Friday, November 12, 2010

Lacey Weatherford

     This is my first ever author interview! I will be forever grateful (and indebted) to Lacey Weatherford, the fabulous author of the Of Witches and Warlocks series, for agreeing to bare with me as I come up with questions for her. She was incredibly patient, even though I told her I would have questions for her by a certain date and then didn't send her anything until a week or two later.
     Without further ado, I present Lacey!
Interview

1.   Portia and Vance have an intense relationship. How did you develop that? Did you have any personal experience of the sort? ;)

     I have long been a lover of romance and at the risk of sounding silly I have to say that I was often termed as “boy crazy” during my younger years. I was fortunate enough to be able to experience some of those breath stealing kisses from some of the boys I dated, and I have never forgotten the way those moments made me feel. But when I met my future husband we hit it off almost instantly and there was just this spark with him that I had never felt with anybody else. We have always had a very close and caring relationship with one another, to the point of being best friends as well as spouses. I’m certain some of those attributes from my life were key in helping me form the relationship between Vance and Portia. It’s easy to draw off from bits and pieces of myself to help to create something fun. When it came to these two characters I wanted them to be able to have a relationship that was both romantic and able to withstand the tests and trials they would have to face together.


2.   Is there anything specific that led you to finally write and try to publish The Trouble With Spells?

     The idea for The Trouble With Spells actually came from a funny hair dying experience that my daughter had. She had dyed her hair from a very light blond to a near black color and someone made the comment that people were going to call her a witch. After laughing about this together the idea just stuck in my head for some reason and I began to ponder on it for a few days. Initially, the story was going to revolve around the two best friends of Portia and Shelly, but after I had the first chapter written I decided that I should add a hunky bad boy to play the boyfriend in the story. Thus Vance was born and the storyline change to be his story, told through Portia’s eyes.
     When I was finished writing the book I passed it around to some of my family and friends just to let them read it and see what they thought. They loved the story and told me they thought I should try to get it published. I didn’t know anything about getting a book published so that was very scary for me. I sent out about 20 query letters and had an offer in two days from a publishing company. I accepted it since it was the first one. I wish now that I would have waited because I received multiple requests from several other agents and publishers clear up until the book went into print. It would have been interesting to see how some of those might have played out.


3.   Portia's family is immensely important to her. Are you close to your parents/family?

     My family and I are extremely close! I’m close with my own spouse and children, my parents, my siblings, and was fortunate enough to marry into a family that’s exactly the same way. If feel as if my husband’s family is my own flesh and blood. I feel extremely blessed to be surrounded by such a wonderful network of people. There is nothing more important to me than my family!


4.   What was your favorite part of The Trouble With Spells? Your favorite part to write?

     I actually have a hard time answering this question when people ask it. I enjoyed writing all of it so much. Because I am a sucker for romance, probably any interaction between Vance and Portia is a favorite scene of mine. As far as my favorite part to write, that may have been the explosion scene and what comes after. I used to work in the emergency medical services, so it was fun to kind of draw on some of those experiences I’ve had in that line of work and put them into that part of the book.

5.   Which character is most like you? Can you tell us some of the similarities or biggest differences?

 
     Hmmm. That’s a tough one too. I really haven’t considered what character would be like me. Portia has a lot of the attributes of my oldest daughter and she is very similar to me so I guess maybe Portia. Love for family and loyalty to those she trusts would be similarities I think. I think I’m much quicker to laugh and more sarcastic than Portia is though, maybe a little self depreciating too. But Portia may have more backbone than I do when it comes to stepping up and doing something scary on her own.


6.   If you could travel through time, where might you want to go? Why?

     I’m a huge history buff so it would be very difficult for me to pick one thing that I would like to go see. I think I would love to make travel stops in many different time periods and locations just to observe their traditions and way of life. It would also be fun to witness some of the big events throughout history that have changed the way we live in the world today as well. But right now books serve as the best time machine I know of, so I tend to lose myself in the pages of those, and I feel much safer reading about a battle than I would standing in the middle of it!! :D


7.   Who would you meet, if you had the chance to meet anyone (dead or alive)?

     This is the easy question for me. I would most definitely want to meet actor Matt Lanter, who was the inspiration behind the character of Vance Mangum in my books! Matt is currently known for his roles on the CW’s 90210, where he plays the character of Liam Court, his voice over role of Anakin Skywalker on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and for his recent role as Edward Sullen in the movie Vampires Suck. I have had the privilege of being friends with Matt on Twitter and getting to know him a little bit, as well as being able to send him my books. He has been very friendly and supportive of me so I hope that someday soon we will get to meet and visit in person. He is a super nice guy!


