M.A. Carson is the author of Beauty is for Suckers, a new fantasy novel featuring Iris Greene. Iris wants to be beautiful and the only way she can think to do that is to become a vampire. Vampires automatically become beautiful when they are turned. Except Iris. It doesn't work for her.
She goes on a mission to find the vampire and fix the problem. Along the way she comes across Nolan, a self proclaimed vampire hunter. Two unlikely allies who quickly become friends. A witty, well written novel and a must read. 1. What scared you most as a kid? It’s silly to look back on it now, but what scared me more than anything as a little kid were trolls. The fear manifested from the movie Ernest Scared Stupid. I never thought an Ernest movie could scare me, but in the film, he battled trolls and during one scene, a troll snuck into a little kid’s room at night and suddenly appeared behind her in bed. I was scared of the abominable snowman, but he could only get me on the Matterhorn. A troll could strike whenever I turned off the lights. I had to sleep under a shield of covers for many months. It’s amazing what things become fears. That was the last of my childhood fears, and now, one of my favorite movies is The Labyrinth, which features a main character who’s a troll. Go figure. 2. What is your favorite supernatural creature to write about and why? Vampires would seem like the obvious pick since I’m writing a series about them, but they truly are the most versatile and fascinating. They can be portrayed in every way imaginable, from bloodthirsty demons to sex goddesses to bloodthirsty sex goddesses. Some attack for blood, while others seduce. Vampires can be taken in so many different directions, and that’s what I love about them. Exploring the beauties, the beasts, and everything in between, is a lot of fun, and crafting a world that encapsulates them all is a rewarding challenge. 3. What future books do you have planned? There are two more books in the Iris Greene series. I’m working on the second, Beauty Buy the Bite, at this time, and in it, the world only becomes bigger and more complicated for Iris and Nolan. I’m also finishing a superhero novel that follows a sidekick through a city of deception and spandex, and I have a science fiction book that deals with Earth’s uncanny ability to attract every invading alien in the universe. So many genres, so little time. 4. What started you writing in the first place? I was introduced to creative writing in the fourth grade and latched onto it as a way of soaking up every drop of imagination. Each wacky character or setting could come to life on paper. Writing became my outlet for expressing myself. I could pop my head out of my introverted shell and share thoughts and emotions comfortably. I’m not as shy as I was then, but writing is still where my voice feels the strongest. It’s therapeutic. It’s my creative sponge. It’s why I will never stop. 5. Any advice to unpublished writers? My advice to unpublished writers would be to share your work with people who will be brutally honest with you. Praise is a wonderful thing, but there is little to learn from it. If you have a trusted group of writers and readers that will critique your work, than you have the most resourceful tool in author’s utility belt. I love my writing group, even when they’re painfully honest: I hated this character; this section was boring; I would have stopped reading at this point. Criticisms like these are hard to hear, but they were made to help. That character could be reworked or that section could we edited down. I’ve rewritten many chapters based on the reviews of my peers, and I can’t thank them enough for the smarter, tighter, more polished end results. When you spend all day, everyday inside your story’s world, it’s easy to miss things that an outsider could spot at a glance. Share your work, but most importantly, listen to feedback with an open mind. You might not agree on every point, but the ones you do will transform your writing in ways you never would have found on your own. Then, it’ll only be a matter of time before publishers are critiquing you … with praise www.macarson.com Comments are closed.
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About the Author:S. K. Gregory is an author, editor and blogger. She currently resides in Northern Ireland. “Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.” Archives
September 2024
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