Interview With…. Avril Sabine

Hello readers. Today I am chatting with Avril Sabine. Avril comes from Sunny Queensland (Beautiful One Day.. Perfect The Next), and is the author of the Dragon Blood series.

Avril, please tell our followers something about yourself.
I’m a young adult fiction author who lives on acreage in South East Queensland, Australia with my family. I suppose I shouldn’t forget to mention our three legged cat who thinks she’s the one who actually runs the house. I’ve been writing since before I started school and telling stories even before that. The moment I realised the books I loved to read were written by authors, I knew what I wanted to be.

What inspires you to get out of bed each day?
My family and my writing are what makes me want to get out of bed each day. Although sometimes my writing doesn’t let me get to bed and there have been many nights I’ve completely missed out on sleep because a story has been too insistent to let me go to bed.

If you could hang out with one famous person for one day, who would it be and why?
One? Seriously? But there are so many interesting people in the world. Do they have to still be living? Or is this one of those questions where I can pretend I get to use a time machine so I can go back and visit people like Alexander the Great, Boudica, Shakespeare, Albert Einstein and Jane Austen? If they have to still be alive, I love talking to people who’ve overcome great odds. They don’t even need to be famous. I guess there aren’t any famous people still living that I have a burning desire to spend the day with. There are a few I’d like to spend some time with to ask them a handful of questions. Such as some of my favourite authors and some of the people who’ve made a difference for minority groups. I’m always interested in what drives people and why they choose to do different things.

What’s the story behind your latest book?
My latest book is part of my Dragon Blood series. The series came to me as a flash of a scene. A teenage girl stepped out onto her shadowy balcony, angry that she’d been forced to move from Brisbane, Australia to a country town. A boy crashes into her roof and drops down onto her balcony, blood and gashes on his arm. He rises to his feet and she backs into her room, recognizing him as a boy from her new school when he steps into the light. That single scene had me asking a million questions and ended up turning into a five book series.

What are you working on next?
I’m currently working on the first book in a series about a ghost who haunts a school, Plea of the Dammed, as well as a post apocalyptic trilogy, When The World Started Over. They’re the ones I’m writing, but I also have several that I’m editing in between working on them.

Do you have any special/extraordinary talents?
This question certainly had me thinking. I asked some of my friends and family in an effort to try and think of my talents. Because other than writing, none came to mind. One of them told me I’m always there for them and they know they can rely on me. I shook my head. Well of course I’m there for my friends and family. That’s not a talent.
What about building a house and renovating other ones, I was asked. Once again I shook my head. Research and learning a new skill and not giving up when setbacks come your way. Nothing talented about that. They continued to make suggestions until it dawned on me. I do have a talent other than writing. It’s stubbornness. Now some people might say that’s not a talent, or even try and fancy it up by calling it determination. But trust me, mine is just plain old stubbornness. It mightn’t seem like much of a talent, but it’s gotten me through a lot of dramas, helped me continue to pursue my dreams and not let me give up when things have seemed impossible.

Who are your favorite authors?
My favourite authors are an extremely long list and include ones I’ve loved since I was a child and sometimes reread. A handful from the list are, in no particular order, Holly Black, Scott Westerfeld, Jane Austen, Meg Cabot, Anne McCaffrey, Richelle Mead, Cassandra Clare, J.K. Rowling, Victor Kelleher and JRR Tolkein.

What do you like to do with your free time?
Most of my time is taken up by my family and writing. What little is left over I read, play computer games (usually with my kids), travel, bushwalk, watch movies, do art and craft, listen to music and cook desserts. Although most of those things I do with friends and family.

Tell us about your plans for upcoming books.
I will of course be writing more in my Demon Hunters series. The third book, Tainted, will be launched at Supernova, on the Gold Coast, in April this year while the fourth one won’t be out until 2016. I have more Fairytales Retold that I’m working on, several short stories, The Irish Wizard, which is a children’s book, Realms of the Fae, a dark urban fantasy series and several contemporaries.

Where can people find you on the web?
You can find out more information about my books on my website.
http://www.avrilsabine.com/
You can also read my blog, Veins Of Ink, and sign up to my newsletter to be kept informed about future books, blog posts and even exclusive news.
You can also find me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avril.sabine
And my Amazon Author Page is: http://www.amazon.com/author/avrilsabine

Avril, thanks for being my guest today.