Author Interview! Eliza Tilton, author of Broken Forest

Today I'm doing the first author interview of the year. Read through and enter the rafflecopter giveaway at the bottom.

 

Eliza Tilton, Author of YA Fantasy, BROKEN FOREST, published by Curiosity Quills Press.

Amazon / Barnes&Noble / KOBO / Goodreads

I "met" Eliza when we were both members of Backspace. We became critique partners, and I was thrilled to see all her hard work turn into her publishing story. Her YA Fantasy, Broken Forest, is a wonderful read. The sequel is in progress.

Please welcome Eliza's with her answers to my list of questions I've always wanted to ask published authors. Her responses are in red.

 

1. Where/how did you come up with the idea for your story? Did it suddenly pop into your head or were you brainstorming?

Broken Forest started off as a birthday present for my husband. I was in college, broke, and thought it would be a cool idea to write a fantasy with him as the main character. The only aspect that stayed the same was the mc’s name: Avikar.

2. Did you start with the main character, the world or the overarching concept?

Almost all of my stories start with a character or a scene. I’ll have an image in my head and from there the world and concept evolve until I have a story.

3. Panster or Plotter? Or in between?

Definitely a panster with high hopes of becoming a plotter. Usually, I have a general outline and a query written. I also don’t write in order. Each scene comes together on its own (I have an overall story arc I work with), then I connect all the pieces together. 

4. Are you a fan of writing contests?

Writing contests are a great way to get exposure and receive feedback. The downside to some contests, for eg first 250 words, is that you re-write your beginning just to win and could potentially hurt your story.

5. How did you find your agent? How many query letters did you send?

I don’t have an agent. When I was querying through YAlit chat’s agent’s inbox, the acquisitions editor from Curiosity Quills requested pages. I didn’t plan on publishing with a small press, but the more I looked into it, the more it seemed like a viable option. CQ published my novel in May 2013 and they’ve been great to work with.

6. What's the best marketing tool you've found so far?

Natural interaction. I’ve done blog tours, giveaways, interviews, but the only boost I’ve seen has been when I interacted with people through either social media or in the real world. Bookbub is a great marketing tool for when your novel goes on sale. One of my pub sister’s had a Bookbub listing and her numbers jumped. It can be a little pricey, but well worth it.

7. What do you like best about your mc?

I love that there’s a darkness to Avikar, but at the same time he can be sweet and funny.

8. What do you like best about your main antagonist?

 

I love Lucino's sarcasm. I'm not a sarcastic person. Writing that into a character has been a lot of fun.

9. Anything else you like to share about your journey or your upcoming launch, including links to giveaways or ways people can help spread the word?

My journey isn’t what I had imagined, and sometimes that’s a good thing. I’ve learned a lot about publishing and have made great contacts. 

This March I’ll be heading down to Florida for a literacy festival. Details below!

Riverdale High School will host a week- long celebration of reading March 3-7, 2014.  During this week students will enjoy dress-up days, author book talks, and will participate in creative, multimodal projects in various classes.  At the Riverdale Literacy Festival on Friday, March 7^th, students will participate in a book signing with eight young adult authors.  Other festivities will include games, music, and food.  Please help us reinvigorate our students’ enthusiasm for reading by providing them with high- interest books.  Learn more about how you can participate in the Riverdale Literacy Festival and help us put books in the hands of our students! 

Riverdale High School Literacy Festival

Book goodreads blurb: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17797991-broken-forest
Hopeless he'll never be more than the boy who didn't save his brother, 17-year-old Avikar accepts his life as the family stable boy, trying to forget the past. But when his sister, Jeslyn, is kidnapped, the thought of losing another sibling catapults him on a desperate quest. With his best friend by his side, and using the tracking skills he learned from his father, he discovers Jeslyn has been taken, kidnapped by one Lucino, the young lord of Daath, a mystical place thought only to exist in fables. 

                                                        And Lucino has plans for Jeslyn.

BROKEN FOREST, published by Curiosity Quills Press.Amazon / Barnes&Noble / KOBO / Goodreads

Author BIO:

Eliza graduated from Dowling College with a BS in Visual Communications. When she’s not arguing with excel at her day job, or playing Dragon Age 2, again, she’s writing. Her stories hold a bit of the fantastical and there’s always a romance. She resides on Long Island with her husband, two kids and one very snuggly pit bull.

Author links:Twitter https://twitter.com/ElizaTilton
Tumblr http://elizatilton.tumblr.com/
Website http://www.elizatilton.com
Pinterest http://pinterest.com/elizatilton/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Eliza-Tilton-YA-Author/245765852217133

 

Rafflecopter Giveaway Here!! a Rafflecopter giveaway