Name Joleene Naylor

Age 36

Where are you from: Villisca, Iowa, famous for the unsolved 1912 axe murder. We’re actually three blocks from the scene of the crime.

A little about your self `ie your education Family life etc  

I’m married to my high school sweetheart, and though we have no kids we’ve moved my parents in with us, along with cats, dogs, and three turtles, so the place is a circus. When I’m not writing, or promoting, I make book covers and graphics for fellow authors, watch anime, draw the Terrible Turtle Conspiracy webcomic (written by my friend Jonathan Harvey), and try my hand at DIY renovations on our Victorian house. If it caves in you’ll know I got bored watching the how to videos and decided to figure it out myself.

Fiona: Tell us your latest news?

I’ve finally finished Patrick’s Story: Brothers of Darkness, a prequel to the Amaranthine series that tells the story of how Patrick and his brother became servants to vampires, how he met Katelina, and how she ultimately got put in a position to end up tangled in the mess.

I’m really excited for this book because I actually finished the first draft a few years ago, and then set it aside. Though, being more straight horror, it’s different than the series, which leans towards romance/paranormal fantasy, so I’m nervous about the reception, but it is what it is.


Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style?

I use a lot of fragments, and short sentences, and I tend to go heavy on the descriptive prose. A lot of the time I’ll edit some of it out because so many “publishing guidelines” frown on it, but I often wonder whether readers actually agree with those guidelines.


Fiona: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.

Oooo. Only one! That’s hard. I’m going to cheat and name two because without them I wouldn’t have even finished the first book! Carolyn was the one who encouraged me to finish writing it, and when query letters fell flat, Dan convinced me to self publish it, and of course the rest of the series followed. Without them I wouldn’t be here now.


Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

Honestly? No. And most author blogs will try to shame me for that, but I am tired of being ashamed. It is what it is. I don’t want to live, breathe, sleep, and eat writing, and I shouldn’t have to. That is supposed to be the point of the indy revolution: to do it our way, and get out from under all the “you MUST do such-and-such” of the traditional industry.


Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?

“Panda Cake, a Panda Cake, Mama is making a Panda Cake. A Panda Cake is a special cake, it’s not like any you’ve eaten, its got clover and roots, and bamboo shoots, and clover honey for topping.” I can go on, but I’ll stop there.

Fiona: What makes you laugh?

Puns. I love puns. The pun-ier, the better.

Fiona: What do you want written on your head stone and why ?

“Here lies the Queen of the Galaxy”. I then want buried in an expensive tomb with a scepter, so when alien archeologists excavate in a million years, they’ll put me in a museum as a ruling deity.

Fiona: What TV shows do you enjoy watching?

Supernatural, NCIS, NCIS New Orleans, American Horror Story, Star Trek, WWE, Sherlock, and Dr. Who among others. Though if they make the Doctor a woman I won’t watch it anymore. I find it insulting – it’s as though they are saying “A female timelord would be awesome, BUT not awesome enough to get viewers *by herself* so we have to make her be the Doctor – who already has millions of fans – and hope that those fans will embrace her, because if we made a female timelord that was an ORIGINAL character, she wouldn’t be strong enough to gain fans by herself.” Newsflash: A female timelord would be awesome but she does NOT need to piggyback on a pre-existing character to get fans. That, right there, is one of those gender attitudes we’re supposed to be fighting against.

Fiona: If you were not a writer what else would you like to have done?

 I’d like to have been an archeologist. Or a psychiatrist. Or an animator. I might still learn to do that.

Fiona: Do you have a blog/website? If so what is it?

Yep! My website is at http://JoleeneNaylor.com where you can sign up for the newsletter, check out info on all my books, download wallpapers and print-yourself bookmarks, read character interviews, and find the link to my author blog. It’s a wild and crazy place! Okay, maybe not wild and crazy, but it does have links to more than 40 FREE short stories, so that’s a little crazy.

 

Book links:

BROTHERS OF DARKNESS: (pre-order for the special price of 2.99) https://www.amazon.com/Patricks-Story-Brothers-Darkness-Amaranthine-ebook/dp/B01JNKD2L6

SHADES OF GRAY: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002RHP5D6

LEGACY OF GHOSTS: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0046A9P0G

TIES OF BLOOD: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005M9B77O/

ASHES OF DECEIT: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0084DOZH4

HEART OF THE RAVEN: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BSLOCAY/

CHILDREN OF SHADOWS: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IZ6OX18

CLASH OF LEGENDS: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TR7IA36

MASQUE OF THE VAMPIRE: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BWKOSLS

VAMPIRE MORSELS: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008QJTRX8/