Interview with Amy Braun

Tell us about your publishing journey…

I was writing casually for a few years before I decided to make it a career. Once I realized it was what I wanted to do more than anything else, I decided to go the route I think every new author tries, and went looking for agents and publishers. I wasn’t having a lot of success and didn’t want to devote my time to a single project when I have so many more I want to accomplish, so I abandoned that and began trying my luck at open submission calls. These turned out to be a huge success, since I received four acceptances in the span of a few months. This was about the same time I chose to go the indie route, self-publishing my first short story, Needfire, in August of this year. The indie route may not provide the most profit, but for now I would rather work on putting my stories out there for the world than crossing my fingers and hoping an agent/publisher says yes.

What do you love about being an author?

Pretty much everything. I love coming up with new ideas and powers and alternate realities. It’s just so exhilarating when I’m walking around thinking about a story and then bam! New idea. I write by the seat of my pants, so I love writing a scene, being absorbed in it, and putting down the first thing that comes to mind. I love finishing a piece of work, reading it over, and being proud of what I’ve created. I love new challenges when I find open submissions, and I even love working with editors to improve my skills and become a stronger writer. So yes, I love everything about writing.

If you could have dinner with any literary character, who would it be and what would you eat?

Hmm, this is a tricky one. I’m a huge fan of anti-heroes, but a dinner with most of my favorite characters would probably end in violence, so I’m going to go with Atticus O’Sullivan from Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid Chronicles. Atticus has lived for over 2,000 years, and he would have so many stories to tell. I’d proba big bly have some kind of lamb stew and bread or comfort food, something to match the heaviness of his stories. Another character I’d be willing to have dinner with would be Robin Goodfellow from Rob Thurman’s Cal Leandros series. Yet another character who has literally lived since the dawn of time, who would have a lot to share and be more than willing to talk about it. Though I’m pretty sure the dinner would involve a fancy, dainty steak, lots of alcohol, and endless attempts at seduction.

If your story was to be made into a movie, who would you cast as the leads?

If Needfire we being made into a movie, I’d like to see Ophelia Lovibond as the main character Sophia, Alex Pettyfer as Issac, and Steven Strait as Reyes. For Charlatan Charade, I would try to get Taylor Kitsch to be Ethan, Luke Bracey as Nick, and Jake Abel as Adam.

Vampires – do you prefer them as sexy leads or blood hungry monsters?

Blood hungry monsters, though I do love it when they add in a little bit of sexiness. I always preferred vampires, because they’re a highly intelligent predator. They know exactly who to provoke and seduce you, and you probably won’t know you’re in a trap until their fangs are lodged in your throat. As millions of internet memes have said: Vampires are monsters, and monsters don’t sparkle.

If you had a time machine, which era would you go back to and why?

I’d like to go back to medieval times. I love history and watching people live without any semblance of technology would be pretty amazing. Sure, it would be a lot more dangerous and I’d probably catch some kind of disease, but there’s only so much history books can teach us. Experiencing such a different time would be incredible. I’d love to see what medieval Greece or Japan or Egypt was like. Those three cultures have my favorite histories, and seeing them first hand would be spectacular.

What life advice do you wish you’d been given sooner?

Go with your gut. Most of the time I do, but I wish I hadn’t wasted time trying out certain careers when writing was the one thing that I constantly succeeded at. I’m grateful for life experience and all that, but I have literally a dozen different stories I want to write, and I can’t help but wonder if they’d have been released while I was focusing on other options.

If you were a supernatural creature, what would you be and why?

I’d probably be a werewolf. I like being in a group, going for long walks in or near forests, and am fiercely loyal. It’s a hard choice to make, because there are thousands of supernatural creatures out there!

Where do you write best?

When I’m in a room with a comfy seat with a couple snacks, some water, and music. I can write virtually anywhere, however. The writing part of my brain only shuts off when I sleep.

What was the last book you read, and what were your thoughts on it?

I finished Partials by Dan Wells a couple days ago. It was a really great dystopian story with a really cool twist near the end. The main character kind of makes me crazy sometimes, but I’m really enjoying the series and am wondering how it’s going to end.

If you didn’t write in your genre, which other would you prefer and why?

If I didn’t write urban fantasy or horror, I’d be in the hardcore fantasy genre or possibly sci-fi. I like reading fantasy and while I’m not very big on sci-fi, I do have one sci-fi trilogy that I’d like to write.

Where can fans find you online?

I’m all over the place. My blog is called Literary Braun, I have Facebook and Twitter pages, am an authorized author on Goodreads, Amazon, and Figment, and can be found on Instagram and Pinterest.