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Interview with Joel Lawrence: Author of Tears of Time

3/1/2016

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Hello everyone!

Sorry I've been kind of inactive recently, I'm just coming off of a cold and going through that extreme busyness of the new year.

Anyways, I've been working with Of Tomes publishing and they presented the opportunity to interview Joel Lawrence, the author of Tears of Time. Tears of Time is an upcoming fantasy novel that is about a college freshman who also believes that she may be the reincarnation of a Bronze Age princess. I'll link it's Goodreads page here, but it sounds super interesting and I'm excited to read it soon!

On to the interview!

1. Who was your author idol as a child?

Tolkien was the first author I really really idolized. I fell in love with fantasy through video games and movies before I could read novels, and after Lord of the Rings I read the Hobbit and the the Silmarillion, then moved on to the broader world of fantasy fiction. Imagine my suprise to find dozens of great series just waiting to be read!

2. When did you realize that you wanted to become an author? When did you pick a genre?

Early on I thought it would be cool. I read Tolkien and Robert Jordan and thought, wow maybe I could eventually do this... eventually. I wrote short stories and did a lot of worldbuilding and mapmaking as a child, but sort of put the idea on hold until more recently. I think during high school I realized that actually writing a full novel would be a tremendous undertaking, and maybe I needed a little bit more life experience first. As far as genre, I've always loved fantasy and wanted to write fantasy. Harry Potter made me realize the fantasy audience was far broader than I'd realized, given the right story, and recent YA contemperary fantasy books like Red Queen, Obsidian, Twilight, The Mortal Instruments series, and many more. That's where the hybrid genre of Tears of Time comes from.

3. Were there any inspiration points for your book?

Oceanside, California was maybe the primary inspiration point for Tears of Time. Writing a story about the ocean sprang to mind, the ageless sea, combined with my desire to write a marketable contemperary story that still dealt with the fantasy elements I grew up loving to read. Atlantis and reincarnation are two topics I've always found interesting, so using them as inspiration to achieve the "two worlds" style of fantasy was a natural evolution. After everything meshed together, I just researched those topics and formed my own rules and mythology and the story flowed very well. Who would have guessed the beaches of Oceanside blended so well with Atlantis Mythology, but it worked out great!

4. What does your "writing time" look like for you? Do you binge-write or write whenever? Do you listen to music or sounds (I keep a soundtrack of cars driving in the background)?

I listen to music before I write, not during, but I totally understand the people who do listen to music while writing or programining or creating artwork. For me, it's always been about confort, relaxing, peace and quiet. One rule I've learned is for me, if I try writing for an hour or two and get nowhere, walk away for awhile and do something else. Often this helps me come back to the computer with a rejuvinated mind and then do the binge writing.

5. Did you do certain research/reference for your book, or did it all just come out of your head?

For Tears of Time, I actually found some cool books on dreams and the paranormal at a used bookstore, some of which can be seen in this picture. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BBZNbZqk3e0/?taken-by=authorjoellawrence

Whether character or setting, I always try to start from real world reference/experience. For the fantasy elements of Tears of Time, I took pieces of history and mythology and combined them and created my own spin on things. For the real world, I've only visited Oceanside, but my sister lived there while I wrote the story, or on the neighboring Camp Pendlton to be precise, so she definitely helped fact check and answer questions and helped improve the authenticity.

6. Is there a specific place your character names come from, or a process you use for coming up with them?

Both settings of Tears of Time are based in the "real" world, though the Bronze Age setting is a fantasy/mythological version of an actual place, so for those names I used a very old language as a basis for names and places, as well as mythological names from that location, and changed them around a bit. For the real world, many of the characters have first names taken from the Old Testament, which will make some sense in context. I tried to match them to each character and their arc. For their last names, my sister Emily helped come up with some fitting ones. She's very good with contemporary names.

7. How did you find Ben and OfTomes?

Through the #MSWL website. I followed him and studied his buisness model and his books for awhile before submitting. He has a cutting edge strategy, using a popular social media platform to launch a micropublisher. I also quickly became a fan of his YouTube reviews.

