Dancing in Circles. (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009PFNPMG) One born into privilege and a charmed life
surrounded by love and family. The other born to a life of violence on the
streets as the solemn gang leader of the notorious Shoresmen. A young,
idealistic co-ed, Julie Anderson, meets a jaded, cold gang member, Robert
Holiday, and cracks his icy shell, allowing the warmth of her love to awaken
his soul.
Circles Divided– (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BBKNDAC) Is
the love of a girl from wealthy Westland and a street punk from the slums
of the Shore strong enough to surpass all that life will throw at them and
forge a life together? Is Julie willing to sacrifice her childhood dream of
becoming a professional dancer for the man she loves? Is Robert willing to
lay down his ties to the gang in order to hold onto his new found love?
Sacrifices must be made, but will they be
enough?
Circles Interlocked - http://www.amazon.com/Circles-Interlocked-ebook/dp/B005S8LI46 Having been
betrayed by the man she assumed she was destined to be with forever; Julie
Anderson slapped Robert Holiday in an angry ending to their brief love affair.
Heartbroken that her love affair didn't end with the fairy tale Happily Ever After, Julie leaves town to
pursue her dream of being a dancer. As fate has a curious sense of humor, eight
years later, they wake up in bed together. Now it is up to love to fix what time
cannot mend.
Interview with Victoria Adams
Hi,
Victoria.
1. When did you know you wanted to be a writer? What were
some of your first steps toward making your dream a reality? How would you say
most of your stories are conceived? Dreams? Research? Experience?
I never knew I wanted to be I writer. I
just found writing easy. I could write short stories in elementary school and
essays were a piece of cake in high school and university. I was – and still am
– intrigued by people who say they can't write.
My philosophy – put the pen on the paper – or – fingers on the keyboard.
I became an author by accident. I taught
high school. A couple of my student complained there was nothing for them to
read. This was pre-Twilight, so I wrote Dancing in Circles and Circles Divided
for them.
My stories are conceived by my
imagination. I get an idea and run with it. I wrote a book based on a line of
dialogue I thought of.
2. What 3 things would you like readers to know about
you?
I'm Canadian, so my book is written in
Canadian. I love murder mysteries; Agatha Christie is my favourite author. In
the summer, I love to garden. I can write scenes in my head while weeding or
deadheading a plant.
3. Tell us about your books. Genre, titles, any favorite
characters? What can we look forward to from you in the near future? WIP’s,
upcoming releases?
Dancing
in Circles, Circles Divided and Circles
Interlocked are the three books that comprise Circles Trilogy. The first 2
– Dancing in Circles and Circles Divided – are NA contemporary – written for 17
and up. The 3rd – Circles Interlocked – is an adult contemporary.
My favourite character in the book is
Robert. The book seems to circle around Julie, but it is driven by Robert.
I have a few completed books sitting on my
harddrive; one is in a mass rewrite and critique. Its working title is A Guy
and A Girl.
4. What are some of the best social media, marketing, and
publicity tips you’ve come across?
If I knew the answer to this I'd be rich.
I'm a struggling indie author trying not to drown in the quagmire of promo.
5. What are some things you know now about writing and
being an author that you wish someone had told you at the very beginning?
The first thing is that the way we are
taught to write in school has nothing with how we write fiction. That was a
steep learning curve.
Second, and most importantly, THEY can be
ignored. Who's THEY? Those invisible people who make the rules. They say you can't start a book with a
question. They say you can't write in
first person. They say... Once I figured out there is no "Book of
Rules" hidden somewhere that everyone seems to know about but me then I
stopped listening to a lot of crap and started writing the book the way I
wanted to.
I guess you could put a 4th
thing to know about me – I write out of the box. I write in omni. Some of my
books will have a happy ending and some won't.
Critics and reviewers can tear apart
Dancing in Circles and Circles Divided because I know they're wrong. I put my
book out to my target audience – older teenagers. I printed out three copies
and handed the manuscripts to three students I knew I could trust. They read
it. They loved it. But – they were my students – so they "had to say
that". Then they asked if they could give it to a friend. It ended up with
students coming from other high schools to chat with me. They cried about
things that happened in the book. They got angry with characters. These
teenagers connected with it. Students did book reports on it in English class.
Two students painted art pieces based on the main characters – Julie and
Robert. The principal of my school was called by another to see if the author
in his school would do a workshop. My principal had no idea what he was talking
about.
I was stopped by an older male teenager – not from the high
school I worked at – and asked if I was the person who wrote Dancing in
Circles. I said yes. He high fived me and said, "I read it. F'in'
awesome."
So what is all of that rambling about –
the question paraphrased was - What are some things you wish you knew when you
started writing?
I wish I knew - write it the way you want.
Don't listen to the critics. Write your book.
6. What lifts your spirits when you’re discouraged?
Chocolate and my cps – when I'm down I can
complain to them and they cheer me up.
7. What tips can you offer towards building and
maintaining a strong support system as a writer?
Do the impossible – find a good critique
group and then inside of that – find some good critique partners. How do you do
that? Try. Try. Try. I've left probably a dozen critique groups. You're
probably thinking – because she was told her story was bad. Nope.
Some people can't think beyond the edges
of the box. Robert is a gang member – one person kept correcting his grammar.
(I ain't done nuthin' wrong – I haven't done anything wrong) Robert uses the
word "you'se". One person complained – I don't like that word. It
sounds like he's from Detroit. Well, duh
– I grew up in Windsor. The word is part of my lexicon. When I explained that
to her it was like talking to a rock.
So your search for a good critique group is good to be
long and sometimes painful. Keep digging because awesome cps are better than
gold.
Around the Web with Victoria
Blog –
Victoria's Pages of Romance – http://victoriaadams.blogspot.com
Facebook
Author Page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Victoria-Adams/244325918978641
Facebook -
Circles Trilogy Page - http://www.facebook.com/CirclesTrilogy?ref=hl
Twitter – http://twitter.com/_VictoriaAdams
Google+ -
Victoria Adams
Plus –
Triberr, Amazon Author, LinkedIn, SocialOmph, Goodreads etc
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