I am happy to have had the chance to interview Ashley Chappell the author of
Alice Will. For more information about Ashley, please visit her wonderful blog
Notes from the Canvas.
Brief Bio:
Ms. Chappell currently resides in Huntsville, AL
with the love of her life. She is a contractor for NASA in the Rocket City
and during her writing time her cats sometimes share her lap with her computer,
should they choose to allow the usurpation at all. She is an avid lover of
nature who enjoys climbing, camping, hiking, and sailing.
1.) What made you
want to be a writer?
It probably wouldn’t be too far-fetched to say that my love
of books began in utero. My mother read constantly throughout her pregnancy and
then read her books to me from the time she brought me home to the moment she
handed the reading reigns over to me as a kindergartner. I probably learned
more about reading from Danielle Steele than I did from Dr. Seuss. However, I
can’t say that there was a single moment in my life that I decided, ‘Hey, I
should write one of these things.’
For me, writing was a natural step from my love of reading, although my
motivations for writing have evolved over the years. Initially the point was
only to tell a story; later it became to share a point of view through
story-telling. Talented authors change the way we view the world and I believe my
greatest teachers have always come from the library shelves. My dream is to share
my own perspective on the peculiarities of human nature through the twists of
the characters and the stories that I create - not to preach to a reader, but
to guide them through the learning experiences and growth of my characters.
2.) How long have you
been seriously pursuing a career in writing?
I first dreamed of being an author when I was in grade
school. I wrote short stories, poetry, started books, started other books, then
forgot to ever finish them. It wasn’t until about five years ago that I really
started focusing on switching the dream into an action plan. Since then I’ve
finished numerous short stories, a screen play, and three full novels - the
most recent of which will be published by Center One Publishing this fall.
3.) If you had to choose
three words to describe your writing nook/office, what would they be?
Cat-filled; Open; Zen
4.) Where do you draw
most of your inspiration from?
I’m tempted to say from late night snacks and caffeine, but
that would only be partly true. Most
of my inspiration comes from everyday life - A news header from the radio, a
tradition, habits into which we fall... any of these. How they inspire me is
when I can turn my head just slightly and take a look at them from a different
angle. Sometimes finding perspective and inspiration just requires asking the
question ‘Why?’ of the things we take for granted.
5.) Give us a one
sentence pitch for your first novel.
Despite her out-of-control magic, teenage demi-goddess
Trotter takes on dark gods and chatty demons while fending off the very
apocalypse that everyone thinks she caused.
(Tagline for Alice
Will - Website coming soon)
6.) What are some of
the projects that you are currently working on completing?
In addition to honing my blogging skills, I’m working on two
novels concurrently - Tilt and The Hotting - both of which take place
in the same world of Aevum I introduced in Alice
Will. The most fun I’ve had with this
series has been the evolution of the pantheon for this world. Trotter isn’t
your average Percy Jackson-style demi-god and these aren’t your average
Olympian gods. The gods of Aevum are exactly what we would be if we were forced
to live forever with no sense of our maker or meaning in our life without
Prozac.
7.) What are some of
your recent publications?
Alice Will is my
first published novel, but in the past I’ve had poetry in anthologies and short
articles in local press. Most of my focus has been on maintaining my blog,
Notes
from the Canvas, the ‘canvas’ being an extension of a concept I
introduce in
Alice Will. For my
stream of consciousness updates and more frequent nose-thumbing, find me on
Facebook.
8.) Are you an
outliner or a seat-of-your-pantser?
I think I’m a hybrid. I outline with the knowledge that my
outline will be different every time I sit and complete another section.
Somehow, my characters always know better than I do what should happen next and
I find that they lead me in new directions every day. Who am I to argue? It’s
their world, after all.
9.) If you could only
own one book, what would it be? Why?
Ohhhh, a toughie! If I have to answer this question I think
I’ll have to cheat: One of Terry Pratchett’s Tiffany Aching novels. Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky,
Wintersmith, and I Shall Wear
Midnight. But if I were forced to choose, I would have to do it blindfolded
and spun around until I was too dizzy to do anything but fall down and point
randomly. Any one of those four novels can inspire me, engage me, and thrill me
no matter how many times I’ve read them.
10.) Favorite
childhood book/books?
I chose books as a child much the way I do as an adult: by
the series. When I find characters with whom I simply fall in love, I don’t
want to give them up after a single book, so finding a series devoted to my
favorite characters was always a passion. And some of those favorites that I
had as a child are still my favorites now. L’Engle’s Time Quartet was always a favorite; Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom series (I swore I was going to
marry Captain John Carter of Mars when I grew up. Instead, I finally found the
real thing J);
R.L. Stine’s Fearstreet. On birthdays
I would ask for the same gift each year: One box of books, please.
11.) If you could
meet any author, living or dead, who would it be? Why?
Finally, an easy one! Without a doubt, that author would be
Sir Terry Pratchett. When the long nights and weekends of studying manuscript
preparation, revising, editing, re-revising and editing my edits exhaust me
while the characters for new stories are jumping on my back to get my attention
it is always a dog-eared Pratchett novel that I pull down to restore my sanity.
And let me tell you, restoring my
sanity is no small task, either.
12.) If you could
meet one character in a book, who would it be? Why?
Quite probably, I’d have to answer Captain John Carter of
Mars from the Barsoom series
mentioned previously. This series was written back in the 20’s, when heroes
were perfect heroes, men of perfect principle, and men of perfect action.
13.) Where do you
hope to be as a writer in five years?
In five years I hope to have finally attained that elusive
dream of all writers everywhere - to be fully self-supporting doing the one
thing I love above all else. Spending my time between author events sipping tea
and working in my little writing room (also known as the Catio). In the
meantime, I’ll spend some time every day trying to craft the best novels that I
can to see that it finally happens.
14.) Favorite
quote/personal motto:
“I never learned from a man who agreed with me” - Robert
Heinlein
15.) If you could
give any advice to other writers, what would it be?
The primary advice you see given to writers is paramount to
all other advice - “Write!” It says in blogs, articles, forums, everything that writers write, write,
write, and write. And that advice is 100% wholeheartedly true.
But I would go one step further to add what should probably
be the most understated aspect of writing: “Read!” Read everything and be open
to different styles, genres, and voices that you wouldn’t normally pull off the
bookshelf. Each of those things will offer you a new perspective, and
perspective is one of the most important items in a writer’s tool kit. That is
why I started considering the enormous time I spent reading as Writer’s
Aerobics. If yet another rule for writers is write what you know then
one area where you can’t go wrong is to make sure the biggest weapon in your
arsenal is, in fact, what you know.
When I think great dialogue, I cannot help but think Gilmore Girls. I love the witty comments and rants. Click here for a video of some rants and ravings of my favorite girls. lol 
