Author
to Author BC Welcomes Author Angella Graff to the seat.
Thanks
so much for stopping by Angella, please make yourself at home and we’ll begin.
A little bit about
the Author...
Angella Graff was born and raised in the desert
city of Tucson, Arizona. She married and became a mother very young, and after
getting started with her family, began her University studies where she found
her passion for creative writing, history and theology. She now resides in Tucson
with her husband Joshua, three children, Christian, Isabella and Adia, and
their two cats, Archive (Ivy), and Lasciel. She prefers to spend her days
writing, gardening, and reading non-fiction theology theory books. Angella is
also an avid, if not fanatic fan of Doctor Who and BBC Sherlock, which tend to
dominate her dry, sarcastic humor, a lot of which is apparent in her writing.
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The books we're here today talking about is; The
Awakening and The
Judas Kiss. Let's get to the questions and talk more
about the books and at the end i'll plug these peeps with your blurbs and links
;)
So tell these lovely peeps a bit more about
yourself?
Well, I’m thirty one (sob… no really lol) I have three kids, all in school so my life is filled with a lot of girl scouts, sport practice lessons, arranging sleep-overs, and being a referee between massive sibling wars. When I’m not doing those things, I’m either writing, at the yoga studio, or laying around with my husband trying to soak up the ten or fifteen minutes a day when the house is quiet and still.
Lol Oh the joys!!
How would you
describe your books?
Good question! I’m working on two series right now, one that has two books published in it called The Judas Curse series, and I’ve been struggling with a description on that one. It’s sort of between genres, incorporating mythology and theology with detectives and crime. But on the other side of that, as some often expect, it’s not a religious fiction at all. In fact, it presents a very wide alternate view on western religion. The second series is a paranormal fantasy series called Alexandra Fry- Private Eye. She’s a twelve year old girl who is visited by history’s ghosts, asked to solve different mysteries for them. She’s awkward and her only friends are the school’s outcasts who can’t see the ghosts, but believe her anyway. That one isn’t published yet, but looking at a summer release date.
Whoa you are busy!!
But then again I can relate because I'm also burdened with glorious purpose and
have several projects all on the go all at once lol
What Genre is your
work mainly? Do you tend to stay in the same vein or are you hoping (if not
already) to explore new ventures?
Well my first love is contemporary fiction, like in the classic literary fiction style, and I think I could be good at that, but I’m having a lot of fun with the Urban Fantasy/Mythology. Of course the children’s lit is great as well, and I hope to try my hand at historical fiction one day, too.
What inspired you
to write your books?
I spent six years getting my degree in theology (secular study of Christianity and the start of the Church) so it was studying all the different aspects of that history, and the different theories and beliefs, and the psychology into religion itself that really inspired this fiction. I want it to be entertaining, but I also want to encourage people to branch out a little, even if it’s not something they’ll ever consider for themselves.
Whoa and here's me
i just read Religion for dummies and half way through a 6 book series on
Biblical Fiction lol You go gurl! What an accomplishment!
Who was the easiest
character to write and why? Hardest and why?
Easiest started out to be Mark, but quickly Ben replaced that side. I find it easy to write Ben organically as he’s growing as a character so rapidly in each book.Hardest is probably Judas/Jude because I’m still trying to get my creative footing with him. But I love him, all the same.
Are your characters
based on real people? People you may know or TV/Movie stars?
Well, Mark is based off of the gospel writer, Mark, although he’s definitely not what the traditionalists know. And Jude as well, based off of Judas Iscariot, however in my book he’s actually the brother to Jesus of Galilee, and the betrayal was an accident rather than something done for money.
I'm well intrigued
with this, will deffo be looking into your work.
Without giving
anything away, what is/are your favorite scene(s) in 'your book'?
Oh for book two, definitely Mark’s back story. Being able to tell the history of Mark and Jude and how they came into their immortality and abilities was a lot of fun. It was tempting to make an entire book of that in itself.And also introducing Hades was really a lot of fun. He’s someone I think they’ll see a lot of.
Do you listen to
music while you write your book (s)? If so ... what songs?
I don’t. Honestly I’m a lyrics person so I end up listening too hard to the lyrics and get distracted. Sometimes I’ll listen to hangdrum music by Dante Bucci, and when I’m gearing up to write, I usually do a rapid yoga session in my bedroom and I throw on some Phillip Phillips and The Lumineers. It’s puts me in a great writing mood.
Yeah I'm into Film
Scores, they normally fire me up for certain scenes.
What’s up next for
you?
Well Book Three, Cry, Nike! Is going to be out hopefully at the very beginning of May, and I’m hoping to have the first book of the Alexandra Fry series out around that time as well, which is going to be titled, Alexandra and the Missing Lion’s Heart. It’s going to feature the thirteen year old ghost of Queen Elizabeth I who had a locket stolen by a family of thieves.
What inspired you
to be a writer? Is there anything in particular that spurred you on?
