Please welcome Janel Rogdrirquez Ferrer author of Drawn to You.
Janel will be awarding Winner's Choice of a $25 gift card to iTunes (music) or, Capezio (dance), or Utrecht (art supplies) to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.
The Arts - Angels Track 1: Drawn to You
by Janel Rodriguez
Ferrer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INTERVIEW:
1. What or who inspired you to start
writing?
I guess it’s
in my blood. My father is a writer. In his younger days he wrote plays, poetry,
and short stories. He also wrote “foto novelas” (which were like comic books
that used photos with word bubbles instead of drawings to tell the story) for a
Spanish entertainment magazine. They starred actors and singers from the
Spanish-speaking world.
My father saw
my early, natural interest in writing and was very quick to encourage me,
buying me blank notebooks and special pens for me to use only when creatively
writing.
2. What elements are necessary components
for this genre?
You
definitely have to remember what it was like to be a tween/teen, and have
sympathy for that age group. Also, since it’s “series” fiction, you need to be
able to come up with not only individual plots for each novel in the series,
but with one overarching storyline that ties all the books together.
3.
How did you come up with your idea for your novel?
I came up
with it little by little over the years. The very first ideas for it actually
came to me when I was still in high school. I had a period where I was always
plotting, imagining, and scribbling notes in blank books. (Actually, I still do
that.)
I finally
finished my first draft of Drawn to You when I was nineteen years old. For a
while afterward I became obsessed with trying to get it published. When that
didn’t happen, I set it aside and experienced life! When I finally revisited
and revised the book some years later, I had to decide which scenes and plot
points to keep, which to change, and which to toss. It was an interesting
process for me. (And of course, I had to upgrade the technology the characters
used in the book.)
4.
What expertise do you bring to your writing?
The book is
about a “Nuyorican” tween (Gina Santiago) who attends a Manhattan school of the
arts as an art major. I was such a tween. I majored in art in both junior high
and high school. I have also nannied for and tutored children from the Upper
East Side private school system, and have previous experience (as a ghost
writer) writing for an established and long-running fiction series for girls.
In creating and writing the Arts-Angels book series I have found a way to
combine different aspects of my life experience into a fun, fictional package.
5. As far as your writing goes, what are
your future plans?
My plan for
now is to continue writing the books in the Arts-Angels series. I expect there to be twelve books altogether.
6. Can you give us a sneak peak into this
book?
Sure! Here is an excerpt from:
7. Do you outline your books or just
start writing?
Kind of both.
First, I usually write up a summary of the plot of the book in three sentences:
one for the beginning, one for the middle, and one for the end. (I sometimes
add a fourth sentence for a subplot.) But by the time I really start writing, I
usually have a more detailed, chapter-by-chapter outline where I summarize each
chapter in a short paragraph. Sometimes, though, I’m unsure of stuff that’s
going to happen in the middle, so I can leave a couple of chapter summaries
blank! Once I get going, though, I often find that when a story starts to flow,
the middle of it kind of naturally writes itself.
8.
How do you maintain your creativity?
I think
maintaining one’s creativity is easier than one might think. Anytime you
daydream you’re creating! Anytime you read a book, watch a TV show you’re
emotionally invested in, bake a cake, take a photo, flip through an interior
design magazine, you’re engaging your creative mind and opening it to potential
inspiration. Shopping for a new shower
curtain can get my mind going. I ask myself, “Why does this design or color
appeal to me and this other one not?”
9. Who is your favorite character in the
book? Can you tell us why?
I guess I
would have to say Gina, since we share a lot in common. She is the main
character of the book and the story is told from her point of view. Also, I
think it would be great to have her nerve, her drive, and her musical talent.
Finally—hey, she gets to hang out with cute guys all day long and write and
perform her own music. That sounds like a pretty cool setup to me.
10. Are your plotting bunnies angels or
demons?
Since the
series is called “The Arts-Angels” I would definitely have to say bunny
angels. Also, I LURVE bunnies. And
bunnies can’t be demons. No dey can’t, can dey? Sweet widdle bunny-wunnies . .
.
*Ahem.*
While it’s
true that in my books I have bad things happen to the heroes from time to time,
it's because I have to—it’s what makes the plot more interesting. It’s exciting
when the good guys have to stand for something and fight for it! But I am not
one of those writers who enjoys torturing my characters or upsetting my
readers. In the end, I write happy, positive books. I don’t write dark stuff.
