Welcome to Jagged Edge!
Would you like to tell us a little about yourself?
My Name is Alexandria Infante` and published my first book, Teaching between Midnight and Dawn on the 7th of August for Eternal Press.
What inspired you to write?
I love the Paranormal, but I didn’t see myself reflected in the works that I read; and if I did it was a side character, a supporting character, or a villain; so I thought I’d write my own. Being multi-racial (Puerto Rican, Cuban, Native American, Irish and African-American) I wanted to see a character like me, and the fact that this is rare spurred me on. Authors like me tend to get pigeon holed into one specific genre like Minority literature, Latina, African-American, or Ethnic, who hardly ever move out of that; and I think that this is completely unfair. I hoped by writing what I believe the genre should encompass, people would see the book for the story and negate the race of the character; that being, anyone could place themselves in the shoes of the character, not just someone of a minority background.
I'm sure I'm prejudiced by plenty of things though lol. I discover brainwaves in songs, movies, the world at large, or just simple phrases sometimes. I love to write at Starbucks, because the bustling people always inspire me. The nasty woman impatiently yelling at the Starbuck`s employee, because she gave her a mocha coffee instead of a mocha latté becomes a villain, the Hugh Jackman look alike becomes the next wolf, the sexy emo guy ordering the Eggnog latte` becomes the next Master of the city for my vamps, the hot blonde ordering the Tazo berry tea becomes the next warlock; and the tiny brunette might actually become the next main female character. I love to write at night, especially since I write paranormal. Rainy nights are good for scenes of action, but full moon nights always seem to give me the most creativity. People in general instigate me to create something new. I base both my Paranormal and Fae series on mythology, so I am constantly inspired by a new myth, new legends, or new facts about lost artifacts; and I incorporate them into my books.
My Book, Teaching Between Midnight and Dawn was released on Aug 7th, 2011 at Eternal Press, and
About the book:
Arieanna is a 7th grade history teacher. Being adopted at an early age Arieanna appreciates the value of family, even if she has no clue what her birth family is really like. Jenny and Harold are the only parents that she knows; and she’s just fine with that. Arie’s life right now seemed nearly complete. Her career was soaring, she had a family who adored her, and her students loved her. Life was simple and uncomplicated. That is until she met him. Unknown to Arieanna is the fact that Auron has been sent by a secret priesthood of St. Cisadore, and is actually there to protect her, the descendant of Ast’ at all cost. Arieanna has no clue that a legend was foretold of a young woman being able to wield and use Ast`s infamous book of magick, and she certainly had no inkling that it would be her.
Auron’s number one objective is to keep that book from entering the hands of the wrong people, in spite of the fact that it might cause his own death. Auron knows that if that book gets to Jimmy Mann all hell will break lose. Centuries of war will then spill onto a human battle ground, and the Council will do whatever it takes to keep that from happening. The Council has a job to do and they don’t care about casualties, even if it means wiping out every last one of them; the Descendant, Lycans, Warlocks, Witches, Shape-shifters and Vampires alike!
The legend says that Arieanna alone holds the key to the location of Ast’s infamous book of magick; the only problem is, is that she doesn’t know it yet! This is to her disadvantage, because those who do know will kill her if they have to, to get their hands on the book and the power that Arianna holds dormant. However, Arianna is sidetracked, because she meets the love of her life in Auron a 475 year old werewolf who was banished from his Företag nearly 200 years earlier. Arianna will invoke great power and only Auron can help her control it, in order to keep her from wiping out both paranormal, and humans alike. Chalk full of Scottish Lycans, British Vampires, Welsh Warlocks, American Witches, and the legends of Ast’, Sekhmet, Mulkie, and Ast’s/Isis` supposed book of magick; Arie and Auron will find a love that will be tested by not just the supernatural, but the regular everyday relationship hang-ups!
I loved writing this book. My love for mythology sparked this series, and each book gets darker. I could say that I see myself in the character of Arieanna, and I thought why not make a book where regular everyday teachers fought against the things that go bump in the night. You always see the detective, ex-cop or private detective, but never the regular person minding their own business; so I thought it would be fun to throw a bunch of teachers and professors in the mix. Arieanna holds my heart, because she was the first character concept that I came up with. I wanted to show that love has no genre, race, creed or species lol. I believe that the book is both sexy and romantic, because you can feel the intensity between Auron and Arieanna. The love is expressed, because Auron will do whatever he has to do to protect Arieanna, and vise versa. The first book is a bit tamed. Each book in the series gets just a bit darker, more sensual, and the erotic element is played up even more.
What authors influenced you as a writer?
This is wide lol. I read a wide range of works from fiction to non-fiction; so I couldn’t narrow that down to one specific author. I would say Shakespeare is one of my favorites though, because I was always in love with how he told a story within a story. I wanted to be able to weave a tale just as he did. I know most people find him boring, but if they take in the works as a whole they would see the nitty gritty as they say; the sex, betrayal, murder and all the juicy stuff that we read today.
What is your favorite Quote? Why is it your favorite?
“All the World’s a stage”, but I modified that to say; “All the World’s a Stage, but that doesn’t mean that you have to perform.” With everything that goes on in the world today, if you can’t be you then who are you? Most people continue to ask the question, “Can I just be me and get by with that? And I say yes; let self -worth and character supersede the everyday bollix that life has to offer you. I feel like this quote pretty much sums that up.