I think it’s always something I’ve done, since I could form sentences. I remember in school rushing through my desk work so I could write out little stories. I penned my first novel when I was about fifteen, though thank goodness THAT never got published haha. It’s just in my blood. I’ve checked out a thousand different career options and the one thing I never changed my mind on was writing.
Is there anyone
else besides you in your family who write?
My husband dabbles, and I think one day he might finish a book, or at least a novella. Definitely something sci-fi, dystopian future type of thing.
Wow cool, maybe
we'll have him on here one day then with his work ;)
Do you have any
other Talents or hobbies other than your literary wand?
Well talents—I guess if you want to count cooking. I’m pretty good at experimenting in the kitchen, and my hubby and I are huge foodies so I really enjoy that. I’m also pretty good with stringed instruments, and plan to take up cello here soon, something I’ve always wanted to do. I love hiking and yoga, and if you want to call those hobbies, than yeah that pretty much sums up my life lol.
Life is life hun,
it's what ya make it and I don't need to tell you that, in some cases, actually
in most cases your life, your existence is alluring to many. Life in general as
a rule is awesome!
What’s came first
the chicken or the egg? Lol
Hahahahahaha!! Best interview question ever. Without going into some long tangent about the evolutionary process, I’m going to say chicken, but in a very, very technical way.
Lol. I do love this
question and of course the answers vary all the time and it's awesome!
Could we please have a little background
into your writing: When did you start?
What was your first piece?
First
published piece, tell us about your general history…
Well my first ever published piece was called Moments Collide. I based a lot of the experiences of the main antagonist on my ex-husband, only I gender switched the roles, haha. I wanted to see if I could accomplish it by making the main protagonist a male instead of female which is usually prevalent in those types of “bad relationship stories”. I took the book out of print to revise it a little, because I wasn’t totally satisfied with the lay out. I might revisit it some day, but no promises.
Do you have any
favorite books or authors?
Oh so many, way too many to list. I read mostly theology, though with fiction I’m really picky. Recently my two favorite books are INZARED, Queen of the Elephant Riders by L. Leander, and Memories of the Dead by Phillip Hall. Most recent amazing books that I’ve read more than once.I also read a children’s book by S. L. Lewis called The Guardian and the Dream Crawler. Loved that book, and so did my daughter.
You said earlier
about your other series but do you have anything else besides that you're
working on?
For the moment I do freelance editing for indie authors. Drawing on my University days when I did editing for other students on their thesis papers, I wanted to offer other indie authors a cheap alternative to the really expensive editors that are around. That keeps me pretty busy when I’m not writing books.
Cool! You read that
right, Angella does freelance editing for Indie Authors!!
Could you give a few words to people who haven’t yet read your books.
Sell your work gurl
;)
Hmm a few words, let’s see…. How about, Give it a try! Haha. Honestly, it’s different, it’s fun, it’ll challenge you, but it’s a worthwhile challenge. I did my best to write a series that isn’t a carbon copy of the popular genres and I think it’s worth a read. Besides, it’s chock full of your favorite characters from mythology! Persephone and Hades, Thor, Heimdall and more to come. What’s not to love.
Awesome okay so
here is Book one The Awakening
(which is free until the 17th)...
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing
Platform 11 Dec 2012
ISBN-10:1481229672
ISBN-13: 978-1481229678
Blurp...
The Awakening is a tale of immortals, ancient gods,
and a Detective who doesn’t believe in any of it. Detective Ben Stanford is
forced to come face to face with theology, mythos and everything he refused to
believe in as his world is turned upside down by Mark, the immortal Gospel
writer, who requests the detective’s help in finding his missing companion, Judas
Iscariot. As Ben dives deeper into the world of broken Theology, ancient
religions and terrifying Greek gods, he’s forced to come to terms with the
world where vast forces struggle in their endless game of power. He must make
his way, with the help of companions he doesn’t believe in or trust, to try and
stop a potential global disaster.
Book Two Judas
Kiss...
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
February 20, 2013
ASIN: B00BJ6FV7Q
Blurb...
In the next Installment of The Judas Curse,
Detective Ben Stanford is ready to put the past at rest. Without warning, he’s
pulled down once again into the chaos of gods, theology, and mystery. Told that
his sister is alive and the two immortals, Mark and Judas, have been kidnapped
by the treacherous goddess, Nike, Ben must find a way to rescue the pair before
she can harness their powers.
While Mark waits alone, forced to write out the
story of how their powers came to be, and Judas lay tortured by the angry
Goddess, a reluctant Ben must enlist the help of a hesitant being from the
ancient Norse Pantheon.
Time is ticking, and the hard-headed detective must
use everything he learned in the past to prevent another disaster, which could
potentially wipe-out the human race.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here are the places you can find Angella...
Twitter @AngellaGraff
Awesomeness right
there, thanks again Angella, please come back again soon, it would be epic to hear what more you have accomplished.
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