Flying to the Fire - An Interview with Elyse Salpeter

Today, I'm doing something I don't normally do: (1) Post outside my normal 'Monday' morning for the week, and (2) An interview.

Today, Saturday, August 30th, Elyse Salpeter is doing a special book launch. She is having contests, giveaways and whatnot.  She is not only on my blog, but her blog at http://elysesalpeter.wordpress.com/ where you can learn more about what is happening with the contests and giveaways.

Her latest release is "Flying to the Fire" and I want to focus a little on that and also the author.  So here is some of the questions I tossed at Elyse and she so politely tossed back with an answer ...

1.  Tell me about your book, Flying to the Fire. I realize it is a sequel to "Flying to the Light" which I read and thought it had a wonderful and unique concept for a story with birds and a boy who can see the afterlife.  So what was the inspiration for this story? 

This is actually a funny scenario. I wasn't going to even write a sequel at first. I felt that Book #1 ended in a great way and that there wasn't a sequel in me. But then the publisher I was working with suggested I reconsider and think about where I could take the novel. I decided having Danny only six years old in book #1 really limited his ability to drive the story, so I decided to make him thirteen years old in Book #2 and pick up where he left off with an entirely different tangent that I think readers will enjoy.

2.  Some authors agonize over a character's name. Are the names of characters in your novels important?

No, actually. I will admit to having a problem with this! I tend to like my main characters to have easy names. Maybe it’s because I personally have problems following who is who in books with a lot of characters. I find I make all my main leads have simple or generic names like  Mike, Chris, Sean, Jim. I do this so much that my editor will email me and gently coax me to “please change this character’s name – it’s too similar to your other books and to other characters IN the book!”

3.  Who would you rather write for - children or adults, and why?

I like to do both, even though I feel like my YA novels are still more geared towards adults. My prose is pretty simple so it’s easily read by kids, but I believe my topics are more adult in nature. I also find when write a novel geared strictly towards adults, I don’t have to be so “careful.” Meaning, my language can be a bit more colorful and I can be much freer with romantic relationships and any violence that occurs.

4.  You mentioned violence. Have you ever killed someone in one of your novels and regretted it later?  Details, please.

Yes, I have one dark fantasy novel,that I won’t name because it is a huge spoiler, where I killed a character. I’m not upset personally that the character died because it was how the novel played out. It made perfect sense and set up book #2, but some readers were really mad at me. My aunt actually called me up at work and yelled at me for ten full minutes. In fact, she hasn't read the sequel because she’s too afraid I’ll kill off another beloved character – though I have tried to assure her I have not!

5.  So, which do you find more embarrassing to write -- violence or sex?

Um, er, sex, for sure. I feel like I need to squint when I’m writing it, make sure no one is around and I have to peek at what I write through my fingers as they’re usually covering my face. I’ll tell you a funny story. Years ago, I wrote my first novel with tons of sex in it and sent it to my editor. I was so embarrassed that I actually never read her comments on those parts and just rewrote the entire scene instead. I don’t think to this day she actually knows this and it’s ridiculous because I paid her!

6.  Do you research for your novels - how involved, if so?

Sometimes I research a lot. In FLYING TO THE FIRE I had to study up on different kinds of insects and birds. I also did a lot of research for the series on electromagnetic waves, biochemical issues, and radio and mind waves. I’m terrible at physics -- not only do I quote Ampere’s Law in this book, but I actually have a working knowledge of it!

7.  With all that research, it would seem writer's block is not something you fret about. So, how do you overcome the dreaded writer's block when it does strike?

I simply put what I’m working on down and work on something else. When the muse isn't cooperating, I just let her have her tantrum until she’s ready to start again. There’s no sense in me forcing her – she never listens to me.

8.  Writing Muse?  How did you come to be interested in writing?

I always loved to write, but I wasn't always a good writer. I don’t know if I am a good writer yet, even, which is why I have editors and beta readers. But, I simply have all these story ideas in my head and I simply have to get them out.

9.  Now for something different. Can you tell us a secret about you that nobody knows?

A secret… one I haven’t put in print yet… sigh… this is embarrassing but I’m a huge Twilight fan. Bigger than most people know. I can watch those movies day in and day out and never get bored. They just make me so darn happy and I have no idea why! There, I said it. Go Team Edward!

10.  What are your future plans? What can we expect from you, the author, Elyse Salpeter?

Well, if all goes as planned, I have a horror novel I’m launching on Halloween called THE MANNEQUINS. I also hope to complete book #3 in the FLYING series next year, 2015. The tentative title is FLYING HOME.

11.  I figured you thought you were done by question 10, but I like to shake things up so, final question is: How do you handle yourself when an interview or a book review has gone bad?

LOL – they’re all good. Any exposure is good exposure, right? <wink, wink>

12.  Yeah, like we were finished but I forgot to ask - Is there anything you'd like to share that I didn't cover?

Yes, I love to hear from readers about what they think of the novels. If you’re interested in getting updates or information on special promotions, please feel free to join my enewsletter subscriber list here: http://www.elysesalpeter.com/contact.html

If you'd like to buy this exciting sequel - Flying to the Fire - it is available at: 

Amazon Ebook:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MDKZAG4/

To purchase "Flying to the Light" - go to: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J8ZPKWG/

Until next I ramble on...