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Thursday, June 22, 2017

BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--GUEST AUTHOR ICY SNOW BLACKSTONE

Author Icy Snow Blackstone writes romance and futuristic romance. Today she sits down for an interview with us, but you can also learn more about her at her Amazon author page and keep reading to learn the origin of her very unusual pen name.

When did you realize you wanted to write novels?
When I was around seven. I had come home from a movie and thought about it and decided I liked it so much, I wanted it to continue, so I wrote a sequel… only I did it in comic book form, with pictures and captions. Guess it was a graphic novel.

How long did it take you to realize your dream of publication?
My first novel was published in 2008, so (counting from the age of 7) it took 59 years.

Are you traditionally published, indie published, or a hybrid author?
Traditionally published

Where do you write?
I have a nook near a very large window where my desk is located. It gets plenty of sunshine and gives me a nice view to stare at when I hit a lull. It’s also surrounded by bookcases with reference books and others.

Is silence golden, or do you need music to write by? What kind?
I used to listen to classical music but where I live now, it’s so noisy, I simply tune out everything.

How much of your plots and characters are drawn from real life? From your life in particular?
Not many. I certainly hope I’ve never been in some of the situations I put my characters in! If that were true, I wouldn’t be stuck for plots.

Describe your process for naming your character?
I never really thought about it until you asked that question. Sometimes, as I’m thinking of a plot, the names simply come to me. Other times, I’ll hear a name and think, “That’s a good name for a villain…or a hero…” Other times, I take a word, look up its original source and use that. Occasionally, I name a character to break a stereotype. In Runaway Brother, one of my secondary characters is named Clyde and his nickname is Bubba. I did that deliberately, because characters named “Clyde” are invariably considered bumbling, stupid and used only for laughs, and “Bubba” is a stereotype Southern name for a dumb Southern character. My Clyde is neither a stereotype nor comic. He starts out as the rival of the hero and eventually becomes his friend, and when the chips are down, he’s there to help.

Real settings or fictional towns?
I’ve used both. In Runaway Brother, Oceano is a fictitious town, but the countryside surrounding it, which I describe, is authentic.

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has?
I don’t consider that my characters have quirks. In the time, place, and setting of their stories, they’re completely normal. One of them does get transformed into a cat, but he doesn’t think that strange because his grandmother’s a witch, so would that be a quirk or not? Guess it’s all in the eye of the beholder.

What’s your quirkiest quirk?
I’m a writer. That’s quirk enough!

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why?
Gone with the Wind, because next to the Bible, it’s the most read book in the world (and it was written by a Georgia girl).

Everyone at some point wishes for a do-over. What’s yours?
Oh my goodness, there are too many of those to even consider! I wouldn’t know where to start.

What’s your biggest pet peeve?
People assuming because I’m a writer I make big bucks.

You’re stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?
Are we talking other than food and shelter? If so, I’d want a workable 2-way radio to get me out of there FAST! Other than that. A Swiss army knife, and MacGyver, then I wouldn’t need anything else.

What was the worst job you’ve ever held?
Door-to-Door candy salesperson.

What’s the best book you’ve ever read?
I’ve read so many I simply can’t say.

Ocean or mountains?
Mountains overlooking the seashore.

City girl/guy or country girl/guy?
Country. Give me the wide open spaces and plenty of grass and trees.

What’s on the horizon for you?
I have a fourth entry in my Three Moon futuristic romance series in the offing.

Anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself and/or your books?
Icy Snow Blackstone is my pseudonym. However, it’s actually my great-great-great-great-grandmother’s name. She was born in north Georgia in 1802 where her father, a transplanted minister from Massachusetts named John Blackstone, was active in local politics. I always thought her name sounded like it should belong to a romance writer so when I began writing, I decided to use it.

Most of my novels are romances set in the South, though I have one or two paranormal/futuristics that keep me from staying completely in that niche.

Runaway Brother
For ten years, Nicolo Liquori gave up his own ambitions, working during the day in the family’s New York jewelry business, and returning each night to behis father’s caregiver. Then Papa dies, and Nick is free…or is he?

Brothers Carlo, Marco, and Pietro expect him to continue life as usual, but Nick has other ideas. One day, he goes to work but never arrives. Instead, he’s roaring down the highway on a newly-purchased motorcycle.

Nick gets as far as the southern coast of Georgia before an accident disables his bike. Stranded, with no idea of the South except what he’s seen on TV, Nick isn’t certain what kind of reception he’ll get. Tha’;s when a pretty Southern miss and a white tank disguised as a temperamental horse named Shazam teach a runaway Yankee about life and love in a small Georgia town.

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