I hope you have all had a great week. Today, I’m so thrilled to have my wonderful friend and mentor, Naomi Fraser drop by for an interview. I met Naomi on-line in a Romance Writer's of America critique group almost four years ago when I was just starting out in this crazy world of publishing. I'm here today, living my dream because Naomi, and the other wonderful members of Lethaladies took time to critique my first manuscripts, teaching me how to be the best writer I can be. It is such a treat to have her here so she can tell us a little about herself, share her wisdom about writing and introduce us to her two new releases, Fins 4 Ur Sins and Wild Girl (Immortals Book 2).
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Naomi Fraser
Welcome to my blog, Naomi. To start off this interview, tell us three things about yourself that readers may not know about you.
Thank you for having me, Nancy. Mm. Three things? Okay . . .
1)
I’ve always been a voracious
speed reader. Scribd recently contacted me to beta test their software updates.
I earned the title of ‘one of their dedicated readers’ by reading 153 books in
a month. I love books.
2) Each story I write is a
completely different experience for me. This makes writing more fun than I
could ever imagine, because the process is never the same twice. To start each
book, I just have to follow my instincts.
3)
I’m scared of cats.
When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
Around five or six years old. Early on in my life anyway. Writing grew from my insane love of reading and words in general. My mother gave me as many books as she could, but I once read a book that I didn’t think was written very well, or so I thought at the time and, in an attempt to do better, I began writing my own. After that, I realized my limitations and discovered the poetry section in my school library. I loved writing poems that rhymed, so my real attempts at writing moved from stories to poetry. I could produce a poem about anything in no time at all during high school. When I decided to write romances, many people told me there were huge differences between novels and poems, but I was determined to write a book. I have always loved romance.
What do you like best about being a writer? What do you like the least?
I like that there is no one to answer to but yourself and your readers. I love that I get to unleash my imagination and be creative. I love words, the rhythm, tones and sounds of them. Words are almost like chords of music to my ear. They’re fun. I love that I get to tell stories and connect people to the universe.
I don’t like that writing is essentially a sedentary task. I also dislike losing my concentration or forgetting that all important line. There’s nothing worse than when my computer has a fit and it wipes a chapter or a passage.
I think my laptop controls me instead of the other way around. Losing a chapter is heartbreaking. How do you think your life experiences have prepared you for a writing career?
As a child I grew up on all the rich and amazing ideas and thoughts expressed in novels and poetry, which expanded my narrow child’s view of the world and propelled me far beyond what my parents or school could possibly teach me. All my life experiences in Australia certainly did the rest. Australia can be a hard country with deadly predators, but there is an underlying spirituality. I like being the creator of a whole new world that readers can get lost in. But my life experiences are still shaping me, and I never stop learning. The best part is I enjoy the process.
If you had one take away piece of advice for authors, what would it be?
Have a routine or a set time of day or night when you can write.
What genre(s) do you write in? Why?
I write poetry, non-fiction, science fiction fantasy cross overs, young adult fantasy romance, and paranormal romance. I guess I write in so many genres, because it’s similar to how I read. I definitely have a muse and I always go where my excitement leads. There will be different sub-genres coming—paranormal historical romance, maybe a contemporary romance or two and some erotica. I have so many ideas.
Tells us about your newest book releases, Fins 4 Ur Sins and Wild Girl (Immortals Book 2). I'm so impressed that you can get two books out at the same time! Your Superwriter!
I have two new releases and another book coming out three months after the first two. The two new releases are available for pre-order and come out on 29th May.
Here is the link everyone!
FINS 4 UR SINS AMAZON
WILD GIRL AMAZON
Wow! Be still my heart. Naomi, that is one hot cover! I'll pause and give everyone a minute to take it all in. :)
WILD GIRL AMAZON
WILD GIRL, IMMORTALS, BOOK #2
What do a strait-laced vampire doctor and a werewolf wild girl have in common?
Tamara Westfield isn't any ordinary werewolf. She's half vampire thanks to Ravenkeep's MD, Alec Dimir, who saved her life with his bite. But no matter how handsome and gentle he is, she figures they don't match, because she needs someone who can match the wildness inside her. If only the temptation to rattle his cage wasn't so great, and if only Alec didn't blow all her preconceived notions out of the water.
FINS 4 UR SINS is a YA mermaid romance.
FINS 4 UR SINS AMAZON
This story was the third place winner in the Emerald City Opener Contest 2014.
FINS 4 UR SINS, FINS, BOOK #1
Transformation isn’t easy.
When fifteen-year-old, Eloise Mitchell, moves into Wynnum, Queensland, she doesn’t expect to wind up in hospital feeling like she had a lucky escape from death. Freaking out and asking everyone what happened, she pieces together a tale of how she unknowingly leaped off a cliff and into the sea.
New boy at school, Lakyn Ambrose, saves Eloise’s life. But danger, seductive and irresistible, lurks beneath the ocean—and the two of them must decide how far they will go to protect each other and all of humanity.
Those two novels sound fascinating. I can't wait to read them. So, to continue on with our interview, I have an interesting question for you. Do you believe writers are born to write or learn to write?
I believe both. You can learn to write and you can be born to write. I believe persistence, a great support group and loving what you do can make you succeed at anything. The same is true for writing. You can have all the talent in the world, but if you give up too early, then you won’t succeed. If you don’t have a great support group, you won’t get any feedback and then you can’t grow. If you don’t love what you do, you won’t stay the course when the going gets tough and you won’t be happy.
That is wonderful advice, Naomi. Here is a fun question. What is the theme song to these books? As you wrote the story, what music did you go back to time and time again?
Oh, this one is easy. The theme song to WILD GIRL is Promiscuous by Nelly Furtado ft Timbland.
Oh, John Legend is one my all time favorite artist. He really stirs my emotions.
What is up next for you?
I will be finishing the Fins series, finalizing SPARK the second book in my Elementals series, and also finishing the next book in the Immortals series. I will also be working on some other ideas I have. I find working on multiple books at once means I’m less likely to have writer’s block.
Naomi, thank you again for being here today. I wish you all the very best in your writing career. Please come back often and let us know what you are doing. Until then, you can follow Naomi Fraser with the links below.
Thank you so much for inviting me to your wonderful blog, Nancy!
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Naomi.