Sunday, March 2, 2014

Meet Author Linzé Brandon

Welcome Author
Linzé Brandon

Author bio:
Teaching herself to read before she went to school, it was the start of her life long love affair with books. Trained as an engineer, Linzé has worked as an export consultant and is presently a project manager at a company that designs and manufactures products for the military industry. Although she still loves to read, she also enjoys counted stitch embroidery, archery, fly fishing, painting abstracts, her husband's medal winning photographs and watching Manchester United play.
She is one of the moderators of the Google+ group, Writer's Rabbit Hole, and leads the Pretoria Writers' Group, consisting of ten members, seven of which are published authors in various genres.
Linzé Brandon lives in Pretoria, South Africa, with her engineer husband and German Shepherds who are convinced that the world revolves only around them.

Brief synopsis of your book:
Michael is the most experienced investigator for the Lords of the High Council, the overseers of all magical and shape-shifting beings and sentient dragons. When he is called upon to investigate the reason behind the killings that threatened the life of the Dragon Master, he needs the help of Andesine.
Andesine is not like the other magicians on Kryane, and has worked hard to hide her true abilities. Since she had lodged the complaint that triggered the Lords to investigate, she had no choice but to help Michael in his quest to bring the murderer to justice.
He knew she was hiding something. What he didn't know was that secret was the key to the mystery of how the magicians had been murdered and keeping it safe was essential at all cost.
When she was called upon to risk exposing the secret, a more powerful force found them. The Lords themselves had to get involved, this time to fight of their betrayer who wanted Andesine for those exact abilities that she had been hiding.
As they fought to stay alive, their mutual attraction grew and Andesine had to face the painful choice: reveal all her secrets and risk her heart or will she choose with her heart and risk falling into the hands of the rogue High Lord?

Book title:
Michael's Mystery - The Grandmasters

Current book or project you’re working on:
Michael's Mystery - The Grandmasters. It is Book 3 in The Nations of Peace Series, and the second of the Grandmaster novels.
The Nations of Peace consists of six sub-series: The Grandmasters, The Dragon Masters, The Future Masters, The Strike Masters, The Protectors and the Lords of the High Council.

Books 1 & 2 from the series: 

Book 1 in The Nations of Peace Series


Book 2 in The Nations of Peace Series

What was the inspiration for your novel?
The story follows the second novel in the series, Keeper of the Dragon Sword. In Keeper of the Dragon Sword, Elizabeth L'Emery's life is threatened such that she had to go into protective custody.
She meets the love of her life and while they sought their own destiny, they had to fight several Kryane magicians to survive. The murder victims and Kryane magicians that die in these battles, did not get involved by their own choice.
Michael's Mystery reveals the truth about these deaths and exposes the greed of the one man who seeks power above all. Power to destroy the most powerful beings in the known universe: the Lords of the High Council.
The book also introduces the Lords of the High Council to the reader.

Please share three interesting facts about your book which are not covered in the synopsis.
1) Andesine is named after the stone of the same colour as her eyes.

2) Michael is not human.

3) The Lords of the High Council have seven members: Ciarran (Guardian of Time, and leader of the Council), Anoré (Guardian of Dreams), Rhemus (Guardian of Nature), D'Ar (Guardian of Energy) and M'X-Ar (Guardian of Space). Two more members complete the Council: Shitana (Guardian of Dragons) and Alu"Adr'Erinia (Guardian of the Future).

Who is the most complex character from your current novel?
Andesine Cle'era

Are there any characters in your book that remind you of yourself?
Not in Michael's Mystery. Elizabeth from Keeper of the Dragon Sword, is probably the character who is the most like myself.

If you could pick any well known or famous author to review your book who would you pick and why?
Nalini Singh - she is my favourite author and I love the way she weaves new worlds and characters into her stories. A review from her would mean the world to me.

Genre/Author/Reader:

What genre does your book fall into?  Adult Fantasy Romance

What is the first book you remember reading, that affected how you thought or felt about something?
My parents owned a collection of ten books (I cannot remember the details) of which one had a common English version (as opposed to the Elizabethan version) of Shakespeare’s stories. Since I could read from a very young age, I had read this book several times by the time I went to high school.

Which three authors have inspired you the most, and why?
1) Nalini Singh - her world building and intricate characters. She remains my favourite author in the paranormal romance genre.

2) Maya Banks writes erotic romance stories. I love the way she weaves the plots around her characters' feelings and actions. The beautifully written sex scenes forms such an intricate part of the story, that you tend to forget about "sex" part of the scenes.

3) I love murder mysteries too, and here there are several authors that are on my reading list. I read these for the pure pleasure of it, since I don't write in this genre.

