JeanzBookReadNReview: AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Sunday, 1 January 2012

AUTHOR INTERVIEW - JILL WILLIAMSON

1. What is your name, where were you born and where do you live now?

My name is Jill Williamson. I grew up in Alaska, but currently live in Eastern Oregon.

2. Did you always want to be a writer? If not what did you want to be?

Nope. I wanted to be a fashion designer! I went to college in Manhattan to finish my fashion degree, then my husband and I moved to Los Angeles so I could work in fashion and he could work in movies. After about three and a half years in our “dream jobs” and we’d both had it. It was The Devil Wears Prada for me, and Brad’s experience wasn’t much better. We had a talk one night and decided that it was okay to pursue other things. Brad went back to school to become a youth pastor, and I started my own wedding gown manufacturing business. The gowns were beautiful—I still have two in my closet—but I discovered that fashion was not my calling.

3. Did it take a long time to get your first book published?

It took five years.

4. What is the name of your latest book, and if you had to summarize it in less than 20 words what would you say?

My latest book is called Replication. It’s about a girl who discovers her biologist father is covering up multiple secrets—all of which are named Jason.

5. Who is your publisher? or do you self publish?

Marcher Lord Press published my Blood of Kings trilogy, and Zondervan is publishing Replication.

6. What can we expect from you in the future? ie More books of the same genre? Books of a different genre?

More books for teens, and all of them weird! I like just about any kind of speculative fiction: fantasy, science fiction, dystopian, time travel, alternate history. You name it! If it’s weird, it’s my thing.

7. Do you have plans for a new book? Is this book part of a series?

I have ideas for two more books to go along with Replication, but whether or not I get to write them depends on how well the Replication does.

Right now I’m working on a two-book series that’s scheduled to release in 2013. The first, tentatively called Thirst, is an apocalyptic story, and the sequel is called Captives, and it’s the dystopian future result of that first book.

8. Do you have anybody read your books and give you reviews before you officially release them?

Sure. The publisher always asks for a list of reviewers/influencers (Influencers are people who want to help tell everyone about your book). I have my own list of helpful individuals that I’ve developed over the years.

9. How do you come up with the Title and Cover Designs for your book/books? Who designed the Cover of your books?

I do my best to choose a title that I feel is a great for the book, but most the time the publisher will change it.

And the cover is the publisher’s decision as well. They give me an information sheet to fill out with places for me to describe my main characters and locations in the story. It also has a place where I can give ideas. The more information I give the designers, the better job they can do on my cover. Most designers aren’t able to read the books they design for, so they really need that information sheet to put together a good cover.

10. What do you think about book trailers?

I love book trailers. They’re lots of fun.

I have two book trailers for Replication. I made one from each main character’s point of view. Here are the links:

Abby’s trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SODPu2WfxcI

Martyr’s trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCYeTXZGvg0

Way back when, I made a book trailer for my very first novel, By Darkness Hid, then a bunch of teens got together to film a live-action trailer for my second novel, To Darkness Fled. They had such a great time they decided to make a trailer for the third book in that trilogy, From Darkness Won. That trailer is in post-production right now, but should be done any day. I can’t wait to see it! I even got to play a small role in that one. *grin*

Where can readers follow you?