Gatekeeper by Alison Levy - Book Tour
Fantasy
1. What would you consider to be your Kryptonite as an author?
Romance. I am not good with writing romantic interactions. It’s something I’m working on but it’s a challenge to construct a scenario that’s both romantic and realistic.
2. If you could tell your younger writing self
anything, what would it be?
“Writing
is good for you. Keep at it and don’t worry
about what anyone thinks. You’re getting
better at it all the time.” If I could
explain to little me that she was using writing to cope with undiagnosed
anxiety, I would, but what she really needed to hear was some
encouragement.
3. Favorite childhood memory involving books?
Reading
Watership Down by Richard Adams in middle school.
I fell in love with the book almost immediately and really enjoyed
learning about it in class. That was the
first time I realized that books assigned in class didn’t have to be boring and
that studying a book in detail could be rewarding.
4. Did you want to be an author when you grew up?
Yes,
ever since the 6th grade when my English teacher praised me for a
short story I wrote and told me I had talent.
I had enjoyed writing the story, but it never occurred to me that it
might be good. It was such a hard time
in my life, that little bit of praise meant the world to me.
5. What is your most unusual writing quirk?
I
need noise when I write. I have tinnitus—persistent
ringing in my ears—and when it’s quiet, the ringing gets loud. Music distracts me because I end up singing
along, so I put on a movie, something I’ve seen a dozen times already so I
won’t be tempted to watch. I try to
choose something that matches the general mood of whatever I’m writing.
6. What’s one movie you like recommending to others?
The
1963 film “The Haunting,” directed by Robert Wise. I love horror movies and this is my
favorite. I encourage people to watch
this film as a great example of “less is more.”
Sometimes what you don’t see is so much more terrifying than what you
do.
7. If you could own any animal as a pet, what would it
be?
I
wish I could have goats. I don’t know
what it is about goats that I like so much but they make me smile. If we had a bigger yard, I’d be trying to
talk my husband into buying goats everyday.
We’ve already got collies to herd them!
8. What is the first book that made you cry?
Call of the Wild by Jack London made me cry when I was 11 or 12. I hated how the sled dogs suffered, how
horribly people treated them.
9. How long, on average, does it take you to write a
book?
About a
year, give or take. It depends what else
is happening in my life to distract me.
10. How do you select the names of your characters?
I give
my characters names with meanings whenever I can. If I can’t find something I like, I just scan
through baby name lists to see if a name jumps out at me—sometimes the name
finds the character.
11. What creature do you consider your "spirit
animal" to be?
A dragon. I’ve always had an instinctive love of
dragons; I’ve been collecting dragon figurines and drawings for about
twenty-five years. The contradiction of
ancient wisdom and raw power that dragons embody appeals to me.
12. Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
Dive in
and write! Write a little every day to
build momentum, read whenever you can, and seek out honest feedback. Just like anything else, the more you work at
it, the better you’ll get.
13. What book do you wish you had written?
Neverwhere
by Neil Gaiman. It’s an urban fantasy
set in “London Below,” a magical realm that exists underneath the London we
know. The amazing details of the story
absolutely delighted me. Man, I wish I
had invented that world!
14. What is your favorite genre to read?
I love
retellings of myths. I’m always looking
for new ones to read. I also love urban
fantasy—good thing, too, since that’s what I write!
About the Author
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