SPFBO Finalist Interview: Angie Grigaliunas “Sowing”

I’ve nearly ran out of interviews! Gotta keep these going! I do have a few I’m waiting on, but I am coming towards the end of the ones I do have. I think I have a couple left in my inbox. If anyone has sent an interview in and hasn’t had theirs put up, just let me know.

Today’s interview is with Bookworm Blues well deserved finalist Angie, with her amazing dystopian book Sowing. I can gush about both this book and Angie as a person for hours on end to the point of it being slightly weird, but all I can say is I know Angie quite well personally, she’s an incredible writer and the love she puts into her world and characters ranks up with some of the best I’ve seen by anyone. She also loves cats.

I wish Angie the best of luck with the Finals and I have huge expectations for her writing career. Seriously, it’s so well deserved.

Little Post about me:

So I did get eliminated from SPFBO at the first hurdle. I fully expected it, and I’ll be the first to admit it hit me a lot harder then I thought it would. (Funny how dumb emotions work!) I feel a lot better about it now and I’m just happy I took the plunge. It literally saved me from going down a spiral into nothing, so I can only thank it for that.

Expect more from me in 2019. But let’s get back to the main event!

 

 

 

First of all, tell me about yourself! What do you write?

Hi! I’m 28, married, love cats (and most animals)… Erm…yeah… I’m really short/small, kind of dorky and klutzy, I’m scared of bees and heights, not scared of snakes or spiders (if they’re outside)… I’ve never been farther west than Missouri. No, wait, Texas. Unless where I was in Texas wasn’t as far west as where I was in Missouri. Now I have to find out. Hang on. *finds a map* Okay, the place is Texas is slighter farther west. Mystery solved.

Did I mention I’m slightly crazy? Ha! I should have…

Also: ice cream. I need it. Cookie dough. If you want to be my friend, give me ice cream. I may or may not be easily bought.

Also also: sarcasm. I don’t know if I can speak without using it. I mean, for an extended period of time. Unless I’m not speaking. Though, I’d probably still be thinking in sarcasm… (And we wonder why my characters are sarcastic. Just kidding. No one who knows me has ever wondered that… Ha!)

I write fantasy/dystopian. More dystopian than fantasy, though there are different races and such. It’s also medieval. Beyond that, I have a more fantastical story (with magic and dragons!) as well as an Ancient Rome-thingy in the works. I pretty much just write what I’d like to read, so…

How do you develop your plots and characters?

Oh, gosh. They kind of develop themselves. The plot often grows out of “what if?” questions, but the characters have minds of their own. I have almost entirely given up on trying to make them be what I want them to be. Every time I say, “This person is going to be _____, _____, and ____,” they decide to rebel and be the opposite. -_- How dare they. This is what I get for writing a dystopian story about rebellion…

Tell us about your current project.

Sowing is the first of a planned series (eight books!); it follows two sisters as they try to navigate and find their places in their oppressed, war-torn world. Here’s the blurb:

They can take your house, your daughter, whatever they want.

For Ariliah, life under the militarized Hulcondans is one of order and safety. Despite the soldiers’ ruthless policies, she trusts their judgment. They alone provide protection from the enemies lurking beyond the city wall.

For her older sister, Rabreah, every glance from a Hulcondan is a threat. Though even a whisper against them is treason worthy of death, Rabreah is determined to end their tyranny. Joining an underground resistance is her only hope – until she realizes she doesn’t know the people she’s aligned herself with at all. Unsure who to trust but unable to back out, she must work alongside the attractive yet infuriating rebel leader who reminds her far too much of the soldiers she hates.

But with subversive posters appearing throughout the city and people dying on the blade of an unknown assailant, the sisters’ world begins to crumble.

And as the line between friend and enemy blurs, both girls must face the truth: everything is about to change.

Who would you say is the main character of your novels? And tell me a little bit about them!

I feel like I have four: Ariliah, Rabreah, Sorek, and Masrekah.