Ask the Author: Anne Eliot
Answered Questions (18)
Anne Eliot
Kaiija, (very cool name by the way) Sorry this took so long to answer. A big hug to you and I'm so honored you tried many times to chat with me and did not give up. All the best to you, don't be mad I didn't go on goodreads for so long. I had had life happening and kids with troubles, and crazy stuff happening. First, I was sick for almost 8 months,(don't worry all is well now but it was a terrible surprise) and then my sweet teen son, he got very depressed and we had to move towns and houses and schools to get him feeling better. He is okay now, and things are calming down, but it was like we fell into a strange tornado there for two years almost. All the best, I will work hard to write some good books this year and make you happy again with me. xo Annie
Anne Eliot
Hello Sam again. I'm so honored you tried to chat with me so many times and then I was not here. This makes me so sad, just know I am sorry.
Annie
Annie
Anne Eliot
Hi Fatmah (again) Sorry this took so long to answer. A big hug to you and I'm so honored you tried many times to chat with me and did not give up. All the best to you, don't be mad I didn't go on goodreads for so long. Had life and kids and crazy stuff happening. First, I was sick for almost 8 months, and then my sweet teen son, he got very depressed and we had to move towns and houses and schools to get him feeling better. He is okay now and things are calming down, but it was like we fell into a strange tornado. All the best, I will work hard to write some good books this year and make you happy again with me. xo Annie
Anne Eliot
Again...just in case you are still on goodreads. Sorry this took so long to answer. A big hug to you and one day...yes, there might be a sequel but so far I haven't been able to come up with one. All the best to you, don't be mad I didn't go on goodreads for so long. Had life and kids and crazy stuff happening. All the best, Annie
Anne Eliot
Hi Zoe!! Sorry this took so long to answer. A big hug to you and one day...yes, there might be a sequel but so far I haven't been able to come up with one. All the best to you, don't be mad I didn't go on goodreads for so long. Had life and kids and crazy stuff happening. All the best, Annie
Anne Eliot
Annike, please excuse the whole year it's taken to respond to you. I've been offline to work on family issues. Funny you should ask this exact question. My son, has had a bad year of being very depressed. We've had to move houses, and move towns and move him to a new school. We are only just getting to feel like we are living in a new 'normal'. Thanks for the kind words about Almost. It has been very scary to write about mental health issues, because these issues (and now we know it first hand) come with a ton of pain. For the person suffering from the issue, and from the families who support the person who is suffering. Of course the families who love this person would gladly trade places if they thought they could help, right? This is why each of the books took so long to write. It's very scary to represent someone else's pain. But at the end of the day, if you are writing a book like this, you need to just focus on the character that you are writing. Mental health is so individualized per person. Different for every single person. The issue, for example of PTSD is so huge--that you can get overwhelmed and freak out and believe me, I did just that. Then, I would just dial it back down to my character. That said, I also had these amazing guys who are military, Special Forces Army--and these macho dudes sat down with me and helped me go through each scene of the PTSD and make sure it rang true for them. The book Runaway Girl is a nod and a thank-you to those guys (same guys who helped me make the character of Robin's father). For the depression in Unmaking Hunter Kennedy, same thing--I made it true to Hunter, but I asked every friend I knew who had depression, one amazing woman was a depressed teen, she gave her her teen journals to read...my very good friend is on antidepressants and she reviewed each chapter about Hunter's mom who is also on antidepressants-because those save lives and I wanted to make sure all aspects were represented. Well, I hope you aren't mad you had to wait so long for me. I'm trying to be back now on Goodreads and write faster this year. Wishing you the best and a big hug from me. Maybe by now you wrote your own book? If so you better show me? xo xo A
Anne Eliot
Hi Sam, me again. Sorry again for taking so long to answer you. Happy New Year, sweet one. xo A
Anne Eliot
Hi Sam! sorry, was offline for awhile, dealing with life--and kids and had a tough year. I'm about to finish Runaway Heart, book two in the Runaway Rockstar Series.
