Interview with historical and fantasy novelist Adrianna Morgan

I'm happy to introduce historical romance and fantasy author Adrianna Morgan today. She's doing a virtual book tour for her novel Once Upon A Fairytale Princess.

Bio:

Adrianna Morgan was born in the Bahamas. Of both West Indian and African ancestry, she was exposed to the shadowy world of the supernatural at a young age. She was blessed with a mother that knew the importance of a good ghost story making her fascinated by anything that goes bump in the night. Adrianna is obsessed with werewolves, vampires and demons, oh my! A Marine Biology teacher by day, she is still intrigued by the weird and the unusual.

Currently, she has 10 books on Amazon and has challenged herself to write one full novel per month this year, although she admits she is ready to throw in the towel. Almost.

Adrianna writes urban fantasy, erotica, and romance. Visit her at http://adriannamorgan.com for more of her books.

Welcome, Adrianna. Please tell us about your current release.

Once Upon A Fairytale Princess is based upon the premise that all the fairytales we know are snippets of one woman’s life. The Princess, in this case, is a noblewoman by the name of Ella Fitzpatrick, whose family has lost everything. To make ends meet, she quietly works as a seamstress until her father boasts that she is so good, she could probably spin straw into gold. Cue the royal family hearing of the claim and putting her to the test. The book also contains elements of Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Rapunzel, and Snow White, with a bit of magic thrown in.

Blurb:

In a matter of moments, Ella Fitzpatrick’s life went from bad to worse. Her father’s boast pits her against every seamstress in the village all vying for the ultimate prize—guest of honor at the Prince’s ball. Once there, Ella catches the eye of the charming prince and manages to make a powerful enemy; one who is not above using magic to aid her quest. Now Ella is on the run, chasing the very villain who killed her mother ten years ago and who may be trying to kill her now. The only thing stopping Ella is her lack of knowledge about her own magical background—and Hunter, the Prince’s brooding bodyguard. Hunter Kirk has been in love with Ella since she promised to marry him when they were children. Now she is pledged to his Prince and someone might be trying to kill her. He has to get to her before the last Fitzpatrick sorceress is killed—and he loses his chance to tell her how much he loves her.

What inspired you to write this book?

I love fairytales. I always have. Fairytales gave me the ability, as a kid, to traverse foreign lands and play with magic. It had always been something which fascinated me. As I grew older, my love of fairytales did not diminish, instead I moved on to encompass world mythology, finally adding it as a concentration to my Biology degree in college. I wanted to write a book in which all the fairytale characters knew each other and were perhaps friends and the book evolved into this one.

What exciting story are you working on next?

Right now, I am working on a new series titled, “The House of Valnak.” I am going back to my fantasy roots and reinventing (I hope) the vampire genre, just a bit. The first book is called Reyna: The Assassin and is a bit like “Underworld” meets “Van Helsing” with a bit more romance and treachery.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I still don’t. I still get a bit uncomfortable when someone introduces me as a writer. Writers write because it is a job. I do it because I love it. I guess I could say I became a writer the minute I finished my first book and make a concerted effort to get it published. But even now, I still get flustered hearing my name and “writer” in the same sentence.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I do not write full time. I am a high school teacher by day and a full-time doctoral graduate student. I would like to add that I am a mother, but since my only child has four legs, that may be stretching it a bit. I have a very intense schedule and as such, everything has to be written down and penciled in. I try to write (on average) about 5 pages per day, even if it is pure drivel, I can always sort through it later. On weekends, I try to double-up and in between doctoral papers and grading papers for my own students, I try to write at least one chapter. Needless to say, I spend a lot of time at the computer!

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

Most of my stories have a fairytale at the core. If you look closely you’ll see it there, nestled cozily. I’ve also been told I speak like a teenager. I guess I am around them so often, it rubs off. *sigh*

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Apart from the classics (doctor, lawyer, astronaut and teacher) I wanted to be a Marine Biologist. Even studied Marine Biology in college. Got out into the real world and realized that most Marine Biologists are glorified lab assistants and technicians. If I wanted to work with Shamu, I should’ve studied Psychology in college (according to SeaWorld)?

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

Books two and three of my “Blue Moon” trilogy will be released December 2012 and January 2013, respectively.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing a little bit about yourself and your writing. Happy touring!