Saturday is here again! YAY! And it's Author Saturday Spotlight time. This week we have Addison Albright here. She's the author of 'Til Death Do Us Part, Cultivating Love, Dream series, and many more. She's agreed to sit with me, sip some coffee (water for her *wink*), and chit chat. We will take a look at her work, do a fabulous interview, and shut it down with a wonderful giveaway. So grab your coffee and sit with us for a bit.
Henry and Sam
Miller-Greene are living the dream. They love their careers -- which
afford each of them opportunities to travel to exotic locations -- they
love their home, Sam’s caring family, and each other. They disagree on
the subject of adoption, but are fully committed to each other in
marriage ... ’Til Death Do Us Part.
The dream is shattered when
Henry’s plane crashes and he’s presumed dead. But four people -- Henry,
two other men, and a child -- survive undetected on a remote, small, and
insignificant island. Will Sam and Henry’s love be able to survive, as
well?
Henry fights to endure in harsh conditions, never knowing
when disaster will strike. Sam struggles with his loss, but with help
moves on with his life. Will Sam be able to put aside his new love when
he reunites with Henry?
Mike is thrilled when
his old university crush turns up at his door in answer to his roommate
advertisement. Wes doesn't remember Mike at all, or even realize he's
gay, but that doesn't stop Mike from pursuing a determined campaign of
seduction. The trouble is, Mike isn't ready to give up his free and easy
lifestyle and settle down with just one man. Mike isn't comfortable
with public displays of affection. Wes doesn't like anything resembling
the proverbial closet, but Mike's still buried deep inside one where his
family is concerned. Will Wes have the patience to deal with Mike's
issues, or will their dream come true end up a nightmare?
A man of few words, Joe
is a hard-working farmhand who likes his simple, uncomplicated life. Ed
is satisfied with his existence as an auto mechanic, but thrilled when
an unexpected development in his life allows him to help Joe realize a
dream.
It forces them, however, to reevaluate the casual,
undefined nature of their relationship. They're too macho to speak of
love, and neither would ever dream of acknowledging he doesn't really
mind when it's his turn to bottom. When life throws them a curve ball,
and the rules of their game get old, Ed makes an effort to take every
aspect of their relationship up a notch. Will Joe be able to adapt to
the open sentimentality Ed's injecting into their relationship, let
alone the new spice in their bedroom activities?
Interview
Thank you, Addison, for being here today and for talking
with me. I have some questions I’d like to ask you in hopes to get to know you
a little better and connect with readers. Not painful, I promise.
Thanks
for having me, Meredith. I’ll do my best, but after perusing your list of
questions I’m not sure we see eye to eye regarding what is or is not “painful.”
‘Til Death Do Us Part received an Honorable Mention at the
2016 Rainbow Awards. That’s such a fabulous thing to see for such a great book.
What was that like for you?
I am so
incredibly flattered to have received this compliment (and thank you so much
for calling it “great”). I don’t know if it’s the shy introvert in me that
fills me with self-doubt, or if that’s typical for writers, but the honor was
certainly unexpected. I’m one who sweats bullets with every review submission,
crossing my fingers that someone will even be interested enough to want to read
it, then hoping like crazy that they’ll like it or at least not hate it and
write a scathing review. I’ve been delighted by the generally good reception my
story has received. I submitted it for the Rainbow Awards figuring nothing
would likely come of it, but nothing ventured, nothing gained, so why not try?
It’s pretty much made my year for me. “Thrilled” doesn’t even begin to cover
it.
When you’re reading a book what are the most important
things you look for for it to be a great book for you?
I love
humor in books, but it’s not a requirement—sometimes it wouldn’t fit the story.
Likeable/relatable characters are generally important to me, although that
doesn’t mean they can’t be flawed.
I like a
variety of genres and sub-genres, so I think my answer has at least as much (if
not more) to do with the storytelling than the contents of the story. How well
the story is told is as crucial as the plot. Is the author’s voice engaging? Is
the book well edited so I’m not continually thrown out of the story trying to
figure out who “he/him” is referring to? Please, please, please, are the MCs
acting like adults and not spoiled junior high schoolers? Whether it’s
laughter, sadness, or horror, if the story connects with my emotions, it’s a
good thing.
Have you ever written a
character based on someone close to you?
The shy
guy (Larry) in Another Dream (one of
my early stories) channeled me.
