A Little Q&A with S. A. Jones

McKenzie takes over the blog again today, with a Q&A with S. A. Jones, author of Love Something Fierce, part of the Harvest Treats compilation. Not only did I get to work with S.A. hand in hand to design her book cover, I have also known this talented author her entire life – she’s my niece. She and I have always shared a kindred spirit, as we both have a deep love for literature. Here is her Q&A with Kenna -

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McKenzie: How do you get your mindset to write a young adult theme?

S. A.: As it is, I still am a young adult, so getting into the mindset isn’t that hard at all. Romance has always been a favorite genre of mine to write, and still being a young adult, many of the troubles faced are still fresh in my mind.

McKenzie:  How are you able to get a good plot without over-explaining?

S. A.: It’s hard. It really is. I always want everyone to know everything about a character, a lot of times I have to stop and go back through, especially in a novella like “Love Something Fierce” and say, “Huh, now, does that really need to be in there?”

McKenzie: How much time do you put into an average story?

S. A.: A lot. *laughs*. Including where I edit myself multiple different times, and then my actual editors get a hold of it to edit, it generally runs, from start to finish, a couple of months, if not a year.

McKenzie: When and why did you start writing?

S. A.: I’m not really sure when I started writing, but my mother says that it started at a very young age. I guess the why would have to be because I love the joy that reading and books bring to me, and I wanted to share that with other people.

McKenzie:  Has there ever been a time when you couldn’t think of any ideas?

S. A.: Honestly, I probably spend more of my time NOT thinking of ideas, than I do thinking of them, lol. A lot of times an idea comes into my head, but then I pick it apart because I can’t remember if I’ve written it somewhere before. Halfway through reading my other works though, I forget what the idea was to begin with!

McKenzie: How hard is it to keep your writing from interfering with your personal life?

S.  A.: It’s pretty hard. Thankfully with my oldest son in school, and the youngest in frequent naptime stage, it makes it a bit easier. Generally weekends are dedicated to spending time with them versus writing. With my husband being a submariner in the Navy, it can help and hurt all at once. Sometimes it gives me inspirations for feelings in a character when he’s gone, but with how hectic his schedule can be when he’s home, it’s hard to reorganize everything else around that. In the end though, we manage! We usually do some bonding time when the boys are in bed where he’ll play video games for a bit, and I’ll write for a bit, which works out pretty well.

McKenzie: Do you tend to use your kids/friends’ names in your stories?

S. A.: YES. Okay, well, sort of! *laughs* In “Love Something Fierce” the names go as follows:

“Seeley” – Was originally the name of our youngest son (before we realized it wasn’t the “right” name)

“Hope” – Was originally the MIDDLE name of our youngest, had he been a girl, and actually will be the middle name of our next child, if it’s a girl

“Aiden” – Is my oldest son’s name. I had to get him in there, for sure! <3

McKenzie: How do you stay committed to your writing?

S. A.: It’s hard. It’s really, really hard. Generally I designate a time at the end of the night, after the kids are in bed, and if hubby is home after he’s COMPLETELY engrossed in a game, put in my headphones, and write. Just for a straight hour. Generally it’s from about nine to ten, and it really is hard, but if you want it bad enough, you keep on doing it! Trust me, I wanted it, and I wanted it bad!

Thanks to my little cousin, McKenzie, who took the time to come up with questions for the authors of “Harvest Treats” and giving an inside look to questions young readers have!

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Tomorrow wraps up my blog invasion by McKenzie. If you’d like to hear from her again, let me know, and I'll see what we can do in the future! Join us tomorrow for a sit down with Michele Richard, and the release of Harvest Treats. To celebrate its release, the Harvest Treats authors will be joining Ali on Ali Talks Live tomorrow morning at 11am EST, then hosting a release party on Twitter tomorrow evening. We hope you will join us.

Harvest Treats will be available on Nook, Kindle, Apple, Sony, Kobo, and Smashwords in assorted ebook formats, and also Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Joseph Beth in paperback.