Thursday 20 June 2013

Author Interview Series – Erin Grace – Giveaway winner and answers

Today I have the pleasure of revealing the name of the giveway winner for Erin Grace's Author Interview.   But before, I would like to thank Erin for answering all your questions. Here are her answers:

Maria Cardovà asked:

How long did it take you to write the book? 
Hi Maria! The first draft only took me a month – largely because I wrote it during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) – but at that stage it still didn’t have an ending. I let it sit for about a year, then I got to work on the ending.


Did you self publish the book or did you find a good publisher?
I didn’t self-publish, but I didn’t get a “big” publisher either; I worked with a small local  start-up. They gave me three months to finish the editing and proofreading. I probably should have asked for more, but I was so scared and excited that I didn’t want to lose the opportunity. So in terms of active writing and re-writing, I probably spent about five months. But chronologically, the book took well over a year from start to finish.

Kari Ploysa asked

Did your studies in Japan help you create or inspire you at all for your new short story?
Wow, lots of questions, Kari!   My time in Japan didn’t directly inspire the story, but there some subtle ways that Japan affected it. I find that my stories capture an emotional snapshot of who I was when I wrote them. When I wrote “Wright Brothers” I was still dealing with issues of isolation and reverse culture shock, which went directly into the character of Jeremiah. I also couldn’t stop thinking about the sexiness of creating a new life unfettered by old connections, which also worked its way into the book

Do you speak any Japanese?
I can, but I used to be better. I’m actually much better at reading Japanese than speaking it because I’ve spent the last several years translating for a Japanese music website.


How long did it take you before you realized you really were not a psychopath?
Hahaha, it luckily only took a few minutes!


Who other than Stephen King were your inspirations?
Chuck Palahniuk is a huge inspiration for me; I love all his books. I also love Kurt Vonnegut, especially the way he embraces the absurdity of life.


What inspired your newest book?
 The short story about the Japanese firebombing of the West Coast was inspired by a photo prompt selected for a writing group I’m in. The photo is a black and white of a young woman standing in a field with one hand over her face and the other holding a gun. The murder mystery was inspired by my mom. She’s always coming up with ideas for me but usually I’m not into them. (I keep telling her to write the ideas herself, but she never does.) This time she told me to write a British manor house mystery and I was about to dismiss it when I came up with an interesting twist. It’s been stuck in my head ever since!



And the winner of the giveaway is... Kari!  Make sure to send me an email at scbecauseican(at)gmail.com to claim your prize!

Thank you everyone for paticipating and be sure to come back for ATUA's next giveaway!  

0 comments:

Post a Comment

ShareThis