Monday, November 1, 2010

Author spotlight on Christy Trujillo

What has been your biggest influence on becoming a writer?
My biggest influence has been the voices inside my head that won’t hush and the world in my mind that I think should be the real world. Yes, I have been influenced by other authors and the Twilight series is what finally made me put pen to paper—or fingers to keys however you want to look at it—but this uncontrollable need to escape to this place in my head is what pushes me forward every day.

How did you feel when you got your first publishing contract?
It felt amazing. It was late at night when I got the email and my sister was spending the night. I ran to her room showing her the email on my phone. We both started screaming and freaking out.

What makes a book great in your eyes?
A great book, a really great book, makes your forget you are reading a book. You are that character, that is your life.

What is the biggest piece of your advice you can give a beginning writer?
Not everyone is going to like what you write. They just aren’t. But someone, somewhere, needs to read those words and feel that emotion.

Do you have any guilty pleasures?
There is no such thing as a guilty pleasure. If it gives me real joy, I’m not going to feel guilty about it.

What influences your writing? And why?
My life. If I’m upset, I can’t write or I write a sad scene. And as for the why, everyone in my books is inadvertently connected to someone I know. This, I do not recommend as people will eventually let you down.
Name one thing readers don’t know about you.Readers don’t know that I love football, am a huge Florida Gator fan and have a picture of Tim Tebow hanging in my cube at work. Go Gators!

What are you working on now?
Finishing up the final book in The Maldito Series, Sarah’s Fate, a ghost story called Fireflys about a girl who loses her dad in a fire, a shape shifter thing called True North and an erotica piece called What I Never Knew I Always Wanted.

Who is your favorite all-time author?
Too many to name.

Are love scenes easy/difficult to write?
Love scenes are very easy for me to write. When I am writing, I am in the moment and it comes naturally as what would happen with the characters and the situation.

Do you write in one genre or several different ones? And why?
I am only published in YA but would like to publish my erotica novel when it is finished.

If you could be anywhere right now, where would you be?
I have some very good friends in London and Scotland—Steve, Tess, Evelyn and Jason—and I miss them so much it hurts sometimes. I would be with them.

How do you deal with the dreaded writer’s block?
Just write. When I am blocked or having a hard time with a scene, I just start typing whatever comes to mind, even if it doesn’t make any sense. Soon enough, the movie in my head gets taken off pause and the story begins again.

Do you have another career besides writing? What is it?
I am currently a Sales Coordinator for a major professional staffing firm and I do love it though I would happily give it up to be a full-time author.

What’s your biggest reward in being a writer?
When someone I’ve never met contacts me on twitter or via email and tells me they loved my book.

To date, which is your favorite story? Which one did you have the most fun writing?
Emmy’s Heart if my favorite and the one I had the most fun writing. Emmy was very sarcastic and funny in the second book in the series, very much me.

How do you go about developing your characters and setting?
They do it themselves. They have their own personalities and honestly it is rare that they actually listen to me.

If you had the opportunity to say one thing to your readers, what would that be?
First of all, thank you for giving the Maldito Series a chance. It means more to me than you will ever know.


I would love to hear from you on Twitter @christytrujillo or via my website at www.christytrujillo.com.

I tend to be a friendly gal and welcome any and all feedback. I hope you’ll stick with me and check out Sarah’s Fate in the fall and cross your fingers for me that Fireflys will get published.

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