Interview with Ellen Whyte, aka AJ Adams & Storm Chase

My first official interview is with Ellen Whyte, who writes as AJ Adams and Storm Chase. She was kind enough to answer all the questions I threw at her, many of which I'm posting here. (The remainder will be posted in my Newsletter. Be sure to SIGN UP so you can read them all.)

Without further ado, the interview follows:

KCBooks: Tell us about you in a nutshell. What makes you tick as a writer?

Ellen Whyte: I start off quite organised, writing a three or four line plot idea.  Then I flesh it out, which takes me a day or so, and it’s all neat and tidy with events and chapter divisions. 

Then the characters begin to breathe.  

I think I’ve got it sussed, because I’ve got that detailed outline, right?  It’s all tidy and it works, right?  But then the characters take over and before I know it my lovely outline is in smithereens and my characters are rampaging all over the place. 

At that point I’m loving it because the story starts to write itself.  Very often I don’t know what will happen next, so it’s an adventure.

That’s what I love about writing. It’s romance and adventure.

KCB: Pets – What do you have? Which is your favorite? If you could have any pet on the planet which would you have, and why?

   

EW: I am ruled by two cats, Target and Guido.  They are kampung kuching, which means village cats in Malay. It means they are street moggies, rescue cats who are now spoilt home kitties.

Target is a drama cat. He’s constantly in trouble, up to trouble or causing trouble.  When he’s not doing something wicked, he’s at my side - clicking the escape key and changing the language on my keyboard.

Guido is relaxed. He’s absolutely huge, more a tiger than a cat, and it’s current ambition to climb the tree in the garden.  He’s not getting very far and he’s hinting that he’d like me to help him up.  I’m not because I don’t want to have to call the fire brigade to get him back down again!

KCB: Describe a typical day in your life.

EW: I get up around 630AM and I start with a coffee and checking my book sales (I know!)  I go through my Facebook private messages, catch up with friends and do my book promos.

By that time it’s usually about 730AM. Then I write for an hour or sometimes two.

Around 9AM or 10AM I start work (day job) writing for newspapers or magazines.  At the moment I’m also starting a new business, as a counselling psychologist, so I’m doing paperwork, writing proposals, seeing clients and so on.

At about 5PM I go downstairs and start dinner.  I love to cook so that’s fun.  Tom comes home around then, so we catch up on the gossip and we hang out for a while - him catching up on news and me writing.

We eat between 6PM and 8PM.  We watch old TV series, binge watching really, because the mindlessness helps us unwind.  We usually talk through it and if Tom’s got a yen to watch sports (he’s got a thing for baseball) I write. (all sport bores me to tears within two seconds)

After 8PM I write.  I stop around 10PM - 11PM and sometimes it’s a bit later. 

We go out twice a week, hitting our local pub around 5PM.  We’re home by 8PM latest and then I go to sleep early, but usually after writing an hour. Sometimes two.

KCB: Describe your ideal vacation—if money were no object and you had no obstacles holding you back...

EW: I would love to spend time in a small walled villa with it’s own pool.  Anywhere really: Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia. I’m looking for peace and tranquility. I want to spend the whole day just being - with Target, Guido and Tom (the non-furry companion).  But at night I’d like to go out and see people. So probably Bali or Siem Reap or somewhere a bit touristy.

KCB: If you could live anywhere on the planet, where would you go and why?

EW: If I had a teleporter, I’d spend most of my time in Malaysia because it’s my home and I love it.  But I’d go to Spain for weekends so I could go see my mum.  Also, I sometimes miss fresh, cold air, Spanish food, Spanish wine and just being in a non-tropical place so probably I’d spend some time in Spain during the spring and autumn too.

Also, I miss Fay, one of my best friends.  We see each other just once a year, so it would be nice to be in the same continent again.

KCB: How do you find balance between work, family, and writing?

EW: Hahahahahaha! Brilliant!  You’ve seen my typical day so you know I spend most of my time working.