I can’t
say that any other characters have been truly based on anyone specific,
although Buddy/Aiden from ’Til Death Do
Us Part was influenced by several young’uns in my life. He was originally
inspired by my granddaughter. I babysit her most weekdays, but she was only a
few months old when I was writing the story. I based his younger abilities on
my great-niece who was similarly aged, and his older personality on my
precocious step-grandson, and memories of my son when he was that age.
You have a B.S. in Mathematics (The Devil’s language) and a
minor in chemistry. So how did being a published author come into play for you?
The
Devil’s language??? Noooooo!!!! I originally was going to major in chemistry
and minor in math, but I loved calculus II so much I reversed them. I don’t
suppose that related anything other than what an odd duck I am, eh?
To answer
your question, I guess it stems from being a voracious reader. I’m not one of
those writers who has gazillions of story ideas rattling around in her head
demanding to be let loose, but good stories I’ve read led me to dream about
what happens next in the beloved characters’ lives, or what if “this” had
happened instead of “that”? Eventually that evolved into a few story ideas of
my own, and I felt compelled to try my hand at writing them down.
If you could collaborate with
any author in this genre who’d you like to work with?
This is
probably the toughest question on your list. There are so many different
factors to consider. I think I’ll go with J.D. Walker. As a fellow JMS Books
author, I’ve interacted with her a bit online and find her to be a genuinely
nice person loaded with an abundance of great story concepts. So (1) she’d be
fun to work with, and (2) my own inadequacy in the ideas department wouldn’t be
a hindrance to the collaboration.
If there was a biography written
about you what would it be titled?
Geez
Louise, if there’s one thing worse than blurb writing, it’s coming up with a
good story title. How about “She Tried”?
Does writing books get easier or
harder? Explain.
Both? I’m
pretty sure my skills have improved since I started, so I feel ever so slightly
more confident, and achieving novel-length is no longer a seemingly impossible
task. At the same time, I’m getting better at recognizing when passages I’ve
written aren’t up to par, then I agonize endlessly over how to improve them.
Do you attend any conventions or
conferences?
Thus far,
no. The stuff I wrote years ago was all in ebook format only. Then I took 7+
years off, dealing with real life. When life settled down, and the idea for ’Til Death Do Us Part hit me, I started
writing again. So I’ve just got the one recent release that’s novel length
print format, which doesn’t seem like enough to attend as a writer, yet.
Since I
only live an hour’s drive away, I’ve considered attending GRL this year as a
reader/observer to see how these things operate, so the freaked out introvert
that I am will be able to cope better if I ever attend one as a writer. I even
went so far as to add myself to the waiting list for the supporting authors
before realizing I probably won’t be able do either since the supporting author
thing is on a Thursday, which would be problematic for me to attend, and
Saturday (which is when I’d figured I might try to be a fly-on-the-wall
observer) is now in conflict with an unavoidable family event.
That
being said, I’m not ruling it out. I hope to participate one way or another in
the future.
Please tell us about your future
works?
I am very
excited about To Love and To Cherish,
my almost completed WiP. It should be finished within a week or two (actually
by the time this spotlight hits your blog it might be done). It’s a story for
Nash, the poor jilted fiancé from ’Til
Death Do Us Part. Nash’s story has been a blast to write. I’ve put the poor
guy through the wringer on the journey to his HEA, touching on many of my
favorite guilty-pleasure tropes.
Once
that’s done I plan to take down and rework my old stories with expired
contracts that I’d subsequently self-published. Once I’ve worked them over, I think
I’ll relist them on Amazon Unlimited.
After
that, I will hopefully come up with another fresh story idea. I’ve got one
brewing, but I still need to flesh it out.
How can your readers follow your
career: Facebook, Twitter, website?
Fast Fire Question time!
Night or day? Day
Coffee or tea? Neither, but if forced to pick one I’ll drink tea. (Boring person
that I am, my favorite drink is water)
Winter or summer? Autumn (okay…summer)
Netflix or Hulu? Netflix
Favorite color? Green
Favorite smell? Popcorn
Cats or dogs?
Cats all the way!!!!
Right handed or left? Right handed
Favorite song? Bohemian Rhapsody
Your comfort food? Chocolate
Thank you again for being here
and again for talking to me.
Thank you
for thinking of me, Meredith. I guess it wasn’t that painful after all.
Giveaway
Addison is doing an INTERNATIONAL contest for a
signed paperback copy of ’Til Death Do Us Part!
Simply fill out the rafflecopter below.
Contest ends August 26th.
Thank you, Addison, for being here today and talking with us.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
