AUTHOR INTERVIEW & GIVEAWAY

I am very excited to have Laura here at The Blogging Book today! Laura Sullivan writes all kinds of things. From Adult Criminal Love Stories to Children's books to Historical, All under different pen names. So, with out further ado, Laura Sullivan!!

Bio:

I'm a former newspaper editor, former social worker, former deputy sheriff, current mother,
constant worrier, and perpetual writer. Under my real name (Laura L. Sullivan) I write books
for children. UNDER THE GREEN HILL and GUARDIAN OF THE GREEN HILL (Holt Books
for Young Readers) are about a group of children caught in the middle of a fairy war. LADIES
IN WAITING, out next May from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, is a bawdy historical set in the
1660s England.

When I started writing adult crime novels I was intrigued by the idea of self publishing, and
decided to experiment, under the not-so-secret pseudonym Sullivan Lee. It's going very well so
far!

You can find out more about me on my blog, The Omniscient Third Person.
http://lauralsullivan.blogspot.com/ 


In one sentence only, why should we read your book?

Every character in it is a bad guy – some you'll adore, some you'll want to shoot.


What inspired you with the idea for this book?

A constant theme running through my work involves alpha men who are certain they're in
control... until their world unexpectedly crumbles, and they are rescued by a woman they
underestimated. You'll even find it in my middle grade GREEN HILL books (albeit without the
romantic element.) I explore that theme even further in BRIGHTWING... and I'll probably do it
in a lot of my upcoming books, too.

Coming from a law enforcement career, I wanted to explore the flip side – criminal life – so I
found a way to work my favorite themes into an underworld tale.


How did you get interested in writing this particular genre?

Well, I'm interested in all genres, really. I can't think of any genre I wouldn't want to write in.
But stories of crime and violence have always appealed to me, because I've spent so much time
trying to prevent those very things. Know your enemy, I suppose. In my Sullivan Lee books, the
bad guys sometimes win, and often aren't quite as bad as you think, which is what I've found to
be true in life.

What was/is the easiest/hardest part about writing this book?

Brightwing was very research-intense. I went into it knowing a fair amount about paleoindians,
and backwoods Florida, and swamp survival, but still needed to be very meticulous to get
everything exactly right. Research is always my favorite part! I'm probably a writer mostly for
that joyful feeling that comes when I have all my shiny new research books piled around me on
the bed and I can dig into an exciting new topic. I'm a dilettante, so I crave variety.

The hardest part about writing this book in particular was creating Mallory's character. He does
things that are so abhorrent – and yet (spoiler alert!) he lives. But I needed to make him just
a little, ever so slightly sympathetic, too. Everyone wishes I'd killed him off, and I completely
understand. But he had to be alive in the end. Believe me, it was at least as hard for me to write
as it will be for you to read!


Is there anything you wish was different about the book?

As I say, I longed to kill off Mallory Battle, but I just couldn't. I don't wish I'd done things
differently – but I did write a death scene for him, just for my own satisfaction!


What's a typical working day like for you? When and where do you write? Do you set a daily writing goal?

I try to get in at least a thousand words a day. Right now I do most of my writing during my son's
naptime – luckily he's a great napper – but I'm excited (and a little apprehensive) about how my
writing patterns will change once he goes to school. Will I be paralyzed by all that time, or have a
million-word-a-year career? (Maybe I should think of some more pseudonyms!)


What’s the best thing about being an author?

That thrilling feeling of knowing people are actually reading what I wrote, living the stories
I created. There is a very powerful and mysterious connection between author and reader –
probably the most intimate relation two people can have without ever actually meeting one
another.

Do you have any favorite authors or favorite books?

Far too numerous to name! I'll just give you a few, in no particular order:

Richard Adams, Douglas Adams, Jane Austen, Anthony Trollope, J.K. Rowling, C.S. Lewis, Eva
Ibbotson, George MacDonald Fraser, Michel Faber... and so many more!

 

If you could jump in to a book, and live in that world... Which would it be?

Probably Narnia.


What's one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?

Never quit as long as you still love it. (But when it's not fun, stop, at least for a while.)


Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects?

In my traditionally published YA work (and Laura L. Sullivan) I have two books coming out in
2012 from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. LADIES IN WAITING, mentioned above, and another
historical, DELUSION, about two stage illusionist sisters who flee London in the WWII Blitz and
discover an all-male college of real magicians in the countryside.

Then as Sullivan Lee I'll have a paranormal romantic thriller called FLESH out in a few months.

Under the third variation of my name, LuLu Sullivan, I'll be putting out several short stories in
the next month or two, and a novella early next year.

If your book was to be a movie, what would be your dream cast?

Hmm... maybe Jessica Alba for Lucy Brightwing, if you remember how she was in her Dark
Angel role.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers be perfect for Mallory. Have you seen him in Gormenghast? Or Match
Point? He's got that deceptively sweet psychopath look. (It's probably a bit hard to picture him
as Mallory now that we know him as Henry VIII, too.) Or maybe the guy who played Octavian in
the HBO Rome series. (Simon Woods – I had to look it up!) He definitely looks suitably mentally
disturbed.

Edgar Battle is a tough one. Probably George Clooney ten years ago. (You did say my dream
cast, so I reserve the right to turn back time!) Which is not to say that GC isn't smokin' hot
today!

Thank you so much for having me on The Blogging Book!

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to answer some questions!

Now, on to the Giveaway!

Laura is going to giveaway One eBook version of Brightwing!

Ok, so I usually go the easy route with these things, but I'm going to mix things up a bit this time.

Here's what you have to do:

You Do: Have to Follow The Blogging Book

You Do: Have to Follow me on Twitter

You Do: Have to Like me on Facebook

You Do: Have to Follow Laura's Blog

You Do: Have to Follow Laura on Twitter

You Do: Have to Friend Laura on Facebook

You Do: Have to Tweet, Facebook, or Blog Post about this giveaway.

(You will get an extra entry for each one. )

You Do: Have to leave a comment on this post with your links and your email address. That's it!



Ok, I obviously made this giveaway too difficult, so to make it up to you I have made a google doc. To enter all you have to do is fill out this FORM.


This Giveaway is International. And I'm going to extend the deadline to Sept. 19, 2011

Those of you who already entered (Darlene & Booketta) will get 5 bonus entries!