Indie Bookfest Author Kristina Circelli

Meet Author Kristina Circelli

Indie Bookfest August 3, 2013

I'm featuring the authors who will be attending the Indie Bookfest in Florida this summer.  If you will be vacationing in Florida this is an event you don't want to miss.  Our featured keynote speaker is Isaac Marion - the author of Warm Bodies (was a movie this winter).

http://indiebookfest.blogspot.com/

Wanna know how to get this t-shirt - go to http://indiebookfest.blogspot.com/ to see all of the styles and colors!  Help support Indie Bookfest

Kristina Circelli

Author and a Professor at University of North Florida
Interview

1. What is one thing you're most looking forward to at the Indie Bookfest.

 

For starters, I love that it’s a brand-new event. I like being part of things from the get-go J. I’m also excited to meet so many new authors. I’ve never been to an event this large before, so it will definitely be a whole new experience. Plus, I get to meet some big names, which is always exciting.

 

And, let’s face it. I wanna ask Isaac Marion some zombie questions. I just watched Warm Bodies (shhh...I’m gonna read the book too), so I’m ready to chat him up.

 

 

2. What piece of advice do you have for aspiring authors?

Always stay true to yourself. Write what you love, not just what’s popular. Write what you believe in, not what others try to convince you will sell more copies. And most importantly, never let anyone tell you that being published is just a pipedream.

 

3. As a professor at the University of North Florida, teaching creative writing, what made you go indie? As a teacher in your real life, do you have a leg-up on everyone else, or do you find it more challenging?

I actually published several books before I started teaching, which kind of fell onto my lap and was too good an opportunity to pass up. Honestly, teaching wasn’t anything I planned on doing, and I’m surprised by how much I enjoy it. I love being able to help writers (both experienced and beginner) and apply what I’ve learned as an author to my lessons.

 

I wouldn’t say teaching has given me a leg up on writing - rather, the other way around. Writing has helped me be a better professor than I would have been without that experience. Plus, I’m (relatively) young and I look like a 15-year-old, so having a few books under my belt helps ensure the students take me a little more seriously.

 

4. What is the first thing you teach your students about creative writing? Do you find you have to throw out the rules sometimes?

Exactly what I said above - be yourself and write what you love. I encourage my students (and other authors) to find their own style and voice. I never tell a writer that his or her style is wrong. I may offer suggestions on how to make the narrative flow better or edit syntax, but voice? That belongs to the author, not me.

 

My favorite lessons are actually the ones that discuss the “rules” of writing, either grammatical or rules given by some of today’s popular writers. Those are the best discussions, hearing what students think of the rules and whether or not the rule can be broken. Never writing a fragment, never starting a book with weather, only using “said” as a dialogue tag...they are great discussion (and debate) starters!

 

5. What is your guilty pleasure?

I don’t even want to admit this...Nora Roberts books. I am NOT a gushy romantic person, but I admit, when I want a light read where everyone lives happily ever after, I’ll read one of her books. Lots of people die in my novels and life in general is ridiculously busy, so I like knowing what to expect when I go to one of my favorite Nora book.

 

Website: http://www.circelli.info/

 

Blog: http://anawfullybigadventure-kc.blogspot.com/

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Circelli-Books-novels-by-Kristina-Circelli/341115646710

https://www.facebook.com/KristinaCircelliEditor

 

Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/Kristina-Circelli/e/B004S7TW1O/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1371075610&sr=8-1

 

The Never: http://www.amazon.com/The-Never-ebook/dp/B00BM8RIEU/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1371075610&sr=8-1&keywords=kristina+circelli

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-never-kristina-circelli/1114718505?ean=9780976372844

 

Beyond the Western Sun: http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Western-Whisper-Legacy-ebook/dp/B004RUXSB2/ref=sr_1_2_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1371075610&sr=8-2&keywords=kristina+circelli

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/beyond-the-western-sun-kristina-circelli/1030078868?ean=9780615402703

 

The Sour Orange Derby: http://www.amazon.com/The-Sour-Orange-Derby-ebook/dp/B00895J5M2/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1371075610&sr=8-5&keywords=kristina+circelli

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-sour-orange-derby-kristina-circelli/1111428684?ean=9780976372837

 

The Helping Hands: http://www.amazon.com/The-Helping-Hands-Legacy-ebook/dp/B008Q53VUC/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1371075610&sr=8-12&keywords=kristina+circelli

 

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Bio:

A lover of the written word since the time she first picked up a pen, Kristina Circelli shares her passion for fiction in her multi-genre novels.

 

Circelli is the author of several fiction books, including The Sour Orange Derby, a young adult novel about family and childhood imagination steeped in southern traditions; Beyond the Western Sun and Walk the Red Road of The Whisper Legacy, which centers on Native American cultures and the legends that come to life in the spirit realm; and The Helping Hands, a book that follows a gang of friends who rescue abused children.

 

Currently, Circelli works as a copywriter, author, book editor, and creative writing professor at the University of North Florida, where she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in English. She resides in Florida, with her husband and two kittens.

 

“Out of nothing, we create something.”

Arianna has spent her entire life being called a dreamer, an artist who created a world no one else can see. And for her entire life, she has taken the medication that keeps that world – and the one who brought her there – at bay.

Now an adult, Arianna reawakens that part of herself kept locked away in the darkest corners of her mind. When she hides her medicine from her fiancé’s ever-watchful eye, he returns – the shadow in the night who collects her for an adventure known only in her fantasies.

But something is different about this world called The Never. It is no longer the cheerful place filled with light and laughter that she knew as a child. Now, the sea creatures drag their visitors into the depths of murky waters. The natives battle to the death against the tribe of children. And the pirates, led by the feared captain called The Hunter, seek out Arianna for their own sinister plans.

As Arianna goes deeper into The Never, she discovers just what her connection to the land means – and must choose between her life rooted in reality, and the world where anything is possible.