Thursday, December 21, 2017

Interview & Giveaway with Justine Avery, author of THE ONE APART



Now available on Amazon is the paranormal novel The One Apart by Justine Avery!




The author has taken a few minutes out of her busy schedule to talk about her new book.



When did you become interested in storytelling?

When I was seven years old, I hadn’t even “found” the first genre that would help me fall in love with reading and turn me into an avid reader for life (the genre was stories of girls my age with horses and ghosts—don’t laugh!), but my 2nd grade English teacher asked all of her students to write a new story every single week. Mine were all true, from whatever adventure I had that week or interesting thing I witnessed, but the teacher praised my stories the most and begged me to read them to the class each week. I guess that made me realize I had a knack for telling a story, or at least spotting what makes real life most interesting.

What was your first book/story published?

My very first stories published were travel articles for print magazines—a long time ago. My first fiction story published was Last Shot, published as a single on Amazon: a very dark, psychological tale about a man trying—and failing—to successfully commit suicide, over and over, and how he changes in the process. It’s intense, but ultimately a comedy.

What inspired you to write The One Apart?

It was time to finally sit down and write a novel-length story, whether or not I felt ready for the challenge. I picked up the first few pages I’d already written for a story I knew was going to be “a long one,” based on one sentence I woke up with one morning: “he remembered everything.” I knew the main character remembered things he shouldn’t, things that surprise him, things that might make other people upset, and I started writing to discover what all those mysteries were. I hoped to at least get to 50k words, but the story ended up requiring 117k words to tell it!

What character in The One Apart is the most/least like you, and in what ways?

Tres, the main character, is probably most like me; I think he’s like all of us. He has very specific struggles and gifts, but when it comes down to it, he’s just someone trying to find his place in the world, to fit in with everyone around him, to discover what makes him different but not wanting to be too different. He wants to belong, and he wants to know what he’s supposed to do with the life he’s been given. He’s not afraid to change his mind or his direction, try different things, and explore different things in finding his answers.

What is your favorite part in The One Apart?

I love The Big Reveal, when the story kind of explodes and suddenly expands around you as you’re reading it, and you realize there’s much more to the story, to this character’s life, to the whole universe around us, than you first imagine.

What was the hardest part to write?

*MINI SPOILER ALERT!* The most difficult bit to write was when Tres, the main character, suddenly disappeared on me as I was writing the moment he was in. He had to go away, his life was too difficult and confusing for him, and I felt very sad for him and his family left behind who had no answers for what they were about to realize about him. It was hard to write their lives without him, especially as they needed him the most.

What would your ideal career be, if you couldn't be an author?

Something that allowed me to read a lot, read whatever I found interesting, and somehow earn money from that.

Do you read reviews of your books? If so, do you pay any attention to them, or let them influence your writing?

I do still read reviews of my books; I’ll eventually train myself not to! But, as a self-published author, I’m the one that has to glean the editorial reviews as they come in for catchy blurbs and things to use in promotion. And being aware of all your reviews, as an author, from the high-profile editorial ones to the regular reader reviews, helps you to realize/remember that we’re all different readers, that everyone on the planet is going to have a different reading experience from your work, interpret it differently, and that is what makes reading so magical. Each story written is a different story for everyone who reads it, and it’s different for them each time they read it.

What well-known writers do you admire most?

Neil Gaiman for his fantastic, approachable personality for his fans. He’s interactive, personable, open, exchanges directly with his fans, introduces them to new art and cool things, and treats them to secretly signed copies of his books on bookstore shelves.

Do you have any other books/stories in the works?

I have a few short stories unpublished that are begging to be part of a collection, so they can finally be read.


Giveaway
Justine Avery will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway



About the Author


Justine Avery is an award-winning author of stories large and small for all. Born in the American Midwest and raised all over the world, she is inherently an explorer, duly fascinated by everything around her and excitedly noting the stories that abound all around. As an avid reader of all genres, she weaves her own stories among them all. She has a predilection for writing speculative fiction and story twists and surprises she can’t even predict herself.

Avery has either lived in or explored all 50 states of the union, over 36 countries, and all but one continent; she lost count after moving 30-some times before the age of 20. She’s intentionally jumped out of airplanes and off the highest bungee jump in New Zealand, scuba dived unintentionally with sharks, designed websites, intranets, and technical manuals, bartered with indigenous Panamanians, welded automobile frames, observed at the Bujinkan Hombu Dojo in Noba, Japan, and masterminded prosperous internet businesses—to name a few adventures. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree that life has never required, and at age 28, she sold everything she owned and quit corporate life—and her final “job”—to freelance and travel the world as she always dreamed of. And she’s never looked back.

Aside from her native English, Avery speaks a bit of Japanese and a bit more Spanish, her accent is an ever-evolving mixture of Midwestern American with notes of the Deep South and indiscriminate British vocabulary and rhythm, and she says “eh”—like the Kiwis, not the Canadians. She currently lives near Los Angeles with her husband, British film director Devon Avery, and their three adopted children: Becks, Sam, and Lia. She writes from wherever her curiosity takes her.

Avery loves to connect with fellow readers and creatives, explorers and imaginers, and cordially invites you to say “hello”—or konnichiwa.

Learn more about the author at: www.JustineAvery.com

Follow the author on Twitter: @Justine_Avery and Goodreads.


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