I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Allison of the “Word Nerds” blog. Her upcoming novel, Waiting for You, releases September 19^th! It is a contemporary romance, and it sounds very intriguing. She kindly participated in this interview—learn more about her and her upcoming work below!! Check out her blog, Facebook page and twitter account for more information!
Tell us a little bit about yourself. What inspired you to become a writer? I’ve always been an avid reader. Some of my favorite books growing up were the Nancy Drew series, The Giver, and Harry Potter. I wrote my first short story when I was thirteen for our school’s art and literature magazine, and have been writing ever since.
What is the title of your current novel? When will it be released? Target audience? Genre. My current novel is titled Waiting for You and will be coming out on 9/19. I’m super excited for this one! It’s a Contemporary Romance.
Could you provide a summary or blurb about the book? “There are two things Kylie Lewis has learned: cancer and loss have the power to tear us apart, and love has the power to heal us.” – That’s my tagline. It’s a story about love, life, and loss.
What inspired your story? When I originally started writing it nearly two years ago, I actually wasn’t planning on it being a romance, but it kind of just ended up being that way. I knew I wanted to write about loss. I’ve had my own breast cancer scares (I had an excisional biopsy in 2012 and a diagnostic mammogram this past May – I’m only 28), and when I was in 4^th grade, I lost a friend to leukemia. I was very fortunate that the two lumps I’ve had were benign. There’s a lot of myself in this story. I’m also very inspired by music and people who are extremely talented in music, especially people who can play multiple instruments. I’ve been playing violin since I was 8 and have performed up and down the east coast, so music has a special place in my heart.
Tell us about your main protagonist(s). I truly enjoyed writing both Kylie and Adam. Kylie is a bit introverted, but she has so much love for her mother and her best friend, Cat. She’d much rather stay home and watch Law and Order reruns or read Sherlock Holmes than go out.      Adam’s definitely much more outgoing than Kylie. He’s very playful and has a positive outlook on life despite his own loss. He’s also extremely passionate about his music.
When writing – what is your typical process? Do you plan everything out – or let the words fly with the wind? I’m sort of right on the fence. I do a mixture of both – I start out just writing and letting the words come until I have an idea of where I want to go, then I start planning out the entire story. With Waiting for You, I had one of the last scenes already written before I had even written the first chapter.
What is your preferred reading format? E-book or paperback? I have a Kindle, but I love physical books. There’s something completely satisfying and exhilarating about going into a bookstore and finding a new book – like a treasure hunt. You don’t get that with ebooks. As a kid, the library was one of my favorite places to hang out.
Why self-publishing? Originally, I wanted to go for traditional publishing, but I’m more in control with self-publishing. I have complete control over every aspect of my book. Plus, I think there’s this unspoken sense of community with indie authors. I love that.
What are your goals for your novel? For the first month of sales, I’ll be donating half the proceeds to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer, so I’m hoping for good sales.
What are your favorite genres to read? Favorite authors? I love Young Adult novels, as well as Romance and Women’s Fiction. I also like to dabble in mysteries. I love Lois Lowry and J.K. Rowling.
Are you working on another book? If so- what is it about? I’ve started writing a sequel to Waiting for You, although I’m not totally sure if I’ll finish it or not. It focuses on Kylie’s life as a journalist.
Please share any links to your social media and books.
Twitter: @AlliW_writes
https://www.facebook.com/allisonwilliford1
Thanks again Allison for the interview! Best of luck with your upcoming release! Thank you for being so generous to donate a portion of the opening month proceeds to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer.