Author Interview #4 Sharon E. Mamolo

Today I have the pleasure to welcome indie paranormal author Sharon E. Mamolo to Booked Up Reviews.

I must confess that when I saw the request for a review, I fell in love with her book and immediately Fashionta sent off an email asking if she would be interested in doing an interview also. I was so happy when Sharon said yes as this truly is a masterpiece written by an under-appreciated author. I wanted to get the news out and get people reading her!

So without further ado, I'd like to dive right in with some questions for Sharon.

How long had you been writing before you took the leap and published your books?
I’d been writing the DeDe series around five years. Mostly notes and research and formulating how I wanted the story told, by whom and the general arc. Since it’s fantasy I was world building for the first year, making sure I knew my world and where everyone stood in it. The actual writing of the first novel didn’t begin until two or three years ago. After a dozen or so rejections from agents and another dozen or so requests for revisions I became frustrated. At the encouragement of a very good friend, I decided to publish the first novel with Amazon in December of 2011. Heck, I had nothing to lose.

The world that your books are set in has amazing nuanced detail. How much time did you spend in research and where did you mine your ideas from for creating your fantasy settings?
I research as I write. If a particular scene has a detail I am not familiar with, I will spend a ridiculous amount of time on the web researching it. My husband accuses me of having ADD. I can research for hours only to write three sentences.

What is your writing process? Do you write for hours at a time or when the muse hits you?
I write every day. No exceptions. The muse is never silent yet at times, she is shouting and extremely belligerent.

How do you develop your characters? Do you develop them along the lines of real people or are they all in your head?
The characters are all fictional, their personality traits snippets from people I have had the fortune (or misfortune depending on your point of view) of meeting. I worked in the hospitality industry for many years and have had the good fortune of meeting people from all walks of life. Moreover, New Orleans has some real characters walking along its cobble stoned streets.

Since this is a paranormal and urban fantasy novel, I feel I must ask who influences your writing as there is a large cast of characters ranging from shape shifters to fairies. Also, what drew you to this genre?
I am an eclectic reader. I read anything that is engaging. As far as who influenced my writing I would have to say everyone that I have read thus far; from Dr. Seus to Andy Rooney. What first drew me to speculative fiction is the ability for a writer to create a world. I wanted to create my own myths, to bend the rules. It’s fun and I like creating flawed characters, unsympathetic heroines, anti-heroes and worlds where rules make sense in a morbid kind of way.

How many more books do you plan for the DeDe House Series?
As of right now, the DeDe series is set for five books in total. Yet as you noted, there are many characters and factions and I’ve become enamoured of a few. I’ll likely explore some of the other houses and most definitely Sigmund. I really like the demon.

What can your readers expect next and do you have any plans to release books in other genres? I would love personally to see you try to write a trashy romance novel.
The fourth instalment of the DeDe series will be released no later than December of 2012. I’ve several other projects on the side but my main focus right now is finishing the series. As a reader I hate, absolutely detest, waiting for instalments to anything. So I become obsessive in my writing.
I do have a fairytale I’m working on, a trilogy, and a rough draft for a spin off from the DeDe series featuring one of the minor characters. Yet I work on these projects when I need some time to relax. I have not thought about writing in another genre but you never know.

Do you have any advice to give an aspiring writer?
In the great words of the late Andy Rooney:
“If I’d known how many problems I was going to run into before I finished, I can’t remember a single project I would have started.”

Thank you so much for stopping by, Sharon, and the best of luck with your books.

All of Sharon’s books can be found on Amazon. As a little bonus, Sharon has kindly offered to give away to one lucky person a copy of her third book in her DeDe House series. All you have to do is leave a blog comment below. The winner will be picked by the random.org random drawing app. The competition is open for one week.