Friday, March 15, 2013

Five Questions with Natasha Boyd


Five Questions with Natasha Boyd

1.     When you think of your favorite books, what is it that draws you to them and makes you want to read them over and over again?   I have many favorite books spanning many genres. But what always brings back my favorites are strong personalities. There are some books, where the characters and their quirks and even the way they speak, and how you imagine them to look …  are so real in your mind that they live with you and speak to you for days after you finish the book.  Consequently, I strive to really pin down the characters I write … their desires, their motivations, their backstory. Even if you never bring it up, those things shine through in every thing they say and do and every reaction they have.
2.     Did you consciously decide to write the genre you write, or did it choose you? Short answer… it chose me.  Everything I have written has been a certain style or voice; like chatting with your friends or sharing the details you’d only tell your bestie.   Friends told me I should write for Young Adult, but some of the subject matters I wanted to address have been too mature to fit in the accepted parameters of YA.  Enter New Adult.   New Adult has always been there, but it was never recognized before. I am grateful to certain people at St. Martin’s Press who officially recognized it in 2009.
3.     If you could sit down for a drink and a chat with any writer, who would it be, and why?     Wow – that list is long! I won’t bore you, but a few might be JK Rowling, Judith McNaught, Pat Conroy, … even Andre Gide (but he’s dead – I guess I’d have to wait for that conversation).  As well as a few contemporaries like Colleen Hoover and Abbi Glines.
4.  When you are not writing (or reading) what is your favorite pastime? Planning to read or write. Kidding. Kind of.  Actually, looking at houses, whether driving around or online. I love architecture and dreaming about perfect spaces.  Taking my littlies to the beach to carve sea turtles.  Getting lost in music.  Many things J
5.     At what point were you sure that your book was ready to be published, and how did you go about making it happen? It’s never really ready, is it?  You just have to get to a certain point and realize that the story is told. Then it needs to go to an editor.  A serious grammar nazi editor.   People think editors are all alike, but some are better at content and story arcs and others are better at grammar (copy or line editing).  If you can’t afford both, pick the grammar nazi.  And if you can’t afford one at all, WAIT and save up – many will allow you a payment plan.  After that, and only after that, is it ready.    For me: my first full-length novel EVERSEA has yet to be published, even though I am ‘chomping at the bit’.  I put so much of my soul into the story of Jack Eversea and Keri Ann Butler that I need it to be perfect. My beta readers, and even my cover artist have messaged me to say how addicted to the story they are, so it’s easy to get impatient with it, and want to share Jack with the world as fast as possible.   But it will be published when there is nothing more to do for it, but just open my hands… and let it go. May 1st, I hope!
Natasha Boyd
EVERSEA
Release date May 1st 2013
@lovefrmlowcntry




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