November. Fall. And what better way to fall than to fall in love with another author through the magic of interview. (Okay, interviews aren’t magic.)
This month I’m hanging out with Anna W Aden, a.k.a Bigga Day
J.W. Hi Anna. To start off, I want to know if you would use a PR agency?
A.A. I would love to! In fact I’m saving for one, however the only issue is that I don’t write straight romances. Like in my urban fiction trilogy, only one book is a romance and the other two have ‘strong romantic’ elements. They are also urban fiction, and from what I understand most agencies want books to fit into certain categories for easier marketing. So I’ll have to see what happens.
J.W. Oh, boy, that makes for a difficult task. Maybe you’ll find a PR agency that will help in both. Now for some fun, what is your favorite movie and why?
A.A. Not so much favourite movies, I’m more an actor type or genre person, and I tend to like genre movies for entertainment. I also like gangster heist movies from both points of view where the audience isn’t sure who the good or bad guys are. And occasionally I watch Nollywood movies.
J.W. Nigerian films fan? Nice. Now for the real info. What are you currently working on and what is it about?
A.A. I’m working on an urban fiction trilogy about three best friends – Wanae, Grace and Lena – all stand-alone novels. The first story revolves around Wanae who is married to an elite megastar athlete, but trouble brews when they both realise they want different things in life.
In the next story, Grace, a secondary character in the first, falls for an ordinary or regular working man. Normally she dates celebrities and elite athletes. I’ve outlined a few scenes and I’m slowly mulling over the story in my mind.
Then in-between breaks, I jot down notes on Lena’s story – the third best friend. She is in an on-off abusive relationship with an elite athlete, but her friends are clueless because she hides it well. However I think Wanae’s husband may suspect because he is Lena’s on-off boyfriend’s teammate. It’s a messy situation.
J.W. Oh, wow! Those sound interesting. Love the elite athlete component. Now tell me, when you write, do you let the book stew – leave it for a month or so, and then come back to it to edit?
A.A. Actually, I left my story, the first novel in a series called Fallin‘, stewing for over a year, because when I completed it, I was exhausted.
Then when it came to editing, because I’d written it in the first person POV, which is not my natural voice, I debated rewriting it in ‘third person’.
However I decided against that when a semi-beta reader said I should see writing in the first person as a challenge, and extending my comfort zone.
So it’s taken a year of stewing to work up the courage to edit it. Slowly. In future, hopefully my other stories won’t take that long,
J.W. LOL That was quite a ride poor Fallin’ took. It’s amazing to see how each writer, and in fact, each book can have it’s own unique process. Now what do you want to tell us about your main character’s greatest weakness?
A.A. I’ll talk about Grace. I’m not sure about her greatest weakness but she has a few. She is too sharp, jumps to conclusion and can be loyal to a fault. Loyalty is good but Grace takes it to another level. Those qualities help her as a businesswoman (she runs her own agency) but in relationships, it takes a confident man to be with her and let her be. Needless to say the hero is looking forward to the challenge.
J.W. Ahhh, Sounds excellent. A challenge for many men. LOL It’s been great talking with Anna. Thank you for your time. 😀
—Bio info —-
Anna W Aden lives in the UK. She also blogs and writes under the pseudonym Biggaletta “Bigga” Day. She is a self confessed cakeaholic who loves a bargain in the sales, discovering London’s open green spaces, the occasional music concert, and libraries.
And once in awhile she catches up on reality and youtube shows.
Blog
https://applesandpeanuts.wordpress.com
about 22 hours ago