Saturday, December 22, 2018

Season Greetings


December 22, 2018

Season Greetings!


This time of year is my favorite. I get to put up the Christmas tree and wrap presents. Then, days before the big day my husband and I play tourists in the French Quarter, stay at a hotel, eat at the best restaurants, listen to jazz, visit art galleries and so much more. I highly recommend a visit to New Orleans, LA during Christmas.

Tomorrow we will be at the Superdome with 77,000 of our closest friends and watch the Saints. Can I have a Who Dat? I can't wait and I'm very excited because when we win we secure home field advantage through the playoffs and a bye week. Now that's a Christmas present.

Lastly, I want to wish each of you a very special holiday season and a wonderful New Year.

Holiday Traditions


Traditions are important in every family and in my family, we have lots of them. I just want to share a couple that my family shares.

1. We all have a Christmas stocking and a special Nutcracker on the fireplace mantel.



2. I always match my wrapping paper to the color of the tree trimmings.

3. I make stackers out of presents. Actually, that started because I always made my bows and one year, I got tired or lazy and I decided to stack presents and tie them together. What I didn't know was my girls loved it.



4. We have the grandchildren each read a short Bible story before we open presents.

5. A family talent show of some sort always takes place. Here is one of my favorites from my Dad from the 1980s.. He passed in 2009, so I cherish this and many others.


So, as we enter the next few days, please cherish your family and either continue with your traditions or form new ones.

HOPE DAVIS - AUTHOR INTERVIEW


Now I want to introduce you to Hope Davis and her book Deceptive Perfection. She has a very interesting background.


Tell your readers a little about yourself. Where you grew up, where you live now, where you went to school etc. Let them get to know the personal you.

I was born in Denver, Colorado where I subsequently spent the first 21 years of my life. I graduated from Metropolitan State University of Denver in 2015 with a degree in Aviation Technology and a minor in Spanish. Directly after graduation, I moved to my current hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada. I currently work as a Flight Attendant, using my layovers in colder destinations to work on my novels. I love to travel and I enjoy learning new things. I’m currently fluent in Spanish and English and I am working towards fluency in French. In my free time (when I’m not writing, traveling, or doing any of the things listed above) I also am an avid runner and I am taking a class in computer programming.


How has your childhood impacted your writing?

As a child, my family moved a lot, and therefore, I switched schools thirteen times. I was always the new girl, which often led to me spending a lot of time in my own head. When I didn’t have friends at a new school, I would invent imaginary characters who had lives and stories of their own. This eventually led to a passion for storytelling and writing.


What inspired you to write this book?

I started out with ideas two characters that led completely separate lives but whom I felt needed to meet and fall in love. I just started writing their stories of their everyday lives, and honestly, they took over from there! This book does contain many scenes from/inspired by my childhood, but I’m not at liberty to say which ones! 



It is my understanding that you like to travel, how did your travels influence your writing?

Seeing new places and meeting new people in and of itself is awe-inspiring. I often take knowledge from the people I meet or the places I see and incorporate them into my novels. Traveling also keeps my eyes open to other ways of life that could put a different perspective on my novels that I wasn’t aware of before.


What and who has been the biggest influence on you personally and as a writer?

Honestly, when I started writing, had you asked me this question, I wouldn’t have known what to say. I’ve always walked to the beat of my own drum. However, recently, as I’ve worked on my second novel and continuously been hit with writer's block or plot issues, I’ve turned to the books of Mark Edwards. Every time I get stuck, I read one of his novels and I magically think of a solution or become unstuck, it’s amazing. Mark Edwards is an author so unlike any, I’ve read before and he inspires me to keep writing and to retain my individuality!


 What were your struggles or obstacles you had to overcome to get this book published?

Finances of course are an issue for any writer. Most people don’t understand how difficult it is to be picked up by a publisher. And hiring an editor without a publisher is not cheap. Obviously, I’ve had to maintain a job outside of writing, and this as often led to those “aha” moments, where I desperately want to jot down an idea but I am on a plane traveling at 39,000ft. I’ve learned to write notes in my phone, but often times they are too brief and leave me wondering later.
 
Tell your readers about your book.

My book is the story of two people, from completely different backgrounds, who meet in a park late one night. They make plans to meet again, but she doesn’t show. Mystery follows as Joshua, the young man, tries to discover why Eldalyn never came back. As more information is uncovered, it becomes clear that she may not be safe. This is a tale of intrigue, kidnapping, and romance—but not necessarily in that order.


Do you have plans on translating your book into another language? If so, which language and why.

As of right now, I do not. While I do speak Spanish, not well enough to translate a book and I don’t foresee myself hiring someone to do so in the near future.


Who is your target audience and why?

While I try not to gender my readers, I do acknowledge my largest audience is women between the ages of 18 and 60. My book contains some mature content that is not suitable for young readers. My book does contain a bit of romance, which lends it to being liked by the female reader. However, I’ve had plenty of men read it and tell me that the romance wasn’t overpowering and they did enjoy it in the end.


If you were going to give one reason for anyone looking at your book to read, why should they buy it?

Everyone has those moments where life gets tough, and they want to give up. We all have our backstories and baggage. While my book is fiction, the characters I feature overcome astounding issues, and I promise it’ll leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling that tells you not to give up and that you can face anything.


What do you consider your greatest success in life?

My greatest success in life is that I know I can do anything. A lot of people feel trapped by their family, upbringing, or education. But I have learned to overcome the thought that my history defines me—and that has led to me accomplishing my dreams. From traveling the world to publishing this book, I know nothing can stop me from success at something I put my mind to.


Everyone has life lessons to learn, tell your readers one or two of yours and how they make you the person you are today.

One of the hardest feats as a human being is learning to be comfortable in your own skin. And I must confess that while I’ve learned to be confident in myself, there are some days where I still falter. Switching schools as a child meant there were always rumors about me and people were always going to talk behind my back, after all, I was the new girl. But I learned to not let this bother me. And honestly, if I hadn’t learned to be myself no matter what, this book wouldn’t be published today because I would be too worried of what other people would think of me after reading it.


What one unique thing sets you apart from other writers in your genre?

One thing that definitely makes me stand out as an author is the authenticity of my books. I like to take my readers to another place, but I like to keep them firmly grounded and “in this realm” so to speak. I feel that many romance/mystery books end too perfectly or execute too smoothly, I like to include some real life bumps along the way. I also don’t try to make my characters perfect; they all have flaws, even my villains. I know everyone gets tired of reading those romance novels about the “gorgeous girl with the perfect hair and hourglass figure” but who does that really describe? Certainly no one, I know.

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

I know someone is going to hate me for saying this, but this book started out as a fanfiction I wrote when I was 13. Now, I’m not going to tell you what novel, because I don’t want anyone going to find my middle school angst writings. The fanfiction is nothing like my finished novel, but they both center around the same thing, two people who must learn to go beyond their upbringing and families to find their spot in society—and that’s the tale I really wanted to tell, everything else came after.

Tell your readers anything else you want to share.

I know there are a lot of people out there who dream of writing and publishing their own novel—but don’t have any idea how to go about the process themselves. I want people to know they can always contact me with questions regarding how to hire and editor and what platforms are good for self-publishing. The questions I wish someone would have been able to answer two years ago when I was trying to navigate the world of writing a book on my own.

The best way to find out information about my upcoming novels is via twitter @thehopeopera, for people who have questions regarding self-publishing I welcome messages on instagram also @thehopeopera.