Cover Reveal & Author Interview with V. Romas Burton

January 6, 2023 ~ The Spinning Pen ~ Leave a comment

SP: Hi Vanessa! We’re so excited to have you here on the Spinning Pen! We would love for you to tell us all a little bit about you and your writing journey. How did you get your start?

VB: Hi! Thank you so much! I’m so excited to be here! I first started writing after I graduated from grad school. I was confused as to where I wanted my life to go and used writing as a way to cope through some difficult times. It was a wonderful outlet and I never would’ve thought so many stories would emerge from that time.

SP: Awesome! Now for some bookish conversation…First off, congratulations on revealing the beautiful cover of your upcoming book, FORTIFIED, which we can now preorder! Can you tell us more about it?

Add official blurb:

Devora’s perfect future shatters. Instead of attending Vlacklear Academy, she is sent to the Fortress—a prison holding murderers and thieves that make up the soldiers in His Majesty’s Army. She fears it is the end of her.

Suppressing her forbidden Seeing abilities, Devora is thrust into the role of soldier, and must learn to defend herself while avoiding Warden Hazor and his ruthless right-hand man, Captain Blake.

When Devora’s Seeing abilities are exposed, she’s thrown into a tournament to win her right to live. She must turn to Captain Blake for help or be slaughtered like all the other Seers before her.

VB: Yes! I’m so excited about this book because it encompasses so many bookish themes I love. Fortified is inspired by the story of Deborah in the book of Judges, but mashed with inspiration of Mulan with a little sprinkling of Pride and Prejudice. It’s a wild mix of themes, but I love how they came together!

SP: Talk to us about fantasy and worldbuilding–how do you build your worlds?

VB: When I first started writing, it was difficult not to dump a whole bunch on information in the beginning of the story. Over time, I’ve learned to drip in little pieces of information about the world until the reader has the whole image without realizing it.

SP: As an award winning author of Heartmender, and its sequel, Heartbreaker, you already have two books under your belt. What was different about writing a new series? In which ways did you find that you grew as an author?

VB: At first I wasn’t sure if I could move on to new characters. I had grown close to Addie and the others in the Heartmaker Trilogy. But as I started writing about Devora, Captain Blake, and a slew of new characters, I began to fall more in love with them and couldn’t stop until I knew what happened in their stories.

I definitely feel like my style of writing has matured. I’ve learned how to describe emotions and action more fluidly than before.

SP: Can you tell us a bit more about your writing process?

VB: Haha, it’s a bit of a mess, which is completely the opposite of who I am as a person. I am an extreme type-A who runs off of lists and sticky notes. But when I write, I only know basic plot points and let the story unfold as I type. I’m a totally pantser all the way!

SP: What is one craft technique or marketing tip you would recommend to other writers?

VB: Reach out to other authors who write in similar genres as you. It doesn’t have to be exactly the same (i.e. you can both write YA not YA Fantasy). Create a community with others. My publisher now used to be one of my ARC readers for Heartmender! You never know where the relationships you make will lead!

SP: You recently signed with Quill and Flame publishers! Congratulations! What is one tip for writers interested in working with an indie press?

VB: Thank you so much! A tip would be to do your research on what presses you want to work. As an indie author, I work very close with my publisher and I’m so thankful we have a great relationship! When sending out proposals, be sure to only submit to places you really want to work with!

SP: Time for the lightning round! Early bird or night owl?

VB: Early bird!

SP: Most obscure hobby?

VB: I am secretly (not so secretly!) obsessed with Webtoons!

SP: Word you can never spell? This may be a trick question.

VB: Definitely. I always second guess myself on it 😛

SP: Alright, time’s up! We’re so sad to see you go! BUT…there’s way more where this came from. Where can we go to read more from you?

VB: Thank you so much for having me! This was so much fun! You can sign up for my newsletter for book updates and exciting things happening: HERE

All my books are sold where books are sold and you can get signed copies through the Quill & Flame Etsy shop!

Author Interview: CJ Milacci

August 4, 2022August 4, 2022 ~ The Spinning Pen ~ Leave a comment

SP: Hi CJ! So glad to chat with you today! When did you start writing and what are your favorite genres?

CJ: Thank you so much for having me! I started on my writing journey about eight years ago. I wanted a story I could hand to the teen and young adult girls I was talking to, who needed a reprieve from the pain they were facing in their lives, but also a way to learn deeper truths.

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Author Interview: Sandra Fernandez Rhoads

July 23, 2022July 23, 2022 ~ The Spinning Pen ~ 1 Comment

Please join me in welcoming S.F. Rhoads to The Spinning Pen! Sandra was born in Queens and raised in Texas where she earned an MA in her seventeenth-century crush, John Milton. This talented author also has experience in acting, directing, and script writing!

SP: Hi Sandra! How did you start writing YA fiction specifically, and what made you decide to pursue that professionally? (Also, I’m dying to know who your other literary crushes are!)

