Author Andi Lawrencovna
When
did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
Eighth
grade. I hated reading and writing until I was probably in fourth or fifth
grade when I started reading K.A. Applegate’s Everworld series and the Jedi
Apprentice books…which are completely unrelated, in retrospect. But, the
fantasy, the adventure, the beauty of the words on the page all combined and I
fell in love and have been reading ever since. When I went into eighth (maybe
it was seventh(?)) grade, I had a teacher who encouraged me to join Power of
the Pen and I haven’t stopped writing since.
How
long does it take you to write a book?
It
really depends on the book. Charming came
to me all at once and within a month it was there ready to go. This latest
release with the Stoking the Flames
anthology had a deadline that I was working within. But some projects take
longer, whether because the story is more complex or the characters need that
extra time to fully find themselves, who can say?
What is
your work schedule like when you're writing?
I
have a full time job that I hold down between writing projects, so it’s tight.
When I’m on a roll, it is smooth sailing and it’s pretty much write until my
eyes don’t stay open or my fingers make too many mistakes and I’m hitting the
backspace key more than the spacebar. When inspiration is a bit slower, I try
to force myself to write at least one sentence a day. “But one sentence is
nothing!” So true, but I find that if I make myself write one, another usually
follows, so maybe it’s not a whole scene or a chapter, but it’s something to
accomplish and that’s the best part. Writing, for me, isn’t work and shouldn’t
be work. It’s my passion, my love. The moment I have to start trudging through
it is the moment I lose all joy in the work, so I do my best to never push
myself into hating what I’m working on. If I get tired of one project, I start
or work on another. So, while it’s not great for finishing things, I always
have something I’m writing on at any given time.
What
would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Oh
geese, I’ve never thought of that before. Hmm, well, I guess it’s more so a
pre-writing/post-writing/procrastination thing I do. I’ve never been really
good at outlining a project before I start writing it. Usually I know where it
starts and where it’s going to end, and let myself follow the same journey the
reader will take in getting from point A to B. That said, when I get stuck, I
tend to make these really-super-crazy-intense book guides for each project or
world…which is totally not crazy at all. Because spending my time looking up different
political systems that may or may not exemplify what I haven’t mentioned in the
current writing project but is probably relevant to me as the author sometime
down the road is a definite, productive way to work…or not…
How do your books get published?
I
have both traditionally published and self-published my books. Both have
different pros and cons to them, but I prefer self-publishing from the
perspective that everything rests in my hands and I’m a bit of a control freak,
so I really enjoy getting to make all my decisions and be part of the process
100% in the self-publishing world.
Where
do you get your information or ideas for your books?
Dreams.
I’m a huge proponent of not only following your dreams, but writing them down.
I love my imagination and the crazy stuff I come up with.
When did you write your first book and how old were you?
I
was thirteen in eighth grade and I was in love with my characters. I haven’t
looked at that piece in way more years than I’m comfortable admitting too.
What do you like to do when you're not writing?
Beading.
Crafts. Listening to music. Playing board games with friends. Reading…reading
is probably my number one go to when I’m not writing.
What does your family think of your writing?
Supportive,
but they don’t get it. I’m the weird, black-and-white-and-read-all-over sheep
of the family. I come from a family of scientists and intellectuals, and don’t
get me wrong, I am too, but I fall completely into the artistic side of things,
and they do not. It makes for fun discussions though on metaphorical topics.
What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?
As a
self-published author, it’s not just the writing the books that you have to
worry about, but the editing, and formatting, and finding a cover, and
marketing, and that stuff is HARD! I’m not an athlete, but I imagine that
bringing a book to complete fruition is like finishing a marathon. It’s hard
work, from putting on your tennis shoes to crossing that last mile marker.
There’s the pre-work, the actual event, and then the soaking of your sore feet
in a tub for a year afterwards that all goes into creating a book. But no
matter how hard it is, that finish line…Worth It!
How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?
Well,
written and published are two very different questions, and there is definitely
no answer to my favorite (it’s The Prince,
I lied…).
I’ve
currently published three books in my first series and two short stories that
go along with that. I have another anthology story coming out on March 28, 2017
in the Stoking the Flames anthology.
And I know what other books I’m writing in this series, though they’re all
still WIPs at this point. So four? Ish? Six? I don’t know.
Do you have any suggestions to help me become a better writer? If so, what are they?
