Summer Giveaway Hop & Author Interview: D.L Atha

Summer Hop Giveaway time! We’re having a very special event here: you’ve a chance to win a copy of D.L. Atha’s Blood Reaction: a vampire novel, that I reviewed recently in this post here. She’s kindly agreed to send it to our winners (yes, that was plural, people!), so I would ask everyone to say a big thank you to her...

And to welcome her to the interview we’re hosting today!

It is a pleasure to have you here tonight, D.L. Atha, and I would love to welcome you to Stories of my life.

Okay, let’s start breaking the ice and talking about Blood Reaction: a vampire novel. What makes it really special?

Blood Reaction is different in that it’s a book about a mother protecting her child from a vampire. Instead of a typical romance, the storyline is based on a mother’s love for her daughter and what she is willing to do in order to save her. It is also a medical thriller, attempting to explain the physiological aspects of vampirism.

After reading a lot of supernatural romance, Blood Reaction sure is an original and interesting premise! How and when did you get the idea?

I was at the theater watching one of the Twilight movies. I don’t even remember which one but I kept noticing Edward breathe. For anyone who has read the Twilight saga, you know that he is ice cold. So as a physician, I couldn’t get past that. Of course, it’s just a movie and they couldn’t make the actor “non human” so it couldn’t be helped but as a doctor, I was trying to justify the reasoning. I kept thinking the only way that Edward could have breathed out air that condensed was if he had warmed up and was no longer the atmospheric temperature. So that is where the idea was born. I went home that night and wrote about 8 paragraphs where the vampire Asa hunts down a human and the lack of condensation is how the human recognized that his pursuer was not human. After the vampire fed, of course, he “fogged” like any other human. Then I built the story around that idea.

Roughly speaking, how long did you spend researching for that marvellous idea you’d had and how long did you spend actually writing?

For Blood Reaction, there was not much research. Most of it was common medical knowledge that I practice every day as an internal medicine physician. Anemia and blood clots are some of the most common diagnoses that I treat.

As for the writing, it took about a year to write and then about 4-5 months of editing. That was the truly hard part.

I know they are all yours and you must love them, but which one is your favorite character? Why?

Asa, the vampire, is my favorite character. He’s just so awful and makes no bones about it. His character formed in my mind in a matter of minutes and no matter how much I wanted to change him, I just couldn’t. He is who he is!

Do you plan on writing a sequel to Blood Reaction? If so, how many books can we expect?

I am planning on a sequel and I have written about a third of it. In my mind, I see about 4 books.

This question was coming: Did you always want to write? What made you turn to a writing career?

I have always written in my spare time and have started “more books” than I count. This was the second one that I truly set my mind to finish. I can honestly say that I truly enjoyed the entire process.

Because we’re curious like that: who is your favorite writer? The one who has influenced you most heavily?

My all-time favorite writer is Lucia St. Clair Robson. Her ability to detail locations and situation without boring the reader is truly amazing. Margaret Mitchell is also another favorite of mine. She only wrote one book but after I read it, I felt like I knew her main character personally. That’s my goal!!

I see you’ve turned the Indie Way instead of following the Traditional Path. Why? And, in hindsight, are you satisfied with your choice?

I sent a copy of my rough draft to the owner of a small publishing company and he was willing to produce it. There’s very little money for marketing and the sales lines are not as easy to establish. On the other hand, I had far more say in the process and how the final product would end up. Since I’m not writing to make a living, I wanted to do it my way and I don’t regret it.

What piece of advice would you give to anyone who’s dreaming of publishing their own book one day?

My advice would be to spend a little time writing every day. That’s how books are written . Great story ideas don’t make a book. It’s the time you spend putting “pen to paper.” Don’t get discouraged; just keep writing!

The chance to be random! Share with us some random thought to wrap up the interview!

My favorite time to write is around midnight. I’m a real night owl and I love for the house to be a little on the warm side. I also need a backdrop of music and socks. I cannot write unless my feet are warm!

 

Thank you so much for joining us, and thank you for your generosity in supporting this giveaway!

D.L Atha has agreed to send out a printed-copy for US residents only AND also an e-book copy for our International readers, how’s that? Awesome, no? There’s more! If we have more than 25 people taking part in the giveaway, she’ll add an extra e-book to the prize! Isn’t it great?

Entering the giveaway and winning is very easy: just fill out the form below and on the 8^th of August Random.org will pick up the lucky ones. I’ll then send them an e-mail notification, and they have 48 hours to answer to acknowledge it (or to provide the shipping address, in the printed copy winner case) before the prize is declared deserted.

Requirements are very easy: you have to be a follower to enter, and you may get an additional entry for sharing the giveaway (with a link back, please). Then, you have to choose if you want to enter only for the US printed-copy contest, only for the e-book International contest, or for both contests. And then you’re set!

Good luck to everyone!

The Summer Hop Giveaway is... Open!