Friday 30 August 2013

Jessica MacIntyre

I'm loving my Author spotlights! How about you? Well today I torture...sorry INTERVIEW Jessica MacIntyre...
Jessica MacIntyre was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia and raised in the tiny rural community of Soldiers Cove. A habitual daydreamer, MacIntyre was sent to the principal's office many times during her school years for not paying attention in class. In 1998 she moved to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia with her husband and began writing seriously a few years later. Her first novel, "The Vampires of Soldiers Cove" is available now on Amazon and is the first in the "Vampire Island" series. MacIntyre has also published a set of Paranormal Erotica books titled, "The Slave Queen" and "The Slave Knight", also for sale on Amazon.
She lives in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia with her husband and two children.

Do you write as yourself or under a pseudonym? Why?
I write as myself. I decided early on that I would put my own name on everything I write. No pseudonyms. My name will be on my work and I’ll be proud of both. I write erotica as well and use my own name, something a lot of people seem to have trouble doing when it comes to erotica. I feel it’s important for me personally to own everything I write as myself.
What made you want to be a published author?
I love to write and to entertain people. I like being able to take people away from their daily hum drum lives and into a world of fantasy and adventure.
What genre do you write in and why?
I write in Fantasy. I love the break from the constraints of everyday existence. There are fewer rules and much more room for the imagination to flourish in the Fantasy genre.
If you could talk to your 12 year old self, what advice would you give?
You’re much better than you think you are, and although you are getting the blame for a lot of the problems you’re having, a lot of them aren’t your fault. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with you no matter what anyone says. There’s nothing wrong with how you look, how you talk, how you behave or how you dress. You’re a good kid, even if some of the adults in your life don’t think so. You are good and you will be ok.
Have any other authors influenced your writing through theirs?
I’m influenced by everything I read even if I don’t particularly like it. You can learn something from every book, even if it’s just what you DON’T want to do.
If you are a self-published author what made you take this route and what was your experience (good or bad)?
I have had a very good experience with self-publishing so far. The indie author community is very supportive of one another and I have met lots of great people over the last 4 months since The Vampires of Soldiers Cove has been published. It’s more time consuming than I had anticipated, but generally I love it. I like having control over every single aspect of my books.
How would you rate your writing?
I don’t rate or judge it. I write as well as I can with my aim always being to grow and learn. I feel I am a very good writer, and have been told as such, but I feel strongly that an artist shouldn’t really judge or rate their own work. It’s for me to create, and for others to rate. And while they are rating me, in the meantime, I’ll keep writing.
How do you react to poor reviews of your book?
One of my favorite books of all time is, The Diary of Anne Frank. Whenever someone gives me a bad review or says something negative about my book I go to Amazon or Goodreads and look at the one star reviews for that book. Once you get through about five or six of those you realize two things. 1. People are stupid. 2. If that book can get one star reviews and have nasty things said about it there is no hope for mine. Some people will hate it, but a lot of people have absolutely loved it and I appreciate the hell out of those people.
What influences your choice of book covers?
I have a graphic artist (JennLaa Digital Art) that I work with who is brilliant. I describe what I want and she works with me every step of the way. I felt like we created the cover together as opposed to her doing it for me. As long as I am involved in the process I’m happy.
How do you balance your writing with your real world responsibilities?
I write a lot at night after everyone falls asleep. I don’t get an abundance of writing done every night but I get there, one night at a time. When I have things I have to finish by certain deadlines I will kiss everyone goodbye, give them pizza money for dinner and set up shop at Starbucks. I’ve done a few marathon sessions there recently and that’s really helped.
Do your characters drive the plots of your stories or do you plan out your plot?
I think my stories are largely character driven, but plot is crucial. Your characters can be as interesting as you want but if they don’t have anything to strive for or rail against all you’ve got is a bunch of interesting people tying their shoes for hundreds of pages. Who wants to read that?
Do you ever write what you dream? Give an example.
I don’t. My writing all comes from my daydreams.
Do you market yourself or pay a professional?
I market myself. It’s a struggle sometimes but the people I know who have paid professionals have all said it wasn’t worth the money.
What are your tips for editing?
I think the key is to walk away from your work for long enough so that it looks strange when you go back to it. It should look like someone else’s writing. You should never write something and then turn around and edit it right away. I put my books into what I call a ‘coma phase’. It has to sleep undisturbed for a while before I can look at it again and be objective.
What inspired you to write your current WIP or current published work?
Vampires have been used as tools to explore things like addiction and isolation. I wanted to use them to explore mental illness. The main character has an illness called Psychotic Depression, which I also have, and it was sort of my way of processing the whole experience.
Do you prefer to write stand-alone novels or a series? Why?
I don’t have a preference. I like a series because if I’m really loving the story I can explore it more fully over a longer period of time. I like stand-alones because the story is more defined.
If you could change one thing in the publishing process what would it be?
I’d make marketing easier. That’s been the biggest challenge so far. I don’t know what I’d do to make it easier but that’s what I’d change.
What advice would you give to a new author?
You don’t need to be perfect. Don’t wait until you can do something perfectly before you do it, otherwise you’ll never do anything fun or cool. Just write, do the best you can and don’t judge it. Some people are writers and some people are critics. You’re a writer, so write and don’t worry about how other people perceive it. If they like it great, if they don’t, oh well. Someone else will get it.
Share a favourite quote from your book.
"I screamed with pain and pleasure. He lost all control of himself and began thrusting hard, over and over again like an animal. Suddenly his mouth clamped down on my neck and I felt his fangs sink deep into my flesh. He bore down as hard as he could and I thought I was going to faint from the extreme bliss. On the night Gavin had transformed me this same act had felt only like pain, but now it felt like heaven. I never wanted him to stop."

This is one of the reasons I love being an Indie author, we're incredibly honest and share our inner thoughts. I agree about writing under your own name because I do it for the same reason. If i've spent months writing something then my name is going to be stamped proudly on the front and I know I write erotica but i'm incredibly proud of all my very naughty scenes. Then of course there's my daily battle with my own depression and I completely understand how writing calms the demons...Jessica YOU ROCK GIRL!!

So less of my ramblings and more of Jessica's books...
I still think this is an awesome cover! That's the thing about Indie's we can change our book covers whenever we feel like it! But what's it about?

When 24 year old Rachel Landry, who suffers from a debilitating mental illness, receives a knock at her door one night from a stranger she gets an offer she can’t refuse. The chance to live as a vampire, gaining eternal life and relative sanity seems like a great plan. Soon she comes to realize she has been turned for a specific purpose and her vampire existence may be short lived. Also the handsome stranger may not be as much of a stranger as she thought. Facing her demons along with new enemies she must come to rely on her own strength to save her life, and the life of her new clan.


This woman looks like she has massive attitude! Love it!
After being chosen by a King to be his bride, Lady Iliya is taken to a castle far away to be wed to King Roman. On the night of her wedding, just as she is about to discover the mysteries a man holds, she is kidnapped and taken to an underground world full of strange creatures. The Satyr King, Ramses, wants her not just to be a Queen in his strange world, but to be a sexual Queen in his bed both with him, and others who he will choose. Now it is up to King Roman, with the help of his knights, including young Sir Henry who is also in love with the Queen, to rescue her.

Yet again my TBR list has grown a bit more!! I strongly advise the purchase of these great books...
Find all her books here : LINK
Or on her facebook pages:

Or on her blog: http://jessicamacintyredotcom.wordpress.com/

And just because I know her obsession and it's Wednesday...HAPPYSchmidsday!!


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