Author Interview & Giveaway with Sinead MacDughlas

Today I have the wonderful pleasure of having Author Sinead MacDughlas on my blog!!!

She is a wonderful author and also my publishing sister!!! 

Sinead MacDughlas is a Canadian writer whose main addictions are words, music and coffee. A recovered high school drop-out, Sinead has spent much of her adult life moving around the province of Ontario and working at various jobs, including: taxi driver, advertising graphic designer, library clerk, short order cook, industrial cleaner and retail product consultant for a chain of beauty salons. In November of 2011, she finally achieved a lifelong dream of being a published author.

Follow Sinead on:

Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads / Shelfari / Web-page / Blog 

 

 So now... I get to ask Sinead a few questions. :)

    

    When did you first start writing?

When I was around eight years old I started writing fiction.
 

    What books do you have published

I'm blessed to have three books out now. The Unscheduled Stops is a self-published short story collection, Learn To Love me is a mystery/suspense novel, published by Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing. Best Served Bloody is a Halloween novelette, published by Vamptasy Publishing to raise funds for the East Lancashire Hospice. All proceeds from the novelette go straight to the hospice!

I also have contributions in three charity anthologies.

You can find my banana bread recipe in the "Come Dine With Us" cookbook
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007YVAJMW/

with 50% of the proceeds going to Unicef

The "Alquid Anthology - 2012 Vol. 1" features my short story Parting Burden
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A1ETNQC/

with proceeds to the Go Green effort

The third is still 'to be announced', but I'll shout it to the world the moment I'm allowed. 

Oh, wow! You've been busy! :) I have Learn to Love Me in my Kindle. I am looking forward to reading it!
 

    What do you need when writing? Music, candy, silence, etc.

I can write down ideas anytime, but to get any serious writing done I need a certain set of conditions.  A tidy room is the best start. If the room messy I can't focus. I need to have a fresh coffee close at hand, a snack of some sort, my mp3 player and everyone in the house sleeping. Until my husband goes to bed, he has the television on and it's too distracting. I'll listen to a song or two to set the mood for a scene but then I write in complete silence. Once a scene is done, I'll reread it with the same music playing and make adjustments.  By the time I'm finished, I have an entire soundtrack that I use for the editing process. I must have music to edit my own work. 

Your schedule is very similar to mine!!! 

 

    How did you go about building your world and characters?

My characters seem to build themselves, mostly. They're often a mash-up of personality traits from people I know and people I've observed. I've always been a people-watcher. When I was younger I liked to make a game of watching people walk past in the park, and guessing who they were, what they were like and where they were going. As I got a little older, I'd take a notepad with me and capture some of those people in words. Now it's become almost second nature to create characters.
Worlds take a little more concerted effort. Although my published works to date are in real places and times, I have quite a few unpublished pieces that take place in created settings. My 'other' worlds are mostly the product of my tainted perspective of our world, magnified and expanded. I love creating new cultures, creatures, races, religions and languages. My problem is that I get so caught up in creating the worlds, I forget to write the story! Perhaps one of my fantasy or science/fantasy stories will make publication one day. For now I'll continue to write about the great blue ball we live on.

    Do you have a favorite character? Why?

Every character is my favourite when I'm writing them. My overall favourite, right this moment, is Emily O'Shea, from Learn To Love Me.  I think it's because she's so badly flawed, and because I loaned her my twisted sense of wry humour. I'd like to believe it makes her easier to relate to, as opposed to the semi-perfect, brilliant, beautiful, 'everyone loves her' heroine. I mean, honestly, I hated that girl in high-school! Okay, I didn't hate her. I was envious of her and irritated by her seeming perfection, but I was not cheering her on in everything she did. I also like that Emily seldom does things, or learns things, the easy way. Most of all, I love her unique mixture of strength and weakness. She's complex and sometimes contradictory, like most people.

I think I will be bumping this book up on my list! :)

    Are you working on any new projects?

I am! I'm working on a follow-up to Learn To Love Me where Emily and Alex are featured again. This story takes place in British Columbia, Canada in 2012. The reader will also learn more about Zander. I'm having a lot of fun with this piece. At this point I'm not sure whether it will be a novelette, a novella or a full novel. I can tell you that this story is going to veer off into the supernatural before the end.
The second I'm finished that I'll begin the next novel, set in 2025-2030. It will definitely be a supernatural story, and Zander will feature in that one as well. Emily and Alex will make their appearance there too, but the main character is new.

That sounds amazing! Can't wait!

    Any advice for aspiring authors?

Tons, but I'll keep it to the single most important point. NEVER - STOP - WRITING.

Great advice!

 

    What are you hoping fans will take away from your books?

I hope that when they've finished my books they'll have a sense of being enlightened. Perhaps I'll have given them a new perspective on something, or they'll have learned something about themselves. I hope that they'll feel a little less isolated from others, like someone out there understands them. Of course, the main purpose is entertainment, but if I can give more than that I'd be honoured.

Fun stuff:

Best Movie ever watched: Ever? Tough question! The best and my favourite aren't quite the same thing.  I'll say … umm … Twelve Monkeys. Ask me in an hour and I'll give a different answer, though.

Ahhhhh ~ Brad Pitt! 

 

 

 

Worst Movie ever watched: Beerfest

I've never seen that one, and thanks...I never will!

 

Favorite drink: Non-alcoholic ? Coffee.  Alcoholic? I can't tell you the name of it in polite company. It's a cocktail made of Blue Curacao, vodka and cranberry juice. Asking a bartender for one can be an adventure in itself. I used to get my date to order them, so I wouldn't have to.

 *Ahhhhh ~ Yes...Coffee is my favorite magical drink. And I DO know what other beverage this is...but my blog is PG so I'll keep that to myself. :) haha

 

Food you won’t eat: Beef tongue. *gag*

Ewwww~ Yep, not a food that I'd eat either. *double-gag*

 

This or That: (Which do you prefer)

Day or night? I'm a complete night owl, which is a lot more difficult with children than you'd think.

Coffee or Tea? I bleed words, but I cry coffee.

Ocean or Pool? Pool to swim in. The ocean to look at.

Beef or Chicken? Chicken

Yes, Mr. Chicken...she was talking about you!!! 

 

Vampires , Werewolves or Zombies? Werewolves all the way! 

 YEP! Nothing like a hot, muscular Alpha Male. hehe

THANK YOU SINEAD!!! It was such a pleasure having you!!! You rock and I can't wait to read your books!!!

= GIVEAWAY TIME! =

All you have to do is leave Sinead a COMMENT below to be entered in this giveaway!!! 

   Thanks for visiting!

XOXO,

  

THE WINNER OF THE PRIZE PACK IS 
COMMENT #3!!!

CONGRATS ~ CHEREE!!!