Author Spotlight with
Chloe Hammond
Bookpage: contains
my promo film, a sample chapter, reviews, author bio etc. This is where people
can preorder Darkly Dreaming. It offers worldwide postage. Also explains all
the bonuses to being a preorderer- like
your name printed in every book if you would like, and getting the book 2 weeks
earlier than it will be available to everyone else, to name but two of the
perks.
My Facebook author page: has links my
book page, launch event, details of my prise draws:
1.
Draw for preorder of Darkly Dreaming-
everyone who likes my page, and /or shares the link to my bookpage will be put
into a draw on 15th May 2014 to win a preorder. If I get over 150
likes on my author page I will add a second preorder.
2.
Everyone who preorders Darkly Dreaming
will be entered into a gold ticket draw. The prize I have selected for this
draw is a limited edition print of the cover art I commissioned from artist
Owen Claxton. It will be signed by me and the artist.
3.
I am sending a signed Darkly Dreaming
business card, and a little Darkly dreaming gift to everyone who preorders and
then P.M’s me their address. Although I am based I the U.K I am offering these
little treats to my fans and supporters throughout the world
My
website:- If people don’t have a Facebook profile they can still follow my
progress on my website:-
And I
would be delighted if all my supporters followed me on Twitter too, I’ll follow
them back:-
@chloehammond111
Questions thank you for taking time to answer these!!
1.
When did you decide to write?
My name is Chloe Hammond. I am thirty nine. I’m a shy, introverted
reader, who decided to finally write a book. As a much more confident and clear
sighted child I always knew I would write. English was my favourite subject
throughout school despite my dreadful spelling. I was lucky enough to have a
spectacular English teacher who believed in me and encouraged my writing. At
university I discovered Creative Writing was a degree subject! Why didn’t I
know that sooner? However I really wanted to continue with the Behavioural
Sciences course I was already on too. So I pestered people until they finally
let me do both. That was my first lesson in the benefits of being that little
bit more stubborn and determined than everyone else.
I was diagnosed with anxiety last year after a very difficult year
in my roles as a support worker and also foster carer. I was having real
difficulty sleeping, and felt disconnected from myself. I started writing in
the extra time I had from not sleeping. It made me feel better to use the time
constructively, rather than worrying about not sleeping.
2. How did you
come up with the idea of your newest book?
Due to the anxiety I was dreaming vividly, I started to write my
nightmares down in the form of a story about a woman who is turned into a
vampire. I found that writing on the nights I couldn't sleep calmed me and
centred me. The story flowed and I became fascinated by what my characters
would do next.
I became more and more excited as I wrote Darkly Dreaming and I
started noticing inspiration everywhere: a wildlife documentary revealed the
wolverine frogs, whose bones rip out of their toes when they fight, and a newt whose
ribs snap and protrude through their skin to deflect predators. A holiday in
France provided some locations, and I stumbled across perfect names like Ulla,
which means Pearl, and Chloris, which means pale, while doing a search for
German names. I used a combination of having facts I wanted to fit into the
story, and having progressions in the story I needed to find facts for- like
Guillaume’s car I needed a classic French open topped car, and a Google search
kindly popped the Goddess up- perfect for what I was looking for. I was
opportunistic with information I stumbled across, and persistent in hunting
down exactly what I needed for the other parts.
3.
What Genre do write?
I find it hard to put Darkly Dreaming into
a genre. It’s about vampires, which makes it a horror story, but it’s also
about love in all it’s different forms, which would make it a romance, or even erotica-
there’s rude bits! There’s fights, so it’s an adventure, and it’s set in a
world where there is a virus you can contract by blood contact with an infected
person’s mouth, which I suppose it could be called fantasy or sci fi, but
Darkly Dreaming is as much about Rae and her journey to discover who she really
is and what is really important to her as it is about anything else. If you’ve
ever thought back to your youth and wondered where that shiny, resilient, sure
person disappeared to, then you’ll enjoy Rae’s story. My mother actively avoids
horrors, and I forgot to warn her what the book was about because I was too
worried about her reading the aforementioned rude bits, and she loved it. It
gave her nightmares, but she loved it.
My life is filled with people from all walks of life- different
ethnicities and sexual orientations, and I wanted this reflected in my novel. I
didn’t want all my characters to be white, rich, beautiful, straight and young.
I wanted Darkly Dreaming to be richer and more varied, like real life. I grew
up reading Anne Rice and Poppy Z Brite. I was fed up with overly perfect, young
characters in all the modern vampire stories I’d read recently. I was ready for
a funny, flawed heroine who got things wrong, and made a fool of herself, but
who loved intensely and loyally; someone who was determined and stubborn, and
ready to die for her beliefs and her friends. I couldn’t find it, so I wrote
it.
4.
Would you ever write with another author if
asked?
I’m not sure I could
write a whole fiction book with someone. I’m quite opinionated, and have a very
definite idea about what I’m trying to achieve when I write, and I suspect any
other writer would feel the same way about their work, so it might be difficult
to compromise our ideas into a flowing novel. However, I was recently asked to
write a blog post, about finding your inner strength through writing, with one
of the other Britain’s Next Bestseller authors, and I really enjoyed that
collaboration. I’ve also been asked to help a charity put together an anthology
of its service user’s work with contributions from other authors too. It should
be a really exciting project.
