After an eventful week of interviews, EA: Creatively Creative took a brief, but much-needed break. Not complaining because I love what I do, but I needed to turn off the spotlight for a while. After a brief hiatus, the author spotlight is on again, shining next on best-selling author Lindsey Pogue.
EA: Congratulations on your upcoming release, which appears to be the fifth installment of The Ending series. I understand that it is a collaboration with a fellow author?
LP: Thank you! And yes, The Ending Series is a project I started in 2012 with a friend of mine. It was initially going to be a blog of two friends in the middle of a viral apocalypse, emailing each other back and forth about their experiences, but we ended up turning it into a book to explore our characters beyond what they would write in an email. Five books later and we're still chugging along.
EA: What is the concept of the series?
LP: Essentially, two best friends are going to college on the opposite ends of the US. A virus outbreak sweeps the world, killing 80% of the population and the rest of the 20% either go mad from mutation or develop supernatural abilities. Dani and Zoe (the MCs) discover that although their loved ones are dead, they are still alive. With the help of strangers and while encountering peril along the way, they traverse the US (which is in shambles) to meet up in a broadcasted safe haven. It's told from both POVs and there are a ton of awesome characters you both love and hate that they encounter along the way. It's a love story, a post-apocalyptic adventure, and a story of friendship and hope.
EA: When did you discover your love for writing?
LP: I've been writing all my life. In fact, I just found my first book I wrote in elementary school (I did the illustrations and everything), titled: Birds. My favorite line from the book is, "Birds are neat. They live in nests." Haha. But more seriously, my new adult novel, Whatever It Takes, is a version of the first manuscript I finished in high school. Needless to say, writing, whether I was any good or not, has been a part of my life as long as I can remember.
EA: Were there any authors who further influenced you to write?
LP: I'd have to say that Jane Austen gave me an appreciation for the craft, and I am a major history buff, so her stories tapped into my interest in past social norms and whatnot. But Nicholas Sparks was a big one for me. His writing has always been so emotional. Though I like a bit more of a romantic flare than he generally writes, I love how human he makes his characters and how earth-shattering their stories are. He's truly a weaver of the writing craft, in my opinion.
EA: Would you say that the process of writing a novel is easy?
LP: Ha, no. Well, I guess it depends if you're asking about from the moment the idea forms in the beginning to pushing "publish" at the end, then yes. That's easy enough once you've done it once. But writing a story is hard, for me at least. I have so much I want to write and the way my mind does it is sort of all over the place; sometimes it's difficult for me to reel myself back in and think through how I'm going to link the must-have scenes together in a thoughtful, meaningful way that isn't boring. I'm such a linear thinker that it's time consuming for me, but obviously worth it. There's a lot of patience involved and discipline, and I am horrible at those two things.
 |
| A preview of Lindsey's upcoming novel. |
EA: What can readers expect next from Lindsey Pogue?
LP: I have two other series I'm currently working on. Dust and Shadow (Forgotten Lands Series, book one) comes out in September, and is a post-apocalyptic love story and Victorian adventure set in a devastated and forgotten world of the American wild west. Next I'm diving into another book in my contemporary new adult series, Saratoga Falls Love Stories, which deals with love, friendship, but also the more difficult aspects of life -- mental illness, autism, death and unhealthy grieving, family bonds, etc.
EA: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
LP: If you want to write, do it. Don't let lack of experience or fear or uncertainty stop you. Get it on paper, however messily you need to do it, but get your story down. You can edit, think, change your mind later. But you'll be that much closer to finishing a project, and it's such a crazy and amazing feeling.
EA: Finally, tell the readers why The Ending series is a must buy.
LP: The Ending Series is funny in that people either LOVE it or they HATE it. It really depends on what sort of books you enjoy reading. Book one especially is very The Walking Dead (with Crazies instead of Zombies) meets X-Men, and the story itself is so many genres--romance, adventure, survival, supernatural, sci-fi, new adult--that I think there's a little bit of something in there for everyone. The first books is free, so if you are interested in seeing which one you are, a lover or a hater, it wouldn't hurt to pick up a copy and check it out. :)
Epilogue
It's interesting that Lindsey mentioned in her advice to just get whatever you have in mind down on paper; you can organize, and get it right later. When it comes to writing, I follow that advice, and I first read a similar statement about 10 years ago from Christopher Keane's How to Write a Selling Screen-Play, which is a very informative read.
I would like to thank Lindsey for taking the time to speak with me, and taking us down memory lane with her first ever book. Wow. 1992. Depending on the month of that year, I was 11, or 10 going on 11. For more on Lindsey, visit her website at www.lindseypogue.com.
Follow Lindsey on Social Media:
BookBub : Lindsey Pogue
Instagram : AuthorLindseyPogue
Facebook : Author Lindsey Pogue
New release email : http://eepurl.com/cLiD11
Amazon: Lindsey Pogue
Goodreads: Lindsey Pogue
No comments:
Post a Comment