The Novel Lady Interviews Author Nazarea Andrews

Okay, if I start going all fangirl here, please stop me… or hand me a glass of wine.  I can’t drink and talk at the same time and maybe the wine will calm me down.  This month we are interviewing none other than Nazarea Andrews!  (huge smile on my face)

Nazarea Andrews (N to almost everyone) is an avid reader and tends to write the stories she wants to read. Which means she writes everything from zombies and dystopia to contemporary love stories. When not writing, she can most often be found driving her kids to practice and burning dinner while she reads, or binge watching TV shows on Netflix. N loves chocolate, wine, and coffee almost as much as she loves books, but not quite as much as she loves her kids.

N is a self-professed geek and enjoys spending her spare time lost in her favorite fandoms and can often be found babbling about them on social media. She lives in south Georgia with her husband, daughters, spoiled cat and overgrown dog. She is the author of World Without End series, Neverland Found, Edge of the Falls, and The University of Branton Series.

Scherry:  Welcome N! Thanks for joining us here at The Novel Lady.  Tell us a little about yourself and your background? 

Nazarea:  Hey, thank you for having me!! Oh, about meeee…..umm. I’m a mom of three amazing kids and I have an obsession with stories. My first memories are reading with my older brothers, and my mom. I started writing when I was around 11? And never really quit. I play in a lot of different genres, but a pretty consistent theme is falling in love, and every trial and tribulation that comes along with that. 

Scherry:  What do you do when you’re not writing?  Do you have any hobbies or guilty pleasures? 

Nazarea:  I refuse to feel guilty about the things I take pleasure in—I figure if I feel guilty about it, I won’t enjoy it as much. But—I love binge watching TV. Spending time with my kids—they play softball so we spend a lot of time at the field. And I adore cooking, especially when I don’t have to cook.

Scherry:  When and why did you begin writing?

Nazarea:   When I was 11. I was a quiet shy kid (and adult) and writing was a way for me to find my voice. It remains my favorite way.

As we mentioned, you tend to read a lot! Which writers inspire you? 

Nazarea: Oh man. David & Leigh Eddings were my gateway to fantasy and spec fic, so definitely them. Anne Bishop, Juliet Marillier (Seriously I want to write fairy tales like she does) and Jacqueline Carey are definitely up there.

How would you describe your latest novel? 

Nazarea: It’s a fluffy romance! We haven’t announced much about it, but it’s….fun. It’s fun. And sexy. 

Scherry:  I’m anxious to read it!  What inspired you to write it? 

Nazarea: Like I mentioned, I play in a lot of different sandboxes with my writing. And I love heavy stuff (This Dark Light was one of my favorite projects and it’s very heavy) but I also really like feel good stories that make me smile. I feel like we could all use a little more of those right now, so. *shrug*

Scherry:  If you had to write this one all over again, go through the whole editing and publishing process from the beginning again, is there anything you would do differently. 

Nazarea: Probably not? I’m pretty happy with it.

Scherry: Are you a plotter and know what’s going to happen or are you a pantser that lets your characters lead the way? 

Nazarea: Little bit of both. I know general plot points, and I do have an outline, but I listen to my characters—it’s their story, I’m just helping them tell it. So if they go off plot, I generally throw the outline out and follow their lead.

Scherry:  How much research did you do for your latest novel? 

Nazarea: A fair bit. Its got a cop in it so I had a lot of phone calls to my youngest brother, who is a cop, and a lot of research into drinks.

Scherry: What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever researched for one of your books? Nazarea: Pandemics and the decomposition of bodies in water. Oh, and the nuclear fallout if Atlanta were bombed.

Scherry:  Wow! Makes you wonder what would happen if Homeland Security ever confiscated your computer!  *chuckling*  How long does it normally take you to write a book?

Nazarea: About six weeks to draft.

Scherry: Thinking about the characters in your books…  Do you have a favorite?  Which one would you most like to go have a glass of wine with… or wake up next to? Nazarea: Ooh. Parker Lee is my favorite (Personal Apoacalypse and Black Hole Infection). He’s such a broken character and he tries so damn hard. Wine….I think I’d probably sit down with Gwen from GIRL LOST. She’s batshit crazy and I think she’d be fun to talk to. As for waking up next to….Finn from The World Without a Future. I mean, Ren might shoot me, but seriously? Totally worth it.

Scherry: Have you ever based your book or characters on actual events or people from your own life? 

Nazarea: No. I think the closest was—I plotted and started writing THIS DARK LIGHT about a week before my oldest brother died unexpectedly. I knew going into it the book was going to be about grief and mourning and the different ways we do that. So it was definitely not inspired by or pulled from real life, but my grief and mourning to filter into the book.

Scherry: So, say you got arrested.  What’s the most likely reason the cops are carting you off to jail?

Nazarea: Public drunkenness or public indecency.

Scherry: What is next for you?  Do you have any scheduled upcoming releases or works in progress?Nazarea: Fireball is coming Feb 27^th, and then some other exciting things this year. It’s a good year we’ve got planned.

Scherry: Thank you so much for joining us here at The Novel Lady!  I’m looking forward to seeing you at Coastal Magic in February!

Nazarea: Thanks so much for having me!!

If you would like to meet Nazarea Andrews in person, stop by the Coastal Magic 
Convention in Daytona Beach in February 2018.  N is one of our favorite Featured 
Authors.  For more information about #CMCon2018, check out the web page at  www.coastalmagicconvention.com.

AUTHOR LINKS:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Street Team | Tumblr | N + Arei

Here are a couple of Nazarea Andrews' recent releases.  Check out her web page for more!

When Ethan is called home for an unexpected wedding, all he can think about is the well-meaning women in his life trying to set him up with someone that will entice him to move back Texas. Settle down and get married and live a nice quiet life.
Which is why he ends up asking Spencer, his best friend and roommate, to go as his date. Never mind that they aren’t dating, that Spence is definitely not interested in dating—his sisters have heard enough about him over the years that they might buy it. 
A week at home, pretending to date a guy he’s been in love with for three years? What could possibly go wrong?

He’s at the top of the world. 
He’s rich, sought after, and in control. 
And he’s bored. 
A string of one-night stands have left Samul Charming increasingly dissatisfied. When his mother pushes him to settle down, his best friends come up with a brilliant plan: 
Audition the submissives at The Kingdom. 
The problem is, Charm knows who he wants: the only girl to challenge him, while submitting as naturally as breathing. 
But he can’t have her. 
With the entire club watching and his parents expecting him to settle down, Charm decides to settle. 
But love in the Kingdom is never simple and it is never painless. 
And Charm is about to be reminded of that. 
~
It’s the dirtiest fairy tale of all…. 
Charm. Beast. Wolf. 
Everyone in the Kingdom–an exclusive, decadent BDSM club–knows the three friends and business partners. 
But no one has ever gotten close enough to touch them. 
Sex is easy, even when it hurts. It’s all any of them wanted. 
Love is off the table. 
Love is the thing none of them ever saw coming. 
In the Kingdom, control is everything. Who wields it and who surrenders. 
But some things even they can’t control. 
Welcome to the Kingdom, where every happily ever after hurts in the most wicked of ways.