You know
that feeling you get sometimes when as the more you learn about a person the
more you like them? That’s the feeling I got over and over as I went through
this interview with Amanda, known generally in the book world as A.M. Johnson. As
you know, I hadn’t read any of Johnson’s work prior to the beginning of this
month. She, and her work, were a completely unknown entity to me. Now, we’re
mid-way through the month and as I read, or chat with her, or see her posts on
Facebook or other social media, I keep finding myself wondering “How did I not
know this marvellous lady and writer sooner???”
I’m sure
you’re saying to your screen – “you love books and writing and people who write
LD, of course you like her!” but I
promise, it’s not just that. As I’ve gotten to know her bit by bit these past
few weeks, I’ve been happily impressed and surprised by all the facets that I’ve
discovered. We are, all of us, ever evolving individuals and I’d like to think
that the person – writer, reader, proud mom, etc – that I’ve been finding
Amanda to be, is someone that I want to keep within my circle of peers as we go
forward.
So now, without
waxing on (any more) and boring you to tears, allow me to share the this and
that facts about the Ups, Downs, Ins
& Outs’ December FAOM: Amanda,
A.M. Johnson.
Every
writer has their own reasons for doing what they do and for how they do it.
Some are very specific and deviation can not be tolerated, others are
completely laid back and free-spirited with their process. But every single
author I’ve talked to, myself included, has their own system. For that reason,
I often like to ask…
Discussing Writing:
why, how and quirks…
[LDF] Why
(or how) did you decide to be a writer?
[AMJ] I’ve
always wanted to be a writer, ever since I was little. In Third grade my
teacher had us rewrite “Sleeping Beauty” and I guess I just fell in love with
it. As an adult it has become a way to clear my head, put my “voices” down on
paper.
[LDF] When
you started writing what was your goal?
[AMJ] For
me it was just to finish the book. LOL I started a fantasy book ages ago, and a
memoir, so when I sat down to start Still Life, my goal was to actually finish
and self-pub it.
[LDF] Do
you write every day? Do you have a daily goal when writing?
[AMJ] I try
to write maybe 2 to 3 nights a week. I
like to finish a chapter a night, about 1500-4000 words depending on whether or
not it’s a “big” moment, or a bridge, or development.
[LDF] What
does a typical writing day look like for you?
[AMJ] I
write, for now, at night. Typically. My days are filled with running the kids
back and forth to school, house work, hockey practice, skate practice, and then
once the kids are in bed, I shower, relax and listen to music, IE Bon Iver, Nov
Amor, Broods, and then write until about 3 am.
[LDF] So do
you listen to music while you’re writing? Do you make/use playlists to help
keep you inspired or focused on the story or scenes you’re writing?
[AMJ] I am
obsessed with making playlists; every book I have written or have planned has a
playlist on Spotify. I listen to music before I write, but if I listen while I
write it’s usually instrumental.
[LDF] Do
you have a process you have to follow, items you have to have with you, or
other “superstitious” or good luck type of things that help you while writing?
[AMJ] I
have to have Facebook messenger up so I can PM my friend for moral support if
need be, I have my amethyst crystals by the computer, and I have to have water
and like sprees or a snack food, It used to be Oreos, lol, but I gained 25lbs
last year doing that, and now that I lost it I don’t want it back LOL
[LDF] When
you’re writing do you drink coffee, tea, water, soda, wine?
[AMJ] I
can’t drink alcohol when I write or I get too introspective and poetic and
sometimes that isn’t “in character” or a good thing ha!! So water or tea.
But author,
writers, (cough) bloggers, we’re just regular people too. We ponder the
ridiculous. We wonder about the “what if’s” in life. We dream (obviously) and,
just like every other Joe or Jane out there, we hope. It’s in that light that I
always ask a couple strange but (sometimes) enlightening questions that don’t
always seem to go with the rest.
Looking Back,
Sideways, and Up & Down…
[LDF] When
you were a kid what did you want to be when you grew up?
[AMJ] I
wanted to be the person who restores paintings, or an English professor.
[LDF] If
you could go anywhere in the world on an all-expenses paid vacation, where
would you want to go?
[AMJ] Ireland
and Italy.
[LDF] If
someone gifted you $1,000,000 tomorrow, name three things you would do with it?
[AMJ] Pay
off my debt/invest, donate a portion, and move to Vermont and buy a cider farm.
And,
obviously, it would be silly to waste an opportunity for frank 1-on-1 talk time
with any author and not ask about the
books they’ve written, are writing, or will write. Right?
Talking Books and
Moving Foreward…
[LDF] Looking at your booklist you’ve written, or are
writing, a couple different series as well as a couple stand-alone novels. As
the ideas for those stories came to you, how did you decide (or know) that ‘story
A’ would be the first in a series or that ‘story B’ is the whole story all by
itself?
[AMJ] Still Life was supposed to be a stand-alone, but I
fell in love with the secondary characters and decided to make it a series. For
my Avenues Series. I knew Possession had to be first. Declan was kind of the
driving force for his brothers choices to some extent, and I felt that the
audience needed to understand him, Declan, to understand why.