I write during the day, when I watch television at night, when I’m in the hairdresser, when I’m waiting for someone to come to a meeting - I work about 14 hours a day, every day.

It’s unsustainable but having spent the last three years studying part time, I have to get back to work so 2016 is just crazy.  Hopefully that balance thing will kick in next year!

Be sure to sign up for the newsletter to see the answers to these questions:

What inspires you to write strong female characters?

If you could lump all your books in a single genre, what would you call it?

What is your favorite food? Describe it so we want to eat it, too.

About the author

AJ Adams is a Scottish-Dutch author currently living in Malaysia. In her regular life she is a columnist and feature writer. She works from home, where she is closely snoopervised by cats, Target and Guido.

Stalker links:

Amazon author page http://www.amazon.com/AJ-Adams/e/B00PTL6BNK

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2883330.A_J_Adams

FB https://www.facebook.com/ewhyte

Twitter https://twitter.com/KatzTalesTweets

Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/Author_AJAdams/

Books: 
The Bonus by AJ Adams
My first AJ Adams novel and one of my favourites! It’s unusual but Chloe and Kyle are unusual people.

Beast by AJ Adams
If you like darkish romance, and don’t mind a bit of kidnapping and rape, this is the story for you!

The Degas Girl by AJ Adams
Zachary is not nice and neither is Serenity.  Together though, they are dynamic.

Songbird by AJ Adams
What I love about this is that Arturo is a monster but he’s also thoroughly human. I’d love to meet him for dinner - as long as Solitaire isn’t cooking.

         

Deep Thought for the Day

In general, I try to avoid getting political on social media. I can do without the drama. But I recently engaged in a thread on facebook that really helped me crystallize something I have thought for years, but never knew how to explain.

The thread was in response to the case of the woman in Texas who died, and everyone agreed that she was dead, but her body was kept functioning to benefit the 14 week fetus she was carrying at the time of her death. The woman’s body was kept functioning for two months before the court ordered that the family could have the machines turned off.

The discussion could be boiled down to this: when is it okay for a baby to die?

I will probably catch some heat for this, but I personally believe the hospital was in the wrong to resuscitate her body, and that they had misinterpreted the new law. I found the situation creepy and horrifying, and I would never want to be put in a position to have to make a decision in a case like this.

My family had to pull the plug on my father and it was awful, but all of us agreed that it was the right thing to do. I don’t think that you can truly know what you would do in that situation until you have stood at a dead person’s bedside. I have been there, and I have no regrets.

But this case involved a fetus. A potential human being. And here’s the thing:

I believe God’s gift of life has more purpose than merely growing up to procreate more life. Animals live to procreate. How are we different if we believe that the only reason we are here is to create more life? If my sole mission in life is to be a parent, and my child’s sole mission in life is to be a parent, and their children’s sole mission.... Humans are unique on Earth because we have the ability and the desire to do more with life than simply procreate.

I believe God’s gift of life, that spark of creation, that existence, teaches us as much if not more about God and His purpose when it is extinguished as when it is allowed to grow, be born, and live its life to old age before it dies.

I don’t believe the death of the fetus or a child robs us of a potential cure for cancer, or a presence who could bring peace to the Earth. I don’t believe it is in God’s plan that every spark should survive. God is not that limited. We will get whatever miracle God has in store for us, regardless of the vessel that finally accomplishes it.

I’m not trying to make it okay when a child dies. I don’t mean to imply that it is okay if someone slaughters children (or any life) wholesale. I am not saying that we shouldn’t be sad, angry, or horrified.

I’m saying that what we feel is the point.

What we learn from the event, what we do about it...that is what makes us human, what makes us distinct from animals.

Holding ourselves accountable for a decision defines our character and directs the course of the rest of our lives. Taking a stand for the things we believe in shapes our psyche, and grows us as spiritual beings. Living our lives with purpose, searching and reaching for God’s plan for us, and doing our best to fulfill that plan, that is what life should be about.

That spark that is extinguished? The greatest tragedy would be for nothing to change because of its brief existence.