Can
you give us a brief overview of your latest book? Is it part of a series?
Shifter
School is the first book in my Shifter School series.
It’s the story of Laylea, a werehuman who has little control over when she’s a
dog and when she’s a girl. For everyone’s safety, she’s condemned to a
super-secret, underground shifter academy until she learns how to shift. Not
surprisingly, her Private Investigator soul sniffs out diabolical dangers to
the shifter kids and like any good terrier, she won’t let it go until she’s
gotten her answers.
Do you have a favorite character?
Do you have a favorite character?
I am surprised by how much I’ve fallen in love with
Kyle. Kyle was one of Laylea’s only normal human friends until he got bitten by
a vampire. Even after that happened, I wasn’t sure if Kyle had what it took to
survive. He’s a funny guy. But he’s got a lot of love in his life and that gave
him a reason to live. He’s still funny. He’s battling the dangers of living as
a demon now. His soul is at risk. Laylea is the only friend from his life who
knows and their relationship is crazy dynamic. He’s an adult. He was a homicide
detective. He had a wife and a child. But he’s new to this wyrd world that
Laylea grew up in. Her adoptive mother is a witch. She’s a shifter. So, he
knows more about the world. She knows more about the curse.
Did you try the traditional route to publishing, i.e. querying agents/publishers?
Did you try the traditional route to publishing, i.e. querying agents/publishers?
I did. My epic fantasy Hardt’s Tale won a book publishing contest and was traditionally
published. I didn’t enjoy that adventure as much. I learned about indie
publishing from the authors whose books I was narrating and I gave it a shot
with Geoffrey’s Queen and fell in
love. I have a lot to learn. But I have the time and passion to search out
everything I need to learn.
Briefly describe your journey in writing your first or latest book.
Briefly describe your journey in writing your first or latest book.
My first book was a crazy journey. I got the idea
for it, the idea to write it in the form of a Möbius strip with no beginning
and no end, in college. I finally really found the time to work on it when I
lived in Amsterdam. I fleshed it out back in the states during my 45 minute
daily commute to downtown Chicago. I happened to be dating a guy in Denver at the
time and I was very active in the Society of American Fight Directors. It’s all
in the book and reading it, for me, is like watching a slide show of those
twenty years of my life.
What is your writing process? Do you listen to music or do you like silence?
What is your writing process? Do you listen to music or do you like silence?
I listen to instrumental hip-hop, Bach, film
scores, video game scores, anything fun and creative with no words. I can’t
have words. And YET, I keep forgetting that and putting big band on Pandora.
Whoops! Not only do I start singing along, there are certain songs that demand
you get to your feet and dance. Big Band is not a good writing soundtrack for
me.
Do you outline your story or just go where your muse takes you?
I outline my stories and then go where my muse takes me. She’s not into plans.
What have you’ve learned during your self-publishing journey?
Do you outline your story or just go where your muse takes you?
I outline my stories and then go where my muse takes me. She’s not into plans.
What have you’ve learned during your self-publishing journey?
I’m learning every day. The most important lesson
I’ve learned is to ask for help. That’s the best way to find the humans that
will make your life beautiful.
Do you find it difficult to juggle your time between marketing your current book and writing your next book?
YES! I need to get back to Act III of WereHuman: The Warrior’s Son right now. It’s poking
at the back of my brain and it won’t stop until I’ve finished, edited, and narrated
the book. WereHuman: The Hunter’s Heir
is already making me daydream scenes. I’m in this to write the stories.
Marketing drives me batty. When I come up with a
good sales blurb, it’s like bursting through the tape at the end of a marathon
(minus the endorphins). I’m possibly equally as sweaty.
Besides writing, do you have any other passions?
Besides writing, do you have any other passions?
Acting. Dogs. Dancing.
Hiking. Fighting. I am not short on passions.
Some fun facts about you, which do you prefer – dogs or cats? Chocolate or vanilla? Coffee or Tea? Talk or Text? Day or Night?
Some fun facts about you, which do you prefer – dogs or cats? Chocolate or vanilla? Coffee or Tea? Talk or Text? Day or Night?
DOGS! Yet, Laylea is going
to learn in Shifter School that you
can’t judge all cats by the evil Lucid. My partner’s cat scratched me every day
for the ten years I lived with her. She hated me.
VANILLA! I LOVE vanilla,
except in sex. (whoops, overshare!)
TEA! I am sipping a
vanilla creme Earl Grey right now. I also love chai. I learned to drink tea in
Amsterdam because I cannot stand coffee but I needed something to drink at the
cafes on those days when the sun came out and nobody went to work. In
Amsterdam, they bring you cookies with your tea. I am an expert at dunking
cookies to JUST before they disintegrate.
TEXT! I am awful on the
phone. I need to see a person’s face to have a good conversation. I’d say I
need to work on that but my mom loves FaceTime and my girl Kissy and I chat
through MarcoPolo these days. So, it’s okay.
I’m a theater person so
night has always been my answer. But I’ve taken up running and prefer to do
that early in the morning. If I could do a couple hours of dawn straight into
early evening for the rest of my writing time, followed by night for shows,
dancing, and playtime, that would be ideal. If we consider dawn to really just
be the end of night. I think my answer is NIGHT.
What’s next for you?
I am finishing up WereHuman: The Warrior’s Son and rolling
straight into WereHuman: The Hunter’s
Heir. Then I’m going to go play with some funny friends at Boom Chicago in
Amsterdam. Which means I’ll have to write a few international episodes in my Killer on Call thriller series. In the
fall I’m going to write Shifter Blood,
the next chapter in Laylea’s adventures and I’ll finish up my epic fantasy
trilogy, Mobious’ Quest. It’s going to be an amazing year!
It’s been really nice
chatting with you. Thanks for the opportunity!
BLURB:
So they
locked her away.
Laylea
has been hiding her entire life. She’s never been to school. She’s never had a
friend her own age. She’s never known anyone else like her.
All that
is about to change.
In a
world hidden from wyrdos and humans alike, shifters are still recovering from a
vicious plot to destroy them all. They have two laws they live by now:
1)
Hide
2) Protect
the children at all costs.
Laylea
has just broken rule number one. But she’s only fourteen. So they’re sending
her to school. Where she’s going to learn . . .
Anyplace
can be a prison.
The
Lincoln Park Shifter School is not your grandma’s uber-secret, underground
academy.
Buy link:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Gwendolyn Druyor was born at the
Quonset Point Naval Air Station Hospital, North Kingston, RI. The ID bracelet
wrapped three times around her little wrist. She could swim before she could
walk and read before she started school.
She has traveled the world
telling stories. After a year in Amsterdam writing and performing sketch comedy
at Boom Chicago, she toured North America with Shenandoah Shakespeare and with
the incredible educational show Sex Signals. From Paris, FR to William’s Bay,
WI, you’ll find her gypsy life reflected in her books. If you met her on the
road, read her closely, you may find yourself in there.
For now, Gwendolyn lives in
Hollywood with her Irish Jack Russell, Josh Lyman Zyrga, who is still pouting
over the fact that she didn’t put him on the cover of WereHuman.
For more information on Gwendolyn
and her projects sign up for her newsletter at www.GwendolynDruyor.com.
LINKS:
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