Interview & Giveaway with J.T. Geissinger

1. When did you first start writing, and was there something in particular that inspired you?

I don’t remember a time when I didn’t write. I grew up in a house of book lovers and learned to love reading at a very early age. I was always in honors English and the gifted writing programs during middle school and high school, but never seriously thought about making a living as a writer—it seemed like something so far out of reach of reality. It wasn’t until a very big birthday arrived that I finally knew it was time to stop procrastinating and just write that book I’d always dreamed of writing.

2. What first attracted you to your genre when it comes to writing?

Fantasy and paranormal elements are interesting to me because I can really let my imagination run wild. If I want to create a character that can levitate or be invisible or change shape, I can! Like any other genre the world has to make sense within the created framework, but I love the freedom to create new creatures and worlds outside what is considered “normal”.

3. In regards to your own characters, who is your favorite and why?

In Shadow’s Edge, Morgan is my favorite character. I was able to take some chances with her that I didn’t take with Jenna because secondary characters can be a little crazier and add a lot of flavor to the story. She gets her own story in book two and I loved writing about her. She’s a total rebel, trouble-maker, rule-breaker, but when you get to know her you see all the motivation and heartbreak behind some of the bad choices she makes. I understand her the best of any of the characters I’ve written.

4. What other genres do you enjoy reading?

I love biographies, especially about people who had a huge impact on history. One of my favorites is Benjamin Franklin, An American Life, by Walter Isaacson. I never read horror because I’ll have bad dreams about it (with the exception of Stephen King, who manages to tell amazing stories that also happen to be gory), but I’m attracted to almost every other genre. I tend to like quirky or unreliable narrators and big, sweeping epics with lots of little details planted along the way that come back to bite characters at the end.

5. If you could not be a writer, what would you be.

I always wanted to be a rich widow. *Smiles wide*

6. As a reader I know how difficult it can be to name a ‘favorite’ book, would you mind listing your top three? 

Everything Matters, by Ron Currie Jr., Geek Love by Katherine Dunn and The Notebook by Nicolas Sparks. The first because it’s brilliant, dazzling literature the kind I would like to be able to create, the second because it’s filled with strange, enthralling characters and was narrated by an albino, hunchback dwarf I fell in love with, and the third because I cried so hard my eyes were swollen shut at the end. I think it’s beautiful when someone dies at the end of a love story. Which is probably why my favorite movie is Moulin Rouge.

7. What are some 'must haves' when you sit down to write?

Total silence is an absolute requirement. Any kind of noise is a distraction and takes me out of my zone. (As I write this my husband is watching TV in the living room with wireless headphones on.) Early morning is getting to be a requirement because after a glass or two of wine at night my attention wanders. Also comfortable pants are a requirement. Sweats, usually.

8. If you became trapped as a character in a book or series, which would you choose and why?

I’d be Lestat de Lioncourt from Anne Rice’s Queen of the Damned, and other books in The Vampire Chronicles series. He’s an aristocrat, a libertine, a philosopher, he’s telepathic, can fly, can survive exposure to the sun and does whatever the hell he wants at all times. And he’s going to live forever. Perfect.

J.T. Geissinger's debut release:

You can read my review HERE.

Shadow's Edge:

Deep within the primeval forests of southern England, a tribe of mysterious beings lives hidden from the everyday world. Beautiful, savage, and graced with the ability to shift from human to vapor to lethal predator, the Ikati are bound together by ancient bloodlines and a code of secrecy that punishes traitors with death. Half a world away, on the sun-drenched shores of Southern California, Jenna Moore's past is shrouded in mystery. She spent her childhood in hiding, on the run from someone. Or something. Her parents refused to discuss. She trusts no one, not since her mother's sudden death, not since her father's mysterious disappearance, and definitely not since she began exhibiting strange, superhuman abilities. But when the handsome, enigmatic Leander McLoughlin appears out of the blue, promising her the answers she so desperately wants, Jenna takes a leap of faith. She agrees to accompany him to England in return for the truth about her origins, never suspecting the shattering revelations that await her there. For once among the Ikati, Jenna faces an extraordinary birthright she never dreamed possible. And a dangerous, sensual destiny she may not survive to see.

About the Author:

A life-long lover of reading and a self-professed “book addict,” J.T. Geissinger didn’t realize her dream of writing a novel until a milestone birthday forced her to take stock of her goals in life. Always believing the right time to commit to putting pen to paper would magically announce itself as she helped her husband with his business and kept busy with the business of life, it took waking up one cold January morning with a shiny new zero as the second number in her age to kick start her determination.

Find the Author:

Website | Twitter | Facebook

Giveaway

J.T. is giving away a signed print copy of the book for US and Canada, or an ebook for an international winner.

Rules for entry:  
- Giveaway ends August 3, 2012 12AM EST
- Open internationally.
- Leave a comment and fill out the FORM below.  Entries in the comment section will not be counted.