It's been an amazing few months! I must say I feel incredibly blessed right now, and I plan to enjoy the euphoria for a moment. I've found a wonderful home for my recently completed writing projects, with NineStar Press having accepted three pieces of work, all with F/F story lines. For anyone who may be interested, here is where my writing projects currently sit:
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FINDING AURORA
This is a 20,000 word fantasy novella. It will be published in the anthology Once Upon a Rainbow 2 in mid-January, 2018.  I really enjoyed writing this one! It's an appropriation of Sleeping Beauty, following the attempts of Talia (a caster of magic) and Amir (the prince of Grimvein) as they try to rescue Aurora from the curse that's trapped her and her entire village for almost a century. This is very much in the style of a classical fairy tale, but with a few differences - of course.

BENEATH THE SURFACE (The Outsider Project, Book I)

This is my debut novel, a sci-fi story of about 87,000 words. It is also the first of the projects to have been completed, and then accepted by my publisher. It'll be released in late January, 2018, in both electronic format and print. This book asserted itself in my head and absolutely had to be written. I'm so in love with this particular cast of characters, and I hope some of you like them as well.
RIDING THE TRACK 
This is a contemporary western romance novella of about 30,000 words and it will be published as an e-book at the end of April, 2018. It has a completely different tone to the other two, with some steamy scenes that my partner was shocked I even managed to write. I actually wrote it as a bit of a 'writing hang over' cure. When I finished Beneath the Surface, a novel I put all of my love, energy and creativity into, I felt a little bit lost. I didn't have the energy to start Book II just yet, but I wanted to keep writing, to keep learning.
So I chose to write something completely unlike what I normally watch, read, and write. A straight out romance? Not quite my thing. Cowgirls? Again, not really my thing.  Writing a story about a (female, bisexual) American tourist who comes across a pretty seductive Australian cowgirl worked out much better than I anticipated. I challenged myself to write in first person, to write romance scenes, and to leave out the aliens and mages.
 
TO BE WRITTEN...

​The Outsider Project, Book II

It'll be my second attempt at a full length novel, and there's a lot of work I need to do with it.  I'm very much a planner. Book I had about 12,000 words of plot overview before I started writing the chapters. I'm still in the planning stages of this one, as I need to re-read Book I and make sure I haven't missed any important details. My goal is to finish planning by the end of August and have started writing.  Life is so busy (full time work, three kids etc), but I'll do my best to have this one done within six months of Book I going to print. That way, it shouldn't be too much more than a year or so that Book II would come out (provided it is accepted for publication).

No title - Sci Fi Novella

I'm not sure if this will need to wait until after Book II, or if I'll work on it at the same time. I had so much fun writing Finding Aurora that I have an idea for another appropriation. It'll be a gritty, futuristic story set on a space station.

If you haven't read E.J. Noyes's debut novel Ask, Tell then my message to you is...read it! I don't tend to gravitate toward romance novels, but I started this book and finished it in the same day because it wouldn't let me stop reading.
E.J. is a fellow Australian like myself and so I was really pleased to be able to steal some of her time for this interview.

1. Let's start off with the important stuff. Beer or wine?

Can I say gin? No? Okay…

I live in Queensland where beer is mandatory, particularly in summer. I’d go for an ice-cold amber ale, like Ruby Tuesday.



 
2. If you could have a meal with one of the characters in Ask, Tell, who would it be and why?

 I think Sabine’s sister, Jana would be seriously fun to spend time with. I imagine the (boozy) meal would start with deep discussions about movies and music and philosophy, segue to whispered observations about fellow diners and probably end with her chucking food at someone. Then she’d drag me to karaoke.

 3. Let's say your novel was being made into a film. Who would you cast in the main three or four character roles?

Sabine – Gal Gadot

Rebecca – Kim Dickens

Mitch – Bradley Cooper

 Oh, wow. I'd definitely go see that movie! Gal and Kim...excuse me for a moment...

*cough*. Okay. I've recovered now.

4. Your first novel has been published with Bella. Can you tell us a little bit what it's been like to work with them?
 
Wonderful. They’ve been so professional, and so patient with all my new author worries that it’s taken a great deal of the stress away. And the other Bella authors have been incredibly welcoming and gracious.
 
5. You have a new release coming out in a few months. Can we expect something similar to Ask, Tell, or something quite different?
 
