Monica Leonelle is currently running a book blog tour for the new novel she authored: Silver Smoke, the first novel in Seven Halos series. Silver Smoke is highly-rated (4.8 stars on Amazon) debut novel about the Hallows and the Nephilim, the descendants of archangels and humans.
This sexy new young adult urban fantasy series is also about a broken family, a deadly secret and an impossible romance (recommended for mature teens).
I, myself, have a collection of young adult fantasy series by other authors. Silver Smoke seems to be interesting and another series worth collecting. So when yours truly was given the privilege to interview the author, I took it.
Now then, let us all get to know Miss Monica Leonelle.
Geca: We all come from different backgrounds, will you please tell us which hometown you are originally from and a little (known or not) history of your hometown? any memorable or embarrassing moment you experienced in your hometown you'd like to share?
Monica: Oddly enough, I don't have a hometown. My parents were in the Air Force and I was born on an air base in Germany. During my childhood, we moved around a lot, mostly internationally. I came to the US more permanently around 13 years old, and have been here ever since. I've lived in seven or eight different cities since coming here though, most recently Chicago. After living so many places, I'm convinced that I'm a total city girl.
Geca: Did you always know you wanted to be a writer even as a kid? When did you first consider yourself a writer?
Monica: I have wanted to be a writer since about third grade. I've wanted to be other things over the childhood years too, but "author" was the one that seemed to stick. I considered myself a writer when I finished my first novel, probably. Before that, I'd written regularly in a blog, and I'd put together a business book, but novels are my true passion.
Geca: When and why did you begin writing this (first) novel Silver Smoke? Was there anything or anyone that inspired you to write this novel?
Monica: I started writing Silver Smoke in Atlanta in 2010. At the time, I was pretty depressed, to be honest. I had always planned to write a novel, but never could seem to find the time. I was working in Atlanta at an agency as a marketing director, managing some of the digital marketing for some really huge brands. Every day when I got home from work, I would fall asleep and not wake up until the next morning when I had to work. It was pretty insane. I was alive but not really living.
I couldn't express my feelings in writing just due to being a professional and not wanting to risk my job, so I started writing about this girl who was extremely depressed because her mother died. The girl had lost everything, her friends, her home, etc. I wrote like 40 pages of this super depressing manuscript, almost none of which made the cut to the actual book. But at the end of all that, I was not depressed anymore and I had Brie van Rossum, the main character of Silver Smoke. The book starts about two months after her mom dies, but those 40 pages I wrote are the in-between--what she goes through before the book actually starts.
Geca: Please tell us how you came up with the title of your first novel (and the title of its series)?
Monica: The title of the book is a spoiler, so I can't say exactly. I'll just say that it's explained in the book. All of my titles are, actually. In the second book, Tin Soldier, you meet a guy who is the Tin Soldier. As for the series name, Seven Halos, there are seven books and seven main characters (who will all have their story lines resolved throughout the series. The "halo" is a reference to the fact that they are angel novels.
Geca: Where did you mostly write this novel? (at home, in the bedroom, dining area or balcony? or outdoors at cafe, at the beach?)
Monica: I wrote the majority of this novel over the summer next to beaches, actually. I lived in Florida for a few weeks and wrote some of it there, then we moved to West Haven, CT. Two very different types of beaches. It's often useful to write a book with similar setting to wherever you are. It's currently winter in the Seven Halos universe and they are primarily in New York.
Geca: Based on this novel, do you believe in the supernatural phenomena than science and religion? Why?
Monica: I'm a fairly logical person, so I have a hard time believing in the supernatural. I'm not particularly religious either. That said, the book is heavily rooted in Christian mythology.
Geca: Is there a character in your novel that you (wish to) identify yourself with?
Monica: All of the characters have a little piece of me in them. I would love to write a character that was more like myself, but so far all of my main characters (especially the girls) are really different from me. There's a girl in my other YA series, Socialpunk, named Ima. She is maybe less like me than Brie, even. And Brie is far too popular without cause for me to ever really relate to.
Geca: If there's a chance of reincarnation, what do you want to be reincarnated as (or into)?
Monica: oh gosh. Maybe a dog? My little westie seems to be happy most of the time. She just wishes she had a yard.
Geca: Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
Monica: Well, write, for one :). also, write with an idea of how you plan to market your book. and learn as much about the traditional book publishing industry as you can, even if you plan to self-publish.
Geca: What's the best marketing strategy for (new) published books?
Monica: I have no idea! I'm still trying to figure it out. Though word-of-mouth marketing is probably the most effective, it's harder to make it happen than you would think. I was watching this Guitar SEssion on Grace Potter and the Nocturnals and she said that the way people fall in love with your work is by you hitting pavement and making an effort to share it with them. I think she's right. No one is going to discover you on their own... you have to reach out to them and ask them to give you a chance. You have to develop a relationship with them and share your passion with them. So that's my current strategy.
Geca: Is there a specific message in your novel that you want your readers to grasp?
Monica: No, not really. I definitely write a lot about the moral dilemmas of good and evil--for example, if you a bad guy and save a good guy, are you a hero or a murderer? I ask the questions but I don't give my answers. I don't ever want to be the author who shoves her own views down her readers' throats. It's enough to ask the question.
Thank you Miss Monica Leonelle for this chance of interviewing a novelist like you. I am looking forward to your other novels. I learned a lot from this interview and I hope those who have dreams of becoming a novelist someday are inspired.
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To celebrate the release of Silver Smoke, the author is doing a Kindle Fire giveaway. For the contest information, please read below:
CONTEST DATES:
December 20th thru December 31st (12 days long)
EASY WAYS TO ENTER:
- (3 entries) Blog about this contest and forward a link to monicaleonellecontests@
gmail.com (see copy + paste instructions for the contest below) - (3 entries each) Share a sentence about the book with your Facebook or Twitter followers, and include a link to the book on Amazon or Barnes and Noble (you pick). One entry per social media account per day during the contest. Forward a screenshot or link of your sentence+link to monicaleonellecontests@
gmail.com. The links are available below:
- (10 entries each) Write an honest Amazon and/or B&N review of Silver Smoke and send a link to monicaleonellecontests@
gmail.com
PRIZES!!!
- Grand Prize Winner: Kindle Fire (or cash-equivalent Amazon gift card)
- 2nd Place (two winners): Kindle Touch (or cash-equivalent Amazon gift card)
- 3rd Place (three winners): Kindle (or cash-equivalent Amazon gift card)
- Special Bloggers-Only Winner* (for blogger entrants – must enter via the web form): Kindle Fire (or cash-equivalent Amazon gift card)
Winners will be selected using Random.org on January 1, 2012 and announced on How To Be An Author by January 2, 2012.
*To enter the Bloggers-Only drawing (in addition to the regular drawing), you must forward a link to your post to monicaleonellecontests@
