Interview with Sophie Jupillat Posey, Author of The Four Suitors

Hello,

We have a second interview today. It is with Sophie Jupillat Posey, author of The Four Suitors.

Please see it below.

Best,

-Vincent Lowry

 

Interview:

1) What is your author name and in what state do you live (or country if not in the US)?

I am Sophie Jupillat Posey and I live in Florida.

2) What is the title of your newest book and what is the genre?

The Four Suitors. It’s a medieval mystery/romance fantasy for young adults.

3) What is the book about?

It’s about a spoiled brat of a princess who gets roped into being courted by 4 suitors chosen by her parents. She must do so, or she won’t get the crown. There’s an artist, astronomer, philosopher and necromancer. She balks against their teachings. But as she does so, she finds that her kingdom is falling apart. Has been falling apart for a while and it’s accelerating. The newest debacle is the increase of deaths in the peasantry. She needs all of her suitors’ help to uncover who is behind the rising deaths of her citizens.

4) Where did you come up with the idea?

I came up with the idea after talking with my husband about my adopted mother; who always bragged about how many boyfriends she had when she was younger. Four at a given time to be precise. Suddenly an image of a spoiled princess with 4 suitors came to my mind. From there, I knew I wanted to craft a mystery and a way for the character to redeem herself gradually. The rest filled itself in as I wrote.

5) How long did it take you to write it?

It took 2 years to write and 1 additional year to re-edit.

6) Did you learn anything from the project?

This story started as a novella. I was satisfied with it, but felt I could add more. Several months later I did add more and made it a full novel. I learned that writing novels is hard but thrilling; I’d only ever written novellas and short stories up to that point. And that editing is just as important as getting the story down.

7) Do you have an author website and/or blog? How about a book video?

My author website is: www.sophiejupillatposeywriter.wordpress.com The book video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1WajrW4IEk

8) Do you have any success tips to pass on to fellow authors? How about any great editors/cover artists?

Success tips: my most important tip would to never give up; it’s cliché but it’s true. There will be plenty of inner and outer obstacles you face as a  writer. There are many excuses to give up writing. But it is much more fulfilling to plod on and finish that book. And also to let a project sit for as long as it needs. Too many people are so impatient to publish they skip crucial steps. Time is important, because you can better see errors whether they are grammar ones, or plot holes.

I was fortunate to have my work edited by David Curran, a friend of mine and former journalist. His eagle eyes spotted more than one error others and myself had missed. IndieDesignz made my cover art and I love it. She is my go-to designer.

9) What genres do you like to read? Are you open to reading new authors and reviewing their work?

I enjoy reading science fiction, fantasy, mystery, thriller, and paranormal works for young adults or adults.I also sometimes enjoy horror, if it’s more cerebral. Not a fan of gore. I enjoy poetry too but am very picky about which kind. I am open to reading new authors when I have time. I am currently a part-time student, a full-time teacher, a composer and a writer. It’s not something I can do on a regular basis but I’d be willing to do it every so often.

10) What is your favorite book of all time and why?

That’s a really hard question: I have so many. I would say my favorite is Ivanhoe. It made me fall in love with medieval era stories from a very young age. The romance, the adventure, the disenfranchised main character, the strength of the women in the novel, the style… It was all stuff I hoped to one day be able to write, in my own way.

11) Fun Question: Do you have any pets? If so, what kind?

Currently none. But growing up, my family had 5 cats, 1 dog, 2 turtles and 1 bird. Later on we had 2 ferrets, 2 rabbits and we even fostered 5 raccoons.

12) Fun Question 2: Do you own an electronic reading device? If so, what kind and how do you like it?

Nope. I borrow my husband’s if he gets a digital story. I’m more of a hardcopy girl. 

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Interview with Prince Cavallo, Author of The Cenotaph of Dreams!

Hello,

Today’s interview is with Prince Cavallo, author of The Cenotaph of Dreams!

I hope you enjoy it!

Best,

-Vincent Lowry

 

Interview:

1)    What is your author name and in what state do you live (or country if not in the US)?

My name is Prince Cavallo and I live in the south of England.

2)    What is the title of your newest book and what is the genre?

The title of my current book, which happens to be my first, is ‘The Cenotaph of Dreams’. It is a small book of short stories and is available through the Kindle Store (here’s a link to my page on Amazon in the UK and USA). I would classify the genre as Weird Fiction, Strange Stories, Speculative Fiction or maybe even Slipstream. That said, it’s not as science fiction as Slipstream might suggest, although there are certainly Science Fiction elements in some of the stories.

3)    What is the book about?

