Updated April 2016
Feature Author: Glenda Reynolds
**Also see the 2nd interview with the vampire Tez below**
Q: What is your inspiration? What helps you get through writer's block?
Glenda: I find inspiration in photos, artwork, the Bible, movies/TV series, and my music playlist. Usually if I’m stumped, a talk with a friend or my husband will spark ideas.
Q: Do you listen to music when you write? Have a completely silent space?
Glenda: I occasionally listen to Pandora. I like to listen to movie soundtracks which creates a dramatic atmosphere while I write. Most of the time I sit at the dining room table while looking at palm trees, tall shrubs and flowers in my backyard. Sometimes birds or squirrels will visit.
Q: Who inspires you? What authors do you look up to? Why?
Glenda: Amanda Hocking and Stephenie Meyer inspire me. I look up to Stephenie Meyer because while she wrote some of the most popular paranormal romance books made into some fantastic movies, she incorporated her Christian beliefs into her writing: no sex before marriage, no bad language and no pornographic scenes. And yet her books still had plenty of romance in them and are accepted by a wide audience. Amanda Hocking also inspires me for the following reasons: her writing style is very basic and fluid; she made self-publishing look easy to do. She became successful even when people balked at her because she was self-published.
Q: When did you first start writing? What genre do you prefer?
Glenda: I started writing in March 2010 just for fun at the office. I shared my writing with my coworker and her two young girls. I started out favoring the young adult genre. My writing has turned more to fantasy and less horror. Sometimes a true to life drama will come out of me too.
Q: If you had to choose another genre to write, what would it be? Why?
Glenda: I toyed with the idea of doing something like a devotional or an inspirational calendar, or combine both. Since I've been heavily into short story writing, I have branched out into fantasy with The Enchanted Willow Forest and sci-fi with World Net Utopia. Neither of these is a complete work. I've basically been adding to them when I participate in a monthly writing challenge at Writers 750 Goodreads (if the prompts apply).
Q: What is your favorite book (or who is your favorite author) and why?
Glenda: I have to say up front that I’m not a big reader; therefore, I don’t have a long list of authors. But Stephenie Meyer would have to top my list. Her writing style draws me in to where it is difficult to put her book down. It makes a love affair come to life inside of me. Her book Twilight, the first in the four book saga, is my favorite of them all. To me it has the most romance. But my all time favorite book is the Bible for life. Love stories will fade away, but God’s word abides forever.
Q: Do you have another job and if so what is it?
Glenda: Most of my job background is in accounting, currently billing and accounts receivable. I like to write in the evenings or weekends.
Q: Tell about your first book and how long it took you to write the first draft?
Glenda: I’d say it took me a year and a half for the first draft since in the beginning it wasn’t a serious book project. My coworker urged me along in order to get fresh reading material. I had a fresh appreciation for the modern vampire after Twilight and the Vampire Diaries, especially with the Damon character. I wanted my character to have some kind of beginning, so I chose the Yucatan (since I love the lush green jungle) and to end up in old Florida. I chose the City of Coba since it has been largely unexcavated, and I liked the location. The story follows princess Melanna’s birth that is witnessed by a vampire named Tez. The queen makes Tez promise to protect her daughter before the queen dies. Wherever the princess is, Tez is always close by unnoticed until fate revealed him to her. Meanwhile a vampire queen named Zafrina has taken over the city of Coba and demands the ritual of human sacrifice. The king cowers and gives her what she wants, even if it means his own daughter. Melanna has to deal with an older sister who tries to have her killed. Melanna also discovers that she is the Prophesied One to lead Coba into battle against the vampires that have taken over. There are twists and turns; vampires that you love to hate; a plot that leaves you begging for more.
Q: List all of your titles with a one sentence synopsis of each.
Glenda:
Goddess of the Moon: Mayan World of Vampires Vol. 1
A YA kick-butt paranormal romance with a Mayan princess, who overcomes many obstacles to free her city from a blood thirsty vampire coven, gets a drop dead gorgeous vampire boyfriend, reconciles with her father, and meets up with a healing angel, but not without paying a great price.
Goddess of the Moon: Mayan World of Vampires Vol. 1
A YA kick-butt paranormal romance with a Mayan princess, who overcomes many obstacles to free her city from a blood thirsty vampire coven, gets a drop dead gorgeous vampire boyfriend, reconciles with her father, and meets up with a healing angel, but not without paying a great price.
The Cursed Leviathan (unpublished/currently writing) Vol. 2
The story continues with Melanna searching for Tez; the vampire pirate Captain Jon Devon and his cursed love Desiree pillage the Caribbean; and the Dark One wars with the Florida natives.
The story continues with Melanna searching for Tez; the vampire pirate Captain Jon Devon and his cursed love Desiree pillage the Caribbean; and the Dark One wars with the Florida natives.
Q: Who is your favorite character? Why?
Glenda: My favorite character is Tez since he was inspired by the Puerto Rican actor / singer Chayanne. Tez is the best and the worst in all of us but seeks to find redemption and a place in this world. He is dark, gorgeous, witty, and profound.
Q: Who is your least favorite character? Why?
Glenda: My least favorite character would have to be Melanna’s sister, Eleuia. One of my relatives was the inspiration for this character. You could say it was therapy.
Q: Which character was most difficult to write?
Glenda: I might have to say that Zafrina was difficult to write. How do you get into the mind of pure evil? What drives her besides blood lust?
Q: What scenes are most difficult to write?
Glenda: The fighting scenes were difficult. It’s like choreographing a fight scene for the big screen except on a smaller scale in my head.
Q: Do you see yourself in any of your characters?
Glenda: I think I see a bit of me in Melanna as far as dealing with a dysfunctional family
Q: Indie pub or trad pub?
Glenda: Indie pub for now. I’d like to become traditionally published since a writer gets more recognition that way: big stores carry your books and the publisher does some advertising for you.
Q: What is your favorite scene? Why?
Glenda: I think that the honeymoon is my favorite scene because it contains a twist and some passion.
Q: Give a one sentence summary.
Glenda: Melanna awaits her fate in the honeymoon suite, plotting to put an end to the man behind the mask, but she ends up surrendering to him body and soul.
Q: If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?
Glenda: Maybe Amanda Hocking to ask her what has driven her to write so many stories even before she became famous and for her to tell me any other secrets about the writing industry that I haven’t discovered yet.
Q: If you could take the place of one of your characters, which one would you choose and why?
Glenda: I would probably choose Xoco, a warrior woman of Coba who has an ordinary boyfriend. She has real attitude and knows how to handle herself. At least there are no complications with vampirism when you have an ordinary boyfriend.
Q: If you could vacation anywhere in the world, where would you go and what would you do?
Glenda: I’ve always wanted to go to Hawaii. I would like to hula dance and maybe visit some beautiful gardens and parks there.
Q: What is your favorite TV show/movie from your childhood? What is it now?
Glenda: I loved watching Lost in Space when I was a kid. I use to fantasize that Professor Robinson (Guy Williams) would make a good father to me (I grew up without my father). Today it’s between Dancing with The Stars, Being Human or The Originals.