JANINE SPENDLOVE INTERVIEW

Today I’m welcoming Janine Spendlove to my blog with an insightful interview~~~Grab one of her books today!!!

 

 

JANINE K. SPENDLOVE

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Did you always want to be a writer?

No, it’s been a more recent desire over the last 5 years or so. A new “hobby” if you will.

If so, what medium did you start with? Fanfic! Yup, I’m not embarrassed to admit it. Fanfic is a great place for aspiring authors to practice/learn the ropes of writing. My first published work was a couple of non-fiction short stories in the anthology “Supersonic Saints: 2” (under my married name).

What was the inspiration for your book series, War of the Seasons?

I have a full post about why I wrote War of the Seasons here:http://www.ailionora.com/2012/03/26/why-i-wrote-war-of-the-seasons-happy-birthday-will-tk8432/

But in summary, I lost someone very close to me and writing War of the Seasons: The Human helped me deal with my feelings and heal.

Who is your favorite author??

Oh man, that’s hard. I have a couple I really REALLY like. Jane Austen, Orson Scott Card, & Aaron Allston are all up there for sure though.

What is your favorite genre to read and why?

I used to easily be able to say “fantasy!” but so much has changed, especially now that I write fantasy. I love Sci-fi, of course, but also really enjoy non-fiction (history, military history, biographies), military fiction, and of course, the classics.

Do you prefer to be indie published, self-published, or traditional published?? Why?

ALL! I’ve been published all three ways, and they all have their positives and negatives. So it really depends on the project & how much control I want over it.

Did you ever experience a major life changing event that impacted your writing?

Oh yes, as I answered above in why I wrote War of the Seasons.

If you could be any book genre, which one would you choose and why?

You mean me as a person? We’ll I suppose I’d like to be “fantasy,” because then I could fly without an airplane.

Name a song(s) that define(s) you as a writer.

Yet another difficult question & something I also recently posted about on my blog here:http://www.ailionora.com/2012/07/30/playlist-for-war-of-the-seasons-the-half-blood/

But if I have to be pinpointed down on one, I’ll pick an album, Abbey Road, by The Beatles. It’s got it all - action, adventure, silly shenanigans, and even some romance.

If the world was on the edge of extinction, how would you survive?? I wouldn’t worry about myself. I’d make sure my children were taken care of and do what I could to help everyone else after that. Zombie apocalypse, now that’s a different situation...

What advice would you give to other aspiring writers like myself?? Start writing and don’t stop, even if you think it sucks. Keep writing. “Just keep writing, just keep writing...”

What other projects do you have on the horizon??

I’ve got several sci-fi and fantasy anthologies I’ve been asked to contribute stories to that I’m in the process of writing. I’m very excited for them - one is a superhero story, another is a literal “fairy tale”, and the last is short story about one of the characters in my War of the Seasons series.

I’ve also got a novella tentatively titled “A Truth Universally Acknowledged” that should be out this fall. It’s a retelling of Pride and Prejudice set 400 years in the future, in space, between a couple of military pilots. So I suppose it’s a military science fiction romance story.

Lastly (for now), I am also working on the third book in the War of the Seasons series, The Hunter. It should be out at the end of 2013.

Tell us about 5 books that changed your life in some way??

1-The Bible & The Book of Mormon - is it cheating to count these both as one? Well if it is then I’m a cheater. That said, these books are integral to my faith and my life, so yes, definitely life changers.

2-The Chronicles of Narnia - again, I know it’s 7 books, but I view the series as one. These books were the first that truly stirred my imagination, made me daydream, and made me long for a Narnia of my own. To this day whenever I stay in a new room I always peak inside the wardrobe...

3-Huckleberry Finn - A book I’ve read several times over my life (starting when I was 12), and each and every time I learn something new. And it’s also just a great story.

4-Star Wars: The Truce at Bakura - definitely not my favorite Star Wars book. Not even close, but this was my “gateway” book. My uncle Leo gave it to me & I literally stayed up all night reading it. I couldn’t put it down. I was 14 and I could not get enough of Star Wars after this book. I’d always liked Star Wars before reading this, but after reading it I LOVED Star Wars and I was well on my way to a lifelong obsession. The fandom has been so much a part of my life since then, and I can’t imagine my life without it. As far as my favorite Star Wars books? The X-Wing Series, HANDS DOWN no competition!

5-A Message to Garcia - if you haven’t read it, you should. It’s a relatively short essay about young Lieutenant charged with delivering a message to, you guessed it, Garcia. The key point of the story that I took out of it is that in the face of many obstacles he accomplished the mission. He never gave up, he kept going, and though he wasn’t given instructions on how he was to go about it, he accomplished the mission.

If you could time travel, what time period would you go to and why??

Eh, could be I a Caucasian male while I time traveled? Because otherwise I don’t think I care to visit anywhere in the past (except maybe to the early 1960s so I could see the Beatles perform before they got too big. Then of course we’d become BFFs, because that’s how time travel works, right?). All joking aside, as someone with a huge love for history, I’d be very hard for me to pick a single time period, and I’d be too tempted to change/fix things. The Doctor would have his hands full with me as a companion...

And a fun one, what would you do if there was a zombie apocalypse?

It depends on where I am. If I’m near a military base I’m going to throw on my uniform, pick up a rifle, and defend our position/help lead the Marines in our defense against the zombies.

If I’m not anywhere near a military base, well, I’m a pretty fast runner & I can run for miles and miles without rest... All I have to do is stay ahead of the zombie bait behind me.

Feel free to add any social media links you have and anything else you felt I should have added to this interview.

I can be found online here:

Website: http://www.ailionora.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JanineSpendlove

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JanineSpendlove

Blogspot: http://janinekspendlove.blogspot.com/

Livejournal: http://janinespendlove.livejournal.com/

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/janinespendlove/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4936836.Janine_Spendlove

My bio: Janine K. Spendlove is a KC-130 pilot in the United States Marine Corps. Her bestselling first novel, War of the Seasons, Book One: The Human, was published in June 2011 and her next novel, War of the Seasons, Book Two: The Half-blood, was released in June 2012. She’s also had several short stories published in various anthologies. A graduate from Brigham Young University in 1999 with a BA in History Teaching, she is an avid runner, enjoys knitting, playing Beatles tunes on her guitar, and spending time with her family. She resides with her husband and daughter in Washington, DC. She is currently at work on her next novel. Find out more at www.WarOfTheSeasons.com

Thanks for joining me and being a part of my blog!

Thank you so much for the invite & the opportunity. Hope this is what you wanted/needed.