Around the Fire in-depth interview with Ak Nevermore.

Happy Thanksgiving to all those celebrating tomorrow. I've already started prepping. The pies are baked. I'm debating spatchcocking my turkey. I'm still undecided. Maybe I'll wait and start with a chicken. They do say Thanksgiving is not the day to experiment. We'll have mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn (it's all my hubby will eat that resembles a vegetable) stuffing, cranberry, and biscuits. Only my son and grands are coming this year. Dear daughter-in-law is a new RN and anyone in the medical field knows the low man works all the holidays and weekends. Hubby and I did that for many many years. We'll send a plate home for her. Today's guest a fellow Wild Rose Press author though she is new to me. So, let's get to know her together. 

​Hi, AK, I hear you like coffee and bourbon. I found a recipe that incorporates both. It'll keep us warm around the fire. 1 ounce of bourbon, 1/2 ounce of honey liqueur, 6 ounces of  coffee and top it with whipped cream. While I mix up some of this magic, why don't you take the floor and introduce yourself? Who are you other than your bio?
Externally, I’m super chill, but that’s because, internally, the hamster is too busy eating tacos to get on the anxiety wheel.

Ugh, my hamster wheel could generate enough electricity to run my house with the right equipment. What interests besides writing do you enjoy? 
I’m a certified chef, so cooking’s a thing. I also love landscaping my yard and refinishing antique furniture. I get my best ideas when I’m in the zone of monotony doing super detailed work with dental tools to get that last bit of paint out of crevices.

I love to cook. I have no training, oh wait, I did take a baking class at the local technical school. Maybe we can cook together over the fire after the interview. Who is your network or support system?
My mom, but don’t tell her, she gets all smug. I also have a group of wonderful ladies I’ve been writing with for close to three years now I would be lost without, and my favorite introvert/bff writing buddy is the best.

Different books and authors have inspired me over the years. Who or what are your inspirations?
Mercedes Lackey, Andre Norton, Roger Zelazny, Brandon Sanderson, JR Ward, and Ilona Andrews.

Do you have any fun or outrageous talent?
I can freeze my kids mid bad behavior with a look.

Ah, the mother's glare, tis a thing of awesome terribleness. What is your neighborhood like? Are there any places you frequent? What makes them unique?
I live in the boonies, so there’s not really a neighborhood per say, but I love my yard and work hard to make it a refuge. We have an insane amount of wildlife, which is a blessing and a curse. You’d be surprised how destructive rabbits are. Monty Python had it right, those things are evil.
 
We live in the woods. Deer are our archenemies. Let's talk about writing. What are common traps for aspiring writers?
Listening to all the external criticisms and suggestions in the hopes of validation. Go with your gut, always. You’re a writer if you write. You don’t need anyone to rubber stamp you.

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Keep the faith, it will happen, and everything up to that point serves a purpose, even the rotten stuff.

How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?
I learned to trust myself and embrace my voice. Before Flame & Shadow I was writing based on what I thought I was expected to write. After some super harsh criticism, I finally said enough and wrote the most ridiculous, sassy adventure I could come up with. It was freeing. I laughed through the whole thing and want all of my books to feel like that, for myself and my readers.

Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
Yeah, there are a ton of inside jokes there just to make certain people laugh. It’s literally my goal to make them spit out their tea at some point in every book.

If they made a movie about your life, what would the title be, and who would play you?
“You Can’t Make this S— um, Stuff, up” because bizarre things happen to me all the time. Like, I can hardly believe it, and I’m there! Anne Hathaway (The klutzy, dorky version from the beginning of The Devil Wears Prada) would definitely be the lead.

If you could only choose one song to play every time you walked into a room for the rest of your life, what would it be?
“Should I Stay or Should I Go” by The Clash, and everyone in the vicinity would cringe because I’d insist on singing along. It would be glorious. Musical I am not, but I am extremely enthusiastic. I’m all about embracing all that is embarrassing and owning it. Yep, I’m a terrible singer. Do I care? Nope, because I’m enjoying the hell out of it!

AK what a pleasure to share my fire and get to know you. I'd like you to stay but I know you should go. But, before you do, please tell us about your book and where we can get more information. 

Flame & Shadow
by 
AK Nevermore
Half-daemon Envy Starr is destined to die on Midsummer’s Eve, still a virgin, on some crappy cult’s live-stream feed. With thirty days left to live, the chance to escape her fate and get some action compels her into her absentee father’s world of beautifully cultured cruelty.
Once there, she’s the object of a deadly game, slated to alter the Fae realm’s power structure. Worse, the rules keep changing, and everyone has an ulterior motive, including her dae-licious guide, Brennan. Under a geas he’s desperate to break, she can’t trust him, or herself.
Stupid Stockholm syndrome.
But unless she can come to terms with what lies in her heart, her unlikely survival will be a fate worse than death. For her, and the rest of Fae.

Get your copy today.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CHGLQZRV/
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/flame-shadow/id6464523158
Barnes & Noble:: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1144031970?ean=2940186024484
Your readers can also get a free prequel to the book, One Night in Bliss, here. 

​More about the author
AK Nevermore enjoys operating heavy machinery, freebases coffee, and gives up sarcasm for Lent every year. A Jane-of-all-trades, she’s a certified chef, restores antiques, and dabbles in beekeeping when she’s not reading voraciously or running down the dream in her beat-up camo Chucks.
Unable to ignore the voices in her head, and unwilling to become medicated, she writes Science Fiction and Fantasy full time.
She pays the bills editing, wielding a wicked hot pink pen and writing a column on SFF. She also belongs to the Authors Guild, is a chapter treasurer for the RWA, teaches creative writing, and on the rare occasion, sleeps.
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