Interview with Author Annette Gisby:
Hi Annette. Thank you for doing this interview. I would like to welcome you to the Romance at Heart Interview and Author Grilling session. *bg* We are interested to find out as much about you as we possibly can, so lets get started...
- Please tell us about your latest book.
Drowning Rapunzel is a romantic suspense novel. Recently released from a mental institution, Beth Gregory accepts a job as a live-in secretary/PA to the reclusive painter Josh Warrington. Beth’s long red hair fascinates him from the first moment he sees her and Josh wants her to be his Rapunzel for a series of fairy tale paintings he’s working on.
Beth has two major fears: that she will be sent back to the mental hospital and the visions which landed her there in the first place will return. They do; this time giving her glimpses of murders before they happen. Beth becomes the main suspect in the murder investigation and then she has the most disturbing vision of all: she will become the next victim…
Drowning Rapunzel is being released later this year as an e-book by Excessica Publishing. It has been through a few adventures of its own with various print publishers and eventually I self-published it through Lulu. But having a publisher who helps with the promotion is better than trying to do everything on your own. As a lone author, I could never have got my book onto places like fictionwise.com, one of the most popular places for readers to buy e-books for example.
- When did you first think about writing and what prompted you to submit your first ms?
I grew up in a very small town in Northern Ireland. We had a very small library and no bookshops. Around when I was fourteen; I'd been through every book I wanted to read in the library and I wanted something new to read, so I began to write my own stories so that I would have something to read later. My love of writing grew from my love of reading; to me the two go hand in hand. If you don't enjoy reading, I don't think you'd enjoy writing either. For years I had a few different books started but never finished. John, my husband used to read the uncompleted MS and then one day he gave me an ultimatum; he wouldn't read any unless I'd finished it. That spurred me on to start completing books, not just starting them. It was a few years before I felt confident enough to submit anything though.
There were a few rejections from agents and publishers at first, but I got a really helpful letter from one of the agents who pointed out where I'd been going wrong with my synopsis. At the time, I thought the synopsis you sent to the publisher/agent was the same as the book blurb that helped readers decide whether they wanted to read that particular book. No, they wanted to know the whole story, even if there was a twist. It really helped and I got my confidence back to try again. My book of short stories, Shadows of the Rose was accepted by Double Dragon Publishing and Silent Screams, my first full-length novel was accepted by a couple of different publishers, and now with the rights reverted to me, I have self-published it through Lulu so that if people still want to buy it, they can.
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Do you have a set schedule for writing or do you just go with the flow? I'm definitely a go with the flow type of person! I have vague outlines, but even with them the book sometimes goes off in a different direction entirely. For example, I'd been writing Drowning Rapunzel with a particular character in mind as the "baddie" but as I was writing, I got the feeling that it wasn't him and it was only as I continued writing that I realised who it was and it even surprised me! I think it keeps the story fresh if you haven't planned everything out to the last detail when you first write it.
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How much of your personality and life experiences are in your writing? In real life, I'm a very shy person, which is one of the things that drew me to writing. I can create characters and stories the way I want them. Writing is very freeing. As for my own personality slipping into the writing, I think it is very difficult for some of your characters not to have parts of you, especially for earlier books. I don't think any of my characters are exactly like me, but I suppose there will be some traits that we share.
- Do you have a favourite author? Favourite book?
One of my favourite authors is Sheri S. Tepper and my favourite book is one of hers, Beauty. It is part fairy-tale, part science-fiction and of course part romance. I've lost count how many times I've read it over the past few years and it still manages to surprise me.
- Who are some of your other favourite authors to read?
I love the Harry Potter books by JK Rowling and my bookshelf is overflowing with historical romances by Elizabeth Chadwick, Phillipa Gregory and Anya Seton. I also have quite a few horror books by Stephen King, Anne Rice and John Saul. Lynn Flewelling and Carol Berg are both tied for my favourite fantasy authors at the moment; I adore the worlds they create and the characters seem so realistic that you can imagine having them round for dinner. I'm very flexible in what I read though, if it sounds like a good story, I will give it a go, even if it wasn't a genre I hadn't previously considered.
- Which comes first, the story, the characters or the setting?
Definitely the characters! Usually one or two will just pop into my head one day and I wonder about them. Who are they? What's their name? What have they done in the past? What will they do in the future? Who will they fall in love with? How to get the two of them to meet? Then from there, it's the setting and the story after that.
- Who, if anyone, has influenced your writing?