Write
from the heart. Remember, while our jobs as writers is to get our words out
there, not everyone is going to like what we write. Someone who likes your work
isn’t going to like mine and vice versa, so the most important thing to
remember is that in the end, write first for yourself and whatever the world
thinks is their problem, not yours.
Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?
That
in person I have a really sweet, bubbly, smiley personality, but my writing
tends towards the darker, grittier side of life. Which is perfect, because even
in fairy tales, a little darkness makes the light at the end all the brighter
when we get to it!
Do you like to create books for adults?
I
do. I prefer writing for a mature audience, but my notion of “adult” is greatly
varied. I was reading “adult” novels when I was in fifth or sixth grade. The
characters had more depth. They knew who they were and were often confident in
those personas. They were, for me, what I wanted to be when I grew up, so
reading “adult” books was a way to help me grow up too. My version of writing
for adults is writing about characters who know who they are and grow as that
person, not grow into that person as fiction for younger ages is typified by.
So, yes, I like writing books for adults, though my adults probably start
around thirteen or so…
What do you think makes a good story?
The
relationships between the characters. That’s a simple answer, but if you look
at a lot of “literary fiction,” the focus is on the building and sometimes
destruction of relationships between the characters. There’s movement in the
idea that maybe the protagonists are going from place one to place two, but it’s
the emotional journey of how they get there that makes up the meat of a story,
and that’s what I love most about a good story. Give me a new fantasy world
with some orc-manticore-gorgon hybrid, heck yeah! I love being immersed in that
creation, but it’s the relationships between that creature and another that
makes the story all that more impactful for me.
As a
child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
Be a mermaid, but every time I wished on a star, I
had way too many conditions about wanting to be able to transform easily
between water and land and what color scales I wanted to have to whether or not
I could fall in love and not turn into sea foam that I let that dream go to
pursue more manageable goals.
Any
books in the works?
Super exited because I’m hoping to get a really
un-Beauty and the Beast-ish novel out this summer which has just taken me a lot
longer than I anticipated but I can’t wait to get it done!
What
are your plans for the future?
Well, my current series has a lot of stories left to tell. Like I said, I have this crazy, hundred page plus guide that charts everything from the characters in a particular lineage to the outcomes of a butterfly beating its wings on one side of the world to the other, so I’ve got a lot left to write there. But I have some other stories for somewhere down the line about angels and demons and Victorian zombies who serve leg for lunch, but those are way in the future to think about…
The
Never Lands Saga:
Series
1: Charming
·
Book
1: Charming
o
Print Books (for all publications): https://www.createspace.com/pub/simplesitesearch.search.do?sitesearch_query=andi+lawrencovna&sitesearch_type=STORE
Once
upon a time, or so the story goes, there was a prince who threw a ball to find
a wife.
He
was a young prince, by his peoples’ standards, and though he had no wish for a
bride, he was honor bound to make the attempt to find one. Of course, Prince
Kit knew that it was not just honor that bound him to the duty. Prophesied or
cursed, who could say, but since he was a babe assassins and soldiers had come
for him in the dead of night, in the middle of court, amidst the steps of a
waltz, to end his life and with it end the lives of his people, the land he was
meant to rule. A heavy burden for a young man to bear, worse for a prince kept
cloistered for his own good.
But
a wife, well, a wife would provide an heir, and perhaps prevent his peoples’
doom if he died too young, and so he danced with maiden after maiden, ball
after ball, until he danced with her.
She
came from out of the Darkness, a vision in a black dress and glass slippers, to
join the throng for the prince’s celebration. The first night she hid a small
vial filled with arsenic in the folds of her gown but it was knocked from her
hand before she could upend it into his glass of champagne. The second night
she brought a stiletto hilted in her garter that she never thought to draw and
returned to her rooms un-blooded. The third night Eli ran from him, found her
horse and fled back to the forest she came from, desperate to escape his
charming smile and the emotions she refused to acknowledge in his gaze that
seethed in her heart too.
He
gave chase, and what is an assassin meant to do when her prey hunts her down?
One waltz at a ball. One trip of a slipper. One
Prince. And one Assassin.
Charming…simply, Charming.
·
Book
2: The Captain
There
was a time, before Prince Christophe was born, when the worst fate his people
had to worry about was war with their troll neighbors or an invasion from elfin
forces beyond the woods. But that was before he was born and was cursed.