5.
Who is your biggest inspiration?
I love Anne Rice’s
novel, and Interview with a Vampire is one of my favorite films ever. I really
admire her exacting attention to detail. I follow her on Facebook, and she is
always sharing interesting and thought provoking articles, and really
interacting with her fans. I also love the relationship she has with her
characters, how she talks about getting Lestat to speak to her again after so
many years. That’s very much the same relationship I have with my characters.
They are very forthright about demanding my attention.
6.
Who are some of your favorite authors?
Anne Rice, Poppy Z Brite, Deborah
Harkness, Cecilia Ahern, Fay Weldon, Barbara Kingsolver, Anne Tyler, Toni
Morrison, Terry Pratchett - the list goes on and on! My favorite character of
all time is Pratchett’s Esma Weatherwax, she’s my hero.
7. What genre do you like
to read?
I’m a total genre
tart! I read all different sorts of books, from sci fi, to chick lit, to
classic literature. As long as a book is well written and interesting, I’ll
give it a go.
8.
What was the last book that you read?
I’ve just finished Deborah Harkness’s second
book- Shadow of Night. I like the way her characters are also slightly more
mature, but still learning and developing as individuals. I feel I can relate
to them.
9.
What are you working on?
I’m working very
hard on promoting Darkly Dreaming. I have to confess that when I chose Britain’s
Next Bestseller as my publisher I hadn’t expected to have to spend so much time
doing all my own marketing. I was advised I would just need to pop on Facebook
and Twitter for 30-60 minutes a day. Ah, no! I’m spending 5-6 hours a night on
line after work, and 12-15 hours a day when I’m not working. If I’m not online
chatting to new fans and raising awareness of how the preordering system works
so my novel can be crowd funded, I’m writing blog posts, and organizing my
launch event, sending out press releases, or trotting around local businesses
asking them if I can put posters in their window, or business cards by their
tills. And I was a complete social media and marketing virgin! I only got a
Facebook account a couple of years ago so I could share my holiday photos with
people, and I’d never tried Twitter until I was promoting Darkly Dreaming.
Don’t get me wrong
though, I absolutely love every single second of it. I’m right outside my
comfort zone, I’m very shy and approaching strangers and asking them to buy
something I’ve put my heart and soul into, which doesn’t even actually exist
yet, really challenges me. I’ve never felt so alive. I’ve also been surprised
and delighted by how people have helped me. Friends and family have been
incredibly supportive, especially my poor husband. He’s had to take over all
the household stuff while I write, and be my ideas board; and my first reader,
when he doesn’t even read fiction; and now my promoter- he’s an extrovert and
actually enjoys ambushing strangers so I can talk to them about my book. I’ve
also been delighted by the enthusiasm and support I have received from other
authors, bloggers, and local businesses.
So, I am determined
to get the 250 preorders I need for Darkly Dreaming to be published. I want to
do this always and forever. I want to feel this alive, passionate and creative
for the rest of my life. I will need your help though. I need those preorders.
Once I’ve got them I will be able to concentrate on writing Darkly Dancing the
second book, in what I hope will be a trilogy, and Rae and Layla are getting
very pushy, they want their next adventures. Once I’ve finished my trilogy I
want to write the book about the Angel who has argued with God, and then the
one about the ghost who isn’t impressed with the medical student who has her
cadaver, so decides to teach him a lesson in humility and humanity. Oh, and
then there’s the Y.A novel about the alternative world where animals speak like
humans, and good and bad are battling for control.
Fun Questions:
1.
Favorite Animal
Cats, can’t live
without my puddies. Even Rae demanded a cat when she moved to Brittany, a
little silver stray who she hunts and plays with.
2.
Favorite Color
Red and green,
contradictory in what they are meant to represent I know- green is calm and
serene, red is fiery and passionate, but I feel that contraction within myself
too.
3.
Favorite Food
Just one? Argh!
Chocolate, no, salmon, no steak, no, cake, no, ice cream, no…….
4.
Favorite Genre of Music
Folk- I adore Joan
Baez, her voice connects to something essential inside me. However I also love
Robbie Williams, I feel people don’t appreciate the power of his lyrics enough
because he hides them behind cheery tunes and his playful persona.
5.
Favorite Season
Summer. I love the
sun, which is why my husband and I are planning to move to France once my
writing takes off. Britain isn’t known for its sunshine, and I really need the
mood boost the sun offers.
Rude bit teaser:- My head fell
back as my back arched and his casual grasp on my shoulder became molten. He
slid his hand up and cupped the back of my head while he was kissing and
licking and nipping down my cheek, lingering on my mouth and then down onto my
throat. Then back up to bite and tug my ear lobe, and back down to the sweet
dip where my collar bone met my neck. At the same time his
other hand slid around my waist and down onto my arse pushing me hard against
him. The need in me was as instant and furious as a gas flame, it became me.
Only where he touched me was the need sweetened and slaked.
I’ll
attach my cover art separately. I can’t send you an author pic- due to the
nature of my day job I have to write and promote as Chloe Hammond- which is my
pen name (although I enjoy being Chloe Hammond more than my real name!) this is
why I use one of my artists preliminary sketches as my Facebook and Twitter
picture.
Thank
you so much for your support,
Chloe
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