One day she plans to grow up. Right now, she’s enjoying the adventure.
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
What is your name, where were you born and where do you live
now?
My name is
Madhuri Blaylock, I was born in Vancouver, Canada, I grew up in Snellville,
Georgia, came to New York City to attend Barnard College, graduated and moved
to Brooklyn, New York, moved back to the city for a while and now, am currently
living in Jersey City (Heights in the house!), New Jersey.
Did you always want to be a writer? If not what did you want to
be?
I’ve wanted
to write for a very long time; however, I distinctly recall as a little kid
devouring Gerald Durrell books and wanting to be a zoologist. In fact, I wanted
to go to UC Berkeley and study zoology. I also wanted to be an actress. My
admissions essay for my NYU college application was my acceptance speech for
winning the Best Actress oscar.
When did you first consider yourself as a "writer"?
I don’t know. I’ve always
written but since I can’t support myself with my writing (at least not yet) I
feel rather strange calling myself a writer. But it’s coming, I can feel it.
Do you work another job as well as your writing work? I do. I am a corporate
litigation attorney for a large Manhattan law firm and have been practising for
about 15 years.
What is the name of your latest book, and if you had to
summarise it in less than 20 words what would you say? My latest book is the first book in The
Sanctum trilogy and it’s called The Girl. In less than twenty words, I would
say The Girl is a simple quest for revenge that evolves into a complex tale of
trust, friendship, honor and love.
Who is your publisher? or do you self publish?
I’m self-published.
How long does it usually take you to write a book, from the
original idea to finishing writing it?
For The Girl, I was jotting down ideas
for the book for about a year and a half and then finally told myself to start
writing, lest I wind up with binders full of notes, but no manuscript. I
started writing in May of last year and had a first draft complete by October.
I edited for about another month and published The Girl last November.
Do you have plans for a new book? Is this book part of a series?
Yes, I’m currently working on
Book II: The Boy, which is the second book in The Sanctum Trilogy. I’m hoping
to have it ready to publish in about a month or so.
What genre would you place your books into?
Paranormal. Some folks also
categorize it as Young Adult, but I’m on the fence about that one, especially
as Book II comes along. It just doesn’t seem all that “Young Adult-ish” to me.
What made you decide to write that genre of book?
I love reading fantasy and
paranormal fiction, have always had a very vivid imagination, and just really
wanted to give it a shot. I had an idea of the world I wanted to create, went
online and did some research about “world-building” in the fantasy genre and
then just started doing my thing. Once I began, it kind of took off from there.
Do you have a favourite out of the books you have written? If so
why is it your favourite?
The Girl is my favorite because I feel as if it’s a perfect culmination of my
maturation as a writer. It’s so different from my two earlier books, the
language, the feel, the rhythm. I’m really proud of it, on many different
leves.
Do you have a favourite character from your books? and why are
they your favourite?
Wyatt is my favorite; I simply love him, even his flaws, and always have tremendous
hope for him.
If you had to choose to be one of your characters in your
book/books which would you be? and why?
Easily Darby. For one, she’s a vampire and
I love vampires. She’s smart, deadly and funny. But even more so, I love her
power and confidence and the ease with which she uses her sexuality. You can
tell she really knows herself and is comfortable with the being she is and I
find that quality so attractive. She’s simply a walking turn-on.
Do you have anybody read your books and give you reviews before
you officially release them?ie. Your partner, children, friends, reviewers you
know?
I have a
group of girlfriends who count as my “beta readers”. My sister-in-law, Arsha,
is smart as a whip, a voracious reader and someone who’s opinion I trust
tremendously. My friends Alessandra and Betsey are both from the media world,
Alessandra being a writer/editor, formerly with Newsweek and The Daily Beast and
currently the Editorial Producer at Thomson Reuters and Betsey is the Art Production
Director for the magazine Everyday with Rachel Ray. And finally, my close
friends and colleagues, Emily and Corey, both brilliant legal minds and great
editors. Plus, Corey is my fantasy/paranormal reading buddy. We recommend books
and devour series together and she knows the genre really well, so she’s been
tremendously helpful in creating The Sanctum.
Do you read all the reviews of your book/books?
I do. I love hearing what
people have to say about The Girl, be it good or bad. Luckily, most of the
comments and reviews have been really positive but you can’t appeal to everyone
all of the time and I’ve gotten some bad reviews. They’re tough to read and you
instantly feel defensive because your writing is so personal, but it’s the
nature of the beast. You have to take a step back after you read the bad
reviews, inhale deeply and calm yourself, then understand that it’s simply one
person’s perspective and for every bad one, there are a few good ones as well.
