Remember last week when I wrote about reading the Amaranthine series that I’ve been gorging myself on since August? Yeah, you remember. This may be the writer in me talking, but I always like to know a little about the person who wrote the story I so admired. And with this being an *amazing* age of technology, now we have the ability to do so 🙂

May I present the first installment of “They Write the Books,” featuring the Amaranthine series author Joleene Naylor:

Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Joleene Naylor (like someone who nails, only spelled different.) I write, I draw, and I make lame jokes. Or I try. Sometimes they’re so lame they’re not even jokes anymore. I live in Villisca, Iowa – home of the unsolved axe murder – with my hubby, a bunch of family, cats, dogs, and turtles. For fun I like to take pictures of everything that holds still (If you use flash on the first photo, many small reptiles will be dazed for several shots) and watch anime when I get the time. Oh, and Dr. Who. And Arrow. And WWE. And…Okay. I watch TV.

How did you get into writing?

My mother is a writer and poet, so I was raised that writing is as normal as cooking or doing laundry. It’s just one of those things. Because of that I can’t get into a lot of the really artsy life-style ideas or the checklists of what you *have* to do in order to be a *real* writer. As long as you write something – now and then, whenever you get around to it – you’re a writer. You don’t need to wallpaper your house in literary journals or sell everything you own to buy how to books.

How did you come up with the idea for your story?

The Amaranthine series started as a NaNoWriMo book in 2005. I wrote a character like Jorick (my vampire hero) as an Original Character in a Role Playing Group (Harry Potter, not that you asked), so when I started the book I threw him in – with a name change. Changing his name changed his personality, and so Jorick was born as a separate entity. As for the story…I’m a terrible pantster, and I had no idea what I was doing (I have only now decided vaguely how book 8 is going to end – *hint* I’m in the middle of writing book 8 now).

Who are your favorite authors?

Edgar Allan Poe, J.R.R. Tolkien, Tricia Drammeh, V.C. Andrews (the real one who wrote, like, two books, not the replacement), CG Coppola, DM Yates, Barbara Tarn, J. Lee Coulter, Rodney C. Johnson, Beverly Cleary, JK Rowling, Louisa May Alcott, and of course Terry Pretchett. I could go on and on, but I’ll add just one more –  whoever wrote the story “There Are Rocks in My Socks, Said the Ox to the Fox.” I still have that memorized.

If you could only recommend one book, which would it be?

One??? OOOOOOOoooOOOOoooOOOooOOOO. That’s evil. Since I’m in the mood for a laugh, I’m going to say Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. I literally laughed on almost every page.

*Bonus * What one person (living or dead) would you share a meal with? And why?

The person who wrote “There Are Rocks in My Socks…”. I’d ask them HOW the ox got the rocks in his socks in the first place (I’ve had them in my shoes before – but in socks??) because I’ve always wanted to know. Either that or the lead animator on The Last Unicorn, so I could fan girl myself into a tizzy.  To this day I still think Lady Amalthea is one of the prettiest cartoon characters ever – and I am still sadly disappointed in the lack of Lir’s hotness. Wait. That’s two. I’m cheating. But since I didn’t cheat on the book question, maybe no one will notice that I cheated here…

A huge thanks to Caitlin for having me and asking such great questions! If you haven’t read her books DO IT NOW because they are THAT good!

 

Joleene Naylor is the author of the glitter-less Amaranthine vampire series, a world where vampires aren’t for children. As a compliment to the novel series, she has also written several short stories, including the Vampire Morsels collection.

In her spare time, Joleene is a freelance book cover designer and for-fun photographer. She maintains several blogs full of odd ramblings, and occasionally updates her website at JoleeneNaylor.com. In what little time is left she watches anime and pins recipes and DIY, all from a crooked Victorian house in Villisca, Iowa. Between her husband and her pets, she is never lonely, and should she ever disappear one might look for her on a beach in Tahiti, sipping a tropical drink and wearing a disguise.

She currently has several books available for purchase on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple and Smashwords.

website- http://JoleeneNaylor.com

author blog: http://joleenenaylor.wordpress.com/

FB author page: https://www.facebook.com/joleenenaylorbooks

twitter http://twitter.com/joleene_naylor

good reads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3165393.Joleene_Naylor

facebook profile – http://facebook.com/joleene.naylor

wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/user/joleenenaylor

pinterest – http://www.pinterest.com/joleenenaylor/boards/

google + – https://plus.google.com/102925915756209535618/posts

And a huge thank you to Joleene who took time out of NaNoWriMo to answer a few questions about her epic vampire series that you NEED to read. You have until April, when book 8 comes out.