Today I’m thrilled to have Angela Christina Archer author of The Woman on the Painted Horse with me in the Blue Rose Writing Room.
Can you tell us how long you have been writing?
I’ve been writing for a little over four years. I started The Woman on the Painted Horse on September 18, 2009, and I haven’t stopped since.
You sound like me. I started in February 2011 and wonder why-in-the-world did I wait so long to start writing.
What’s one thing you absolutely can’t tolerate during your writing? One thing you can’t write without?
I can’t tolerate that I can’t get as much time to write as I want, and I can’t write without coffee. Seriously, I’m ridiculously addicted to coffee.
Yes, once the writing bug bites, you always want more time to write.
What’s the funniest thing anyone has ever said to you about your writing? Or the unkindest? Or the oddest?
I was told a long time ago that I write with a melodic tone to my writing voice, which, in all honesty, I agree with.
I think there is a contest for that very think, but I can’t remember the name off the top of my head.
What is one place you absolutely want to visit before you die?
Without a doubt, hands down, I absolutely want, and will, see the Northern Lights. Out of all the other places, Ireland, Bora Bora, Italy, New Zealand, Australia, and several other places, if I don’t make it to those I will be okay. But, the Northern Lights is the destination of my lifetime.
Is there any genre you won’t read? Write? Can you tell us why?
Horror. I could never write it or read it. When I was six years old, my parents thought it would be okay to let me watch the move Aliens with them. I had nightmares for a month and ever since then I can’t watch a scary movie.
I’m with you there. I don’t read horror or watch horror movies.
What are you most proud of about your writing?
Over the course of the four years that it took me to write The Woman on the Painted Horse, several family members and friends would tell me over and over again how proud they were that I, not only am writing a novel, but that I stuck with it all the four years. I never gave up. Even after receiving a total of twenty-nine rejections. I worked on my novel and my craft every day, and I never listened to that inner voice that sometimes would tell me I was crazy foolish for thinking I could write. The light at the end of the four years was my pick between five different contract offers, and now a published first novel. So, I’m most proud of never giving up.
Good for you! You pursued your dream and made it a reality.
How do you respond to negative reviews?
About a month ago I interviewed a wonderful author who told a story about her dislike for mushrooms, and how no matter what anyone says she will never be convinced they are good just as her husband will never be convinced they are bad. Perception is just that, perception and every one will experience things differently. For me, I don’t like onions, but my husband loves them. I haven’t received a negative review yet, but when I do, I will shrug and say “onions”.
Chuckling. I think I know that author too. Mushrooms. Bleck.
What’s one new thing you’d like to try?
I would love to answer this with some crazy answer like base jumping, sky driving, climbing Everest, or something as equally brave and dangerous, but the truth is, I have Vertigo, I’m afraid of heights, and the older I get the more the notion that I’m actually not invincible keeps slapping me in the face. In other words, I don’t like to do many new things.
Feet safely on the ground, is my motto!
What is something you are determined to do?
Finish reading War and Peace…without a dictionary, and perhaps, Anna Karenina.
Do you have a favorite quote?
Since I am a stay-at-home mom to two little girls, finding the time to write is a struggle. To overcome this strife, I get up at 4am every morning. One year, for Christmas a friend gave me a journal to write it. It is a plain journal with no fancy stitching or pictures on the front. It’s a simple, little light-blue journal that is still to this day one of my favorite presents received, and etched on the front are the words: Some people dream of success, while others wake up and work hard at it.
I love that! Writing is hard work!
Tell us something unusual, quirky, or odd about yourself.
I have weird food habits. I love bacon; it’s perhaps my most favorite food. But with that said, I can’t have it on anything – love bacon, love hamburgers, but will NOT eat a bacon burger. To me, bacon is too good to share with other flavors. I won’t eat onions on anything, and even strain my Ragu spaghetti sauce to get the little chopped onions out. But I like and will eat onion rings and Outback’s Bloomin’ Onion. I eat jalapeno peppers on anything and everything I can get them on. I am a condiment queen and will smoother my food with mayo, ketchup, or dressing—whatever the condiment a food requires I will pile it on. I eat peanut butter on pancakes and waffles instead of butter. I believe that cream cheese is a gift from the heavens, and brownies are my biggest weakness. I have no patience when it comes to electronics. If it doesn’t work at the drop of a hat, I get annoyed. I can recite every scene in Dumb and Dumber. I’ve seen every episode of I Love Lucy. And, last but not least, I think Prince Philip in Sleeping Beauty is a wimp. He never would have made it out of Maleficent’s castle and past her without the three fairies.
Cream cheese and peanut butter—yum! I kinda thought Prince Philip was a wimp too.
Okay, now for the quickie questions: Answer in three words or less. Ready? Go!
Favorite Disney Character? Winnie the Pooh
Favorite Fruit? Raspberries
Favorite Hero?
Favorite Eye Color? Green
Best Vacation Destination? Bora Bora
Food you can’t stand? Onions
What annoys you? You want the list??
Coffee, tea, or something else? Coffee. I’m ridiculously addicted.
Nightgown or Jammies? Jammies
Prefer dogs or cats? Horses, but if pressed, cats.
A bit about Angela
Living in a small town in Oklahoma with my husband and two daughters, I spend my days enjoying the outdoors with my family and chasing around two horses, four goats, six chickens, a dog, and two cats. I live life on a farm, milking goats, collecting eggs, and cooking and baking from scratch. It’s hectic, at times, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
The blurb about The Woman on the Painted Horse
A young woman defying the laws of her country, a young man hungry with greed and power, a brave soul who falls in love with one he shouldn’t; all three caught in a country divided by war and a forbidden love torn apart by blackmail and disparity.
Enjoy an excerpt from The Woman on the Painted Horse
The mind thinks. It schemes, plots ideas for rebellion, winning a war, or committing crimes. It organizes, planning for crops, arranging parties, or entertaining guests. It speculates, questioning the reasons of why, where, who, what, and how. It comprehends answers, understands ramifications, and finds solutions. It develops through experience, and becomes intrigued with finding the answers it seeks—soaking up information like dry soil soaks up water.
The mind thinks.
But, the heart feels. It feels love, happiness, sadness, and loss. The heart does not think. It does not question or reason. It senses emotion, experiences pleasure, suffers pain, and bears heartache. It fights with the mind in a constant agonizing war endured every day between emotion and logic, a battle over what lies at one’s own feet, the unknown or the known, the chance or the risk. The heart dwells only in emotion, an emotion with unbridled motivation, and it stirs within people a vastness the mind could never grasp.
Here’s how you can contact Angela
www.angelachristinaarcher.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Angela-Christina-Archer/121833387901997
Twitter: @AuthorACArcher
Blog: www.authorangelachristinaarcher.wordpress.com
Thanks again, Angela for joining me here today!
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