Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Interview with Olivia Hardin




1.            Can you tell readers a little bit about yourself and what inspired to write in this particular genre?

I’m a Texas native and pretty darn proud of it.  I was inspired to get back into writing when I discovered some fabulous Indie writers.  I hadn’t ever read paranormals and I fell in love with the genre.  It seemed only natural that I’d try my hand at writing about magic, vampires, faeries and other magical creatures. 

2.           Please tell us about your latest release.

Bitten Shame is the story of Jill Prescott.  She’s BFFs with the heroine in the first book of the trilogy, Witch Way Bends.  We get just a snippet of Jill in that first book and it leaves us with a lot of questions.  Book 2 is all her book.  There’s a shroud of darkness cast over Jill’s heart.  Her life as a vampire is difficult and above all else, she’s missing the man she loves.  The book alternates between Jill’s past when she meets her lover Doc and her present when she’s trying to cope with life alone as a vampire.   

3.           Do you have a special formula for creating characters' names? Do you try to match a name with a certain meaning to attributes of the character or do you search for names popular in certain time periods or regions?

It depends.  The villain’s name in Witch Way Bends was chosen because I saw it listed as a demon’s name online and I thought it had a sinister sound to it.  Some of my characters’ names just popped.  Fun and cute Jill couldn’t have any other name. My muse for Doc looked like an Allen so that became his given name.   And when I pictured the giant shaman Langston, that name just wrote itself into my mind.  In the anthology Cupid Painted Blind I wrote a short story about Langston and explained that his name in old English meant long knife.  Since Langston has Aztec origins, I revealed to readers that his actual name was Itztli which means obsidian knife in his native tongue.

4.           Was one of your characters more challenging to write than another?

Roon was difficult to write sometimes.  His character was originally patterned after a high school friend of mine.  That friend and I were very close, but also fought like cats and dogs sometimes.  It wasn’t always easy to put him on paper because it was almost “too close.”


5.           Is there a character that you enjoyed writing more than any of the others?

Langston is my greatest comfort.  He’s like calm, cooling wind when he enters a scene.  I always know exactly what he’s going to say and how he’s going to say it.  He is the center and the rock for his compatriots in the books and he’s just as steadfast for me.  When I’m stuck and have difficulty writing, Langston has only to come into the proverbial room and the words will flow.



6.           What is your favorite scene from the book? Could you share a little bit of it, without spoilers of course?

Geez, I have so many favorites.  Still, I think my absolute favorite is the dancing scene.  Music is important to me so painting the picture was so fluid to me.  I love “seeing” in my mind Jill dancing to a suggestive 90’s song while Doc watches in the doorway.  And when he changes the station and they end up in each other’s arms moving to Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling In love”… ahhhh, so sexy.

7.           What is the most interesting thing you have physically done for book related research purposes?

This past March I made a trip to New Orleans.  I met a fabulous group of fellow writers and we all toured the city and had a great time.  While there I gathered some information that I’ve used in book 3 of the trilogy.  Without giving away too much, I can tell you some of that research involved a tour through very old cemetery.


8.           With the book being part of a series, are there any character or story arcs, that readers jumping in somewhere other than the first book, need to be aware of? Can these books be read as stand alones?

I was worried about whether the books could be read as stand alones so I made sure I had some readers jump into the second book before reading the first.  I believe readers can catch on to just about anything in the books even if they haven’t read the previous.  That said, the books all blend and weave into each other, even back tracking to cover some events from other character’s points of view.  So there will be spoilers if you read book 2 before book 1 and especially if you read book 3 first.  I’d recommend taking them in order.


9.           Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? How do you deal with it?

Yes, I absolutely suffer from writer’s block.  I think the best thing I’ve found for my writer’s block is to take a very brief self-induced break.  It can’t just be a break that happens because of life or work or other circumstances.  Plan your break.  Read something.  Watch a movie.  Do some research.  And then immediately after that short break, force yourself back into.  Write without thinking and caring whether what you’re writing is good or not.  Get the words going and before you know it the block is broken and you’re back in the game.

10.         When did you consider yourself a writer?

I considered myself a writer about from the age of 14 or so.  I was scribbling stories into spiral notebooks and I think if you asked anyone who went to school with me, any of my family, any of my friends, they’d have told you immediately that I was going to write books.  I don’t think I actually believed it until last year when I finished Witch Way Bends and got it back from beta readers… and even then, I’m not sure it actually sunk in until I saw that book for sale on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.


11.          What was the last amazing book you read?

The last one was Bride of Fae by L.K. Rigel. I’m a huge fan of L.K.’s.  Actually, I’m secretly a stalker of hers, but you don’t have to tell her that.  I’ve enjoyed every one of her books and this second installment in the Tethers Series is perhaps one of her best pieces yet.  If you like magic and fairies, I highly recommend it.

12.         What can readers expect next from you?

Right now I’m working on a few projects.  One is Book 3 in the Bend-Bite-Shift Trilogy, Shifty Business.  This will follow Gerry and Nicky’s story and I assure readers it will offer lots of interesting spins and surprises.  I’m also working on a short story, “Dark Road Winding.”  This is a ghost story that will appear in the anthology Once Upon a Midnight Dreary.  I’m so excited to be collaborating with several very talented writers on this spooky collection that will be released in October.

13.         Where can readers find you on the web?

Readers can find me on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/oliviahardin

Twitter @oliviah_writer



My book site: www.booksbyolivia.com




Bitten Shame
Book 2 of the Bend-Bite-Shift Trilogy
By Olivia Hardin

Genre:  Paranormal/ Romance

ISBN-10: 0615645380
ISBN-13: 978-0615645384
ASIN: B0085W2BAW

Number of pages: 232
Word Count: 52,310



Book Description:

Jill Prescott returned from self-imposed seclusion to help save her best friend Devan’s life. Throwing herself into Devan’s problems and bringing an evil organization to its knees might just be the distraction she needs to keep living without the only man she’s ever loved. Her life changed forever when she was hired to spend a week with Doc Massey.

On the day she became a vampire her youthful innocence ended, but Doc’s love rescued her from being consumed by the darkness. The shadow of that former life continues to loom over her, keeping her from realizing her own self-worth. Running from her past only brings her closer to a destiny that is inextricably connected to what she is trying to escape…

Every gift has both a reward and a price, because All of it fits…



Author Bio:

Olivia Hardin realized early on how strange she was to have complete movie-like character dreams as a child. Eventually she began putting those vivid dreams to paper and was rarely without her spiral notebooks full of those mental ramblings. Her forgotten vision of becoming an author was realized when she connected with a group of amazingly talented and fabulous writers who gave her lots of direction and encouragement.

With a little extra push from family and friends, she hunkered down to get lost in the words. She's also an insatiable crafter who only completes about 1 out of 5 projects, a jogger who hates to run, and is sometimes accused of being artistic, though she's generally too much of a perfectionist to appreciate her own work. A native Texas girl, Olivia lives in the beautiful Lone Star state with her husband and their puppy Bonnie.


Blog:            www.oliviahardinwriter.com

Twitter:        https://twitter.com/OliviaH_Writer



Youtube Trailer:    http://youtu.be/9I0C2V6DFUQ

2 comments:

rental mobil said...

Nice article, thanks for sharing.

Olivia Hardin (Writer) said...

Thanks so much for this super-fun interview! Happy reading, All!

~Olivia

 
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