Author Interview: Nadège Richards + Giveaway

Hi guys, I have an author interview with you today.
Today I have questions for indie-published author Nadège Richards. Nadège is a friend of mine, and I'm really excited to read her book.

Here is a short bio:

Born in New York and raised in Pennsylvania, Nadège has traveled to five other states and two countries, but aspires to travel the world some day. Her name is of French origin, though she's never been to France (she's actually West Indian-American!). Forever a lover of art and all things pertaining to Literature, she hopes to obtain knowledge from her writing career, rather than popularity or fame. She wrote her first novel about aliens and goats in the 8th grade and has had a passion for story-telling ever since. Her friends and family are her biggest inspiration, and the occasional cup of coffee. She enjoys being part of the Indie community and sharing her stories with the world.

When not reading, writing, and blogging obsessively, she's usually found hiking, studying, camping, or at home with her family. She's been a martial artist for two years, a singer for three, and always seeks a common ground in everything. She considers her writing very personal, as she's always been a private person. She enjoys writing about what could or should happen, rather than what did happen--she's a dreamer and a procrastinator.


Her name is pronounced [Nah-dej]

Do or Die...


In a world that has been divided amongst the Hunter race and the Warrior, prisoners who have fallen prey to King Cyrus' decrees are forced into the arena to fight until death. Winner is granted mercy and privilege to see another sunrise. Death unto the weak. In an attempt to get back at everyone who has ever shut her out, seventeen year-old Princess Echo becomes another victim, dragging Ayden, her forbidden love, along in a race to freedom, to find out who she really is, and to put a world that has been swallowed by lies back together again.


When death threatens the forbidden love of an unlikely couple and they are forced to do the unthinkable, to what extent will they go to be together?

1-Introduce yourself. Tell us about the best of things about your childhood,teenage life, and adulthood.

I’m a student, friend, sister, blogger, and a volunteer. I currently live in Pennsylvania with a good majority of my family. I grew up in New York and occasionally go back to visit Manhattan when I can spare a weekend. My parents are from the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago, to be exact, so I’m a Caribbean girl! As a child I never liked to read, but I always loved telling stories. I’ve also had an obsession for reading the dictionary since high school (weird, I know!), but it’s just something that soothes me. My Mother always taught me to deal with my problems single-handedly, as a woman would have to someday, so writing things down became solace for me.

It’s unnatural to say that my love for reading and writing started with Twilight four or five years ago, but it did. Not the book itself, but the YA genre. I always thought books to be boring and quite contrite, so when learning about a whole other spectrum of books, I became infatuated. That’s followed me through the years until now. I never even considered myself a writer until now.

2-You obviously seem to have a passion for writing books. What made you think you want to get published?

Oh, I do! And I honestly think it was all the great comments I began to get on my writing over the years that did it for me. I had joined a website called Figment about a year ago, and after someone said I write like a seasoned author, I knew.

3-You are a self published author, how do you think being indie-published is different than the normal one?

No. Deadline. I’m a huge procrastinator, so deadlines would be horrible for me. Especially being in school and volunteering. Also, I get to say who I want to give my books to and set them at whatever price pleases me. I’m big on free will so the extra bondage that comes with be a seasoned author would kill me. On the bad side, you have to market a lot.

4-What are your biggest influences on your work? 

Great question! My mother, Julia de Burgos (one of my favorite poets), God, and my friends and family.
 

5-Who is the person who designed your cover? It is really well done. Great colors etc...Are you happy with it yourself?

OH! That would be the wonderful Silviya Yordanova hailing all the way from Bulgaria. She’s really sweet and was a blast to work with. I am very pleased with how it came out. The orange hues and everything from the model, her hair, the city in the background, and the necklace in her hands is just perfect. Silviya can be found at: Morteque.deviantart.com.

6-Can readers find your book, Burning Bridges, in bookstores when it gets published? What about online stores? Where can they find it?


Bookstores, yes, but that’s if you live in my area. As for others out-of-state or international, Burning Bridges can be found on Amazon.com, Smashwords.com, Goodreads.com, and Createspace.com. 

7-For the readers who don't know about your book, introduce it briefly.

Burning Bridges is a tale about two forbidden lovers in a post-apocalyptic world built on lies and fears. They're forced to make a hard decision that may just lead to their demise and the end of their race. It’s a mix of social class drama and gladiator arena battles.

8-What are writing challenges? What is the best thing about writing?

Well, my writing challenge is writing so much in a certain amount of time. I am an extremely slow writer, and it isn’t because I procrastinate or because of writer’s block. I just like to be sufficient with my writing and I feel if I type too fast, I won’t be able to portray a scene how it deserves to be portrayed. Best thing about writing is making up the characters (whose personalities always coincide with me in some kind of way) and creating the worlds in which those characters must live. I’m a big fan of dystopian and my imagination tends to get away from me sometimes, so I enjoy it the most.

9-What are some of your pet peeves?

Immature writing and too mature writing. I hate when a character is supposed to be a forty year-old woman and they whine like a four year-old child. I just think if a writer is going to take on that kind of character, they should know what they’re doing. Too mature writing is the worst, which is why I like the YA genre so much. If it gets to the point where I feel like I’m being forced to read through tons of lecturing and no dialogue, I won’t read. And there has to be personality in the writing, something that gives incite on the type of person the author is.

10-Do you have any weird reading habits while reading/writing?

Trick question, right? I have tons! I don’t like stopping between chapters, I fell like it’s all or nothing. I don’t like to be sitting while reading either, it’s so uncomfortable and my back starts to hurt. The list could literally go one for years.

11-What are some things you really love collecting?

Wristbands. I love them and I hate anything that I have to take off if I’m doing the dishes or going in the pool, so they’re convenient.

12-Finally, to end this in terview...is there anything you'd like to say to people who are reading this?

Yes! I have lots, but I’ll sum it up. I just want to thank all the indie-lovers out there, you are the reason us indie authors strive to do our best. This is also my first interview, so of course I want to thank you! And to those who are thinking about reading Burning Bridges and delving into The Bleeding Heart Trilogy, I’ll tell you this: expect the unexpected.

The second book in this series is called Deceiving Destiny, which is going to be published in December 2012.
You can follow Nadege in the following places:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NadegeRich

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15143545-burning-bridges

Twitter: https://twitter.com/NadegeRichards

Blog: http://www.authornadegerichards.blogspot.com

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