Author Interview with J.A. Belfield

[Sylvia]

This is our 2nd Author Interview for the month and it's with J.A. Belfield. Her works include . This is our 54th Author Interview since we started and it is conducted by one of our moderators. Please read this interview and we hope you will be able to pick up lessons about her experience.If there are any questions you would like to ask J.A. Belfield please post them here. Thankyou.


1. Did you always know you wanted to be a writer or did you want to be something else?
Ha! Nope, I had no idea I could/wanted to write until I tried for the first time in 2009, and could never have predicted how much I’d love it.
When I was young, I wanted to be an ice-cream lady, with my own ice-cream van I could drive around the neighbourhood I lived in, selling ice-cream to kids (and eating them myself in between).

2. How long does it take you to write a book from start to finish?
That’s the million dollar question, eh? My fastest book was 2 weeks. My longest one (so far) was a year. Guess which one was the most poo?

3. How do you come up with themes for your stories?
Themes? *shifty eyes* What’s those?
Nah, I’m just kidding. I guess I didn’t so much as come up with a theme for my books, as had to figure out the themes when folk started asking what they were after I’d written them. They tend to lean heavily toward love, loyalty, and self-acceptance/discovery. :)

4. Do you have a schedule of when you write?
Schedule? *shifty eyes* What’s one of those?
I’m pretty haphazard in the way I work. If I have distractions, like blog posts that need writing, housework, edits, blog tours, cakes to be eating … then they do exactly that: distract. I have to get those out the way and have a clear lane ahead of me before I’m completely comfortable in the driving seat. Only then can I truly write.

5. How are you able to balance other aspects of your life with your writing?
Rubbishly. That a word? I’m working on it, though. Thankfully, I don’t have a job on top of writing, so I get to choose my own hours. And my family are VERY understanding, especially if it comes to dinnertime and we suddenly realize I’ve nothing in to eat. ;)

6. What elements do you think make a great story line?
For me, it starts with the characters. Make me fall in love with the characters, and so long as I care about what happens to them, I’ll follow them pretty much anywhere. Though there has to be a point to the plot, too—a driving force to keep me intrigued.

7. What was the hardest thing about writing a book?
Keeping track of everything to keep the inconsistencies at bay, and trying to translate what I’m visualizing or ‘feeling’ into words.

8. How many books have you written so far? Do you have a favorite?
Crikey, I’m beginning to lose count. If we include the incredibly naff trilogy I wrote prior to writing Darkness & Light, then I have written … 6.5 novels, 3 novellas, & a few short stories. And though my heart kinda lies with Jem & Sean, because they’re who the Holloway Pack were born of, I’ve gotta go with Caged—Ethan’s tale—as my fave because it was the hardest work so far to write, but it also felt like the biggest achievement.

9. Do you have a favorite character?
Ach! You can’t ask me this. I love them all, and all for totally different reasons. Jem, because I can so relate to her, Sean because he’s Sean, Ethan because he’s so protective and tough to boot, Kyle because he has such a laid back sense of humour the more you get to know him, Dan because he’s the quiet one and you’ve always gotta watch the quiet ones, and Josh because he’s just so naïve and lovable everyone wants to cuddle him up.
That answer your question? Or was that cheating?

10. Where do you write?
At a stupidly small table smack bang in the middle of my kitchen. :)

11. When deciding on how to publish, what directed you to the route you took?
I’d tried the traditional route of submitting to agents, but they didn’t bite. Looking at Independent Publishers was the next option on my self-made ladder.

12. Have you gotten feedback from family about your book(s)? What do they think?
The main family member whose opinion I value is my sister’s, and that’s because she’s an avid reader, who isn’t afraid to tell me if something sucks and why. She’s also been with me from the very first discussion of writing down my daydreams and encouraged me from the off.

13. What kinds of things do you like to do outside of writing?
We’re quite family orientated, so we’ll take the pooch for walks, or head to visit the MIL in West Wales, where she lives near a load of beaches and coastal walks, or Mr B takes me out for dinner. Occasionally, we’ll watch a film if they can drag me away from my laptop whilst I’m still within reach of it … ;)

14. What kinds of advice would you give to someone who wants to start writing?
Write. ‘Til your eyes bleed. ‘Til your ears steam. ‘Til your fingers wear down to stubs. Then write some more. On top of that, join a decent critiquing site, and learn to critique. And if you plan on getting published? Study the industry; do your research. It will make it a much easier ride and save you a wasting a lot of people’s time—including your own. Besides, it’s always better to step through those doors with your eyes fully open.

16. What is your favorite book? Favorite author? Do you have an author that inspired/inspires you to write?
These questions are too hard. LOL. My author tastes change all the while. When I went through my gritty stage, I loved Martina Cole; my crime stage was Jeffrey Deaver and Val McDermid; my first foray into urban fantasy was Kelley Armstrong; for horror it was James Herbert. So, no, I can’t pinpoint, because every author I’ve ever read/loved has inspired me in some way. Though, I will divulge that my favourite read of last year was Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout.

17. Do you have any go to people when writing a book that help you with your story lines as well as editing, beta reading and such?
For magical stuff, I turn to my sister. She provided me with research materials for Blue Moon, did heaps of research for me at the drop of a hat, held fictional conversations with me for Darkness & Light, helped me mould the course of Resonance’s storyline. Then I have my writer buddies, who have consisted of Julie Reece, Aimee Laine, Jocelyn Adams, Rebecca Hart, Kastil Eavenshade over the past couple years, plus many more, who have helped me tear my suckers up and make them more readable. And then I have my beta readers, who are just readers, and will tell me if the story is awesome or poo. :)

18. Are you working on anything now?
Yep, yep, Holloway Pack #4, baby. Details on that are hush-hush for a little while though.
Massive thanks for having me over today. It’s been fun. :)

[Sylvia]

Thank you so much Julie for doing this interview for our group :) Look forward to reading some of your work