8.   Is there anything else you would like to share whether it be about the writing process, your novel, or you?

     For any would be authors out there I would encourage them to keep writing and trying to get their work out there to be seen. My advice to them would be to go to a wonderful site called predatorsandeditors.com and look up agents and publishing houses there. That will help you to avoid some of the bad sharks that are in the industry out there. I found my second publisher through them for the rest of my books and they have been truly amazing. So really do your research to make sure your end up with the right people for you.
     As far as my novels go, the third one in the Of Witches and Warlocks series, Blood of the White Witch, was just released so be sure to check that out. You can find out more information and links on the website at www.ofwitchesandwarlocks.com. This site has sample chapters, extra stories that didn’t make it into the books, reader reviews, media appearances, purchase links, and even a tribute page to actor Matt Lanter, who was the muse for Vance. So go check it out! It’s lots of fun! There’s also a Facebook fan page for the books at Of Witches and Warlocks- Paranormal Book Series.
     And as far as I go, I just want to say thanks for hosting me here and giving me the opportunity to visit for a bit. I really love book blogs (I even have one of my own at http://thedelusionaldiaries.blogspot.com) and I think it’s a wonderful network and way to share the love of reading with everyone. I love hearing from people too so you can always feel free to leave me a comment or you can follow me on my social media pages. ( http://twitter.com/LMWeatherford , http://www.myspace.com/LaceyWeatherford , Facebook at Lacey Jackson Weatherford) I’m always up to chatting with people so come on by!!


     If you are interested in learning more about Lacey's books (which you should be!), you can check out my reviews for each of them. I loved both The Trouble With Spells and The Demon Kiss! You can also visit her on her website, blog, or personal pages as listed above. I loved getting to know Lacey and I hope everyone else enjoyed the interview as well!
     Thank you again for agreeing to do this for me Lacey!

15 comments:

Amber said...

Thanks for the interview! I loved the first question and the answer to it. I think romance, really real romance, is so tricky to write and it was great to get into the psyche of how Weatherford writes it. I'm going to have to take a look at these novels.

Barnard Baker said...

You really should check out her novels, I enjoyed them! Romance played a big part in her books, so I figured it must play a part in her life as well.

Barnard Baker said...

Thank you! I worried over what to ask her for far too long, I just wasn't sure what I wanted to know about her and I didn't want to ask completely generic questions.

Judy said...

Very good interview, I enjoyed it!!

Her books look very good!! I enjoy finding new authors!!


Judy

Elise said...

Thanks for the interview. I learned a lot especially a great site: predatorsandeditors.com for people who want to become authors. This is a place to check for agents and publishing houses.

Missy said...

This is a great interview. LOVED the questions you asked. Nick work!!

Barnard Baker said...

Judy: I love finding new authors too!

Elise: She really did give us some great advice!

Missy: Thank you!

Lisa (Lisa's World of Books) said...

Had you not told me that this was your first interview I never would have guessed! Great questions, I can tell you put a lot of thought into it!

Stacy Juba said...

I love the title The Trouble With Spells. Great, thorough interview. Another author for my to read list.

SiNn said...

awesome interview! I had a huge smile whne i read her discribe that kiss and how her and her husband had that connection I love when ppl get that connection and have them her books looke awesome will deff have to check them out some time for sure gonna go browse her site now

Aik said...

I'm glad I visited your blog! Lacey's books look awesome!

Barnard Baker said...

Lisa: Thank you so much! You have no idea how much that means to me. :)
Stacy: It is an awesome title and an even better novel!
SiNn: I know! That kind of connection sounds so magical.
Aik: They are awesome! I'm glad you could visit too.

Lacey Weatherford said...

Aww...everyone had such nice comments!! Thanks again for hosting me! It was a blast!!
The Delusional Diaries

Barnard Baker said...

Well, you did give wonderful answers! I'm really glad that you were able to do this interview for me. :D

Linda Henderson said...

I enjoyed the interview very much and I'm really interested in reading her books. I enjoy stories with witches and spells.