Today we meet Lexus Luke, author of Manitou The Sky People Saga.
Let’s jump right in.
Lexus, when did you start writing? Writing has been a constant in my life. I’ve done it since elementary school and made a career of it as a TV writer-producer and now writer-editor for a magazine.
How long does it usually take you to write a book? Since I have a day job, it can take any where from three to
six months to write a first draft, then another month or two for editing and finally getting and incorporating beta reader feedback. By the way, I’m always looking for beta readers, so if any of your readers are interested please have them contact me.
What inspired you to write this book? Manitou The Sky People Saga was inspired by Manitou Springs and Garden of the Gods – two landmarks near my home that just invite one’s creativity to run amok. My imagination went crazy inventing lure and legends as well as incorporating true facts. Much of the details about Ute Indians, for example, are true.
What kind of research did you have to do? Since I live nearby, it was pretty easy to hop in the car and be on site within minutes. And I did that often for inspiration. Research on Ute Indians was done online and with history books purchased locally.
Who designed cover? I designed the cover that incorporates art by Sabrina C. Kleis, an artist I found on deviantART
What is your next project? Theoi, book two in the Sky People Saga, and I can’t wait to share it with readers – many of whom have emailed me asking when the next book will be out.
A typical day in your life would look like . . . I typically get up at 4:30 a.m. to write before work. My day job begins at 7:30 a.m. There is a library upstairs from my office, so I try to take my lunch hours there as often as possible for some quiet writing. After work, my brain is usually fried and good creative writing isn’t possible then. That’s when I do a little marketing – like contacting book bloggers :) and surfing social media. The last hour before bed, I like to read or knit.
What is the hardest thing about being an author? Having to have a day job is the hardest part for me right now. Not that I don’t like my day job. If I have to have a day job – and I do, it’s a great one to have. It’s just frustrating when I want to work on my fiction and can’t.
Do you hear from your readers much? What do they say? I do. My readers have been especially communicative – which I love. It’s tremendously satisfying when readers get you and your work. When they talk about your characters as though they’re real people, that is an even more amazing experience.
Who are some of the authors that inspire you? I love, love, love a genre I’ve dubbed science fantasy. I adore classics by C.S. Lewis, Madeleine L’Engle, J.R.R. Tolkien, etc. and also contemporary writers like J.K. Rowling and Suzanne Collins.
What is in your own TBR pile? I’ve got a stack of indie books right now. I’ve already read The Trylle Triology by Amanda Hocking. Next on my to-read list are:
Big Dragons Don’t Cry by C.M. Barrett
Megan’s Way by Melissa Foster
The Venom of Vipers by K.C. May
The Practice Date by Victorine Lieske
If You Go Into The Woods by David Gaughran.
All those have to wait, of course, because I don’t like to read fiction when I’m knee deep in writing a novel myself.
Blurb: When her adoptive parents were murdered a year ago, fifteen-year-old Wray Sky moved home to Manitou Springs, Colorado to live with her Ute Indian great-grandmother. Wray’s faith in all that is logical gets rocked to the core by bones that never die, her sudden mind bending abilities and the realization that her parents' murder may not have been as random as everyone thought.
With support from sweetheart, Kanaan, and best friend, Amaya, Wray faces danger from unknown sources and ultimately discovers that she isn’t who, or what, she thinks she is.
Bio:
Born in a U.S. Army hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, Lexus Luke grew up a military brat.
After graduating first in her cl
ass from the School of Journalism at the University of Colorado in in Boulder, she worked as a producer at TV stations in Omaha, Denver and Colorado Springs. Penning an award-winning screenplay was her first foray into the world of fiction. Her debut novel, Manitou The Sky People Saga, is a young adult fantasy garnering positive reviews from readers.
A cat lover, and avid knitter and crocheter, she lives, with her husband, in beautiful, story-inspiring Colorado.
Links: If you have them, please feel free to use your Amazon and BN.com affiliate links to the book. Otherwise:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/pTq6L5
BN.com: http://bit.ly/oWNcem
www.lexusluke.com
http://twitter.com/#!/LexusLuke
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lexus-Luke/160471924010777
The winner will be notified when the giveaway closes on 01 December 2011.
:/ too late
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