Way back in Query Kombat 2013, we had an awesome entry entitled How to Date Dead Guys. As a testament to hard working and patience paying off, I'm bring you an interview with published author, Ann Noser. (Note: this interview was done prior to publication. The last question reflects that.)
ME: Your novel, HOW TO DATE DEAD GUY, was published by Curiosity Quills in the Summer of 2014. It's got witchcraft, ghosts, and murder. I'm hooked already. Can you tell us a little about your story?
ANN: Quiet
college sophomore Emma Roberts remembers her mother’s sage advice: “don’t sleep around, don’t burp in public,
and don’t tell anyone you see ghosts”.
But when cute Mike Carlson drowns in the campus river under her watch,
Emma’s sheltered life shatters.
Blamed
for Mike’s death and haunted by nightmares, Emma turns to witchcraft and a
mysterious Book of Shadows to bring
him back. Under a Blood Moon, she lights
candles, draws a pentacle on the campus bridge, and casts a spell. The invoked river rages up against her, but
she escapes its fury. As she stumbles
back to the dorm, a stranger drags himself from the water and follows her
home.
Instead of raising Mike,
Emma assists the others she stole back from the dead—a pre-med student who
jumped off the bridge, a young father determined to solve his own murder, and a
frat boy Emma can’t stand…at first. More
comfortable with the dead than the living, Emma delves deeper into the
seductive Book of Shadows. Her powers grow, but witchcraft may not be
enough to protect her against the vengeful river and the killers that feed it
their victims.
Emma is a
cross between Whoopi Goldberg’s psychic in Ghost
and Willow’s transformation from
bookworm to witch in Buffy the Vampire
Slayer. Inspired by the
controversial Smiley Face Murders theory, HOW TO DATE DEAD GUYS will appeal to
paranormal fans of all ages.
ME: What do you want readers to walk away with after they've turned
the last page?
ANN: Although this is a fictional story, I’d
like readers to feel that this “might have happened”. As in, this is a logical way someone might fall
into witchcraft and what happens next. I’d like for readers to feel a little
sad when they’ve turned the last page, because that would mean they miss the
characters already.
ME: We all know the road to publication is not an easy one. Can you
describe your journey? Was there ever a moment you felt like giving up? If so,
why didn't you?
ANN: I’m afraid there were many moments I felt
like giving up. I only kept going because I’m so freaking stubborn. Haha. That
and I have a great critique group, who let me complain/whine/piss and moan when
I needed to, but always made me see how far I’d come and that I just needed to
keep at it. They always made me feel better. Seeing my name on smaller
publications, like articles in the newspaper and magazines helped, too.
ME: How long have you been writing? Is HOW TO DATE DEAD GUYS your
first book?
ANN: I think I’ve always been writing, on and
off. I worked on the high school newspaper. I wrote pathetic poetry in high
school and college. I wrote a diary, then I burned it (along with most of the
poems) at a later date. Good riddance! I write poetry when I’m frustrated,
articles to educate people on various topics (veterinary, running, yoga), and
novels. HOW TO DATE DEAD GUYS is either my third or fourth book, depending on how
you count it.
ME: If you could step in a time machine and revisit yourself at the
time when you first started querying, what advice would you give old you?
ANN: I would’ve yelled, “STOP!!! You aren’t
ready yet! Join a writing group, revise 500 times, join some online Twitter
contests and THEN query.
ME: Contests. A lot of people love them, other don't see the point.
What are your opinions on query contests?
ANN: I think they help you: 1) perfect your
query, 2) meet people online, and 3) get agent attention. I don’t think they
are the end-all, be-all, but I do think they help. I got a request, and then an
offer through a contest, so I guess I’m pretty darn grateful I joined them!
ME: How does it feel to be weeks away from publication? Are you
bouncing off the walls with excitement?
ANN: It
feels a little unreal. I can’t wait to see my cover, to feel MY OWN BOOK in my
hands… but I try not to get too carried away thinking about it or else I get so
nervous I feel sick to my stomach. (Sorry. I’m a stress-wimp!)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My to-do list dictates that I try to cram 48 hours of living
into a day instead of the usual 24. I’ve
chosen a life filled with animals. I
train for marathons with my dog, then go to work as a small animal
veterinarian, and finish the day by tripping over my pets as I attempt to
convince my two unruly children that YES, it really IS time for bed. But I can’t wait until the house is quiet to
write; I have to steal moments throughout the day. Ten minutes here, a half hour there, I live
within my imagination.
Like all busy American mothers, I multi-task. I work out plot holes during runs. Instead of meditating, I type madly during
yoga stretches. I find inspiration in
everyday things: a beautiful smile, a
heartbreaking song, or a newspaper article on a political theory. For example, a long drive in the dark
listening to an NPR program on the SMILEY FACE MURDERS theory made me ask so
many questions that I wrote HOW TO DATE DEAD GUYS to answer them to my
satisfaction.
I’d love to have more time to write (and run, read, and
sleep), but until I find Hermione Granger’s time turner, I will juggle real
life with the half-written stories in my head.
Main characters and plot lines intertwine in my cranium, and I need to
let my writing weave the tales on paper so I can find out what happens next.
Thanks for the interview and for being part of my blog tour! :)
ReplyDelete