‘The Cenotaph of Dreams’ is a collection of twenty-eight extremely short stories. Touching on subjects as diverse as the unexpected effects of exploration, a night in a prison cell, time travel, a family with unusual abilities and an abandoned Victorian swimming pool – what links them all is their innate strangeness.

4)    Where did you come up with the idea?

I have been experimenting with flash fiction, on and off, for longer than I can remember, but I had no idea that it had a name until quite recently. I started writing these particular stories (all limited to precisely one hundred and fifty words) about two years ago and found the idea of combining the diverse nature of weird fiction with a tightly economical word count to be an interesting challenge.

5)    How long did it take you to write it?

Although the stories are selected from the past couple of years (years which involved a lot of life), the re-writes and editing to my exacting standards are what took the most amount of time.

6)    Did you learn anything from the project?

I realised that it takes an awful lot for me to be satisfied with what I’ve written; and that procrastination is a disease of the mind to which I am highly susceptible.

7)    Do you have an author website and/or blog?

I do have a blog. I write articles that are generally related to my obscure interests, including (but not exclusively) forgotten literature, maligned architecture, un-popular music and anything else that takes my fancy. It can be found here.

8)    Do you have any success tips to pass on to fellow authors? How about any great editors/cover artists?

Even though I cannot comment from the perspective of success (as of yet, but there is still time!), something I would like to pass on is this: – Write with all your creativity and re-write with all your concentration. Leave it alone and do something else for weeks or months, but keep writing and reading. Go back to it and edit it further (if you still think it’s worthwhile), then accept when the work is as good as it is going to be and either publish it or bin it!

Being my first book I decided to do the artwork and the editing myself. I think the cover art suits the subject matter quite well. I tend to find a lot of the professional book covers look quite similar in style and are not particularly interesting or striking enough to pique my curiosity.

9)    What genres do you like to read? Are you open to reading new authors and reviewing their work?

This is a difficult one. Generally (and maybe unsurprisingly) I like to read things which are a little odd, although that is not necessarily confined to a particular genre. Stories which are revelatory or have an element of wonder are what appeal the most, but they are extremely hard to find. I do like to try new authors and would be happy to review their work, but I think my heart lies in the writing of the late 19^th and early 20^th century.

 

10) What is your favourite book of all time and why?

If I had to pick one book that I could read endlessly, it would have to be Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘Tales of Mystery and Imagination’. In particular it would be the leather-bound copy I inherited from my grandfather. It includes the fantastic, other worldly and rather gruesome illustrations of Harry Clarke. It was awarded to him by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty for Meritorious Work at Naval College in the 1930’s. It has been in my possession since I was a teenager and for me it opened a door into The Weird. Thankfully, I have so far failed to find the exit.

Murder in Absentia by Assaph Mehr

A young man is found dead in his bed, with a look of extreme agony on his face and strange tattoos all over his body. His distraught senator father suspects a cult death, and knows who to call for discreet resolution.

Enter Felix the Fox, a professional investigator. In the business of ferreting out dark information for his clients, Felix is neither a traditional detective nor a competent magician — but something in between. Drawing on his contacts in shady elements of society and on his aborted education in the magical arts, Felix dons his toga and sets out to discover the young man’s killers.

Murder In Absentia is set in a fantasy world. The city of Egretia borrows elements from a thousand years of ancient Roman culture, from the founding of Rome to the late empire, mixed with a judicious amount of magic. This is a story of a cynical, hardboiled detective dealing with anything from daily life to the old forces roaming the world.

 

 

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Descendants of Avalon (Awakenings Book 1) by J. Lynn Else

Genie’s parents are getting divorced, and it’s all her fault. Her best friends, Beth, Mei, and Whit, convince her to make a wish in the small Minnesota town’s antique well. Genie thinks it’s ridiculous, wishing for her parents to reunite, but what can it hurt? She’s already ruined everything.

At the well, a mysterious woman with a walking stick and twigs in her hair, like some sort of homeless mystic, warns the friends to beware. Their wishes are powerful magic. Scoffing at the notion, Genie and friends toss their coins in. That night otherworldly creatures try to kidnap each girl. Only Beth is captured.

The three remaining friends gather at the well. A mysterious guy named Tristan says he knows where Beth has been taken. Only the power of Genie, Mei, and Whit’s combined wishes can save her. Genie can’t believe magic tied them together, but after her scary encounter the night before, she can’t deny magic might be real.

The friends agree to follow Tristan through a magic portal and step into the legendary island of Avalon, a land separated from Earth after King Arthur’s death. With the help of some young descendants of the original knights of Camelot, the Lady of the Lake, and Morgan le Fay, the three teens set out on a quest to rescue their friend, battle an evil sorcerer, and save two worlds in the process.

 

 

 

 

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