My full name is Alexia Marie Alderson
Chamberlynn (a mouthful, right?). I usually just go by Alexia Chamberlynn or
A.A. Chamberlynn. I was born in Tallahassee, Florida, and I’m still there.
Though I have wanderlust like crazy and like to travel as often as I can.
How long have you been
writing?
I’ve been writing since the age of 5 or so. I
started with poems and short stories. The first I remember writing was when I
was 5 or 6 and was trying to manipulate my parents into getting me a pony for
Christmas. When I was about 12 I started on my first novel (also about horses).
I started a couple fantasy novels in my teens as well, since that was what I
loved to read, but never finished anything. When I became an adult and had work
and kids and stuff to worry about, I quit writing for about 8 years, but in
2009 I came back to it and have no intention of quitting again.
What genre(s) do you
write?
I still stick to fantasy. I don’t think I could
write something without a little magic in it. At this point, I’ve written two
adult urban fantasies, one middle grade fantasy, and a middle grade novella I
wrote for my son. I have some young adult fantasy planned for the future, so
I’m pretty flexible within the genre. I’m also intrigued by steampunk, so I
could see myself moving into that at some point.
What’s your current
WIP? Can you tell us about it?
I typically have more than one WIP at a time. My
most current one is the middle grade fantasy, specifically for the upper middle
grade ages (11 and 12-year-olds). I just finished the first draft and am
working on edits. It’s set in a fantasy world of my creation, which has been
fun, and is about a land whose inhabitants have been stripped of their ability
to dream by an evil queen. My main character is the only person who retains the
ability to dream, and she sets out on a quest to free the dreams.
I’m also querying an urban fantasy about a
witch/vampire seeking revenge on her Maker while trying to save future Seattle
from a demon invasion. My first adult urban fantasy about a witch who’s lived
multiple lifetimes has been on the back burner, but I’m doing a major rewrite
this fall.
What’s your current day
job? How does it help or hinder your writing?
I work at an educational non-profit as a
department director. I’m a person that works better with structure and
pressure, so I think it’s good to have a full-time job and still find time to
write. That’s weird, I know J I also enjoy the steady pay check, which most writers don’t have.
During our busy season I have to work overtime, which can definitely hinder my
writing because I get so tired sometimes I can’t even think about being
creative. But overall I find a good balance between my day job and my writing.
Who is your favorite
author?
I find that this evolves over time. But at the moment,
it’s Neil Gaiman. He wrote Coraline and Stardust, which are more well known
since they were made into movies, and also Neverwhere, American Gods, The
Graveyard Book, and many more. He’s brilliant and utterly unique and reminds me
of the pure joy of reading. He also has a total rockstar life and travels
around the globe doing awesome stuff.
Favorite
book?
This is practically an impossible question. This
answer also evolves, and I sometimes love certain books for certain reasons
that can’t be compared to other books. An all-time fave is definitely The
Hobbit. I’ve read it about 20 times. One of my recent faves is The Graveyard
Book.
What other hobbies or
activities do you do outside of writing?
Reading, certainly. And as I mentioned before, I
love to travel. I’m also a total foodie, so I love tasting new food and drinks.
I have a couple horses, too, though I haven’t ridden regularly in years as busy
as I am with everything else.
What is something
unique about yourself?
Let’s see, you already know I’m a fantasy geek
and I own horses. I used to be an equine massage therapist. I’m also a
vegetarian and at work I started a string of random unicorn jokes. If I had my
way, I’d travel around the world for the next couple decades and live in a
number of different countries.
There’s plenty more, but I’ll stop there…
Do you have a blog,
Twitter, and/or Website we can link to?
I’m most active on my blog and Twitter, so
you’ll have the best luck there, though I definitely connect through the other
sites as well.
Thanks so much for having me on your blog today! I'm super excited to be featured and meet some new blog friends.
ReplyDeleteAlexia, always happy to meet another Gaiman fan. He's coming to my town in a week or so. :)
ReplyDeleteMassaging equines? Lucky horses!
ReplyDeleteGood interview, Alexia. Good luck with your querying.
Libby, I'm so jealous! Although I did meet him at World Fantasy Convention last year.
ReplyDeleteHa, thanks Alex!
I love Neil Gaimon, too! And I also love traveling. :) Thanks for the interview, Alexia and Charlie.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Shallee! What's not to love about Neil and traveling? A great combination :)
ReplyDeleteYou should definitely look into steampunk; there should be more MG/YA steampunk novels :)
ReplyDeleteNow that's an intriguing idea! Brain now spinning rapidly...
DeleteGreat interview, Alexia. I know what you mean about being able to work well under structure and pressure. My last job was a bust because it mentally exhausted me but other jobs I had were fine in terms of being able to come home and just focus on writing. I like that I had to be disciplined with my time and work around the disruptions that the day job caused. It gave me something to look forward to while I was away at work.
ReplyDeleteJai
Yes, it is nice to be able to look forward to writing when I get home. I'm kind of a workaholic :)
DeleteGreat to learn more about you, Alexia. Lucky you for living in Florida - sun sun SUN!
ReplyDeleteThe warm weather and beaches are nice... but the humidity, and sometimes sweltering days are not. Hurricanes aren't too much fun either, but I guess every place has its token natural disasters.
DeleteUnicorn jokes sound cool... you'll have to share some with us Alexia:)
ReplyDeleteI love Neil Gaiman too!
ReplyDeleteSo cool learning more about you!