An inteview with the Awesome Fisher Amelie (plus a giveaway!)...

Today I have the Awesome (drink #1) Fisher Amelie visiting! I've raved about her book, Callum & Harper before and I've been stalking following her ever since. She was gracious enough to agree to an interview (instead of taking out a restraining order), and a giveaway! How Awesome (drink #2) is that?


Fisher Amelie resides in the South with her kick ace husband slash soul mate. She earned her first 'mama' patch in 2009. She also lives with her Weim, 'Jonah', and her Beta, 'Whale'. All these living creatures keep the belly of her life full, sometimes to the point of gluttony, but she doesn't mind all that much because life isn't worth living if it isn't entertaining, right?

Fisher grew up writing. She secretly hid notebooks and notebooks of dribble in a large Tupperware storage container in her closet as a kid. She didn't put two and two together until after college where it suddenly dawned on her, "Hey, I like writing".
She's a bit dense.
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are. Put down that Oreo, your butt can't take any more."
"You're rude."
"Yeah, yeah."
Anyway, she likes to write and has finally beaten her self-esteem into submission enough to allow herself to be scrutinized under the 'other readers' microscope. "No! No! Not a cover slip! Last time it gave me a ra...." (mumbling)

Rescue Fisher from her metaphorical specimen slide at www.fisheramelie.com
On to the Q and A:
Tell us a little about your writing journey and what brought you to indie publishing: When I was younger, I wrote because if I didn't, I would have gone insane. No kidding. I needed that outlet, to spread out my ideas on paper, to release my imagination but as I got older it became my livelihood and my imagination took a back burner. Right now, I'm a copywriter and blogger for several corporate clients within the U.S. but the difference between my writing because I have to and writing because I want to was enough to spur me into a closer relationship with an imagination just begging to be let free. Though I write for a living, I didn't find my true calling until I typed the first word of The Understorey. I have never felt as wonderful, as accomplished, as true to myself until that moment.I decided to go Indie, like so many others, because of a well known author and blogger named J.A. Konrath. Many authors think they can't be considered or personally won't feel legit until they've gotten a contract from a traditional publisher but Konrath helped me 'see the light'. I reexamined what legitimacy meant to me and when I truly thought about it, legitimacy comes with my first sale, my first review, my first 'Please! When does the next book come out!'. If you've ever read Konrath's blog, he explains the direction that publishing and reading in general is taking. The industry is changing and I decided to change with it.  


Do you think indies have to fight harder than traditional authors to gain recognition? I know traditionally published authors and they fight just as hard as Indies. They go to the same mattresses, fight with the same passion and live that same fight over and over with us. There is this strange misconception with traditionally published authors that the publishing houses 'do all the work' and that is just not true. The Big Six only do this for their bigger authors, the rest are left to fend for themselves. They are no different than an Indie when it comes to marketing themselves. The only thing and I mean the only thing that Indies have to work harder at is convincing others that we can write just as well as a traditionally published author.

I've already raved about your contemporary YA book, Callum & Harper. What inspired this book? Was it difficult to write? Thank you! I'm so incredibly humbled and grateful for the attention Callum & Harper is receiving! It's so incredibly wild!

Five years past, the hubs and I were planning our wedding. We chose the YWCA of Fort Worth in Texas. I know your imagining a high school gym right about now, maybe some crepe paper's involved but let me tell you, the name is deceiving because the building itself is a local landmark. It was constructed in the eighteen-hundreds, brick, plaster, and just incredibly beautiful. We saw and chose it almost immediately but what sealed the deal was the fact that the top two floors of this brick building were apartment housing for orphans kicked form their foster homes at eighteen. The lady told us that the YWCA takes in these young women, kids really, and sets them up with a place to live, a job, clothing and food. They help them gain independence. And one hundred percent of the proceeds earned from the reception hall go to help make this happen. We signed that day.

A few weeks later, I was at the facility for something silly. I think something to do with the caterer and while I was leaving, I saw ten girls just sort of loitering outside the building, talking and laughing. So I approached them. And when I did, I heard some of the most harrowing tales of sorrow and pain I've ever heard in my life. They talked of sexual and physical abuse, abandonment, and loneliness. They were candid and brutally honest and my heart bled for them. But the worst part? They were shocked as hell I was even interested in hearing their stories. Yes, some of these girls were admittedly thieves and a few of them were probably addicted to drugs but they were obviously a product of their environments and by the way they spoke, I could tell they were committed to improving their lives and situations. I was heart broken when I left but full of a conviction to tell their stories.

Tell us about your newest release: Callum & Harper is a story of love. Two young orphan teenagers, a product of the system with no money and no prospects are forced to rely on each other to survive their environment and a terrible ghost from Harper's past but they aren't deterred by the impossible. They overcome all through hard work and the drive to be better than what's expected of them even when the world seems out to get them. And when all seems lost, they ultimately find love and family in the most unlikely of places...each other. 

What else are you working on this year? I'm currently writing a spin off of Callum & Harper called Thomas & January. It's the story of Thomas Eriksson and January Mac Lochlainn. Thomas is bitter and cold-hearted after he loses, who he thinks, is the love of his life but January becomes the breath of fresh air who, much to his dismay, informs him he was wrong.

(And late this summer I'll be finishing The Leaving Series as a whole. I'm going to attempt three short books by August. Wish me luck.) 

You're member of an awesome indie author group, the YA Indie Carnival. Tell us a little about how you came to be a part of it, and what the group is all about: I was in the right place at the right time, it seemed. I was so lucky to be included into this group from the beginning. Essentially, Laura Elliott, the brilliant creator of the YA Indie Carnival, got together with M. Leighton, one of my fav authors of all time, and decided a blog group was in order. I was lucky enough to be invited in the first round.

Lightning round:Chocolate or vanilla? This is going to sound so weird because authors and chocolate are synonymous but I choose vanilla. Please don't kill me. :) 

Day or Night? Night, baby. I'm a night owl. The moon sings to me. 

Vampires, werewolves, fallen angels or aliens? Werewolves? Too hairy. Fallen Angels? Um, a demon? No, thanks. Aliens? Depends. Does he have two heads? Vampires? YES! I'm in, baby. I'm in! I like teeth. I also like the idea of perfect skin. Superficial, I know, but I won't play I'm something I'm not. :)

Quick! It's 12/21/12 and the world is ending. You have five minutes to grab five things to bring with you to a secret underground bunker. What would you take? I'm going to assume my fam is already down there. So, I'd scramble for my Kindle, a chocolate martini, my Mac, Kimono and a satellite phone. I'm set, honey. I'm set.

Linkies:
Fisher's Facebook Fan Page 
@fisheramelie on Twitter.
Goodreads
www.fisheramelie.com
Amazon
Barnes and Noble

Thank you, Fisher for such Awesome (drink #3) answers! And be cause she's extra Awesome (drink #4) covered in Awesomesauce, up for grabs is one ebook copy of Callum & Harper! Come on, you know you want it. How do you get your hands on it?
1. Be a follower of this blog. This is mandatory.2. Comment! Write a comment on the interview, along with any links to tweets or Facebook posts. 3. Tweet! Tweet about the interview and giveaway. Post the link in the comments for an extra entry.4. Facebook! Post the link for another entry.

That's 3 extra points you can earn. The contest will close on Monday, March 19 at Midnight (est). I will post the winner, chosen by Random.org,  on Wednesday. Good luck!