Andria’s Comments (group member since May 01, 2013)

Andria’s comments from the Ask Andria Large group.

Carol wrote: "1.)How do you react to a bad review of one of your books?
2.)Do you take anything from your personal life into your books?
Thanks:-)"

1.) Let me tell you, bad reviews hurt! Especially when people are nasty about it. I mean, writing a book is very personal and intimate in a way and having someone tell you that it's the worst thing they ever read is very upsetting. I'm an artist, this is my form of creativity and the way I express myself. No one wants to hear their their art, something that they worked hard on, is horrible.

I don't normally let people talk crap about me and get away with it, but replying to a bad review seems to be frowned upon in the author world. I don't want to get a rep for being that author who can't take criticism. I have to remain professional and just let it go. And that is super hard for me to do. I'm a Philly girl at heart and we have a hard time keeping our mouths shut, lol.

2.) I do take things from my personal life and incorporate them in my books. Just little things here and there. I've taken things from my personal experiences and used them but with changing a detail or two. For instance...

I have a two year old daughter. A lot of Ethan came from her and how she acts.

I have had my house broken into while my husband and I were home, only no one had been killed, lol.

Sebastian always carrying his gun on him was taken from my husband, who is a Corrections Officer and a Firearms Instructor and is licensed to carry off duty and he never leaves the house without his gun (He's a bit paranoid.)

That's just to name a few. A lot of it is just coming from my imagination and sometimes a song or picture will cause a scene to pop into my head.

Jessica wrote: "1.) Who was your muse for Sebastain?
2.) If you had to pick one favorite author to collaborate writing a book with who would it be & why?"

1.) When I write, the story just kind of comes to me as I go. I have an idea of what I want to happen but it's never definite until I get there. I didn't really have a particular person that I was thinking of at first when I came up with Sebastian. He was more of a combination of people and traits that I thought he needed to be. Then I saw a picture of David Beckham sitting on a couch with a mug in his hands and I was like, Holy Shit! That's Sebastian! So he is who I see when I think of Sebastian, only Sebastian is more muscular.

2.) If I had to pick one author to collaborate with it would probably be Abigail Roux. I just love the way she writes. And she seems like the coolest person ever. I follow her blog on Tumblr and she gives you a lot of insight on her personal life and how she works. She once said that her characters are with her all the time. When things happen in her life she said that she can just hear what certain characters comments would be. I think that's great! I love when authors make their characters like real people both in their books and out. Abi also has a Tumblr page where you can ask her characters anything and they answer you back. So even if you aren't reading their books at the moment you can still connect with them.

J.R. Ward does the same thing. She would be my second choice. I love how she does the interviews with the Brothers and makes them come to life outside of the books.

Does anyone have any questions? Don't be shy!