I first met Autumn on a Nanowrimo message board. We discovered we shared a love of writing and root beer, just happened to live in the same town, and quickly became close friends. I'm thrilled to introduce you to her and her work.
Tell us a little bit about you. Where are you from? What kind of books do you write? How many books have you written? Do you set your stories in the area you live in?
According to my mother, I was born in a hospital and wasn’t raised in a barn—which is debatable—in Northern Tennessee, just a little bit outside of Nashville, so close to the Fort Campbell Air Base we could watch the paratroopers training. Now, I reside in Mississippi with my husband, son and our beast of a dog—Bristol.
Mostly, I write the kinda of books I hope people want to read but more often than not, I write novels of the romantic variety with a little fantasy thrown in here and there. Currently, I have three novels—Loving Anna, Grim Life, and After The I Do—on the market but you can find more of my unedited, rough drafts on my Wattpad account.
Most writers I know are voracious readers. What kind of books do you like to read? What’s your favorite book?
Since I was a little girl, I have had a torrid love affair with books. Some of my favorite authors are Tessa Dare, Sara Maclean, Eloisa James, Elizabeth Rolls, and Lynsay Sands, which, if you are familiar with any of those authors, exposes me for the Regency era romance reader I am.
In truth though, since I was about thirteen, my favorite book has House Of Scorpion by Nancy Farmer.
Let’s play a quick game of “This or That”. Real books or e-books? Coffee or tea? Sweet or savory? Dogs or cats? Summer or winter? Morning or night?
Real Book : the smell of old paper; really who can pass that up?
Both : so long as neither are black—like my soul.
Savory : but also, really . . . food.
Dogs : I had a cat once; he was my husband’s archenemies.
Winter : let it snow; let it snow.
Night : preferably after the Demon Seed is abed.
Would you mind telling us about your writing style? Such as: Do have a routine? Do you need complete silence or blaring music? Early morning writing or late nite writing?
You mean . . . people have a writing style? I usually spend a couple hours moaning and groaning about all the work I need to be doing but am not doing to anyone who will listen before pulling out my notebook, turning on Pandora and trying to make the word vomit happen before the husband, the child, or the dog need my attentions.
Most often, the word vomit happens after eight o’clock Tuesday through Thursday after I have taken my Demon Seed to school and let Bristol, Destroyer of Furniture, out to potty or somewhere around midnight when I am high on caffeine and unrealistic dreams.
Coincidentally, it is a Tuesday and 8:30 A.M.
Do you have a favorite “writing” snack?
I might be making a wild assumption here but I’m assuming my finger nails don’t count so . . . I suppose, not really. I can’t eat and type because than my key board becomes a minefield of crumbs that I could very well be tempted to Hoover away with my mouth once I get three chapters deep into a project.
Which do you think is the hardest to write: the first sentence or the last one?
In my opinion, or maybe the proper term is experience, the first sentence is always the hardest to write.
“Heinrich,” cried he, “the first step is always the hardest, as the Devil said when he began to carry millstones, but—” In the Year '13: A Tale of Mecklenburg
What is your biggest distraction while writing?
Besides the husband, the Demon Seed, and the Destroyer of Furniture, I would say the internet is my biggest distraction. I go from looking up a necessary fact for whatever project I am engaged in to learning that female Kangaroos have three vaginas, male Kangaroos have two penises and there are more Kangaroos in Australia than people.
Plus, they can unhinge their jaw as if looking like a bunny on steroids wasn’t scary enough.
What is the best writing advice you’ve ever received?
Stop bitching; write. —by probably my mother but could also be my good friend Ashley C.
Do you have any advice for new writers?
Run; run away and never return, but, if you’re determined to stay and lose your soul, my best advice is don’t give up. There are going to be some really hard days. You’re going to feel like crap, like you’re wasting your time, like the solution is to quit but push forward, keep going, write another word, another sentence, another paragraph, another page, another chapter, another book. One day, you’ll still have some really hard days, you’ll still feel like crap, like you're wasting your time, like the solution is to quit, but you’ll have pushed forward.
Hopefully by than, it will have paid off or you’ll have gone to far to give up.
What’s next for you? What do your readers have to look forward to?
Right now, I am in-between projects as I take a break and enjoy the aftermath of publishing my third novel, book one in the Meeting At The Fault Line series After The I Do.
Once I begin to work again, the possibilities are endless. I may work on book two in the Meeting At The Fault Line series, Before The I Do, which will not be available on my Wattpad account at any point unlike book three, a spin off from book one and two, Results May Vary.
Where can we connect with you? Tell is where to find you online.
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