Brenda allowed me to interview her, but first, a little about her:
Brenda Pandos is mommy/computer whisperer by day
and writer by night who lives in California with her husband and two energetic
children. Shortly after the birth of her second son, Brenda's oldest was
diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder that turned her world upside-down.
Her life became round the clock feedings with a newborn and a daily stream of
tutors working to help her son. She craved a meaningful escape.
The main concepts of THE TALISMAN SERIES came to
her in the wee hours of the morning as she reminisced the good old days when
she lived with her best friend in the Santa Cruz Mountains. As a young girl,
Brenda was a hopeless romantic, constantly lost in a fantasy world in her backyard
of knights on white horses, mermaids and evil villains. As a teen, shows such
as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Interview with a Vampire intrigued her.
With the encouragement of a friend after writing one chapter, she continued on
to complete her first manuscript.
Brenda has three novels published and is
currently working on the third book in the series, The Onyx Talisman. You can
follow her journey at http://brendapandos.blogspot.com
And about her most recent release, EVERBLUE:
Best friends share everything with each other.
Or do they? Seventeen-year-old Ashlyn Frances Lanski is tired of her boring,
single life. Spending time with her best friend Tatiana, dreaming about kissing
Tatiana's twin brother Fin, and swimming competitively are her only sanctuary.
The girls plan to leave their drab lakeside town far behind for college. But
when Tatchi fails to return home after a family emergency, and no one knows
where the family has gone, Ash chooses to do something drastic to find them.
Ashlyn is about to discover what she’d thought to be true her whole life, wasn’t, and the truth, too fantastical to imagine. Secrets lurk beneath the deep blue waters of Lake Tahoe, secrets that will change Ashlyn's life forever.
Ashlyn is about to discover what she’d thought to be true her whole life, wasn’t, and the truth, too fantastical to imagine. Secrets lurk beneath the deep blue waters of Lake Tahoe, secrets that will change Ashlyn's life forever.
Now onto our interview!
KC: Tell us about you in
10 words.
BP: Fun-loving wife, mother, kamikaze writer, computer whisperer, chocolate
addict.
KC: “Computer whisperer” –
I love that! Now, if you tweeted about your latest release, what would it say
(140 characters or less)?
BP: She wanted her life to change. He wanted
everything to stay the same. Get lost in #Everblue where secrets lurk in Lake
Tahoe. #tessielives
(This was hard.)
KC: And you did that
tweet perfectly! Did you go tweet it yet? I would have! LOL Okay, if you could
spend the day with any of your characters, who would it be and what would you
do?
BP: I’d spend the evening with Phil [from The Talisman Series] and
have him fly me around so I could see all the places I’ve never been from a
bird’s eye view, like the Eiffel tower, the Parthenon, the Pyramids, Coliseum
in Rome, the Great Wall of China, Chichen Itza,
Leaning Tower of Pisa … I don’t think we could see everything in one night, but
it would be a great excuse to be cradled in his arms … oh, I didn’t actually
admit that, did I?
KC: Hahaha! Um, yeah, you
did. But that’s okay. We’re all good at keeping secrets here. Right, lovely
readers? Now onto more about you as a writer. What’s your favorite part?
BP: Sharing the joys, sorrows, and journeys of my characters with my readers where
they care and can imagine them into reality as I have, and interacting in such
a great community of authors. I had no clue how cool all of this would be and
have made some wonderful friends in the process (like you, Kristie).
KC: Aw, thanks! And I
certainly agree. So, what’s the hardest part of being a writer?
BP: Piracy and
mean reviews. I don’t expect everyone to like my story, but there’s a
difference between an objective review and someone taking the liberty to berate
me as a writer. I do take note the general consensus of lower starred reviews
and work to improve issues they’ve brought up as a whole, but just being plain
mean and condescending isn’t cool. I have to stop, read between the lines, and
take a glimpse into the heart and soul of the person to truly understand where
they are coming from. Only then can I let the comments roll off my back because
usually, I’m not the only one they’ve ripped apart. Piracy, though, makes my
blood boil. How people can completely disregard the copyrights of an author and
freely share e-books is beyond me. I’ve even read the excuse “You shouldn’t get
paid to write because it’s something fun for you.” or “The copyright law is
outdated and should accommodate the internet.” It’s not that I’m a stingy
person and don’t share, I do. I rarely turn down reviewers and give away free
copies all the time. It’s just that these “sharing” sites are doing it against
my wishes, against my copyright and completely disrespecting hundreds of
authors in the process. And it’s very much illegal. Hopefully, like Napster,
someone will be criminally prosecuted for this type of piracy and the laws will
hold the site holders liable because if something doesn’t change, it’s going to
destroy the business and make it even harder for authors to “make it”, like it
has to the music business.
