Saturday 23 November 2013

Interview with Elizabeth Morgan :)

I am so excited to have Elizabeth Morgan over today answering some questions I have for her.
Hi Elizabeth. I want to apologise to you massively first off, as I know this post was supposed to be up on the 16th :/ I would forget my head if it wasn't screwed on1 i need to keep my calendar up to date!!

Anyway, have some home made cheesecake and a cuppa :)

1. Please tell us a little about yourself

Hello, I'm Elizabeth Morgan. I'm an erotic romance author who dabbles in many sub-genres; what can I say? I love to play. ;-P I have been a published author for two years and five months and I have just self-published my first book - first of many - Razel Dazzle, which is a modern retelling of the fairytale, Rapunzel and the book I have come to talk about today.

I love the sound of that!

2. How did you come up with the idea for your book?
The idea for Razel Dazzle started because of a submission call. One of the publishers was looking for fairytale remakes, and since I am a fan of fairytales I thought, "why not give it a go?"

Firstly, I sat and tried to think about which fairytale I could choose. I didn't want to work on something that had been re-written a lot already. Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Snow white, Red Riding Hood, and Sleeping Beauty are popular tales that have been reworked many times, and then it clicked, which princess do we not hear about . . . Rapunzel.

Once I had figured that out, I read the original story and went from there. Setting this particular fairytale in the modelling industry just seemed right. Young, beautiful girl, with long lushes locks? She is so a supermodel.

But how can you lock a supermodel up in a tower?

In Razel Dazzle the tower is a symbol of Razel's profession - Ivory Tower Modelling Agency - and lifestyle - mainly her lifestyle. Naturally, she is out and about and very much in the public eye and anyone would think that a woman in such a position would be having the time of her life, but unfortunately Razel's agent is also her mother and the founder of ITMA, and Gabrielle keeps her locked in a busy work schedule and is constantly by her side.

It's possible to be alone even though you are stood in a room full of people.

This is Razel's life. She is surrounded, but she is restricted by her mothers rules and the lifestyle she had been brought up in.

Wow it sounds like you have really modernized the story!

3. When did the characters first pop into your head?

As soon as I realized that Razel was going to be a supermodel, well, she showed up with Gabrielle and Matthew at her heels. A model, an agent, and a photographer. They all just clicked, and the story just seemed to work.

4. Without giving away any spoilers, was the story always straight forward for you to write, or did it pop up any surprises along the way? 

This was probably one of the most straightforward stories I have written, and that is simply because I have had a guideline in the form of the original fairytale. I knew how the story began, how our hero and heroine met, their problems, and how the story had to end. It was just the case of modernizing the plot, and expanding the scenes and the characters personalities and lives.

5. Where do you like to write?

Well, my house is rather small so my computer is actually in one corner of my bedroom. So, I tend to do all of my writing in my room, which suits me because if I'm ever pulling a late nighter as soon as my eyelids start dropping I can switch everything off and crawl right in to bed. :-P

Haha sounds like a good plan!

6. Do you read a lot?
I read as much as I can, but my tbr pile has grown more than shrank this past year as my time has been rather consumed by other things.

7. Who are some of your favourite authors?

I'm a big fan of Patricia Briggs, Ilona Andrews, Kelley Armstrong, Lara Adrian, Gena Showalter, Meljean Brook, Jill Myles, Moira Roger and Kit Rocha.

Since becoming an author I have had the chance to meet many wonderful and talented writers, and I have followed some of their work very closely.

Dianna Hardy is a good friend of mine, and she is a wonderful writer. I actually read her short story "'Til Death Do Us Part," before we became friends and I just loved her voice; still do, as well as the way she describes things.

Sarah Ballance is another wonderful author who has a way with words. Chris Lange, Ella Jade, Zee Monodee, Doris O'Connor . . . So many fabulous authors whom I discovered through being a writer, and I am so glad that I did.

8. And last but not least, have you any words of wisdom for aspiring writers out there?

As cliche as it sounds, don't give up. You will have days where you wont feel like writing, maybe even weeks. You will question the quality of everything you write. You will write pages only to end up deleting half. You will get rejections. You will get bad reviews. You will want to rip your hair out, cry, scream, drink . . . But you will be okay.

It's normal to question yourself, and it is normal to doubt yourself. Believe me, I do it every single day, and even though I am writing this to you write now, I will still doubt myself.

The bottom line is, if you love writing, and if you have stories to tell and you love those stories . . . then do it; write them, love them, because there will be a ton of other people out there who will share that love with you.

So, don't give up.

Thank you so much for having me, Dee!

Thank you so much for coming over Elizabeth!!!

4 comments:

  1. Hi Elizabeth, good interview. I love Rapunzel. Will surely get a copy to find out how you've adapted this fairy tale to modern setting. Best wishes.

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    1. Hey Stella, thank you, and thanks for stopping by. I do hope you enjoy the book. :-)

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  2. Great interview. I like the idea of a symbolic tower and being alone even when she's surrounded by people.

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    1. I wanted to mix it up a bit, because a person really doesn't have to be physically locked up to actually be cut off from what's going on around them.

      I think it's worked quite well for the retelling of this fairytale. At least, I hope it has. ;-P

      Thanks for stopping by!

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