Monday, January 16, 2012

Sallie Lundy-Frommer - Yesterday's Daughter - Author Interview

My thanks to Sallie Lundy-Frommer for stopping by City Girl Who Loves to Read for an author interview during the blog tour for her book, Yesterday's Daughter.

Author Interview

 1. Why did you choose this setting?
It was an easy decision to begin the story in Staten Island, New York before moving on to other locations. It’s familiar to me. I grew up there and only moved away after marriage. In my heart, Staten Island will always have a special place although I dreamed of the time when I could move away and visit all kinds of exotic places. With the story of Malachi and Sapphira, I was able to travel to distant places and experience new worlds.

2. How is it a fundamental part of your overall theme?
Staten Island, New York is fundamental to the overall theme of Yesterday’s Daughter because it represents beginnings. It’s where the story begins. It’s where we first encounter Sapphira. From there, readers watch Sapphira experience many firsts, love, betrayal, and danger as she evolves into a force to be reckoned with.

3. How challenging was it to write about?
In some ways, it was easy to write because the story has been in my dreams for years. But in other ways it was one of the hardest things I’ve done. I felt a huge responsibility to get it right, to tell Malachi and Sapphira’s story just as they showed it to me. I feared I just wouldn’t be able to do it, having never written a book before.

4. How did you develop your setting as you wrote your book?
The setting developed as the story unfolded to me. I didn’t do mountains of research in advance. I only researched what I needed to. But, there was no conscious decision to select specific settings or locations. The settings were character driven. Sapphira and Malachi chose the settings and just showed them to me. It may sound hokey, but it’s the truth.

5. How do you transport them there through your writing?
I transport the reader through the story by building the emotional tension and making the characters relatable. The story begins at a simmer and builds to a boil, transporting the reader through dangers and adventures.

6. How do you introduce them to an area they may not be familiar with?
To introduce readers to areas they aren’t familiar with, I relied heavily on giving as much detail as possible without overdoing it. You know, it’s funny that you should ask this question. After my first draft, one of the first critiques I gave myself was that more description was needed for readers to understand the locations they weren’t familiar with and to give the story more depth.

7. How do you go about making the setting come alive for the reader?
As indicated in the previous question, after the first draft I knew the story wasn’t quite right, that it was lacking in depth and color. So, I mentally reviewed the scenes as they’d been shown to me by the characters and realized I hadn’t described everything revealed to me. I added detailed descriptions of the surroundings, like textures, odors and other details. It made the settings come alive with dimension and scope. I think of my first draft as being in black and white and my final draft as being in color.

About the Book
Yesterday's Daughter

Book Details:
Price: $12.99 paperback, $9.99 ebook
Format: Paperback, ebook
Publisher: Self-published
Published: January 2011
Pages: 250
ISBN: 9781460925232
Genre: Vampire Romance
Buy Links: Amazon, Kindle, Nook, Smashwords

Blurb:
An emotionally laden paranormal vampire romance novel woven with layers of betrayal, love and loss.

Grace Stone, who later learns her true identity is Sapphira, is a loner who survives abuse in the foster care system after being abandoned as a child. A brilliant student, she escapes from her brutal foster parents as a teenager and creates a life for herself. But, her life is little more than existence; plagued with questions about what she really is, a family that she has never known and the never-ending need to keep her differences hidden.

She is alone and lonely, believing it will always remain so until Malachi appears in her life. Malachi, a Guardian of the vampire communities, has searched for his life mate, Sapphira, for decades. He refuses to cease searching for Sapphira even though she is believed dead by all. Conflict arises over the decades between Malachi and his family because of his refusals to accept another mate. But his very soul drives him on to continue his search, knowing that he could not exist if Sapphira were not in the world, somewhere.

About the Author
Sallie Lundy-Frommer

I can’t remember a time when vampires have gotten more attention. With shows like True Blood, The Vampire Diaries and Being Human and popular books like the Twilight and Dark Series, it’s seems like they’re everywhere. Vampires have always been my favorite supernatural characters. But why? Why am I fascinated with these fantasy beings? Why are you? My interest drove me to write a book, Yesterday’s Daughter. But I could have written about anything, werewolves, cat people or some other paranormal beings, but I chose vampires. Why, I wrote about vampires? I’m not sure I can fully explain why. Maybe I chose vampires because they exude prowess and majesty. But, that would be an all too simple answer. And when I think about it, I know it’s not a complete answer. But it’s a start. What do you think? Why are so many people so interested in these mythical creatures.

As for me, I was born on a farm in the rural South to a family of migrant farm workers. At an early age,my family moved to the urban North-East. Now I live in the suburban North-East with my husband and a large assortment of plants. I hold bachelors and masters degrees in Human Resource Management and currently work in the health care industry.

Connect with Sallie:
Web Site
Facebook (author)
Facebook (book)
Twitter
Blog

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3 comments:

  1. Tribute BooksJanuary 16, 2012 at 11:16 AM

    Thanks Victoria for hosting Sallie today. I loved reading about her connection to Staten Island and how she incorporated the setting into her vampire romance.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJanuary 16, 2012 at 6:27 PM

    Victoria,

    Thanks for interviewing me. I really appreciate it.

    I wish you much continued success with your wonderful blog....

    ReplyDelete
  3. City Girl Who Loves to ReadJanuary 17, 2012 at 6:20 PM

    Sallie, it was an honor and a pleasure :)

    ReplyDelete

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