This might be unusual, but one of the most powerful influences I had was from a song by Deep Blue Something called "Wouldn't Change a Thing." Basically, the song was about how some record companies and DJs wanted their lyrics changed and they wanted to keep the songs true to what they wanted to write. It really spoke to me, for I too wanted to write the stories that I wanted to write and not whatever was considered more marketable.
- Would you like to write a different genre than you do now, or sub-genre?
I already write in different genres; it all depends on the characters and what stories they want me to tell. I read lots of different genres so that comes through in my writing. My most recent novel was a fantasy male/male romance which I've been submitting to various publishers and now it's the waiting game again to see if it will find a home. I've written fantasy, sci-fi, thrillers, romance, erotica and various combinations of them all. But all of them will have some sort of romance, but perhaps not a happily ever after ending.
- What does your husband think of your writing?
My husband loves it as he loves to read the books when I've finished! He's very proud of me and is one of the best salespeople for my books. He's a scientist and for his own job he gives talks and courses at various conferences and businesses and always has either some of my postcards to give out to people or somehow manages to "accidentally" slip some book covers into his presentation.
- Do you ever ask him for advice?
Yes, especially for the male perspective on things. He's usually my first editor before I send any MS off. It's good to have someone to bounce ideas around with. We often go to the cinema together and if we're disappointed in how the plot turned out, we have long conversations on what we would do to have made it better. We don't necessarily share the same taste in books but he likes reading mine because he likes the way I write.
- Fill in the blank favourites -
Dessert - Mint chocolate chip ice cream, I love it.
City - Queenstown, New Zealand. New Zealand as a whole is beautiful, but Queenstown just about took our breath away with its lake and mountains.
Type of hero - I like my heroes flawed, not some perfect cut-out.
Type of heroine - feisty but with a painful past.
- Are there any words of encouragement for unpublished writers?
Read, read, read and then read some more! There really is no substitute for reading. Good books inspire me to do my best and even bad books have me wondering if I could do better than that. There are plenty of books out there on grammar and style, but they can't teach you to be passionate about your writing. That's something that comes from inside. I have to write, it's just something I have to do. I have so many ideas and characters going round in my head that if I didn't write them down I'd go mad.
- Have you experienced writer's block---> If so, how did you work through it?
Not very often, but when I do I just have to stop writing for a while altogether and go do something else. Usually something boring like housework and by the end of that I'm clamouring to get back to the notebook or the keyboard.
- How many books have you written, how many have been published?
To date, four have been published:
Silent Screams - a psychological thriller. The book can be bought at Amazon.co.uk
Shadows of the Rose - a collection of short stories and a novella.
It can be bought from fictionwise or kindle.
Drowning Rapunzel - romantic suspense. This will be available later this year
New Zealand with a Hobbit Botherer (co-written with my husband, John) - non-fiction, funny travel book of our tour through New Zealand.
And my fifth book, the male/male fantasy romance novel is going through the submissions process at the moment.
- If you weren't writing, what would you be doing?
Probably running a bookshop or a library. It would have to be something to do with books.
- Please tell us about yourself (family, hobbies, education, etc.)
It's probably pretty obvious from the previous questions that I love to read! If I'm not reading or writing, I sometimes play computer games, which is apparently a more male thing. I play more of them than John does. My favourites are Dragon Quest and The Sims 2. I also love to travel and explore new places. Walks along deserted beaches and ruined castles are great places for inspiration.
- How do we find out about you and your books?
I have a couple of websites at www.annettegisby.n3.net and at www.authorsden.com/annettegisby
My blog Rose Shadows, is where I do most of my writing related posts, such as featured books, book reviews, articles and that sort of thing for readers and writers
community.livejournal.com/roseshadows/
I am also a moderator at NUW (Not the Usual Way) authors' group founded by Kristie Leigh Maguire at yahoo, a group for independently published writers:
Not the Usual Way
Publisher's websites:
excessica.com
www.double-dragon-ebooks.com
- Here is my contact via email:
My email is annette.gisby@which.net
Thank you so much for the chance for an interview.
Thank you very much for taking the time with us and answering our questions. I really appreciate this interruption to your busy schedule. Good Luck, and we will be looking forward to the next delightful creation from your talented imagination!
Yours in good reading,
Rose!
Author Links:
Annette's Website Annette at Author's Den Email Blog Yahoo Group
RaH Links:
Interview
Purchase Links:
Buy Annette's Books At Amazon
Buy Silent Screams at Amazon.com.UK
Buy Drowning Rapunzel at Excessica
Buy Author's Books at Excessica
Buy Author's Books at Double Dragon