If he dies, so to do his people.
Such
a simple phrase, so oblique, and yet Kit has lived his life in fear of the
prophecy, searching every shadow for assassins come to get him.
Until
she came and took up arms in his defense.
Warrior
and witch. Assassin and priest. She was his teacher and his protector. His
friend. The only woman ever to run from him at the end of a ball, and the only
woman he ever asked to stay.
But
Eli is an outsider in the human world, and trusted only so far, even by the man
who desires more from her than her skill with a blade. The longer she remains
with him, the more she falls for her prince in a world where her prince’s life
is the fate of his lands.
As
the time of the prophecy draws near, Eli and Kit will face more than dwarves
and shadows to find solace with each other and salvation for their people.
Sometimes the one most suited to protect you is the
one who holds the sharpest blade.
And there is no sharper sword than: The Captain.
·
Book
3: The Prince
Reports of a mercenary army have
begun to spread throughout the land. Soldiers have been called to prepare for
war and captains have been summoned to lead armies. Spies have been sent forth
to gather information. Assassins have been requisitioned to hunt out those
meant to die.
And deep within the woods, the
prince and his men prepare for battle amidst the increasing number of traitors
and worse stalking the trees.
How long can you hide before your
enemies find you? How long can you lie before the truth sets you free? And who
will find you when the smoke clears and you’re safe again?
How much can you endure before you
can’t bear the burden of prophecy anymore?
Once upon a time…
Series
2: Breath of Fyre
·
Book
1: The Dragon’s Sacrifice (originally
released as part of the Stoking the
Flames anthology)
§ (Link
will change after June 28, 2017)
When the world was still a new and wonderous place,
there came from out a crack in the ground a creature born of fire and air to
spy upon all that was green and good.
He wandered far from his land
of molten pitch and burning embers until he came to a place filled with soft
grasses and tall trees, lakes as clear as crystal, and a creature as different
as she could be.
He watched her, and he wanted
her, and before long, he took her as his own.
But sometimes, it's not the
sacrifice who is snared in his trap, but the dragon himself who falls under her
spell.
·
Book 2: The Dragon’s Unrest (Coming Soon)
Stand Alone:
·
So Sweet: A Tale as Old as Time (Coming Soon)
Short Stories:
·
In
the Never Lands, Birthday Celebrations tend to be a little more festive than in
other worlds. No silly little parties with only family and friends, but rather
grand balls with princes and princesses and assassins, oh my. What's
a ball without some intrigue? Have
a Happy Birthday with Prince Christophe as he celebrates in:
The
First Ball.
Fairy
Tales just got a little bit darker.
·
·
There was an old woman who lived in a shoe;
There was an old woman who
lived in a shoe;
She had so many children,
she didn't know what to do.
She fed them all broth
without any bread;
Then whipped them all
soundly and sent them to bed.
~Mother Goose, The Dorling Kindersley Book of Nursery Rhymes
(2000)
She took them from the
woods, and she took them from dells, from hamlets and homesteads and across the
wide world, she found young orphans, those abandoned and left on their own, and
gave them a home.
And
all she asked for was a little piece of their soul in payment...
Whoever
said nursery rhymes were harmless?
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Author Bio
Information:
Andi Lawrencovna is a fantasy and
science fiction writer from Ohio. Her most recent books, A Charming Series, the
first in her Never Lands Saga, is a re-envisioning of Cinderella with a darker
twist. Andi works closely with WriteNow Publishing though maintains her
independent authorship. She currently has three novels and two short story to
her name, and her next novel, So Sweet, will be out later this year. So Sweet
is a tale as old as time, whose characters are as equally ancient and waiting
to be released. Happily-Ever-Afters have never been bleaker, though Andi
promises there’s always hope for rainbows and unicorns in The Never Lands.
Andi currently resides in Northeast
Ohio with her dog and an imagination that has gotten her into more trouble than
not. Her education includes a BA in English from Denison University and an MFA
in Creative Writing from Pine Manor College. She works as a legal secretary
during the day and removes her glasses at night…wrong genre. For more
information on Ms. Lawrencovna and her work, please visit her website at: www.AndiLawrencovna.com
Andi Lawrencovna is proudly represented by
The Owl Branch Book Promotions. www.theowlbranch2015.net
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