Welcome to our stop on the INDELIBLE blog tour hosted by Kismet Blog Tours.
Today we bring you an interview we recently did with author Dawn Metcalf. Enjoy!
Tell us a little about yourself and your latest/upcoming release.
I am strange and so is my book, Indelible. I am proud of both of us.
When did you realize that you wanted to become a writer? What was the very first thing you ever wrote?
When I could write, age 3-5. The very first thing I wrote were notes to my parents to express how I felt when the words wouldn’t make it out of my mouth. I would scribble notes in crayon, stick them under their door and run away, afraid of standing in the raw emotion of it all. Later I wrote children’s stories and poetry. But the first novel I wrote was a fantasy called “The Eye of the Ancients” which was 365 pages long and took that many days to write! I was 11 years old.
Do you read reviews of your books? What do you do when you read a not-so-nice one?
I do read reviews—masochist that I am—and I know that even not-so-nice ones have a grain of truth to them because it’s how the story resonates (or doesn’t) with a reader. And while I know you can’t please all the people all of the time, I like to hear a different perspective and widen my exposure to who is out there picking up my books (or books like my books). The truth is that it’s frustrating when people misunderstand what I wrote or meant (or, most often, what I thought I wrote/meant) but I can’t do anything about it—even respond or reply or justify myself—because once the book is out there, it’s OUT THERE and has to stand on its own. Everyone has the right to their own beliefs and impressions and I can only try to be truer and more honest to the story and myself.
But I kinda like it when someone says my writing is “unique,” “unusual” or “different” because I like to think I am, too.
How did you come up with the idea of Indelible?
From a rant about how girls are portrayed in young adult literature as needing an older man to show them the way to love. Yyyyyyyeah.
Who is your literary hero?
Oh my gosh, which one?!? I could say Samuel Clemens or Kurt Vonnegut, Spider Robinson or Connie Willis, Neil Gaiman or Laini Taylor, Judy Blume or Phil Foglio…really it depends on what part of the craft we’re talking about.
Do you find it hard to kill off your characters?
No. BWAHAHAHAHAHA! *ahem* Next question.
What's your favorite thing to do when you're not writing?
Karate. Or baking. My life is full of paradoxes.
Describe yourself in 3 words.
Creative, empathic & out-of-the-box.
Do you have a book in your house that's just destroyed because you've read it so much?
Yes. Many. Mindkiller by Spider Robinson, Polymorph by Scott Westerfeld, ElfQuest by Wendy & Richard Pini, The Gandalara Cycle by Randall Garrett and Vicki Ann Heydron and Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman come to mind, I’ve read them so often!
Who do you most admire?
My parents. I know it’s corny, but it’s true. They are astounding, inspiring, respectful, intelligent and creative folks that walk the talk. Watching them grow up together taught me everything about loving life and the people in it.
Did you set yourself some strict rules while writing?
Yes. Sit down, turn off the internal editor, write. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But, for me, that’s sometimes the hardest thing to do.
If you could bring one of your characters to life, who would it be? And why?
Ooo. Perhaps Invisible Inq because she is just so spunky and sparkly, dangerous and brilliant and I’d like to meet her if only to point her in a direction and watch her wreck havoc, but honestly, the one I’d most like to meet is Graus Claude. He’s amazing.
This is or That
Cat or Dog? Dog. (Oddly enough, I own two cats.)
Ice cream or Sorbet? Ice cream.
Heels or flats? Barefoot!
Knives or sword? Sword. Specifically, broadsword.
Coffee or Tea? Tea. Decaf. Me on caffeine = BAD!
Iced tea or hot tea? Hot!
Snow or rain? Rain.
Movies at home or Movie Theater? At home. (The snacks are better!)
Soda or Juice? Juice, but honestly, I drink water or tea.
Twitter or Facebook? 140 characters or less, baby!
Actual book or eReader? Book. New book smell is an addiction.
Actual book or Audiobook? Actual book unless I’m in the car on a long drive, then audiobook as reading at the wheel would be BAD.
Spring or Summer? Summer.
Fall or winter? Fall.
Long Sleeves or Short Sleeves? Long sleeves. And scarves. And fuzzy fleece…
Young Adult or New Adult? YA All The Way!
Vampires or Werewolves? Hmm. I’d have to say werewolves.
Ghost or Zombies? Ghosts, although I prefer my dead, well, dead.
Action movies or Chick flicks? What are black humor/foreign films?
Horror movies or Mystery movies? Mysteries.
Mountain views or Ocean views? Ocean! Because that means there is a BEACH!
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About Indelible...
