Author Interview & Book Giveaway: The Understorey by Fisher Amelie

Welcome to Author Amelie Fisher.


Author bio:

Fisher Amelie resides in the South with her kick ace husband slash soul mate. She earned her first 'mama' patch in 2009. She also lives with her Weimaraner, 'Jonah', and her Beta, 'Whale'. All these living creatures keep the belly of her life full, sometimes to the point of gluttony, but she doesn't mind all that much because life isn't worth living if it isn't entertaining, right? 
Fisher grew up writing. She secretly hid notebooks and notebooks of dribble in a large Tupperware storage container in her closet as a kid. She didn't put two and two together until after college where it suddenly dawned on her, "Hey, I like writing". She's a bit dense. "No, I'm not." "Yes, you are. Put down that Oreo, your butt can't take any more." "You're rude." "Yeah, yeah." Anyway, she likes to write and has finally beaten her self-esteem into submission enough to allow herself to be scrutinized under the 'other readers' microscope. "No! No! Not a cover slip! Last time it gave me a ra...." (mumbling) 
Rescue Fisher from her metaphorical specimen slide at www.fisheramelie.com 

Blog: www.fisheramelie.com/blog
Twitter: http://twitter.com/fisheramelie
Facebook: www.facebook.com/fisheramelie
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/fisheramelie
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/user/FisherAmelie

Interview:
If you were stranded on a desert island what 3 things would you want with you? 
A satellite phone, an apple martini, and my Kindle. See you in a few, Coast Guard. Bring some music. We'll party it up.

Night owl, or early bird? 
Night owl. Definitely night owl, baby. I work best at night because it always feels more romantic with a moon hanging over my head.

If you could jump in to a book, and live in that world.. which would it be? 
Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey Series. I think I want to marry Puck.



What was your favorite book when you were a teen?
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

Is there a song you could list as the theme song for your book or any of your characters? 
Definitely Danny Elfman's Main Theme to Edward Scissorhands. It is the musical equivalent to the struggle Elliott and Julia are destined to partake in. Its haunting melody hints at something bigger to come, just like the ending of the series has in store for my main characters. Also, it is as breathtakingly beautiful as the love they share.


What's one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?
Read. Read as much as you write. There is nothing more influential of how you impact your readers than a good piece of literature. Your vocabulary improves as well as your ability to plot and your story's character development. It is the one thing that can make you a well rounded author. Also, and I know everyone says this, don't give up! Set reasonable goals for yourself and to put it simply, meet them. There are many writers out there but only a few can take a novel to fruition and those few are the writers who never listened to the 'nay sayers' of this world. You are truly the only obstacle that can stand in your way. Choose the path you wish to travel.

What is your favorite Quote? 
Not necessarily my absolute favorite, but one I feel is fitting for my novel, is from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. It reads, "Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind." I chose this because of its simplicity and because its deeper meaning is so applicable to today's youth. As our society seems to be one of immediate gratification and appearances, we have forgotten what truly matters in the people we are with.

When you were little, what did you want to be when you "grew up"?
I wanted to be a physician like my grandfather. Maybe that's why I made Elliott an aspiring one. Ha ha! I fought my true calling for years and years, forcing myself to be who I thought I wanted to be or what I thought would, selfishly, bring me the respect I wanted but God had other plans for me and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. I love what I do! Plus, I was rubbish at most sciences.

Who are your favorite authors of all time? 
Abraham Lincoln, William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and George Orwell. These are the authors that penetrated my skin, my thoughts, and my soul. They've shaped me.

Can you see yourself in any of your characters? 
I see myself in Julia from The Understorey most. Of course, we share the same hair and eye color but I relate to her soul best. In high school, I was also the girl no one really paid any attention to and, like Julia, a handful of girls hated my guts for some reason, but I, too, was sort of the outsider. I found myself hiding who I truly was as my eccentric tastes and thoughts often alienated me from my classmates, just like Jules.

Hidden talent? 
I play the violin...terribly.

What movie and/or book are you looking forward to this year? 
Breaking Dawn!!!! There are some wicked, crazy scenes in the book and I am itching to see how they come across on film.  Plus, M. Leighton's Madly. I downloaded her free novella and am super excited for the novel!

Nickname? 
Fish.

If you were a bird, which one would you be? 
The Dodo. Lewis Carroll style.

If you were a super hero what would your kryptonite be? 
Robert Pattinson.



If someone wrote a book about your life, what would the title be?
Goofiness Personified

Give us a glimpse into a typical day in your day starting when you wake up till you lie down again.
I wake but barely. Feed my son. Change a diaper. Change another diaper. Change a third diaper. Check my sales. Cry. Buck myself back up. Update social media. Laugh at whatever goofy thing my fellow authors are saying. Blog. Hang with my son. Answer e-mails. Lots and lots of e-mails. Wrestle with my son. Feed son lunch. Set him down for nap. Write feverishly for two hours. Wake son. Tell him he's a 'silly sleepy head'. Put on whatever Pixar film he's obsessed with. Write feverishly for another hour and a half. Kiss husband, hello. Feed son. (Notice I do a lot of feeding.) Feed husband. While husband plays with son, I write more or read. All three of us play some more. Son goes down for the count. Laundry. Writing, writing, then reading until early morning. Get approximately four to five hours of sleep. Repeat.

What's your favorite season/weather? 
Winter. Oh, how I love to feel all snuggly next to my sweetheart. And, it's a singing sort of season. When I step from my door, a children's choir is the soundtrack for my day. So beautiful.

How did you celebrate the sale of your first book? 
I danced...like an idiot.

Favorite music? 
Indie-Rock and anything with a glockenspiel or strings.

The Understorey:

“Let’s start this place on nonexistent fire.” 
“Promise.” She sucked in an excited breath. 
We closed our eyes and I placed my feverish mouth to hers. Immediately, violent, zealous flashes of shimmering flames climbed to the furthest point, trailed like rain down the pitched ceiling and spilled down the walls, gathering at their feet, pools of fervent, bubbling, silvery liquid electricity, before evaporating into nothing.
Elliott Gray is incomplete, scrambling through the dark on his hands and knees, blindly feeling for the switch it would take to bring the peace he's forever been searching for. 
Julia Jacobs is unhappy, missing a noticeable piece of her soul, a naked canvas with vivid paints at her disposal but no brush to assemble the vision.
At a young age, courtesy of an unknowing Elliott Gray, Julia tastes the burn of heartache and since then, has silently vowed to her heart that it would never be susceptible to such pain again but when Julia and Elliott discover they share a supernatural connection that's never been revealed before, Elliott makes it his life's goal to convince her they are fated. He knows, if she only gave him but one chance to prove himself, she would not be afraid but when Elliott's best friend Jesse Thomas turns out to be much more than meets the eye, it's all Elliott can do to hold on to his new love, while attempting to survive an enormous threat on their future.

Giveaway Details:
3 winners will each receive a PDF ebook of The Understorey
Open Internationally
Ends 8/31/11

To enter just leave a comment on this post.