Author Amy Lignor stopped by the blog to answer our author interview questions as part of her blog tour! Amy Lignor began her career at Grey House Publishing in northwest Connecticut where she was the Editor-in-Chief of numerous educational and business directories.
Now she is a published author of several works of fiction. The Billy the Kid historical The Heart of a Legend; the thriller, Mind Made; and the adventure novel, Tallent & Lowery 13.
She is also the owner of The Write Companion, a company that offers help and support to writers through a full range of editorial services from proofreading and copyediting to ghostwriting and research. As the daughter of a research librarian, she is also an active book reviewer.
Currently, she lives with her daughter, mother and a rambunctious German Shepherd named Reuben, in the beautiful state of New Mexico.
Until Next Time: The Angel Chronicles, Book 1 Summary
How does a girl choose between the one who steals her heart and the one who owns her soul?
Matt and Emily were created for a specific job. Raised and trained as the ultimate angel/warrior team, they are sent down to save, defend, judge and forgive, depending on the 'life' they've been assigned. What they don't realize is that the power of human emotions, such as love, anger, passion and fear can take over even the best of souls, causing them to make mistakes and follow paths that lead to confusion and heartache.
When the reason for their training is finally revealed, the angel/warrior team find themselves thrust into a world they know nothing about. Matt takes over the life of Daniel, a young man with a great deal of baggage. Emily becomes Liz, a girl living in a remote village who relies on nothing more than her own strength to survive. A violent storm erupts one night, and framed in the window of Liz's establishment is a frightening face. Let in by the soul of a Good Samaritan, the two visitors bring with them a past full of secrets that could literally change an angel's path and a warrior's plans.
From murder to redemption, this angel/warrior team must find a way to keep the faith they have in each other in a world that's ripping them apart.
Matt and Emily were created for a specific job. Raised and trained as the ultimate angel/warrior team, they are sent down to save, defend, judge and forgive, depending on the 'life' they've been assigned. What they don't realize is that the power of human emotions, such as love, anger, passion and fear can take over even the best of souls, causing them to make mistakes and follow paths that lead to confusion and heartache.
When the reason for their training is finally revealed, the angel/warrior team find themselves thrust into a world they know nothing about. Matt takes over the life of Daniel, a young man with a great deal of baggage. Emily becomes Liz, a girl living in a remote village who relies on nothing more than her own strength to survive. A violent storm erupts one night, and framed in the window of Liz's establishment is a frightening face. Let in by the soul of a Good Samaritan, the two visitors bring with them a past full of secrets that could literally change an angel's path and a warrior's plans.
From murder to redemption, this angel/warrior team must find a way to keep the faith they have in each other in a world that's ripping them apart.
Read on for her interview questions and, as always, her links will follow!
*Where are you from?
I was born and grew up in a very small town in the northwest corner of Connecticut called, Sharon. After high school I took off to see the country and I’ve lived in a variety of places. For the moment, I live in the warm sunshine of New Mexico, which is nice because I definitely do not like snow!
*Coffee, tea or chocolate and why?
Coffee. I need to stay awake so that my brain can write these stories and I don’t end up face-first on the keyboard J
*What one animal do you think fits you the most and why?
I love wolves. I love the fact that there are packs - families who support each other. They can be lone wolves, trying to make their way in a new world - like some of my characters - and then there are the groups who stand behind each other and defend each other like the amazing family I have around me. Wolves just fit.
*What does reading mean to you?
Everything. My mom was a career librarian, and she taught my sister and I when we were young that books meant far more than television or video games. We listened (even though at the time we wanted T.V.). She was absolutely right. Not only does reading offer a writer even more technique, and enhances a writer’s skill, but these stories also take you into an unknown world that you truly become a part of for a while. Books are eternal, and there really isn’t anything else that is…except maybe for taxes.
*When and why did you begin writing?
When I was a kid we were locked into a family vacation where we spent four days with my mother’s friends. God, it was awful. Everyone (including my parents) had to be in bed at precisely 9:00 p.m. every night so the cat in the house could go ‘nightsie.’ My parents wanted that vacation to end so badly, and I wrote my first book of humor called, My Life: A Comedy and a Tragedy. I haven’t stopped since J So I guess I owe that cat a great deal!
*When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I considered myself a ‘storyteller’ at a young age because I could make people laugh, or be intrigued, but I didn’t consider myself to be a writer until my very first book of historical romance - The Heart of a Legend - was published. That really felt like writing, where more than just family members or school friends got a chance to read something I wrote and actually liked it.
*What inspired you to write your first book?
My daughter. She was only three-years-old and sleeping in her red, corvette bed that she’d gotten for Christmas, beside our huge cat, MacGyver. All I could think of was how I was extremely blessed. I wanted to write a book where Shelby was a teen and the heroine of all she surveyed. And that’s how Mind Made was born.
*Do you have a specific writing style?
With my historical fiction, I do a great deal of research. My Tallent & Lowery series has just begun with the first book, 13. (A bestselling author called it “The DaVinci Code with Heart.”) When it comes to those, it’s all about picking locations and putting together a puzzle that links them all together - which is a lot of work but seriously fun. When it comes to the angels and YA subject matter, I make sure that I know the characters in and out and then type by the ‘seat of my pants,’ if you will. I like to simply sit down and go on a journey with them and see where they lead me!
