What is your name, where were
you born and where do you live now?
My Name is Stacy
Eaton, but that is only a product of my full name. I have a very long extensive name and I use
these two parts because they have meaning to me, and they hide me just a bit. I
was born in Orange County New York and moved 23 times in 9 different states before
I finally settled into a nice area in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
Did you always want to be a
writer? If not what did you want to be?
I never wanted to be a
writer, until a plot line came to me and then I just couldn’t stop it from
coming. After that the bug was implanted and it just keeps coming!
When did you first consider
yourself as a "writer"?
The day that my first
book, My Blood Runs Blue was officially published I formally called myself not
only a “writer” but an “author” as well. There was a lot of dancing and jumping
on bed going on in my house that day!
Do you work another job as well
as your writing work?
I do – actually
two. I own my own internet business and
I am also a Law Enforcement Officer. In
my job as a police officer, I do a lot of investigations and I am one of a few
that is a Certified Crime Scene Investigator. I love the Forensics part of my
job, and I love the investigation and putting the pieces all together.
What is the name of your latest
book, and if you had to summarise it in less than 20 words what would you
say?
Blue Blood for Life: A suspenseful, intriguing novel about love,
choices and consequences that will keep you on your toes to the very end.
Who is your publisher? or do
you self publish?
I self-published with the help of
Outskirts Press, Inc. and I loved working with them. I will continue to work
with them through this series.
How long does it usually take
you to write a book, from the original idea to finishing writing it?
My Blood Runs Blue I
wrote in 9 weeks. It just took off. Blue Blood for Life took me 11 weeks. Some of my other books are taking longer because
I am spending so much time marketing with my first two books.
Which of your books were
easier/harder to write than the others?
Book 3 is actually the
hardest to write, and I am working on it right now. I know where I am going
with the book, but I am having an issue with someone at the start and I have
walked away from it for a few days to think it over.
What can we expect from you in
the future? ie More books of the same genre? Books of a different
genre?
I do write in
different genre’s also. I currently have 3 other novels that I am working on
that are not part of the series and not Paranormal/Urban Fantasy.
Do you have plans for a new
book? Is this book part of a series?
I believe this series
will end at 4 books. I’m not positive,
but that looks to be where we are heading with it
Do you have a favourite out of
the books you have written? If so why is it your favourite?
Blue Blood for Life is
my favorite right now, but I am working on another one that I love, so it might
change. Blue Blood for Life deals with
choices and decisions that affect a lot of people. I believe that we must all
make our choices and live by what happens from those choices. I really liked
how that all played out in this book.
Plus I love the fact that not one person who has read it has seen the
end coming.
Do you have anybody read your
books and give you reviews before you officially release them?
I have a few author
friends who will do what we call “Beta Reads” to make sure the plot is smooth
and makes sense. Sometimes I ask them to
do a review. I will pick about 5 people to read it while it is in the
publishing stage and ask them to review it.
Some are good friends while some are people I barely know. I want honest
reviews, not fluff from my friends so I go to people I know will be honest.
Do you gift books to readers to
do reviews?
Sometimes I do and
generally I will send a PDF copy to them to read and review.
Do you read all the reviews of
your book/books?
I try to! I am huge when it comes to seeing what other
say about my book, even if they didn’t like it.
Now I don’t want someone to be mean, there is no reason to be mean to
anyone, but if someone has a reason why they didn’t like something, I really
want to know. Of course I love to hear
what people loved about it and when I find someone who did do a review, I try
to contact them and speak to them. Some of the people who have read my books
have been involved in some of my thought process for book 3 of the series. So
if I know a review is out there, I will read it and take it to heart.
How do you come up with the
Title and Cover Designs for your book/books?Who designed the Cover of your
books?
They just come to
me. The pictures on the covers represent
a moment or two in the book, just like the titles represent words from the
book. They concepts just come to me and then I pass it along to my cover artist
at Outskirts Press, Inc.
How do you market/promote your
books?
Oh – I’m just about
everywhere! Twitter, Goodreads, Facebook, Google +, LinkdIn! I am a blogger and I do blog hops too and try
to get involved in other websites that are similar to my genre. Word of mouth is huge these days… I have not done book signings yet, but plan
on doing them next year once I have two more books out.