I think Turbulence leans more towards a “pure” romance, in contrast to Ask, Tell. There’s certainly a different dynamic between the two lead characters, Isabelle and Audrey, because they start with sex and have to work backwards to find their relationship, rather than building from the ground up.

 6. Who is your favourite Orphan Black clone and why?

Oh, that’s just cruel, making me chose one. I’d be the world’s worst lesbian if I didn’t say Cosima, right? I love her storyline and relationships, but I think I’d have to say Helena is my favourite clone. The funny parts of her aside, I adore how unapologetic she is in the way she lives her life and protects what she loves.

7. Looking back on what you've read in the last six-twelve months, what's a book you would recommend for anyone looking for something memorable to read?

 There’s so much quality lesfic out at the moment, but I’d have to say a series – Jessica L. Webb’s Dr Kate Morrison Mysteries (Trigger, Pathogen, Troop 18). I turned around and re-read them the moment I was done and I know I’ll read them again. I dig good stories, but I’m definitely a character person, and I love Kate and Andy. Also, maybe, I might have a crush on Sgt. Andy Wyles. Ahem.
 
8. What are your writing goals for the next year or so?
 
My first goal is to complete the sequel for Ask, Tell, which is tentatively titled Ask Me Again.
Then I’d like to tidy up the three completed novels I have written:

Gold - About an ex-Olympic alpine skier turned ski instructor.

Alone - Is the one I don’t know how to categorise. Kind of psychological, a bit of romance, just…weird.

Lena - The book that I love, the one that sits in my heart and won’t leave. It’s about two Polish women during WWII.
 
If time is kind to me, then I’d like to work on the dozen or so semi-finished novels and start on the list of ideas I already have.

​What will probably happen is I’ll have a bunch of other new ideas, and start new projects while worrying that I should be trying to complete the others. I have a tendency to write a few novels at once, swapping and changing…and complaining that I can’t concentrate on just one thing.

 
Thanks, E. J.!
 

Twitter - @zgrokit

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ejnoyes/

Bella Books - http://www.bellabooks.com/9781594935305e-prod.html

Amazon US - https://t.co/8QkUbRppc3 

1. Thinking about your upcoming release Dalí, what's one aspect of the book you feel really proud of?

This is my fourth full-length novel, and I think I’m finally starting to hit my stride as a writer. I’ve learned so much about story structure and the craft of writing from my CP’s and mentors in the last three years, since my first book was published. I read it now and compare it to Dalí—it’s like night and day. Dalí is also in first-person, which I’ve never done before outside short stories. I felt like it allowed me to get inside their head in a way I haven’t quite mastered with third person. I hope to continue to grow and improve in my craft.

2. I see from your bio that you're a nurse. Has your job helped inspire or inform any aspects of your writing?

When I started writing Dalí, I was working as a hospice nurse. The aspect of dysfunctional grieving was something we dealt with, and I think that background helped me to portray it accurately in the character. In other things I’ve written, I believe my medical background provides a realistic outlook when writing death scenes or injuries. There’s no such thing as “just a scratch”!

3. How do you go about writing your full-length novels? Is there a lot of planning involved, or do you write and see what happens? 

I am an unapologetic pantser. I love it when the characters just kind of take over and start to write their own destiny. I will have a basic idea of where I’m going, usually no bigger than a paragraph. Sometimes it’s just a scene that was stuck in my head, and I write the story around it. 

4. Star Wars or Star Trek?

Star Wars was my first love! I was a giddy kid again when The Force Awakens came out. However, I really loved ST:TNG and most of the spinoff shows afterwards.

5. If you could send your teenage self a 140-character-or-less message, what would it be?

Go to nursing school. You won’t regret it. Writing is your true love and will keep you sane. Don’t stop when he tells you it’s dumb. Yes, you like boys and girls. Go with it.

6. How do you choose the names for your settings when writing fiction?

I play with people’s names and make them planets! I also look up ancient languages for words I like. There is some Babylonian thrown in to my galactic mix.

7. Marvel or DC?

Marvel all the way, but DC has Wonder Woman and Spiderman...

8.  Thanks so much for your time! I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts. How can people buy your books?

Thank you for taking the time to interview me! Dalí will be published August 7, 2017. It will be available in e-book and print on Amazon, and Smashwords, the Nine Star Press website, and other online book retailers!

Connect with Elisabeth:

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