Anne Eliot
Fatmah! Sorry it took so long to answer you. There is...everyone wants to know about Patrick and Laura... do you remember them? xo Happy New Year! xo
Anne Eliot
Ellen it's live today. If you message me your email I can give you an amazon coupon to get one. xo xo
Anne Eliot
Hi Viktoriya! xo xo Thanks for asking. It shouldn't be too much longer now. It all depends on the Thanksgiving holiday that's coming up for us.
Anne Eliot
Shonda...I'm not sure...typing fast. xo xo will let you know xo
Anne Eliot
Valentine! It's in Canada...via amazon.ca. My eBook is exclusive to amazon.com, but I do know people order it via The Book Depository because of the free shipping? I hope that helps. xo
Anne Eliot
Karen Anne! <3 Love you for even asking! I do think this is the first question anyone's ever asked me here in the new questions area of Goodreads. Yay!! Sorry it took me a bit to reply. Summer is crazy this year. There's always a whisper about more Hunter in my head, but so far I have not written more. I promise to save your name and one day send you the first one--if ever it appears. xo Anne
Anne Eliot
I'm working on the sequel (the second in a two book series) to the teen crush romance about a girl who keeps herself isolated and busy while she works to hide her Cerebral Palsy symptoms. It's a book about this cute football quarterback who's had a crush on her for years. In book one, he's finally found the courage to step away from his demanding parents who run every aspect of his life and finally approach the girl of his dreams. The first kiss is getting me some serious emails...the ending is getting me even more because everyone wants me to hurry (I am. I am!)
That first one is called How I Fall. The the second book in the story is called How I Fly. I had to write two, because if any of you have bossy overbearing parents, and even more so, if any of you are in high school and in the middle of a relationship, you well understand that parents plus relationships often don't match up on the same page. You also know if a relationship had only lasted two weeks, you might doubt if any of it--especially the part where you said you loved each other--was even real.
That first one is called How I Fall. The the second book in the story is called How I Fly. I had to write two, because if any of you have bossy overbearing parents, and even more so, if any of you are in high school and in the middle of a relationship, you well understand that parents plus relationships often don't match up on the same page. You also know if a relationship had only lasted two weeks, you might doubt if any of it--especially the part where you said you loved each other--was even real.
Anne Eliot
I wish I'd had this advice when I was much younger. Go to writer's conferences in your area. Go to one every year. Big or small, every class you take trying to learn the craft of writing will be helpful and inspire you to type pages. Join big writers groups like Romance Writer's of America (if you do romance) and attend the amazing craft classes they have at the national conferences. Writers are amazing teachers and mentors and they love to teach story, writing tips, craft, time management and even how to do your taxes at these events.
Keep faith. Keep your eye on your dreams and set real goals. Even if you make no money be proud of yourself and the time you give the writing. The most humbling and amazing talk I ever gave was when my daughter asked me to go to her fifth grade class and talk about being a writer. Only, I wasn't published at the time. I'd worked for 5 full years with only rejection letters, bills and shame that no one wanted my stories piling up on my desk!
I couldn't say no to my own kid who had so much faith in me, so even though I did not want to go, I went. I spoke after the doctor and the attorney. I told all of the parents and kids that I was unpublished, but that I was a writer. That was the first time I'd said it out loud with conviction to anyone. I read them a few pages, and the girls all said: 'I can't wait to read that book.' That year, my same daughter made me an apron where she took a Sharpie marker and wrote BESTSELLING AUTHOR on it, and her eyes still shined bright for me, even after so many more rejections had come in. A year later I published Almost (my romance book about the girl who has PTSD) and it became a #11 Reader's Choice book, and a top 100 book of 2012/2013 for Amazon Kindle! My second book, Unmaking Hunter Kennedy also was a teen top 100 bestseller. That beautiful apron is on the wall of my office to remind me to keep sight of my dreams.