Have you ever read a book you couldn’t finish reading?
Unfortunately, yes. Fortunately there were not too many of them.

Do you read a book, while you are writing a book?
I am a voracious reader. I have a time slot each day that I use to write my own books. Any other free time, I will choose to read before doing any of my other hobbies, like cross stitch or painting.

The process:

How many books have you written? Which book is your favourite and why?
I have nine published books. Last time I counted I had written about thirty seven books - most of them in The Nations of Peace Series.
My favourite published book so far is Keeper of the Dragon Sword. Michael's Mystery will be published later in the year.
My favourite of all written so far (and yet to be published) is The Prime Pledge in The Protectors sub-series. But is it hard to distinguish between all of them.
My favourite always seem to be the last one that was published :)

Is there anything that helps get you in the mood to write?
Nothing specific. Once I am into a story, I want to see if it turns out the way I had envisioned it in my head. So once I start, I have to get it done.

What were three challenges you faced when writing your book?
1) Time. I have a full-time job, that sometimes requires me to be away from home. My husband often travels too, and then I have to take care of the dogs and the other chores that he is responsible for.

2) I like to push my own boundaries as an author and I find that to be emotionally draining in certain genres. I have recently completed the first draft on a literary story, but found the content so difficult to deal with, that I am not certain whether it will ever be published.

3) I am a pantser and find myself frustrated at the things my characters do that I did not foresee happening. That said, it is also the most fun to see if they manage to dig themselves out of those holes again.

What lessons have you learned as an aspiring writer?
Since I am published I can relate what I have learned for any aspiring writers. Write. Don't delay and think you will eventually get around to do it. If you want to write - start right now!
Join a writers' group. It makes all the difference for feedback and support. Since I have started the Pretoria Writers' Group, I have written more words and published more stories than I have ever thought I would.

Do you ever experience writer’s block? If so what helps you to ‘overcome’?
No, I can't say that I have. When I don't write I can only ascribe it to being too tired, or just being lazy. I have never not known what to write.

What is the most important thing you’ve learned, either in the self-publishing or traditional publisher, route?
Since I am self-published the most important thing I have learned is to get other people to read my manuscripts and give me feedback. I am  fortunate that a very good friend of mine, fellow author Vanessa Wright, is a terrific beta-reader and editor.
Editing by a professional is essential. If Vanessa is not available, I have used two other editors in the past from whom I have also had invaluable feedback.

How long does it usually take for you to complete a book?
A novel (in the order of about 100k to 150k on the first draft) takes about  ten months to write under normal circumstances. Now I take part in NaNoWriMo and Camp NaNoWriMo at every opportunity and that helps to cut the time to the first drafts, to about four to six months.
From the first draft to publication, it will take me another four to five months depending on my work schedule.

Do you have any ideas for your book and Hollywood? Actors, directors, music.
To be honest I don't think my books can be filmed. Not because Hollywood don't have the technology for the fantasy of sci-fi genres, but some of the scenes would need to be "faked" and that would detract from the story. However, I would never underestimate the writers of screen plays to get even past that.

Which book to movie conversion is your favourite?
If I have read the book, I don't watch the movie and vice versa. So I cannot tell you.

Do you watch a lot of science fiction or fantasy movies?
I don't watch TV, movies or dramas, except for the odd soccer game in the English Premier League or World Cup. I cannot remember the last time I saw a movie, even in a theatre.

Do you study science, the planets, history or anything special to help you with your writing?
I am an engineer by training, so there is a lot of science already in my head (how much I still remember, is a completely different situation). But for my sci-fi romance series, I had to do some research and loved reading up about genetics, genetic engineering and DNA coding.

What, who, and when were you first inspired you to write?
I wrote my first story in 2001, although only managed to find the courage to start publishing in 2012. I was self-employed at the time, and had better control over how I spent my hours each day.
What the exact moment or thing was, I don't recall, only that I liked it so much that rejections my South African publishers did not prevent me from continuing to write. Today I am glad that I was either arrogant or ignorant enough, not to stop doing what I love: write!

Personal favs:

Drink – black espresso
Food – it is a toss up between chocolate and biltong (the South African version of dried raw meat, usually beef)
Vacation – anywhere where I can take my laptop to write
TV show – I don't watch TV, except the odd game played by Manchester United
Movie – I have every movie/series made of Jane Austen's books. I love the stories, but don't watch anything on TV or the theatre.
Animal – our German Shepherd dogs. But if I have to choose a wild animal it would be the leopard.
Sport – Soccer.
Book – Nalini Singh's Archangel Series.

How can people connect with you?

Where can readers find your book?
You can find all my books on Smashwords at this link




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