Check out Barbara Avon’s books on Goodreads!

Interview:

1.      Paperback, hardback, audiobook?

Definitely paperback for me! Both as a reader, and a writer. 

2.      Pick a genre, any genre!

Horror! 

3.      What is the first book you remember reading?

That’s so tough. I can’t remember that far back! “The Monster at The End of this Book”, I think. Starring Grover!

4.      What book shaped your childhood most?

Being a shy kid, I preferred to stay in and read, and read all the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. 

5.      When did you first start writing?

I started with poetry when I was a teenager. 

6.      What made you want to write? Does it still hold true?

The need to create, and escape, and share my new worlds and characters with others sparked in me my love of storytelling. Yes, that still holds true! 

7.      What book/poem are you most proud of creating?

I’ve always hated this question, because choosing makes it sound like I’m proud of one and not the others, but today I’m going to go with my latest release “Sultry, Is the Night”.  There’s no real reason except that it feels like a culmination of all my years spent writing. If I were to never write another word again, I’d be happy with the fact that I ended with “Sultry”. 

8.      Did you publish your first book or is it for your eyes only?

I wrote my first book in 2002, put it away, and published it in 2015. It spawned three other books in the series, but they all read as standalone novels. 

9.      How many books/collections have you published so far?

I have published twenty-five titles. 

10.   What genres do you write in (or hope to)?

I’m multi-genre and write Romantic Suspense, Thriller, Horror (including Psychological Horror), Fantasy (Time Travel only), Literary Fiction, and Children’s books that allow the child to draw the illustrations. 

11.   Do you do research for your writing or is it all in your head?

I research as I write. I believe it’s important to not get facts wrong, so if I’m writing a story set in 1980, I’ll Google brand names and make sure they existed back then. The rest is in my head since I lived through the 80s!

12.   To plan, or not to plan your plot?

For me, it depends on the genre. For example, I don’t plot my horror stories, but I will email myself bullet points for each chapter for a romance, for example. 

13.   What route of publishing have you chosen? Do you plan to stick with it?

I’m a proud self-published, Independent author and I’m going to keep it that way!

14.   Do you currently have a WIP?

I just published a couple of weeks ago in November so right now, I’m still deciding what I should write next. I’m leaning towards Time Travel again! Or a mesh of Time Travel/Horror. I love marrying genres. 

15.   Tell me about the character you’ve created who is dearest to your heart.

Peter Travis, my very first protagonist, is dearest to my heart, probably because he started this journey with me, but also because he’s flawed, yet kind, generous, older, and incredibly sexy! 

16.   What do you consider your *current* magnum opus?

My latest release, “Sultry, Is the Night”, for the reasons I mentioned in question #7. 

17.   Do you have a favourite romance in your books? Or, if yours features no romance, tell us about your favourite character friendship!

Another tough one since there’s love in all my books! Even in my horror stories! I think I’m going to have to answer by saying that all of my love stories are unique and special in their own way. 

18.   Do you listen to music as you write? Recommend a favourite writing song.

Absolutely not, haha! I need absolute silence!

19.   Do you have any character art for your books, whether by you or another artist? (Be sure to credit/link if you can!)

Yes! @ayalpinkus created the attached artwork to represent my characters Lina and James in “Postscript” – my paranormal romance. 

20.   If you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring author, what would it be?

Be bold. Be Brave. Be different. 

21.   Have you entered any writer contests? Tell us about your experience!

No, I haven’t actually! 

22.   Link us your book/twitter/goodreads or wherever we can best connect with you!

Everything about me is in my Twitter profile or pinned to my page: @barb_avon. Thank you so much again, Rebecca. I really enjoyed answering the questions for your interview!