KC: Amen! They’re not
only disrespecting authors, but also readers who have obtained their copies
legitimately. It comes down to the fact that sharing a file is not their
decision to make, regardless of all their justifications. Oops. Sorry. We’re
both so fired up about piracy, we could go on endless rants. But back to the
interview. What do you wish you would have known before you became a writer?
BP: How much I love it and how I’m actually pretty good at it. I would have taken
classes to strengthen my knowledge on the craft of writing and I would have written
so much more in my free time. I had SO much time before I had kids. Why, oh,
why didn’t I tap into that way back when???
KC: Haha! Yes, I know
what you mean. Now let’s talk about your publishing journey. What made you
decide to go indie?
BP: A combination of success from ABNA [Amazon Breakthrough
Novel Award] and author Abra Ebner. Honestly, I didn’t think anyone would buy
my vampire novel and I had just enough knowledge and tenacity to be dangerous.
Abra held my hand in the beginning, God brought more people into my life to
help me out, like Kristie, and the rest became history.
KC: Thank God for the
people He brings to us! What would we do without each other? I don’t even want
to think about it. So what do you like most about being indie?
BP: Freedom to
decide when and what’s published, immediate rewards, 100% of the profit, and
control over the cost of my novels.
KC: Oh yeah! Exactly. If
a writer came to you asking advice about going indie, what’s the most important
thing you would tell them?
BP: There are
no guarantees. If your story has been polished under the scrutiny of a crit
partner (who’s good), beta readers (who will tell you the truth), edited and
proofed sparkling clean (which even mine aren’t totally), and you’ve got a
eye-catching cover and are ready to put in the time needed to promote your
stuff, willing to give away lots of free copies, and price your ebook under
$2.99, then I say go for it. If you want to try landing an agent first or pitch
to publishers yourself, then by all means go that route too. Just give it a
timeline and don’t stop writing. Typically authors don’t “make it” from one
book. And in the indie world, lots of books are what draw fans. Your focus
can’t be about the money. It’s about getting your book into as many hands as
possible. Just know though, if it’s not ready for the public, reviewers will
not be as kind as your friend, which will put a stumbling block in the road on
your way to success.
KC: Excellent advice! What’s
the last book you read and what’s next?
BP: Read in entirety? That’s a good
question. I start so many books. The last one I finished was a craft book, Painless Grammar. For fun, I’d say Shiver. Now (I’m embarrassed to say) I’m
in the middle of Sleight by Jennifer
Sommersby, Gifts of the Blood by
Vicki Keire, How I sold 200,000 e-books by
HP Mallory, my own books: The Emerald
Talisman and The Sapphire Talisman for
help with wrapping up the loose ends, and Novel
Shortcuts by Laura Whitcomb and a few more I can’t remember. I just don’t
have time to read all that I want, seriously.
KC: Oh, I get it. I think
all my readers do, too. Is there a book or author you can read over and over
again?
BP: Chantain’s Guardian (Annuals
of Lystra) by Robin Hardy. I love that entire series and have since I was a
teen. It’s romantic and sweet. Also, Harry Potter series. It’s just so
brilliantly written.
KC: I’ll have to check
out Hardy’s books and I agree on HP. Writers need to read them many times because there is so much to learn.
Okay, one more question. Ebooks or Dead Tree Books? Why?
BP: My success has
been in e-books, so it gets my vote (and cheap books as a buyer can’t be beat).
But for those of you who love real books, I’ve got those too and I can’t
express the excitement of tearing into the box of brand new books and holding
the finished product in my hands. It’s so awesome!
KC: Oops! One important one. Where can we connect
with you?
BP: Facebook: Brenda Pandos – Author
Website: www.brendapandos.com
and www.theemeraldtalisman.com
Twitter: @brendapandos
Blog: brendapandos.blogspot.com
Become a street team member and get in on cool contests,
info of new releases, chapters not released yet, and fun stuff. Link is on my
blog at http://brendapandos.blogspot.com
Thank you so much, Brenda, for spending time with us today! Lovely readers, if you haven't checked out Brenda's books yet, you ought to. I fell in love with EVERBLUE immediately and I think you will, too.
Have questions for Brenda? Go ahead and ask!
Have questions for Brenda? Go ahead and ask!
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