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09 December 2011

Welcome special guest: author Adonis Devereux ( @AdonisDevereux @evernightpub )

Today we have author Adonis Devereux visiting. We are a husband-wife writing team living in Japan. We're Americans, and we have six daughters. We've been married 14 years, and though we've both individually loved stories, we just started writing together about four years ago.

* So, Adonis, what inspired you to become a writer?
The love of stories and wanting to read stories that did not yet exist. So, we will write those stories; we will build those worlds.
* When did you attempt your first story? What length was it? What's become of it?
She: When I was 12, I wrote a story in three parts that totaled about 100k words. It was epically bad. It languished on my father's old computer until it mercifully passed into oblivion.
He: When I was in high school. It was a novella, terrible, of course, but it got my mind working along the path of story creation. I branched out in poetry, which won some on-campus awards, in university. After marriage, I haven't touched poetry. It's a young man's art.

* How many stories did you complete before you sold your first?
Easily a million words, which was about six separate stories. We did not intend these things for publication, however. They were for ourselves, for our apprenticeship, and we have found those million words to be our grand sacrifice upon the altar of publication. In other words, those early stories were good practice.
* What genre(s) do you write in? What drew you to write in it/them? What’s your favorite genre of all to write in?
We write fantasy, paranormal, romance, and a mix of all three. We love good sci-fi and fantasy, and we also enjoy canon literature, as we both have Master's degrees in that field. Romance is an easy genre for us to write in, since we believe that all the best stories are love stories.
* What are the best and worst pieces of writing advice you ever received?
Best advice: If you want to be published, write what people want to read. (Some of our early stories were considered technically good but not a style anyone reads nowadays.)
Worst advice: Write what you know. (We make up our worlds wholecloth!)

* How do you celebrate/deal with acceptance/rejection letters?
Celebrate: With a toast with all our children (the adults get liqueur, the kids get apple cider).
Deal with: Ummm, we have never received a rejection letter. Worth His Freedom got only offers, but we went with Evernight because of personal recommendations.

* In regard to the book you’re promoting, which actor and actress do you envision playing the roles of your hero and heroine? If there’s a villain or other characters who are pertinent to the story, who would play those parts?
Tsalrin: A young Jude Law, but he'd have to spend a significant amount of time in the makeup chair everyday before filming. Oh, and can we make him taller? (No spoilers)
Miria: A long, blonde, young Kate Winslet.
Aemilius (villain): Chris Pine, but he'd have to make himself quite unpleasant!
Hedda: Gemma Jones.

* The book you’re promoting, is it a stand-alone story or part of a series? If it’s part of a series, please list the order the books need to be read in for maximum reading enjoyment.
Worth His Freedom is a stand-alone book, but it is set in a fantasy world that will be the setting for other love stories from us. What sparked the idea? The character of the hero, Tsalrin. When we were designing the mythology of our world, he became an important figure.

*** Now for some fun info… ***
* Are you a morning person or night owl?
She: Night owl. A chronic insomniac.
He: Neither and both. I can function on either schedule.

* What’s your favorite day of the week?
She: Monday. And outing and coffee in the afternoon with him.
He: Sunday. Home with her, having friends over.

* If you could live anywhere in the universe, where would it be and why?
She: Rome. I lived there when I was a child and would dearly love to return.
He: Earth. It's the only habitable globe we know of. I'll get back to you if we find another M-class planet.


*** About the story(ies)… ***
Title: Worth His Freedom
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Tag line: Two lovers. One collar. No escape.
Blurb: Miria, a young noblewoman on the cusp of an arranged marriage, meets the Ausir Tsalrin, her father's mysterious assassin, and sparks fly immediately. They face obstacles of political machinations and racial intolerance. Tsalrin is trapped by an ancient curse, and Miria cannot escape her father or the husband to whom he would sell her, a man who sees her merely as a political tool. Miria and Tsalrin's position is impossible, but neither one will give up their hidden love. Theirs is a story of struggle against abuse, bigotry, and paterfamilias. Their love is both their greatest danger and their only comfort as they search for their mutual freedom.

***Find Adonis here***
Twitter: @AdonisDevereux

Thank you for joining us here today! It was a pleasure getting to know you and your work.

Adonis would like to give away one copy of Worth His Freedom to one lucky person who comments on this blog topic. The format of the book can be epub, prc, or pdf. The contest will end one week after the blog post goes live. The winner will be notified by email, so we need you to include your email address in your comment so you can be entered in the drawing. Thanks!

3 comments:

Adonis Devereux said...

Well, we have now been introduced to rejection. ;) One of our short stories was turned down for an anthology. We just shrugged, though. Anyway, thank you for having us here today!

Catherine Cavendish said...

Great interview guys. Congratulations on 'Worth His Freedom'!

Avery Flynn said...

What a fun interview! I'm always fascinated by writing teams and how they make them work. So what's you're secret on having a successful writing team?