So, yes, my plotting bunnies are fuzzy widdle bright-eyed angels with
fluffy-wuffy tails.
11. Anything else you might want to add?
Yes! Keep a lookout for the second book in the
series, The Arts-Angels Track 2: Fight the Good Fight, out April 22nd!
BLURB:
Gina
Santiago is a thirteen-year-old "Nuyorican" with rock star dreams, so
when she's accepted into the prestigious New York Academy of Arts and Talents
for art instead of music, she's crushed. To make matters worse, the student
body at the Upper East Side school is divided into "schollies"
(students on scholarship, like her) and "dollies" (rich kids with
"dollars"). But Gina discovers that there is one thing that brings
schollies and dollies-and dancers, singers, actors, artists, and
musicians-together: music! Maybe she can make her dreams come true after
all....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT:
(FROM
Chapter 2, Drawn to You 4:03) (329
words):
“EeeeeeeEEEEEE!”
A piercing scream cut through the crowd that had been forming in the halls,
startling Michiko and me. We watched as a beautiful, pert-nosed girl with
boy-short platinum hair and a tiny, designer summer dress ran towards two other
girls with long, flowing, shampoo-commercial hair and cheerleader-short
skirts. The scream, it turned out, was a
happy one, as all the girls had their arms thrown wide open and were grinning
at one another.
It
was a chorus, all of them screeching, “EeeeeeeEEEEEE!”
One
of the long-haired girls (a brunette) said: “Ohmygaaaaaaa! You look sooooo
fabulous with that cut!”
The
golden long-haired one chimed in with: “HOT! Totally hot! Oh, I am so totally going to chop off my
hair!”
The
short-haired girl gave her head a little shake. “Thanks! I know, I know. I got it while I was on the Riviera.” She smiled as her two friends pawed at her
hair.
“A
French tan, too! I love a French tan!”
cooed Goldie.
The
brunette pouted. “Me too. Oh la la!”
The
shorthaired one held up a hand and commanded, “Okay, stop! Now, tell me: did either of you see… him?”
Brunette
whined. “No! Did you?”
“No!”
said the queen. “Oh, I can’t wait to see
him! I’m sure he’ll look hotter than
ever!”
Michiko
clucked her tongue. “Come on, Gina. Let’s go.
It’s just a bunch of dollies. If
I watch anymore I’ll be sick.”
“Who
are they talking about?” I asked.
Michiko
rolled her eyes. “Probably Craig. Craig
Hall. He’s only in the eighth grade,
too, but he's this guy even girls in the upper school are crazy about.”
“I
guess he must be pretty good looking.”
“Only
if you call tall, broad-shouldered guys with startling blue eyes and angelic
singing voices attractive,” Michiko said.
I
giggled. “I guess I’ll know him when I
see him.”
She
widened her eyes and nodded. “Oh yeah.”
She turned away from me, but not before I saw her blush.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Like her main character,
Gina Santiago, Janel is a Nuyorican who attended a Manhattan high school of the arts as an art
major.
Unlike Gina, she isn’t very
good at guitar and doesn’t have a rock band to call her own.
Truth be told, she never
dreamed of becoming a guitarist.
Instead, from the time she was a tween she dreamed of becoming a
published author of a book series. And
since you're reading this, you can see that her dream has come true!
Her first hint of an idea
for the Arts-Angels series began way back when she received a pendant of St.
Michael the Archangel for her sixteenth birthday.
She lives with her twin
sister, Jennifer (who got a pendant of St. Joan of Arc that same birthday but
hasn’t written any books about it), in New York City.
Website:
www.theartsangels.com
Blog:
http://janelrodriguezferrer.wordpress.com
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/JanelRodriguezFerrer.
E-mail: janelrodriguezferrer
(at) theartsangels (dot) com.
LINKS TO PURCHASE THE BOOK:
Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Arts-Angels-Track-Drawn-You/dp/1936214911/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355357021&sr=1-1&keywords=janel+rodriguez+ferrer
Amazon UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Arts-Angels-Track-Drawn-You/dp/1936214911
Barnes and Noble:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-arts-angels-track-1-janel-rodriguez-ferrer/1113051508?ean=9781936214914
Also:
Alibris:
http://www.alibris.com/booksearch?qwork=23571060
Australia:
https://www.betweenreads.com.au/book/the-arts-angels-track-1-drawn-to-you.do
India:
http://books.indiangiftsportal.com/book/artsangels-track-1-janel-rodriguez/9781936214914
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