Have you ever suffered from a
"writer's block"? What did you do to get past the
"block"?
Yep – I drive… lol…
When I get a block, I walk away and then I usually go to work and spend my
shift driving around and working out the problems in my head. If you saw me at 3 in the morning talking to
myself, you’d think I was crazy but I am actually talking out conversations in
my head between my characters. Usually
within a couple days I have it figured out and I am back to writing.
What do you do to unwind and
relax?
I read – I snuggle
with my daughter. I go throw a ball with
my two dogs. Sometimes I sit and have
coffee with my two best friends and sometimes I just snuggle with my hubby.
Have you ever based characters
on people you know or based events on things that have happened to you?
Oh yeah! Officer Kristin Greene is myself – there is
no way around it – it’s true. Many of
the characters are based off people I know, Kristin’s partner at work, Mick,
he’s my real partner, just named differently.
Some characters are a mixture of people, but many are straight from
people I know.
Are there any hidden messages
or morals contained in your books? (Morals as in like Aesops Fables type
of "The moral of this story is..")
In Blue Blood for Life
there is… All choices have a consequence, so can you live with your choices
Which format of book do you
prefer, ebook,hardback, or paperback?
I’m torn on this. I
read from my Kindle all the time – I am never far from it, so I love having
e-books. If I love a book, then I want
it in Hardcover. With the change in the way people are publishing, many times
books aren’t available in hardcover anymore so I have to resign myself with a
paperback instead.
What is your favourite book and
Why? Have you read it more than once?
I think my all-time
favorite series was written by Janelle Taylor called the Ecstasy series with
Grey Wolf. I loved that series and
probably read it 10 times. I don’t own the series right now, but would like to
obtain it again someday.
What are you currently reading?
Are you enjoying it? What format is it?(ebook, hardback or paperback)
Currently I am reading
“Come Back to Me” by Melissa Foster on my Kindle. I am only 17% in and I absolutely love it,
but I love all her books. I will
probably have it done by tomorrow. I read very quickly.
Do you think ebooks will ever
totally replace printed books?
I don’t think they
will “Totally” replace them, but they will be much harder to find.
Do you think children at
schools these days are encouraged enough to read? and/or do Imaginative
writing?
In my daughter’s
school, she is in third grade; they do a lot of reading, and writing. Each year they create several books in
school. She is also writing a story that
we are making into a book for Christmas gifts for family. I encourage it. Some days when I have a lot of work to do and
she wants to be with me, we bring her reading chair in my office and she will
sit and read behind me as I work.
Is there a book you know you
will never read? Or one you tried to read but just couldn't finish?
Yes – but I would
never say what they were. I believe
everyone has a specific taste and if I don’t like something, it doesn’t mean
something else doesn’t love it.
Is there anything in your
book/books you would change now if you could and what would it be?
While I love the cover
of My Blood Runs Blue – I would change it slightly. I would use the slightly different character
pics.
What do you think about book
trailers?
LOVE THEM! I love video trailers!! I love making them
too! I spend hours searching photographs
to use to fit the characters and scenes of my books. Then I spend hours searching music that fits
the feeling of the video. The whole
process takes a few days to do, but I love it and I love to watch them. It gives you a piece of where the book is
going a small visual and I am a very visual person.
Do you or would you ever use a
pen name?
Stacy Eaton is my pen
name – and for now, I will continue to use it.
Where
can readers follow you?
Your blog details? http://stacyeatonauthor.blogspot.com/
Your blog details? http://stacyeatonauthor.blogspot.com/
Your
web site ? http://stacyseatoncom.fatcow.com/
Your
facebook page? http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stacy-Eaton/191880767522183
Your
Goodreads author page? http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4826711.Stacy_Eaton
Your
Twitter details? @StacySEaton
And
any other information you wish to supply?
Books
can be purchased from Amazon off my author page here:
You
can check out my video trailers for my books here:
My
Blood Runs Blue:
Blue
Blood for Life: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNJa9S5W2iU&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
Thank you Stacy for taking the time to take part in this interview!
Jean - thank you so much for allowing me to visit today! I had a wonderful time answering your questions!
ReplyDeleteGreat interview!
ReplyDeleteLove this interview, great to learn more about this popular author!
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