AUTHOR INTERVIEW & GIVEAWAY - Jacinta Maree

Paranormal Addicts welcomes new author Jacinta Maree.
Let's give her a warm welcome!!

Welcome Jacinta, can you tell us a little about yourself how long you've been writing? 

Thank you so much for speaking with me. I’ve been writing stories since I was just a kid. I really don’t know how I got into it, considering no one in my family are writers, it just kind of happened on its own. I completed my first story when I was in grade two; it was about a house infested with bats. All throughout my schooling years from primary school up to university I have been writing. You may be surprised to hear I wasn’t much of a reader; all of my time was spent creating my own stories. By the time I started reading novels regularly I had already developed my own writing style so it was hard for me to draw similarities between my work and those of professional authors. I must’ve done something right though.  

If you didn’t write, what other profession would you have selected?

Writing isn’t my main source of income so I have a job working in construction with my family. I had interests in Real Estate for a while and achieved my Sales Rep certificate. I was one of those annoying telemarketers who had to call up after work hours trying to get your business. Eek! Some people were nice; some would just slam the phone down in my ear or scream at me. Never again!

How do you balance between your personal life and your writing?

Sacrifices. I’m not a night life person so as soon as I get back from work I try and jump on the computer to knock out a few paragraphs. I have sporting commitments and I tend to leave my weekends open for catch ups but after work I try to limit myself to staying at home.

Other than writing, what are some of your passions in life?

I love playing video games. I especially love Bioware; the writers on the Mass Effect teams are absolutely brilliant. Actually, now that I think about it I just love video games in general. I still love looking at real estate and keeping my eye on the market, I can’t walk past a display home without venturing inside.

Envision trading places with one of your characters in your books, who would it be and why?

If I had to trade places with one of my characters, I would pick a Reaper. Hosts have a terrifying job just trying to manage the demonic ghosts attached to them, i.e. the banished. Banished Spirits are continuously in danger, I don’t think I could handle the stress and the Hunters are deluded and hated by all demon spirits. Plus Reapers are accompanied by Goons, which are giant demonic pets who are both loyal and extremely powerful. They get to remain on the human surface but are not affected by aging, sickness or death. Downside is of course you lose your identity and you are not allowed to come into contact with the living. Did I forget to mention the giant demon pet?  J  

Can you share anything your readers would be surprised to know about you?

Hmm… you may be surprised to hear I’m 22 years old. Not many people know my age.

What influenced you to get published?  

To get published has been a long life dream of mine, it was the wish I always wished for when blowing out my birthday candles every year. The only reason why I wanted to get published was to prove I was worthy of something. I’m not the best at sports or singing or art, so I thought I might be special at writing at least. I had set it to be my life’s goal to get published so I was so amazed how quickly to happened once I actually set my mind to it.

How long did it take for your first book to get published?

At the beginning I only approached Australian Publishing houses. It was very tough; I was lucky to get a rejection letter as a lot of the time I was either ignored or forgotten so it got quite disheartening. I had spent almost a year researching and researching until I came across Staccato Publishing who were interested in the same stuff that I’m interested in. I had approached them to get professionally editing, as I had figured my amateur editing was the reason for my knock backs. One thing led to another and amazingly they opened their doors for me to join their amazing team.

Where does your inspiration for a new book come from?

Music is my biggest inspiration! It helps move the scene along, trigger emotions and reactions and it opens up doors to new possibilities and worlds. I also find when you just take notice of the little things around you that there are so many untold stories and interesting characters to meet. I question things continuously. Why do people need sleep? What if our shadows had souls? What if aliens existed? So on. It’s really, really fun to watch the stories unfold themselves with the right nudge.

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?  If so, what do you do to get out of it?

Ah, the dreaded ‘writers block’ problem nearly every author has come face to face with. I’ve created many methods to overcome writers block. My favourite… scene jumping. If I know what needs to happen but I can’t seem to write the path from A to B I just scene jump and write scene B anyway. The story always manages to connect itself together later on anyway. I also have a method of ‘don’t look back’. It’s a matter of just writing, ignoring the spelling mistakes, the awkward sentence structure and the primary school level of storytelling and just putting the plot into motion. Once you have the path mapped out it’s as simple as going back and making everything pretty and perfect.

We would love for you to paint a picture for us of you writing your books.  Do you always write in your office?  Do you ever go outside on a beautiful day and write there?  Are you listening to music when you write?  Drinking wine?  Do you do your best work during the day?  At night? 

It’s not a pretty as I would hope. I love to write while in my pajamas or something that I can just stretch and feel comfortable in. I am a morning person so all my best stuff happens as soon as I wake up. I sit at my desk in my room with the blinds open so when my eyes start to itch I can look at something other than a computer screen. I have a view into our front garden which is nice. Cup of warm tea that I finish in like 30 seconds (I’m way too eager) and I always have youtube/itunes open blasting music.

What three descriptive statements have been used about your writing that made you giddy with happiness?

Mera’s YA Books: This author really does have a brilliant imagination, while reading this story I could clearly see everything talked about in great detail without the author having to drag on about what characters and places look like.

E.C Hibbs: The entire cast is rife with believability, and an originality that truly marks them as individuals – which I found especially impressive in the case of the Banished Spirits.

Open Book Society: The seven sins are grotesquely frightening. The most hair-raising character was mother the serpent like creature. I think I would have peed myself if I had to face her.

What is one statement that has been used about your writing that makes you cringe when you read it?
Hmm… I know I have a terrible habit and when someone points it out I mentally slap myself because I ‘should know better’, I have a habit of drowning my sentences in too much descriptive words. It’s a terrible habit and I know I need to break it, simple is sometimes better.

Can you share a little of your current work with us? 

I would love to. Currently I’ve finished My Demonic Ghost book two, the Reapers. It’s sitting in the very capable hands of Staccato Publishing to go through editing. I’ve got myself focused on my NaNoWriMo book about cyborgs and romance. (Interesting combo no?). It’s my first sci-fi work and it’s definitely a challenge.

Will we be seeing a following book to this story? 

Hell Yeah! My plan is to write a trilogy, but the more I dive deeper into their world the more I feel overwhelmed by their secrets and problems. If I’m not careful, My Demonic Ghost will be looking at book four.

How did you come up with the character Lock? 

Lock was a combination of many characters. For starters I drew inspirational from Casper the Friendly ghost mainly because of his childish innocence. I wanted a young male lead to contrast with the horror and evil that is ‘the banished world’. Lock isn’t perfect, he makes mistakes and is considered to be selfish, but he is also capable of redeeming himself. To watch him grow and mature is heartwarming and one of the perks of being an author.

Thank you Jacinta for stopping by and sharing a little about yourself and your work.  We hope to see you back again.  Check out her great giveaway below and spread the word!!

Be sure to stop by her haunts!

Facebook - My Demonic Ghost

Jacinta's Blog  

Facebook - Jacinta's 

Rachael has traveled to Whitehaven to visit her father, a trek she can not help but dread given his recent descent into madness. Upon her arrival she realizes his deterioration has not only been mental, it’s been physical as well. His death comes as no surprise, but what she discovers soon after, is shocking when his burden becomes hers.

Lock is a banished spirit who must attach himself to a human host in order to hide from those who would drag him back to hell to be destroyed. When he meets Rachael he finds more than a host, he finds an ally.

Together they must defeat each of the seven sins in order to guarantee Lock's safe passage into the Third Realm, a loophole in creation that would allow him to escape hell and have peace at long last. Through their unlikely friendship, other banished spirits flock to them in hopes of a peace they hadn't dreamt possible.

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