Wednesday, August 21, 2013

A Conversation with Elaine Cantrell, author of 'The Enchanted'


Elaine Cantrell was born and raised in South Carolina where she obtained a master’s degree in personnel services from Clemson University.  She is a member of Alpha Delta Kappa, an international honorary society for women educators, Romance Writers of America, and EPIC authors.  Her first novel, A New Leaf, was the 2003 winner of the Timeless Love Contest.  When she’s not writing or teaching, she enjoys movies, quilting, reading, and collecting vintage Christmas ornaments.

Her latest book is the fantasy romance, The Enchanted.

Visit her website at www.elainecantrell.com.

Thank you for this interview!  I’d like to know more about you as a person first.  What do you do when you’re not writing? 

Thanks so much for having me on your blog. When I’m not writing I’m a high school social studies teacher who likes to collect vintage Christmas ornaments, play with her dogs, hang out with her grandchildren, read, watch reality TV, and go to movies. I used to cook, but I decided I didn’t want to do that anymore so I quit.

When did you start writing?

I started writing in 2001 when my son let me read a book he had written. I’d always wanted to write, so I thought I’d give it a shot too. Little did I know how writing would take over my life.  In a good way.

As a published author, what would you say was the most pivotal point of your writing life? 

I believe it was when I got a series of good editors. The changes they suggested were obviously worthwhile which hadn’t always been true in my case. Working with them, I learned a lot about the editing process which has of course made my work much better.

If you could go anywhere in the world to start writing your next book, where would that be and why?

In a previous interview I explained why I’d go to Russia, so let’s talk about Greece.  I’d love to go there for the atmosphere. I’d love to savor the strong sunshine and sparkling blue Aegean Sea. The vivid colors of Greece speak to my heart as well. My muse would be in overdrive in such a setting.

If you had 4 hours of extra time today, what would you do?

LOL. Not likely to happen is it, but if it did, I’d try to finish editing my current WIP. I want to submit it soon. I should do the laundry, but where’s the fun in that?

Where would you like to set a story that you haven’t done yet?

Maybe Mexico. A lot of Hispanic people live in my neck of the woods so it would be easy to get information for the book. Maybe they’d even like to read it!

Back to your present book, The Enchanted, how did you publish it?

It’s a traditionally published book. I submitted it to the publisher Astraea Press who contracted the book.

In writing your book, did you travel anywhere for research? 

No, The Enchanted is a fantasy, so there isn’t anywhere to go to. I based my hero’s castle on European castles of the Middle Ages, but I already knew a lot about them because I’ve taught world history for a lot of years.

Why was writing The Enchanted so important to you?

I already had one fantasy/sci-fi romance under contract, and I enjoyed writing it so much I decided to do another one. It’s fun to create a new world. The novel under contract is titled Blue 52 and will be released in December of 2013 by Whiskey Creek Press.

Is the book always better than the movie?

Yes. Always. Books have more depth to them.

Where do you get your best ideas and why do you think that is?

My best ideas come from random things people say. I’ll hear something and suddenly feel a jolt as I start to think, “What if…” The idea for my current WIP came from looking at animal shelters on the Internet.

Any final words?

Once again, thanks again for letting me come to your blog. I’ve enjoyed  my stay very much. Readers, you’re going to like The Enchanted. The fantasy and romance are blended perfectly so that neither one overpowers the other.

4 comments:

  1. Nice interview, thank you.

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  2. GREAT ELAINE.

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