Margarett Thatcher’s, “No one has the power to make you feel inferior, unless you give it to them”.
These quotes are analogous to each other, because sometimes what people want you to be is not always what you need to be; be yourself, and if that isn’t enough then those are people, things or places that you don’t need to be around.
If you could jump in to a book, and live in that world, which would it be?
Hummm, this is a conundrum. I love Jane Austen and the Romantic period as a whole, but since I’m a feminist at heart, this wouldn’t work for me. I love Historical Romance, British and some portions of American History as well, but seeing as though I’m of mixed blood, that wouldn’t work for me either hahaha. I like some period Romance, but the feminist in me would rear its ugly head here as well lol; so I guess I would have to say something like Harry Potter, anything in the Comic world (as long as I had special powers) or maybe a spy thriller like Nikita.
What is at least one thing that every writer needs to have or do?
I guess nowadays a computer lol. Everything is media based, so if you don’t have one you’re kinda outted. The number one thing; belief in themselves, in what they write, and their passion for writing.
Are your books different to your personal favorite books by other authors?
I would say so because I work completely off of the myths.
I don’t read any other authors when I write, because whether the mind foresees it or not; you can find yourself adlibbing or plagiarizing other people’s works. I remember I was working on a Contemporary Women’s fiction book (not published yet) and had watched Valentine like a week before. I wrote the scene, and was like , “did I already write this,” because the scene looked and sounded so familiar. I realized then that I had watched it, and had to erase it and re-write the entire scene again. Honestly, I love the paranormal, but seriously I don’t read much of it. I like Laurel K. Hamilton, am a fiend for Charlene Harris` Trueblood, think that Kim Harrison rocks, and was so upset when they canceled Blood Ties based off of Tanya Huff’s books; and oh man, anything from Ann Rice, but I don’t stay current with what’s out there. I feel like although ideas can’t be copywrited, they are special to that person, and for me to take someone else’s idea and “improve” on it is just a nice way to say I copied them. So I don’t really read a lot of my genre. I want my books to stand on their own. Even though each of the books in this genre have the underlining myth of the vampire, wolf or shape-shifter, each author strives to be unique; and I just feel like if I read other authors in my genre it sticks regardless if I want it to or not. But I do make an exception for the above lol.
What lead you to writing in this genre?
I read a couple of authors, and thought man oh man could I do this; and I did lol. Plus, I have been a vampire and werewolf freak since my teen years. I loved Forever Night (telling my age here lol) Interview with the Vampire, and Buffy. But what I loved most about each of these works was the Love that is either unrequited, implied, or put off all together because of circumstances. It all leads back to that Romantic Period’s “angst”. I wanted to be a part of that, because I am in love with the idea of love, and a romantic at heart.
What is your favorite part of the writing process?
Boring I know, but the research. I think fact finding in any genre is very important. Since I deal a great deal with Egyptian Mythology in each of my books, I want my facts to be correct. I would hate to incorrectly site a myth and have it completely wrong, and then have the amazing Egyptian people on the hunt for me lol. I want to be true to the myths, and have my readers enjoy them as much as I do. That goes with any of the myths that I use in both my Fae series and the Teaching Between Midnight and Dawn series. But seriously, I love what I do, and finding the myths and incorporating them into the story line is so much fun for me; because it challenges me to come up with even more detail, weaving it into the story just right so it makes sense.
Least favorite part of the writing process?
Finding the time to devote completely and totally to my writing. Unfortunately, life gets in the way sometimes, and I don’t get to write consecutively for weeks on end. I truly wish that I could do this and only this! Writers block, lol and sometimes forcing myself to write even when I don’t feel like it.
What are you currently working on?
Well, I’ve written 11 in this series so far (ten not published yet lol) but I decided to push back book 11 and make it 12; and came up with a new concept for book 11. The books get darker and more sensual (erotic) with each new book in the series, and I am currently working on my new book Carousels.
Where readers can find you?
I have a website and a blog. You can find me@ www.eternalpress.biz of course first to buy the book, then my own site is @ http://www.freewebs.com/poisonedpin/, and from there http://poisonedpin.blogspot.com/,
http://poisonedpn.weebly.com/, https://sites.google.com/site/teachingbetweenmidnightanddawn/, http://tbmd1.tumblr.com/, http://poisonedpin.livejournal.com/, , http://www.facebook.com/pages/Teaching-Between-Midnight-and-Dawn/199915416719374, http://aliekat.wordpress.com/wp-admin/edit.php,
http://poisonedpin.xanga.com/itemthemed.aspx?user=poisonedpin&uid=753896857&thumb=, https://twitter.com/lex6802 and a host of others lol. I also have podcasts @ http://alexandriainfante.podbean.com/mf/web/y97ge2/TeachingBetweenMidnightAndDawnPrologueandChap1.wmv , up on http://alexandriainfante.podbean.com/mf/web/ysyui/TeachingBetweenMidnightAndDawnchapter1.wmv, and I also have the trailer up on my site, as well as youtube @ http://youtu.be/SOqrtqeeR8o
LAST QUESTION:
Was their a question you wish I would have asked but didn't?
Actually there is;
Should the race of the author or character matter when you decide to buy a book or read a new story? Can you step outside of your known comfort zone to enter someone else`s?
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