8. What is your Hogwarts house and why?

A fun question! Now, probably a Gryffindor, because I'm assertive, focused, and a natural leader who goes out of his way to find new experiences. But when I was at the sorting hat age in elementary school, I was probably more of a Ravenclaw. I liked to read and learn, was and still am analyitical. A bit of a male Hermione, maybe?

9. What was your favorite book of 2015?

That's a tough one because 2015 was a huge year for YA, both debuts and sequels alike. Some runner ups might be Shadowshaper, Everything, Everything, Six of Crows, The Last Leaves Falling, but my favorite overall has to be Red Queen. I love it's unique hybrid setting of superhero/fantasy/a sprinkle of distopia, enjoyed Mare's POV, and liked the fast paced style. Just a great read and a wonderful world.

10. Sum up Tears of Time into 140 characters (a tweet).

Red Queen+XMen+Outlander+Twilight. A modern Atlantis retelling w/ romance, mystery, magical duels, & a lot of layers


A huge thank you to both Ben from OfTomes and Joel for setting up this interview! I had a ton of fun writing the questions and seeing the responses. I'm looking forward to possibly doing more of these in the future.

Make sure to follow both Joel and OfTomes on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook!

Follow me on Instagram @once.upon.some.fangirls

Follow me on Twitter @ous_fangirls

Friend me on Goodreads www.goodreads.com/CaramelOUSF

Thank you so much for reading, and I'll talk to you soon!
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The Unpopular Opinions Book Tag (With Ava!)

8/20/2015

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Hi guys,

Today I am here with Ava, one of the greatest people ever! We're doing the unpopular opinions book tag (if you cannot read titles). My answer is going to be in blue, Ava's will be in red and our joint opinions will be in purple. I'm sorry if you're colorblind (or if you're reading the mobile version, the colors will not show up, please scroll to the bottom of the page and change the view from mobile to web). Please don't be offended by anything we say, if you are sensitive, go talk to Gazelle.

1. A popular book or series that you did not like:

Throne of Glass. After about 60 pages, I just could not read anymore. Not only was Celaena arrogant, but she couldn't even hit someone with a flower pot, yet they still call her the best assassin in the country?!?!?!?!? Also, instead of practicing knife throwing or something for a battle to the death the next day, she chooses to read and play the piano. Why? *doubt*

The Maze Runner. I made it through about eight pages, and was ready to throw myself out a window. This book came out of the gate at a hundred miles an hour, without making sure that it's passengers were ready for the ride. How rude of you, James Dashner.


2. A popular book or series that everyone else seems to hate, but you love.


The Selection series. I didn't hate the whole series, just America Singer. Usually, you hate a book when you can't stand the MC, but all the other characters (basically Maxon) made this book okay. I also hated Aspen but it's alright. I do like the series and I do care about the characters (except for Aspen, his soul is trash).


An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. This book is not often talked about, but many people are not fans because it was very happy, and no one died in the end. This proved to be problematic for John Green fans, but I still think that it is adorable and a fun read all the same.



3. A love triangle where the main character ends up with someone you didn't want them to end up with.

We had a joint answer on this one which is the Harry Potter series. We both wanted Harry and Hermione to end up together. Ava doesn't really like Ginny and we both didn't appreciate the insta-love between them. One day she's too shy to talk to him, next thing you know, they're snogging at Christmas. Ron and Hermione seem like a couple that would get divorced before they hit 40. They have a great friendship dynamic, but that's all it is: friendship. Harry and Hermione on the other hand are seriously cute together. Even J.K. Rowling agreed that she should have put Harry and Hermione together. http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/02/showbiz/rowling-hermione-ron-revelation/


4. A popular book genre that you hardly ever reach for.


Dystopian books. I feel really tired of dystopian because they were all the rage a few years ago, and now it feels like other authors are just trying to repeat the success of really big dystopian series and it gets on my nerves.


