So, having an interview with Angelisa Stone,the author, was extra-fabulous for me..
No more babbling..Let's welcome her!!
Welcome to my place,Angelisa!!It's a pleasure to meet and chat with you...Warning: Although the interview starts in a serious manner,it ends well...umm..in a not so serious one...Beware!
First of all, Congratulations! Can’t Go Home is an outstanding book, especially for a debut novel. It emits quality and it’s very emotional. I am wondering how you came up with Kathryn and Dre’s story. What was your inspiration?
I was actually HOPING someone would ask me this question. Last year, my son played youth basketball and his coach was freaking smoking hot. I mean, lick my lips and salivate now. After three weeks of practices and games, I realized that he always… hmmmm…I can’t answer this without giving away the PLOT TWIST. But Mia, you get it. I started to wonder about him and where he came from, which triggered Dre’s “secret.” Kathryn was MUCH easier. I’m a reader. I am getting so sick of the naïve, virginal, never-made-a-bad-choice girl, so I wrote Kathryn’s character as the opposite.
It’s very common for the author to embed herself to the main character. Is that the case with you and Kathryn? Do you see yourself or certain parts of your personality in her? If so, can you please tell which um parts? (Did that sound a bit dirty-ish to you, too or is it just my own dirty mind?)**giggling
Kathryn and I are a lot alike in the sense that I too have NO FILTER whatsoever. If I think it, then it comes out my mouth. It’s sometimes rather problematic. But, I could only DREAM of having Kathryn’s confidence and her ability to never second-guess her self. Kathryn’s a combination of who I am and who I strive to be.
The genre of the book is Romance and New Adult. However, I believe that the book is much more than a love story. In my opinion, it really speaks to the current situation of materialism and it shows how much money and status affect certain people. Was that something you wanted to present through the story? Or did it just come out this way?
I tried. I really and truly tried. I wanted to write a fun, sexy love story. But, I’ve got so many damn opinions and thoughts that I cannot keep them out of my writing. It just kept getting deeper, which worried me. I’m worried that people who like smutty stuff won’t appreciate the profundity, and the people who like depth will shy away from the sexy side. (Ps. I love love love the word profundity. I try to use it a lot.)
OK I can’t help myself. How did you come up with the names? Rory, really? For such a charming and sexy man, Rory….And you turned Adrian to Dre..I never heard of that before, but I guess it’s a common nickname..Or maybe not? Your choices lightened my reading a lot..I found them very refreshing..
Everyone has a book these days—and I mean everyone. I crushed my brain trying to come up with male leads that weren’t the main characters in every book. Rory started off being Jesse, but it just didn’t work. I liked that he was supposed to be “Reginald” and he went by “Rory.” My high school best friend always said that she wanted to name her son “Rory.” I told her back then that it was a dumbass name. Who knew that 22 years later, I was going to name a character “Rory?” As for Adrian, I love it. Dre Donley just sounds cool to me. I totally do him in the weeds on the beach.
In the book, Adrian took a break from his career (not saying what it is), but later on he continued and followed his dream. Was it your dream to become an author? Or was it a passion that evolved throughout the years?
I have an English degree, so writing has always been my forte. Just recently, did I embrace it in the creative, narrative sense.
What was the best part in writing the book and what was the worst? I know it’s a hard question, but I’m really curious..
It took me a long time to figure out WHY!!!! I grappled with it for month. Why was Dre the way he was??? That could be quite the turn off. How could I spin it in a way that made Kathryn want him even more? It was tough. The best part was the last chapter—not because it was the last chapter. I just thought it was the icing on a very delicious cake. (It’s really hard to answer these without just giving it all way.)
Free time? That’s some funny crap. I work full time. I have four kids, and I write books in my spare time. There is no spare time. My boys are in EVERY sport that exists. I am a runaround queen.
Just now I had a thought. Maybe in your free time, you had an inspiration for a next book..Would that thought be correct? Please say yes…
I’ve thought about making Can’t Go Home a series, The Oasis Waterfall series. Basically, there are three other couples to focus on. Bet you can only guess two! The third one is the one I want to start with in Can’t Go Back.
Let’s extend that confidential material..Can you please tell us some facts about you? The weirder the better…
In seventh grade, I learned that there are 206 bones in the human body. It is the ONLY dumb fact I know. I’ve never watched any reality television shows. I am a teen drama junkie, Gossip Girl, 90210, Pretty Little Liars, and shows like that. I hate pizza and French fries, but yet, I devour all other junk foods regularly. I don’t listen to music—at all. Like never. I have three tattoos, two I hate, and one I love.
Thank you for the interview,Angelisa!
Hope you enjoyed doing this as much as I did..
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