I am so grateful to the phenomenal AshleyRose Sullivan on my blog today! She took some time out of her busy schedule to answer a few questions - hope you love what you read and run out to buy a copy of Awesome Jones!
VP: What is your inspiration? What helps you get through
writer's block?
ARS: I give myself a break and try to “sponge up” by reading and
watching as much stuff as I can. I take long walks. I run. I lift weights.
Eventually, my brain will open and stuff will pour out.
VP: Do you listen to music when you write? Have a completely silent
space?
ARS: Sometimes silence. Mostly, I listen to music and the music
varies depending on the mood/feel of the project.
VP: Who inspires you? What authors do you look up to? Why?
ARS: Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, C.S. Lewis, and Robin McKinley
were all authors that I found in middle/high school and I still respond to
them. I found Haruki Murakami, Aimee Bender, and Jim Shepard as an adult and
their work is a constant source of inspiration.
VP: When did you first start writing? What genre do you prefer?
ARS: I wrote casually since I was a little kid but I started taking
it seriously while I was working on my first novel and realized it might have
potential. I write in a sort of wobbly SpecFic/Magical Realism genre and don’t
worry too much about it.
VP: If you had to choose another genre to write, what would it
be? Why?
ARS: Creative Non-Fiction. I love telling (mostly) true stories.
I’m working on a CNF Graphic Novel but it’s slow going.
VP: What is your favorite book (or who is your favorite author)
and why?
ARS: My answer to this is usually Slaughterhouse Five but it’s been
a little while since I last read it and I like to re-evaluate every few years.
Anyway, I love the fearlessness, raw heart, and strangeness of the novel.
VP: Do you have another job and if so what is it?
ARS: I founded a Shakespeare program ten years ago and it’s still
in operation but only for one week every summer. Otherwise, I’d like to be
teaching.
VP: Tell about your first book and how long it took you to write
the first draft?
ARS: My first book is Awesome
Jones and it was only just released by Seventh Star Press. It’s a comic
book in prose with illustrations scattered throughout. The only thing Awesome
Jones wants is to be a superhero, just like the ones that patrol the skies of
Arc City where he lives. Then he falls in love. He enjoys a happiness like he’s
never known but, when a super-powered secret from his past emerges, he has to
make a choice. Does he play it safe or find the strength to live up to his
name?
The first draft took about two years. Another five or so years
of rewriting and revision came after that.
VP: List all of your titles with a one sentence synopsis of
each.
ARS: Awesome Jones (March
2014): Two regular people navigate life, love, and dinner in a superhero
world.
Silver Tongue (Fall
2014): A trio of misfit best friends storm through an alternate version of
1864 America as they track down a group of ruthless killers.
VP: Who is your favorite character? Why?
ARS: This is a tough one and my answer is ever changing but in this
moment I’ll say Captain Lightning from Awesome
Jones. He’s a joy to write. He’s based on a few real and fictional men and
everytime I get to put him in a scene, I’m happy.
VP: Who is your least favorite character? Why?
ARS: In the first draft of the novel there was a set of twins who
I’d intended to play a big part. I ended up not doing very much with them and
their characters were kind of empty so I took them out.
VP: Which character was most difficult to write?
ARS: The Echo. It took me a long time to nail him down. I ended up
writing his entire story as a separate piece before I figured him out and then
re-wrote his plot. It was a pretty massive undertaking.
VP: What scenes are most difficult to write?
ARS: Action scenes. It took me a few years and a lot of research
before I started to get the hang of it. Action is not something that comes
naturally to be but I tend to write books that demand it. I can’t exactly gloss
over this stuff in a novel about superheros so I just try to learn and
continually improve.
VP: Do you see yourself in any of your characters?
ARS: There’s a little me in pretty much all of my characters but
Lona Chang from Awesome Jones is
definitely a version of me. She seems to have about 90% more charm and social
grace, though.
VP: Indie pub or trad pub?
ARS: I like and read both. A good book is a good book, no matter who
puts their logo on the back. That being said, I love my indie pub. Seventh Star
Press has been so supportive of me. They don’t balk at my ideas or tell me that
my novels are too strange to sell. I’m also familiar with the other authors. In
spite of all my anti-social best efforts, I know I have a family with Seventh
Star.
VP: If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be
and why?
ARS: Jane Austen, so I could try and convince her to collaborate on
a graphic novel with me.
VP: If you could take the place of one of your characters, which
one would you choose
and why?
ARS: Phileas from Silver
Tongue, I think. He’s smart and sassy and everything just rolls off his
back. Also--adventure!
VP: If you could vacation anywhere in the world, where would you
go and what would you
do?
ARS: Rural Japan. I’ve fantasized about long walks in the Japanese
countryside, visits to hot springs and fresh sushi dinners since I was
introduced (and instantly obsessed with) anime as a kid.
VP: What is your favorite TV show/movie from your childhood?
What is it now?
ARS: My favorite movie as a kid was The Princess Bride and it’s still in my Top 5 along with Buckaroo Banzai, Amelie, The Life Aquatic, and Kiki’s
Delivery Service.
Visit her site at: www.ashleyrosesullivan.com
Book Synopsis Awesome Jones: The only thing Awesome Jones wants is to be a super hero.
Until he falls in love.
Despite his colorful name, Awesome
Jones is a painfully average man who dreams of being a super hero, just like
the ones who patrol his city. It's been that way since he was a little boy,
raised by his grandfather after his parents' death.
The day Jones starts his new job as a
file clerk at Akai Printing Company he meets secretary Lona Chang and
everything changes. Lona sees something in Jones that no one ever has and the
two quickly become inseparable. But when the perfect pair's domestic bliss is
threatened by a super-powered secret from the past, Awesome Jones has to make a
choice. He must decide whether he should play it safe or find the strength to
live up to his name and risk everything he's come to love to save the day like
he always dreamed.
Author Links:
website:
http://www.ashleyrosesullivan.com
Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/ashleyrosesullivan
GoodReads page:
https://www.goodreads.com/AshleyRose
Twitter:
@MyYearOStarTrek
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Links for Awesome Jones
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