't fit neatly with the methods most writers I know use. I can't sit down and write 500 words a day. I mean, I can, but they'd be crap. My mind tends to take an idea, which I might write down, or a scene or a concept or an image, maybe even a chapter or two. Then it will sit fallow and my subconscious will be working on it when I'm off doing other stuff. When whatever I needed to make it good comes to me, all of the sudden, I'll be ready to write.
My last three novels were all written in about six weeks in near final form. I won't write for months and then I'll sit and write 4-5 thousand words a day for two months. It's fun and a time-saver that it comes out that way, but sometimes I don't feel like I'm even part of the process.
What are you working on right now?
I almost always have eight or so ideas kicking around at any given time. At this current time I have:
· Two super geniuses in a futuristic society where they are used by a tyrannical empire to help subjugate others, but they escape.
· A mage-hermit, raised by a dragon, who has eschewed the ungrateful world of men until a stubborn stray (human) shows up on his doorstep and changes his mind.
· A space drama set on a space station with "codeslingers" who have had a chunk of their brain removed for a communication device that allows them to transfer data instantly from one another. But they can only survive in the zero-g of space or their nerves will atrophy.
· A third Bete novel centered on Rem.
· A smart hard-talking techie who gets caught up with the mob and framed for murder in Las Vegas so has to outsmart cops and mobsters while on the run.
· Another cop story with a somewhat eccentric forensics expert.
· A woman who happens to be the catalyst to bring the mundane world and the magical world back together who accidentally speaks a spell that makes something of a mess.
· Four five other concepts I'm kicking around.
What have you learned and do you have any advice for other authors?
I don't know from personal experience, but I do know many people who pursued writing alone and often felt pressured to write what others wanted. I'm not criticizing that choice. I get it, but I'm personally grateful I have a career apart from writing because it allows me to write only the things I want to, only the stories that are meaningful to me, focus on the sort of work I like to read most.
That's a luxury and, for any aspiring author out there, I'd recommend trying to keep a corner sacred, whether you're writing for other people mostly and only for yourself part of the time or doing some other day job, to hold on to that aspect that made you love reading, that inspired you to write, so what you do write for yourself is the kind of work that makes you happy. Writing is blood, sweat, and lots of time. You ought to feel good about the final product.
About Stephanie Barr
You can find this Beast Within at:
Smashwords
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Kobo
Also available at the Apple iPod Store
https://www.facebook.com/stephanieebarr
She also has three blogs:
Rocket Scientist: http://rockets-r-us.blogspot.com
Rockets and Dragons: http://stephanie-barr.blogspot.com
The Unlikely Otaku (Manga) http://askthers.blogspot.com/)
About A.E. Albert
Contact me if you are interested in an Author Interview.