Sandra: I love talking about story, process, and creativity but what I love most is to encourage others to see their talents/art as valuable and important gifts to the world, so thanks for having me as a guest!

A little about me: I’ve always been a storyteller and writer, although it wasn’t necessarily on paper. Mainly I’d create fantasy worlds in my daydreams while I was on the playground or doing chores.

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Author Interview: JJ Fischer

July 14, 2022 ~ The Spinning Pen ~ Leave a comment

SP: Hi JJ! Thanks for joining us on the Spinning Pen. Before we get into book stuff, we’d LOVE to hear a bit about you and your writing journey! When did it all start?

JJF: It’s wonderful to be here! Thanks so much for having me.

Oh, where to begin? So, I started writing my first novel at age fourteen. I was on a family holiday touring Australia, in a place called Jurien Bay in Western Australia, when I had a dream of the opening scene of a novel. It contained just about every story cliché you can imagine, and was ditched VERY quickly, but I kept on working on that novel for years…plus, “Jurien” later became the first name of my villain. I’m sneaky like that.

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Indie Spotlight: Alissa Zavalianos

June 30, 2022July 1, 2022 ~ The Spinning Pen ~ Leave a comment

Pen Friends ~ Please welcome YA Author Alissa Zavalianos to talk about her latest novel, ENDLEWOOD, and her writing journey! I’m so excited to have Alissa here with us!

SP: Hi Alissa! Thanks for joining us! Before we get into book stuff, we’d LOVE to know a bit about you and your writing journey.

My writing journey started in 4th grade, scribbling adventures and drawing maps, taking creative writing courses throughout high school and college (English major with a focus in Creative Writing).

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Author Interview: Caitlin Sangster

May 19, 2022 ~ The Spinning Pen ~ Leave a comment

SP: Hi Caitlin! Welcome back to the Spinning Pen! Before we get into book stuff, we’d LOVE to know a bit about you and your writing journey! Where did this all start for you? What has your writing journey been like? What other books have you written?

CS: I’ve been writing since I was in middle school, though back then it was more like advanced plagiarism, since I would just rewrite stories I really liked, only badly (Alanna the Lioness, anyone?). I never considered writing stories as a thing I could do in a professional capacity, since it seemed like writing in school was focused on really boring stuff I wasn’t interested in, and all the books I read were so, so perfect, it didn’t seem like actual humans could write them.

But then after I’d already graduated from college, my sister got a book deal and it suddenly clicked in my mind that people write books and that I could potentially be one of those people. I had just read The Hunger Games series and immediately began writing a YA dystopia, which I eventually got agented and sold to Simon and Schuster, which became my first published books, the Last Star Burning series. While I was writing those, I had a secret backburner middle grade project I’d work on between deadlines called A Baker’s Guide to Robber Pie because my first love in books has always been fantasy and I couldn’t not try to write fantasy even if I went dystopia first.

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Author Interview: AJ Skelly

April 4, 2022 ~ The Spinning Pen ~ Leave a comment

SP: Hi AJ! We’re so excited to have you here on the Spinning Pen! Tell us all a little bit about you and your writing journey.

AJ: Hi! Thank you so much for having me! I think I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was a little girl. I’ve always dabbled in writing stories, and I tend to be a voracious reader as time allows. As I got older, I majored in English and became a high school teacher and didn’t have a lot of time or energy to write, but still wrote in my spare time.

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Author Interview: Tanvi Berwah

March 29, 2022 ~ The Spinning Pen ~ Leave a comment

SP: Hi Tanvi! We’re so excited to have you here on the Spinning Pen! Tell us all a little bit about you and your writing journey.

TB: Hi, thank you for having me! I’m Tanvi Berwah and I write books that will send you into some kind of existential dread at least once. I used to run fansites during the peak Twilight/The Hunger Games fandom time and an alarmingly huge part of my personality comes from being terminally online during those years lol. I have been writing since I was a kid. Many awful and some not-so-awful manuscripts later, I got into Pitch Wars in 2019 and that really got me to where I am now: happily writing books about angry girls and monsters, figuratively and literally.

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Author Interview: Tamara Girardi

March 3, 2022 ~ The Spinning Pen ~ Leave a comment

SP: Hi Tamara! So glad to have you here on the Spinning Pen! You have an incredibly exciting four book deal with a unique release model. People are saying it’s like Netflix but with books! We’d love to hear more about how this exciting model works!

TG: I love that comparison! And hello to you 🙂 Thanks for having me. I love Wise Wolf Books’ rapid release model! They are releasing all four books in the sports series this year! Release dates are scheduled for early March, June, September, and December. It’s been a flurry getting all of the manuscripts in shape, but I appreciate this model so much as an author and a reader. As an author, I’m connecting with readers frequently with new material. As a reader, waiting is not my strong suit. When I read a good book, I want to binge with the sequel immediately. I love that this model allows readers of the series to do that this year! I’ve also signed with Wise Wolf for a two-book series in 2023, so stay tuned for more on that!

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