Author Interview
With
Alice La Roux
Hi , can you tell us a little about yourself and your work?
So my name is Alice, I’m 24 and a newbie writer. I live in South Wales with my husband and my little Jack Russell where I work in a boring retail job by night and write in the day.
Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre? If you write more than one, how do you balance them?
I’m a newbie, like I already said so I don’t have a set genre yet. My short story that published at the end of February is erotica with BDSM elements but the short ‘Lie To Me’, which features in the Tales from Wales anthology is fantasy/supernatural. I also have a steampunk YA novel dedicated to my niece in the works.
What was one of the most surprising things you learned
in creating your books?
The Indie community constantly surprises me, I learned that people are willing to believe in you even when you don’t believe in yourself and that keeps me going some days because no one tells you how hard, demanding and draining it is to pour parts of your soul out onto a page.
What is the first book that made you cry?
Harry Potter – I am a huge Potterhead, with a deathly hallows tattoo to prove it. In the Order of the Phoenix when Sirius Black falls through the veil I couldn’t believe it. I kept re-reading the section over and over because I wanted it to somehow magically change. I needed Harry to have a happy home and when Sirius died I cried.
What are common traps for aspiring writers?
I think a common trap is thinking that it’s going to be easy. That you’ll just magic up 50,000 words, a huge fan following and be a bestseller on Amazon but it’s not that simple. It’s endless promoting, take overs, offers, giveaways, signings, interaction and sometimes it’s hard and you feel like your head is going to pop off!
What has your experience been like as a indie author?
Bruises, highlights, lessons.
I haven’t really had a huge amount of experience as a writer yet, but I love the Indie community. There is always someone available to give advice, help, read through or just sometimes make you laugh.
Does a big ego help or hurt writers?
I don’t know, a lot of authors I know seem to suffer from the same self-doubt issues that I do and I haven’t really met one with a big ego yet so I can’t tell you.
What is your writing Kryptonite?
I tend to overuse pronouns, and sometimes my phrasing is clunky. In a recent writing project I realised I was over using the phrase ‘That man would be the death of me.’ So I’d say that my writing kryptonite is repetition.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything,
what would it be?
Keep all your notebooks and all those scraps of paper that you leave behind everywhere. Keep them and put them somewhere safe, and don’t listen to that girl who said your writing was rubbish when you were 14. She’s a dick.
If you could spend the day with a character from one of your books who would it be and what would you?
Urm…… I’d spend a day getting inked up with Zeke.
Inked up and naked.
What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
I haven’t really spent anything yet, a friend did my formatting, another friend designed my cover, and another edited for me – like I said the Indie community is amazing. I can’t wait to order postcards of Skin Deep though, I think they’ll be gorgeous and glossy.
How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
Too many to think about! I’m hoping to get three of them finished this year at least and two short stories are also going to be expanded in novellas.
What’s the most difficult thing about writing
characters from the opposite sex?
I don’t really find it that difficult; I actually prefer writing from the male perspective! My husband sometimes jokes that I should have been born a guy because I have a filthy mouth and an even dirtier mind.
What period of your life do you find you write about most often? (child, teenager, young adult)
Young adults, but I have a few YA books planned so
that should be interesting.
How do you select the names of your characters?
I’m a name whore, I love unusual and beautiful names and I wish I could use them all when I eventually have kids but I can’t and so I use them in my books. Some of my names are Avalon, Zeke (Ezekiel), Tessa, Aoife, Kerrigan, Nimue and Seraphina. I think part of writing romance and erotica is that unrealistic element, so why not have unusual names?
Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal
with bad or good ones?
I only self-published the other week so this is the first time for me – but oh my god yes! I hit refresh waiting for new ones, I’m like a review addict and then I almost cry at the good ones! My lowest rating so far is a 4* one so I haven’t had to deal with any bad ones yet.
Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a
few people will find?
There aren’t secrets as such but there are recurring characters. In Lie to Me we meet Aoife, and the second book will be about her. In Skin Deep we meet Avalon and Zeke but the second short, Surrender, will be about Avalon and how she got into BDSM so there will be a new face.
Do you Google yourself?
Sometimes, I think it’s hard not to in a society
that’s so media driven.
What is your favorite childhood book?
Mallory Towers, I wanted to go to boarding school and have midnight feasts.
Does your family support your career as a writer?
My husband proof reads for me, he gives me advice and he’ll tell me if he doesn’t like something. I’m extremely lucky to have him. My dad is my biggest supporter after my wonderful husband and my sister is tied with him. They both keep telling me to go for it, and that I should believe in myself more.
If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?
I would have gone for it. I would have shared my work more, had more confidence and I would have taken creative writing at university.
How long on average does it take you to write a book?
Hahhahahhahahhaaaa…….I still haven’t finished a full length one so I can’t really answer this one yet.
Do you believe in writer’s block?
Yes, I get it when I start to feel stifled and I overthink every little thing. I start to panic and I go into this state of denial where the words don’t come. The best way to deal with it in my case is to go away, have a cup of tea and write something else, anything else. Eventually my brain will give me a scene or a description that would work brilliantly in my current WIP.
