Friday 22 June 2012

AUTHOR INTERVIEW - SHANNON DUFFY






What is your name, where were you born and where do you live now?
My name is Shannon Duffy and I was born on the east coast of Canada in a province called Newfoundland. I currently live in Ontario, Canada.

Did you always want to be a writer? If not what did you want to be?
Although I always enjoyed dabbling in a bit of writing, I didn’t always want to become a writer. When I was really little, I said I wanted to be a dolphin trainer. J I eventually became a nurse before starting to really write. (A freaky little side note is that I once went to a psychic for fun shortly after I finished nursing school and she told me that I’d be a writer one day. Pretty cool.)
Do you work another job as well as your writing work?
No, I don’t work another job. Thankfully, I have a rock star husband and I get to work at home in my office on my writing and dream up characters. Loads of fun!

What is the name of your latest book, and if you had to summarise it in less than 20 words what would you say?
The title of my latest book is SPECTRAL. To summarize it in less than 20 words, I’d say: Trapped in a sea of lies as a dark prophecy nears, can Jewel make it to her 17th birthday alive?



Who is your publisher? or do you self publish?
My publisher is the amazing Tribute books. http://www.tribute-books.com/
Which of your books were easier/harder to write than the others?
I don’t think either of the books I wrote was particularly easy, but the first one definitely took longer, because well, it was my first one I guess and I had to work harder at getting it just right. That one is a Middle Grade Fantasy coming out next January that I wrote for my son.

What can we expect from you in the future?  ie More books of the same genre? Books of a different genre?
Right now I’m working on another Young Adult book, but this one is a dystopian. I’m having tons of fun writing it, too. J

How long have you been writing?, and who or what inspired you to write?
I remember doing well in high school in writing assignments. The funny part, at least at the time, was that I actually enjoyed doing my homework on those suckers. My parents would always be so proud of what I wrote and I remember my dad reading some things I’d written to my uncle. I just remember feeling really happy inside that they were so proud of me. A big inspiration was my high school English teacher, Mr. Rowsell. I just remember wanting to impress him. Often, he’d read my stuff out to the class without saying who wrote it. I can’t tell you how surreal that felt.

Where do you get your book plot ideas from?What/Who is your inspiration?
A lot of times I get my book ideas when I can’t sleep. It’s so quiet and dark in those late night—or early morning—hours, and somewhere in that plane of half asleep, half awake, the creativity just flows.

Do you have a certain routine you have for writing? ie You listen to music, sit in a certain chair?
I choose the titles after I’ve written a couple chapters usually. They kind of just come to me, but I usually toss a few ideas around first.

How do you come up with characters names and place names in your books?
Coming up with character names is tons of fun. I’ve always had a thing for names. For the main characters, I usually just choose names that I like. For others, I try to choose names that really fit how I see the characters in my mind. Sometimes, I’ll look through lists of names to try to find just the right one.

Have you ever suffered from a "writer's block"? What did you do to get past the "block"?
As far as writer’s block, I would say yes, that happens to me sometimes. Some writer’s don’t believe it even exists, but I do. I think though, it’s just more of putting too much pressure on yourself to write x amount of words, or for it to be perfect from word one the first try, and to complete the whole novel in x amount of time etc etc. If I put too much pressure on myself it just makes me shut down. So I like to map out what I want to write for the next chapter I’m working on, and just go with it. Repeat, no pressure. And remind myself why I started writing in the first place: Because I love it.

What do you do to unwind and relax?Do you have a hobby?
I unwind/relax by firstly hanging with my family. I love to read of course, and I love animals. We have 2 dogs, 3 horses, and a canary. I also love to escape into a great movie, shop (retail therapy is always amazing), and travel. Anywhere sunny is good, and this summer we’re going to Italy. There’s a scene I wrote in Spectral that takes place in the Piazza San Marco. After all the research I did for that, I’m dying to go there and see it in real life…just like Jewel did. J

What are you currently reading? Are you enjoying it? What format is it?(ebook, hardback or paperback)
I currently have several books that I’m reading. There are just so many that I want to cram them all in at once, LOL. I’m reading Fever by Lauren Destefano, Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver, and Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick. All fab! I’m also looking forward to anything written by Addison Moore as I adore her Celestra series!

Do you have a favourite book?
It’s hard to have just one favourite book cause there’s just so many delicious books out there. Twilight, Delirium, Hunger games, Harry Potter, Shiver, and Ethereal to name a few.

Do you have a treasured book from your childhood? If yes, what is it?
A treasured book from my childhood, huh? My mother would buy me books by the boat load so that’s tough, but what comes to my mind right now is Charlotte’s Web, the Anne of Green Gables series, and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. I also read tons of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mysteries.

Do you have a favourite genre of book?
So yes I do have a favorite genre of book to read. I love to read anything Paranormal Romance or Dystopian. Take me away to the imaginative.


What do you think about book trailers?
As far as book trailers I think they’re a great marketing tool. And hey, even if they don’t sell any extra books, I think it’s a great thing to offer your readers who are interested in your book anyway. I know I love them. It’s just like watching a movie trailer. It’s a sneak peek, right?

What piece of advice would you give to a new writer?
A piece of advice I’d give to any new writer, is to never give up. If it’s your dream to be a writer, you can make it happen. Believe in yourself, take a writer’s course, find a partner that you can share work with, and go for it! Have patience, you can do it!

If you could invite three favourite writers to dinner, who would you invite and enjoy chatting with?
If I could invite three favorite writers to dinner, I would invite J.K Rowling, Stephanie Meyers, and probably Stephen King. Just imagine that dinner table conversation. Yay to that! And I know he writes films, not novels, but can we please add Steven Spielberg?? Okay, I’m a writer, I just wrote him in. So there. *clinks champagne glass with Steven Spielberg.*



Spectral web site:
http://spectralwitch.blogspot.com/
  
Spectral GoodReads page:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13319632-spectral

Shannon Duffy's Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001969007586
Shannon Duffy's Twitter:
http://twitter.com/#!/ShannonDuffyLit
Shannon Duffy's Website:
http://www.shannonduffylit.com/
Shannon Duffy's Blog:
http://1fantasyfairy.blogspot.com/
Shannon Duffy's GoodReads:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3873156.Shannon_Duffy

Thanks so much for inviting me on your blog today! 
Thankyou for the great Interview!



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