How do you come up with the Title and Cover Designs for your
book/books?Who designed the Cover of your books?
The cover designs are the work of my
uber-talented friend and neighbor, Michele Mason Holmberg. I approached her
with some initial ideas for The Girl and she put them together and it looked
great. I remember when she sent me the first cover, I was riding in the car and
opened her email and was just floored by her creation. However, then she read
some of the book and came up with her own design and honestly, I’m just really
speechless. It’s the current cover and I love it. She’s already working on the
cover for Book II, and although I’ve given my two cents on her first draft, I
trust her judgment completely and know that whatever she winds up sending me is
going to be awesome.
Do you choose a title first, or write the book then choose the
title?
I have a
title, but it never sticks. My first series was initially called The Coco Butta
Kids and has now morphed into Ayesha’s Teenage Survival Files. The Sanctum
Trilogy was originally called The Code of Ten, but once I really fleshed out
the storyline and the three books, I realized that title didn’t work as well as
The Sanctum.
How do you market/promote your books?
I’ve spent the last several months
posting, tweeting, blogging, touring and pinning. It’s a neverending,
exhausting process and I hate it with a passion, but being an Indie author, I
cannot escape it. I would love to have someone do it for me, but as of today, I’m
just not there yet.
What do you think makes a book a really good/bestseller ?
A really good book is one that
keeps you reading late into the night, despite the fact that you know you have
to get up in the morning and go to work and if you don’t close it now, you’ll
be dragging all day and yet, you keep reading. What makes a bestseller? I have
no idea, but if you do, please tell me the secret.
Have you ever suffered from a "writer's block"? What
did you do to get past the "block"?
I have and it sucked, but I think it’s
all part of the process. When it’s happened, I’ve kept writing, even if it’s
just a few sentences in a day. At least it’s something and eventually I manage
to write myself out of it. I just suffered a bout of it last week and wound up
deleting about a chapter worth of work, but I got myself out of it and have
since been on quite a tear.
Is there a certain Author that influenced you in writing?
For my current work, I would
say Laini Taylor has influenced me the most, especially her book “Daughter of
Smoke and Bone”. She created such a beautiful novel, that was so interesting
and full of characters I love, and I wanted to see if I could do the same.
What is your favourite book and Why? Have you read it more
than once?
It’s
too hard to pick an absolute favorite, but “One Hundred Years of Solitude” is
in my top five. I love Marquez’ world of magical-realism and find myself
getting lost, over and over, in the beautiful, often-harsh and always magical
saga of the Buendia family
Do you think ebooks will ever totally replace printed books?
Never!
Did you read a lot at school and write lots of stories or is
being a writer something newer in your life?
It’s funny that you ask because I was
just hanging out with a childhood friend who was in town for a weekend and she
was telling her friends who came into town with her how I used to write stories
about our group of friends and the fabulous lives we were going to lead in
Manhattan. I’ve always written; it’s a great escape for a moderate introvert
with a runaway imagination.
Did you have a favourite author as a child?
Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume
Do you have a treasured book from your childhood? If yes, what
is it?
Are You
There God, It’s Me, Margaret.
Do you have a favourite genre of book?
Fantasy and paranormal, but really I love
reading all types of fiction. There’s nothing quite like curling up with a good
book and getting lost for a while.
Are there any New Authors you are interested in for us to watch
out for? and Why should we watch out for them?
I would say keep an eye out for Kayti
Nika Raet and her work in The Outsider Chronicles. Taking place in a dystopia
that has suffered an apparent cataclysmic environmental disaster, leaving its
inhabitants fearing the acid rain that falls from the skies, dodging
heart-eating Slithers and generally fighting to survive, Raet deftly creates a
world full of despair and anger, with glimpses of hope interspersed throughout,
setting up the reader for what I can only imagine is going to be an interesting
ride.
What piece of advice would you give to a new writer?
Write, write and write some
more. Then sleep a little, wake up, and keep writing. Oh, and drink lots of
coffee.
If you could invite three favourite writers to dinner, who would
you invite and enjoy chatting with?
Zora Neale Hurston, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Mark Twain.
The conversation would be brilliant, the memories divine.
Where can readers follow you?
Your Blog Details?
www.madhuriblaylock.wordpress.com
Your Facebook Page?
https://www.facebook.com/thesanctumtrilogy
Your Goodreads Author Page? https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7323620.Madhuri_Blaylock
Your Twitter Details?
https://twitter.com/MadhuriBlaylock
And any other information you wish to supply? Hit me up,
any time, any place. I love to hear from folks. And thanks for the interview.
It was a blast. Rock on.