Study the craft of story writing every time you watch a movie. Be totally okay with writing hundreds of pages and then be totally okay with deleting them and/or starting over, knowing the words you've written aren't wasted, they will make your characters stronger. Be patient. Revise and re-work until your heart and soul knows 'this is the best work I can do'. Don't publish or submit the book to an agent or editor one second before that feeling is inside of you. Don't just put it live because you're tired or bored and want to move along. Set it aside, wait a bit. You will know when it's ready. Read The Writer's Journey, by Vogler, study Joseph Campbell and story structures. Read Stephen King's book: On Writing. Know, and be in love with and proud of your genre. Learn all the rules, then learn how and why and get confidence though your knowledge so you can break some of those same rules.
Oh, and lastly...be gentle, kind, and generous to other writers and the work that they create. They are you. Their hearts are doubly exposed because they chose this work. They hurt and feel and see more than most people can because of the type of heart they have been born with. If they didn't, they wouldn't be writers like you are. Right? #love
Keep faith. Keep your eye on your dreams and set real goals. Even if you make no money be proud of yourself and the time you give the writing. The most humbling and amazing talk I ever gave was when my daughter asked me to go to her fifth grade class and talk about being a writer. Only, I wasn't published at the time. I'd worked for 5 full years with only rejection letters, bills and shame that no one wanted my stories piling up on my desk!
I couldn't say no to my own kid who had so much faith in me, so even though I did not want to go, I went. I spoke after the doctor and the attorney. I told all of the parents and kids that I was unpublished, but that I was a writer. That was the first time I'd said it out loud with conviction to anyone. I read them a few pages, and the girls all said: 'I can't wait to read that book.' That year, my same daughter made me an apron where she took a Sharpie marker and wrote BESTSELLING AUTHOR on it, and her eyes still shined bright for me, even after so many more rejections had come in. A year later I published Almost (my romance book about the girl who has PTSD) and it became a #11 Reader's Choice book, and a top 100 book of 2012/2013 for Amazon Kindle! My second book, Unmaking Hunter Kennedy also was a teen top 100 bestseller. That beautiful apron is on the wall of my office to remind me to keep sight of my dreams.
Study the craft of story writing every time you watch a movie. Be totally okay with writing hundreds of pages and then be totally okay with deleting them and/or starting over, knowing the words you've written aren't wasted, they will make your characters stronger. Be patient. Revise and re-work until your heart and soul knows 'this is the best work I can do'. Don't publish or submit the book to an agent or editor one second before that feeling is inside of you. Don't just put it live because you're tired or bored and want to move along. Set it aside, wait a bit. You will know when it's ready. Read The Writer's Journey, by Vogler, study Joseph Campbell and story structures. Read Stephen King's book: On Writing. Know, and be in love with and proud of your genre. Learn all the rules, then learn how and why and get confidence though your knowledge so you can break some of those same rules.
Oh, and lastly...be gentle, kind, and generous to other writers and the work that they create. They are you. Their hearts are doubly exposed because they chose this work. They hurt and feel and see more than most people can because of the type of heart they have been born with. If they didn't, they wouldn't be writers like you are. Right? #love
Anne Eliot
The best thing is when someone contacts me and says they loved one of my stories. It's a strange and lonely work being a writer sometimes. The fans and smiles from readers that come in over the internet inspire me to be better, faster and to work harder. They also remind me that I am living in the dream to 'be a writer' that I've dreamed my whole life. So, yeah--the readers who say hello--is the best thing.
Anne Eliot
I'm terrible about writer's block. I think I get it every day. Mostly I have to fight to silence the doubt. I write a ton, then rewrite and/or start over more than I should. The best way I've found to help with writer's block is to listen to music and try to type so fast you can't hear your own voice bashing around telling you you aren't good enough--there's even a song called Head Full of Doubt by The Avett Brothers--that one helps a ton.
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