Supernatural books. I honestly cannot remember the last time I read a supernatural book, and thinking about it now I realize that it was probably when my age was only one digit. However, since then, werewolves, vampires and other monsters are of no interest to me. I don't find those characters appealing or like, attractive (looking at you, Twilight fans), nor do I find stories about them interesting in the slightest. Also, the main character always seems to be a ditzy girl who falls for (insert your favorite bad-boy- supernatural-creature-heart-throb here) to spice up her boring life in a rural town. And yes, I am still talking about Twilight.


5. A beloved character that you cannot stand.


Simon from the Mortal Instruments. I don't hate him, but I didn't really love him either. The moment he just claimed Clary for his girlfriend and didn't even ask her about it really pissed me off. Then he had the audacity to try and date Maia and Izzy at the same time. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, SIMON LEWIS? Tell me, I would love to know. I do ship Sizzy, but I don't like Simon. 

Christina from the Divergent series. She was just really annoying, and always seemed to be around when no one needed her to be. She had a habit of saying cringe-y things, and was overall arrogant and extremely irritating. 


6. A popular author that you can't seem to get into.


Marie Lu. I did really like Legend, but I never really got into Prodigy, and I haven't read The Young Elites either. I want to read them eventually but I just can't seem to do it right now.


Cassandra Clare. I've attempted to read City of Bones about three times, and have failed every time. I really wish I was able to, but unfortunately it is extremely difficult to get through the first few pages.


7. A popular book trope that you're tired of seeing.


Insta-love is something I absolutely hate. So often, the MC meets someone that they're convinced is the one for them and blindly fall in 'love' with them without seeing that they're a total dirtbag of trash. I'm going to try and name as many insta-love books as I can: The Queen of Bright and Shiny Things (Shage), Twilight (everyone), The Lost Hero (Jasper), If I Stay (Mia and Adam, Madam?), The Hunger Games (6 year old Peeta), Across the Universe (Elder), Paper Towns (Quentin), and Looking for Alaska (Miles).

While there are countless book tropes that irritate me to no end, the one that sets me over the edge doesnt really have a name, so I'm going to try to explain it as best I can. The male character in a relationship is doing all that he wants in life, but when his girlfriend decides to go for what she wants, he gets angry with her for not consulting with him about it first. I saw this most recently in If I Stay, with Mia and Adam. It bothers me to no end.


8. A popular series that you have no interest in reading.


The Lying Game. Everyone has read it but I've already been spoiled for it and I don't really care too much for Sara Shepard books. The characters seem really stuck up and bratty and I have other things on my TBR I'd much rather read.


Throne of Glass. I honestly just have no interest. That's all.


9. What movie or T.V. show adaptation did you like better than the book?


The Help. I really liked the book but it had slow parts where it dragged on and I wasn't super engaged. The movie, on the other hand, was really interesting to watch and they cut out the parts that dragged. The movie is something I can watch over and over again but I don't think I would re-read the book. But I do love the book, don't mistake me.


The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Hate me all you want, but the characters felt so much more real in the film. This may be because I saw the film before I read the book, but the movie version seemed to have a much bigger impact on me. I felt for the characters more, and was really able to get into their world. 


So that's all for this tag, please comment if you want Ava to come back! (You know you do). If we dissed your favorite book...too bad. Just don't get offended. 


Friend me on Goodreads at www.goodreads.com/CaramelOUSF


Follow us on Instagram @once.upon.some.fangirls


Caramel

B L O G | I N S T A G R A M | E M A I L
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    Caramel's Read Books

    The Summer I Turned Pretty
    A Million Suns
    Extraordinary Means
    The Blood of Olympus
    The House of Hades
    The Mark of Athena
    The Son of Neptune
    The Lost Hero
    The Elite
    The Last Olympian
    The Battle of the Labyrinth
    The Titan's Curse
    The Sea of Monsters
    Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1: No Normal
    The Lightning Thief


    Riya's favorite books ยป

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