Deal Sharing Aunt: OF DELICATE PIECES BY A. LYNDEN ROLLAND Giveaway & Interview

ABOUT OF DELICATE PIECES:

Of Delicate Pieces (Of Breakable Things)

By A. Lynden Rolland

Publication Date: November 10, 2015

Publisher: Month9books

Settling into her second year of death, Alex is ready to explore her limitless mind in an afterworld that changes each day, but she still isn’t resting in peace.

The ‘gifted’ are humans who see spirits and have the same extraordinary mental powers, though they aren’t considered equals. Centuries ago, Alex’s family led the movement to keep the living and dead separated, but the gifted believe Alex is a reincarnation of their slain civil leader. When they begin to break down the barriers that protect the city, the afterworld becomes dangerous and vulnerable to exposure. The living and dead both want to use Alex for their own gain, but what they don’t realize is that neither side will want her when they find out who she really is.

In the afterworld, nothing stays buried for long.

OF DELICATE PIECES is the follow-up to A. Lynden Rolland's OF BREAKABLE THINGS.

FOLLOW UP TO:

A captivating debut about the fragility of life, love, and perspective.

When Chase dies tragically, Alex embraces her own mortality. What she didn’t expect was that she’d have to make a choice: forget the years of pain and suffering once and for all, or linger as a spirit and get another chance at life and love.

Alex doesn’t hesitate to choose; she’d follow Chase anywhere. But the spirit world is nothing like she expected, and Alex finds she's forced to fight for her life once more. For even in a world where secrets are buried much deeper than six feet under, a legacy can continue to haunt you—and in a place this dangerous, no one is resting in peace.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16050312-of-breakable-things

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ABOUT A. LYNDEN ROLLAND:

A. Lynden Rolland was born and raised in a picturesque town obsessed with boats and blue crabs. She has always been intrigued by the dramatic and the broken, compiling her eccentric tales of tragic characters in a weathered notebook she began to carry in grade school. She is a sports fanatic, a coffee addict, and a lover of Sauvignon Blanc and thunderstorms. When she isn’t hunched behind a laptop at her local bookstore, she can be found chasing her two vivacious children. She resides in Maryland with her husband and young sons.

INTERVIEW

1. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

I think I was always a writer. That doesn’t mean I was old enough to write well. I grew up writing short stories and poems that I never shared with anyone. I actually never intended to publish anything! I wrote Of Breakable Things (the first book in the series- Of Delicate Pieces is the sequel) when I took a leave of absence from teaching. I let someone read it when it was finished (thinking nothing would come of it) but I was encouraged to publish.

But one thing I know for sure is that you don’t need to get paid to write to be a writer!

2. How long does it take you to write a book?

It depends on the book! Of Breakable Things was originally 800 pages! So that took forever but because I didn’t think it would ever see the light of day. I just wrote and wrote until the story was finished. Of Delicate Pieces took about three months and then editing adds two or three more months. Contemporary novels don’t seem to take quite as long because there isn’t as much world-building.

3. What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

I have three children, one who was just born on October 6^th! Usually I spend my day being a mom, and then I write after the kids are in bed, so from 8:30 until I crash.

4. What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I need notes. Everywhere. I have notebooks full of ideas and lists. My office walls are pinned with photos, song lyrics, character webs, naming ideas, etc.

5. How do books get published?

It’s such a long road. I had no idea before I was published exactly how much went into it. First, you write the book. Next comes editing and beta reading by people who won’t tiptoe around the writer’s feelings. More editing. You need to write a query letter to submit to agents; if you already have an agent, you write a rough query letter that your agent can play around with to submit to editors. Submission begins. Agents pitch the book to editors at various publishing houses. If it gets picked up, you sign a contract. You announce. You wait for edits. They arrive and you take some time to process what the editor wants you to do with the story. You work and work and edit and edit until the deadline. You send back the novel. The editor might accept the changes or he/she might send back more notes. When the edits are accepted you wait for copyedits or line edits. You receive those and okay them. At some point during all this, you get to see the ideas for the cover. And during the entire process, you network and market. You try to get the name of the book out there to generate interest.

6. Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?

Usually ideas come at the weirdest of times. In the middle of the night, or while driving, or while at a restaurant. Sometimes people walk past me and I think about their story, and then I want to write that story. Sometimes I hear a song and try to think about what kind of story would go along with it.

7. When did you write your first book and how old were you?

I wrote a really horrible novel while I was in college. I think I was nineteen.

8. What do you like to do when you're not writing?

I’m usually ‘momming,’ shuttling my children to school, preschool, soccer, baseball, Tae Kwon Do, gymnastics, play dates, lunch dates, etc. I’m also a former gymnast, and I still teach gymnastics and tumbling.

9. What does your family think of your writing?

Thankfully, they support me. I’m lucky that my husband allows me to run out of the room when I have an idea (even though he knows I won’t come back for a while). My oldest son has recently decided he wants to be a writer, but he’s a first grader, so next week he’ll probably change his mind and want to be a ninja again.

10. What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?

The main character in the Of Breakable Things series dies of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. After doing the research, I’m shocked how many people actually live with EDS.

11. How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

I’ve written five books. Three in the Of Breakable Things series (and I’m hoping for one more!) and I wrote a contemporary novel last year that’s on submission right now. I wrote another contemporary a few years back, but my agent thinks it would be better suited as an adult novel, and we aren’t sure if we want to jump off that bridge.

12. Do you have any suggestions to help me become a better writer? If so, what are they?

Have fun with it. If you aren’t enjoying the story as you’re writing it, then the reader probably won’t enjoy it either. You don’t have to be writing the story to be working on it. Take time to get to know the characters. Find photos of what they look like. Create character webs. Write passages from their perspectives. Map out or draw your settings and scenes. The more you immerse yourself in the world and the characters you’ve created, the better the story will be.

13. Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?

Yes! I love hearing from them!! Mostly, they worry about the characters! A lot of readers have emailed or messaged me wondering about Jonas. Everyone loves a bad boy, I guess. Others want to know more about Alex’s mother or about her connection with Sephi Anovark, the prophet. All of these questions are answered in the series, but usually I’ll send back some info with some reassurance.

14. Do you like to create books for adults?

Yes. I wrote a book that has duel perspectives. Mother and daughter. One day I’ll go back and edit this one because I really love it.

15. What do you think makes a good story?

A story that makes you feel something. Isn’t that what we’re all after? That’s why we like particular songs and movies and books. We want to feel.

16. As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

I wanted to be a doctor! I started off college as a biology major… and hated it. So I switched to English. My parents were not happy.

17. What Would you like my readers to know?

About me? I just hope I can entertain you. Make you feel something when you read my writing.

About my books? I hope you get the opportunity to escape for a bit. To be entertained. To enter a world with problems you’ll never have to deal with (hopefully).