*What was your life like before becoming an author?
9-to-5. (LOL) I worked a lot of different jobs from being an editor at a publishing company back East for over fifteen years. When I began to travel the country, because I really wanted to experience the world so I would have a better background in order to tell stories, I worked in the legal field, the financial field, the printing industry - a little bit of everything. Now I’m devoted to writing and I couldn’t be happier about it
*What sparked the idea for your series?
My father and the world. I’ll explain… I lost my Dad far too early. He was completely healthy so it came as a shock, and I really began thinking about what he was doing ‘up there’ or on the ‘other side’ - or whatever you would like to call it. I imagined various rooms, various teachers, and what life would be like up there for him.
I love to read YA, and I have to say I’m more of a fan of the ‘winged ones’ than the ‘fanged ones,’ but a great deal of the books were about the ‘fallen,’ or tormented angels. I started wondering if a ‘fresh’ angel - right off the line, so to speak - who had actually been trained to come down here would even want to? I mean, with all the negatives they’d face - from war to poverty to crime, etc., would they get bitter about all this, or would they learn to be a part of the human world and actually want to stay? The book went from there.
*What was your favorite part of the book?
I love the humor between Matt and Emily - the angel and warrior team. I love the fact that when they’re who they are they are best friends, they get along, they argue, etc., but when they are ‘humans’ they truly feel all the human emotions. When they fall in love, when the world comes between them, when they try to save or forgive - their relationship is beyond cool.
*How personal is your writing?
Very. I love my characters. When I write the angels, I feel like I AM Matt or Emily, depending on the scene. And when I write the Tallent & Lowery series I feel like I AM Leah Tallent. She’s sarcastic and fun, and you never know quite where she’s going to go, or what she’ll do next.
*What advice do you have for someone who would
like to become a published writer?
Keep going! I have a company called The Write Companion which I opened a while back for debut authors. I am always so proud that they have gotten published, but there are many times where I have to talk to them about the fact that rejection letters are a part of all this. Even Stephen King got rejected, and if he’d simply quit, the literary world would have suffered for it. It is very difficult to get an agent or a publisher to read your material, but if you believe and have that passion to write, do NOT give up or get so depressed that you quit. You never know. The very next query letter could be the one that gets you in the door!
*What is your favorite authors/books?
Currently in the YA field I have to go with Lauren Kate, Syrie James (Forbidden is her new YA that she wrote with her son). For historical - Pam Jenoff is the best of the best. And I love the classics. There is just nothing wrong (to me) with Jane Austen. No one did love better. If they had, there would be thousands of Mr. Darcy’s instead of only one. Dean Koontz is also one of my favorites. The man can scare me and make me laugh at the same time which is a real feat. And for humor, there is a lady by the name of Amy Ferris whose book was absolutely hysterical and is now a play!
*If you could have dinner with one person, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
This question is so hard because I want to meet so many people from the past. If I could time travel, I swear I would be out and about every day asking them all questions. But if I go in the writing direction, I would have to say Dean Koontz. Simply because I think it would be a whole lot of fun. Poe, if I could pick a deceased author, because I want to know what on earth his mind was like being able to think up everything from, “The Masque of the Red Death” to “The Raven.”
*Tell us your latest news?
I have completed the next angel book which will be set in a very cool time period when excess and fun was had by all in the U.S.; and, I am working on getting the Tallent & Lowery series from eBook into print, so that everyone can enjoy the puzzles and get into a romance they haven’t experienced before.
I am also working on a YA novel called, “Meet the Reaper.” It started out as just a small contest on Goodreads, but I’ve been doing a chapter a month and people have been really supportive of it and demanding more chapters! So…I am dong my best to make that happen. We even have a group called “The Reaper Cheerleaders” out there who I hope I can hire to come to all the book signings someday!
The Angel Chronicles web site:
http://www.the-angel-
The Angel Chronicles Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/
Until Next Time GoodReads page:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/
Amy Lignor's Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/
Amy Lignor's Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#!/
Amy Lignor's Website:
http://www.thewritecompanion.
Amy Lignor's Blog:
http://hellowriters.wordpress.
Amy Lignor's GoodReads:
http://www.goodreads.com/
Tribute Books website:
http://www.tribute-books.com
Tribute Books Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/
Tribute Books Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/
Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/
http://www.the-angel-
The Angel Chronicles Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/
Until Next Time GoodReads page:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/
Amy Lignor's Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/
Amy Lignor's Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#!/
Amy Lignor's Website:
http://www.thewritecompanion.
Amy Lignor's Blog:
http://hellowriters.wordpress.
Amy Lignor's GoodReads:
http://www.goodreads.com/
Tribute Books website:
http://www.tribute-books.com
Tribute Books Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/
Tribute Books Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/
Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/
Melissa, thanks so much for hosting Amy today for such a great, in-depth interview.
ReplyDeleteYou have to give it up for the "winged ones." :)
No problem! I'm more than happy to help out! :) And since I have wings, I must agree on the give it up for the winged ones statement :))
ReplyDeleteHey Melissa - I just wanted to thank you as well. The book is being quoted by romance readers, the cover is scoring big, and the review have been phenomenal - thank you SO much for having me on your site!!
ReplyDelete