Sunday 4 December 2011

AUTHOR INTERVIEW - STACY EATON



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 Twitter details? @StacySEaton

And any other information you wish to supply?

Books can be purchased from Amazon off my author page here:
Signed books can be purchased off my website and Barnes and Noble also carries my books!
You can check out my video trailers for my books here:
My Blood Runs Blue:

Thank you so much for inviting me to visit!  Your questions were so much fun to answer and I so look forward to being here!!!  Now – I’m off to visit with your daughter!!!! 


Thank you Stacy for taking the time to take part in this interview!

3 comments:

  1. Jean - thank you so much for allowing me to visit today! I had a wonderful time answering your questions!

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  2. Love this interview, great to learn more about this popular author!

    ReplyDelete