Brittany Lawrence is the author for this Thursday's Author Tales. Brittany is the author of Misty Nights. And what's even more exciting is that, she, herself is a teen! Don't forget to leave a comment for the Monthly Contest, for your chance to win Misty Nights or any other title from the authors featured in October!
When did you decide that you wanted to write a novel?
I decided that I wanted to write a novel when I was twelve, pool side at Luxor in Las Vegas after finishing Amelia Atwater-Rhodes’s Demon In My View.
What was your road to publication like as a teen author?
My publication road was, interesting, but I imagine it was very much like regular writers out there. You write, and rewrite and then rewrite some more and when you feel it's expectable by your standard you send it off to people for extreme scrutiny. The wonderful Stephine Meyer is most defiantly a rare occasion. For the most part though as a teenager wanting to get published, I got several letters that pretty much told me "sorry kid, but when your older I might look at this seriously", but in of' course a most polite manner. Those letters have since been thrown into the proper receptacle.
But in all reality it was hard and honestly anything worth it is hard.
Would you say that being a teen yourself is an advantage or possibly a disadvantage in writing for teens?
As a writer it's most defiantly an advantage. I know how a teenager thinks, and I can surround myself in that atmosphere seamlessly making the topic in which I write relatively simple. As an author wanting my work out to sell, it's both good and bad. Bad, because as a teenager there are a lot of teens my age who just want to see me fail, and that’s their prerogative. On the other hand, getting just a few voices that enjoy my work as much as I do, their words spread like wild fire. Unfortunately it works both ways.
Why vampires?
Why vampires? I saw the movie Queen of the Damned based of Anne Rice's novels, and simply fell in love with the mystic of it all. They're beautiful, graceful and elegant but so deadly and against the rules it's terrifying. Annette Curtise Clause's Silver Kiss was the first book I'd ever read for pleasure, in three days at that. Amelia Atwater-Rhodes simply backed up my unbreakable loyalty toward the vampire genre.
Who are some of your favorite authors?
Laurell K. Hamilton is the only author where I check her blog almost everyday because I like her voice. It's so strong in whom she writes its how she thinks and it keeps me enthralled. To say the least she's my comfort food of books. Amelia Atwater-Rhodes is my all time favorite young adult fantasy author. Tanya Huff is my favorite horror author. Nora Roberts is my multi genre author, I'll read just about every kind of work she puts out, mystery, romance, fantasy, she really knows how to write.
Any advice for aspiring writers out there?
Write, write, write and read. Write at least a sentence a day, and most people laugh at that statement but you try to get just one every single day on top of work, school, cleaning, family and personal time, it's a lot harder than you would imagine. Read everything. Knowledge is power, and it's been something ingrained in me since the cradle. The more you know about what is out there and making money and what is not is a great tool. When you've hit a road block, take a break, go back to it, and don’t let it sit cold in the cobwebs of your computer or notebook more than two days. Play it over in your head and try to fall asleep, our subconscious works miracles. And when you feel like you just want to give up on a story, throw a problem in there, or reevaluate your character and ask yourself why this is boring. Because if the writer is bored you know the readers' are going to be bored long before you are.
Do you have any television shows you watch obsessively or an all time favorite movie?
I watch One Tree Hill and Army Wives with my mom and two sisters religiously every week, that’s our girl time. But I like to get the episodes of Blood Ties off i-tunes and watch those along with True Blood that’s a new one that I'm really please to see take off. Both of those series did a great job sticking to the facts of the book and blossoming into an even better performance.
What are you currently reading?
I'm currently reading several pieces on writing from my text books, and I just finished Desire by Amanda Quick a random book I picked up off the shelf. I will be starting Blue Bloods and Laurell's new book Swallowing Darkness sometime after the fourth of November.
Are you working on any other novels?
I am indeed. Though slow the process may be. I am writing The Forgotten, the next book in the Night saga.
Can you tell us a little bit about it?
It takes place at the end of Misty Nights, and I would love to go into detail on that but it is a major spoiler if you haven't read Misty Nights. So, it starts where we left off, and Mistra is being shown all of the things that were wiped clean from her memory because of Jean Claude's protective spell.
What are you plans after high school? Do you plan on pursing a career in writing?
I am actually graduated. I graduated a year early from Questar Academy, and am pursuing a carrier in writing. I am constantly sending out queries to be reviewed, and am taking college writing classes from Long Ridge Writers Group. Which, I would most defiantly suggest to anyone serious about any kind of writing, novel or not.
Where can readers and interested writers go to learn more about you and your books?
Anyone can go to brittanyalawrence. com. There you can find my bio, book descriptions, and information on how to get Misty Nights. That’s also where you’ll find my tips on writing along with several links to my favorite author’s sites to read their tips as well. I also am trying to keep up on a blog, and up date sneak peaks into the site on The Forgotten. Hopefully there will be contests and online chats coming up with in the month of November, but don’t quote me on that.