I have mostly stand-alone novels planned for the next little
bit, and I think I like doing stand-alones because it gives me the opportunity
to write about more than one “world”.
[LDF] The Avenues Ink
series now has three books, is there more? How many?
[AMJ] Avenues will
have three books for now. I have a coming of age duet (Twin Hearts) Let
There Be Light and Seven Shades of You planned for next
year, based on spin off characters, and maybe in 2019 a character from Poet
“Maria” may get a standalone. As for now though, that is all I have planned for
the Avenues characters.
[LDF] Is the Forever
Still series complete or do you see yourself going back to it and adding
more books to the story?
[AMJ] I have a stand-alone planned for two of the main
character’s children, Annie and Lyric. Maybe Sailor and Thomas as well. I’d
love to write these couples, but sometimes it’s hard to go back. =)
[LDF] You released Beneath the Vine as ‘A.M. Johnson
writing as Lillian Bryant’ as opposed to simply releasing it as and under the
A.M. Johnson banner. I know many authors who write using a couple different pen
names, some are very open about them, and others aren’t. Was there a specific
reason for the difference and did you consider keeping Lillian Bryant as a
completely separate writing entity?
[AMJ] I originally chose the pen name because BTV
and Pressure
were erotica and I didn’t want those titles to be confused with my contemporary
works. I feel like erotica and contemporary romance bleed too much together
these days. I wrote Pressure first (though it is no longer available for purchase)
under Lillian alone, but I had a reader message me who also read AM Johnson
stuff, and when she called me Lillian I felt like a liar, lol, and running two
identities on social media is way more work than I had thought. So when I
released BTV, I released as AM Johnson writing as Lillian so people
would know it was me, but that this book was darker, and erotica. I think
when/if I write erotica from this point it will just say AM Johnson but have “A
LB Novel” under the name. I want to write YA one day and I guess, as an author,
you have to be careful about the brand your name is under you know.
[LDF] Which book/story did you find yourself struggling with
the most during writing?
[AMJ] Sacred Hart. This book was very hard
for me emotionally. I struggled with my choice for an ending, and after a lot
of soul searching, I chose to go a different route than what I had planned, and
it changed the entire course of the story for me. But I felt I had to write
what was real in my heart and not worry about the consequences. I had a bit of
criticism for how I ended it, but I feel like it was true to the story and
life, and at the end of the day, realism and hope are the fundamentals of what
I try to write.
[LDF] Of all the characters you’ve written so far, who is
your favorite?
[AMJ] GADS!!! I can’t
pick LOL. (For men) I think Declan and Ryan are my fav. But the guy I am
writing now, Mark Carmelo, hockey star, has been a blast. He’s much lighter
than what I usually write so it has been so much fun and very different. But honestly,
if you ask me this question in a few months I’ll probably tell you it’s the
character I am writing then. I fall very much in love with my characters.
Female though? Maggie from Sacred Hart is hands down my fav.
[LDF] What book/story has been your favorite to write so
far?
[AMJ] My top favorite would have to be Possession. It challenged
me mentally and I really got to use my poetic voice a lot in that book, which
was fun. I’m currently writing a sports romance called Breakaway (Hockey) and I
have to say this book so far has been a total blast.
[LDF] If you had to identify your writing with a single kind
of classification what would it be? And would your different books/series fall
under different headings?
[AMJ] Forever Still
would be love at first sight for the first two, and friends to lovers
for Still
Surviving. I think for the Avenues
Ink books and Sacred Hart, they would be considered second chance
stories. I am a huge fan of second chances.
[LDF] And finally, the ever-important question of the day: what’s
next for A.M. Johnson?
[AMJ] Next year I am hoping to get the Twins Heart duet out as
well as my 1st hockey romance Breakaway. After that I have no
idea. I have been working on a literary fiction novel for a while now as well,
and I hope to publish it this coming year of 2019. I know a lot of the BTV
fans are awaiting Alexander’s book, and though I write very little erotica now,
I think I would love to find his voice again and make that happen. My dream is
to be traditionally published, with an agent, but hell, I’m so freaking lucky
to have what I have, so I smile, and keep on doing what I love.
This past year was a very hard year for me health wise, so
though I might slow down a bit, I’m still working hard =)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There you
have it. If you’ve been around this blog for a while, or if you’ve followed my FB page or Twitter, you probably have a good idea of why I’ve come to like
Amanda (the author AND the writer) so very much. And that’s entirely besides
the point that I’ve fallen in love with both her books I’ve read so far this
month.
If you’re
joining us for the first time and have missed the earlier posts about Johnson,
you may want to check out these:
Johnson’s Author Profile – including links for all the ways to find, fan and follow her
online.
When I look
at the books of the Avenues Ink series.
And where I
introduce the December FAOM Giveaway. If you click nothing else, click this link because you are not
going to want to miss out on this prize!!!
Enjoy
Folks, and as always Happy Reading!!
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