Author Spotlight: Joanne Hall, Fantasy Author

Please welcome a very special friend and peer author who I met back in my beginning days at Writers' Village a dynamic writer's site.  We have crossed paths and been in touch over the last ten or so years since. 

Joanne is a writer of Fantasy and has to my knowledge three books available and another coming, I believe.  Anyway, without further adieu...

Welcome Joanne!  I am so happy to have you with me today.  It is a great pleasure to spend some time on my patio just gabbing with you:) Grab a nice glass of that Mint Tea and some of those beaufiful tea cookies and let's get started, shall we?


How many books have you written?

I’ve written three published novels (The New Kingdom trilogy), half a novel that’s currently on hiatus, and I’m about one-third of the way through a novel that ambushed me when I didn’t expect it and is now demanding to be written! Prize offer – A signed paperback copy of “Hierath”, my first novel, to the first person to name the heroine of the New Kingdom Trilogy – answer can be found somewhere on my website!


Ooh, that sounds like fun, Joanne!  I love a good hunt. Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?

Oh, for the love of writing, absolutely! I write because if I didn’t, the stories rushing around in my head would drive me completely crazy. When I’m writing, I’m a happy person. When I’m prevented from writing, people better stand well back from the angry explosions!

LOL Right now I'm in the midst of missing muse but I do keep busy so I do understand that. If I didn't have other projects going, I would definitely be one cranky non-productive author. Do you write every day? Or when the muse strikes?

I try and make myself write every day. The muse is like an old Morris Minor engine; it often needs to be cranked by hand to get it going. And once it’s going it can be quite hard to apply the brakes!

Where do you write?

Anywhere and everywhere! I have an office at home where I write in the mornings, to put myself in a businesslike frame of mind, but I’m equally happy writing curled up on the sofa, in bed, or in a café. I’ve even been known to scribble story ideas on napkins in restaurants!

Do you put pieces of yourself or your life in your stories?

I think, as an author, everything you experience is writing fodder. Pieces of my life, my friend’s lives, things from TV, overheard conversations in the supermarket… It all goes into the big melting pot of Story where it gets churned around, often beyond all recognition. I know which parts are inspired by real life and which just come out of my head, but that’s my secret!

Oh, I hear you.  My novel, Curse of the Marhime, came from a quick stop at a supermarket when a little gypsy-looking psychic approached me and told me she must talk with me. I would never go to a psychic but Pita did:) What is your least favorite thing to do as an author? Allow me to clarify: query, write a synopsis, write a blurb, market, you get the picture:)

Writing a synopsis is just about the hardest and most stressful thing I’ve ever had to do as a writer. It’s like taking your brilliant idea, stripping all the fun creative part out of it and boiling it down into glue. And my ideas always look terrible in synopsis form! I write a synopsis, look at it, and go “Well, that looks like a heap of nothing, I wouldn’t buy it!” It’s a massively disheartening process.

Why do you write?

Because I’m a horrible person to live with if I don’t write! And because it’s something I love to do, above everything else. It’s how I express myself creatively. I can’t draw, or craft, so I write.

Do you have an upcoming release?

I do! It’s in early stages now, but I have a collection of short stories called “The Feline Queen”, due to be published by Wolfsinger Publications. Some of the stories are set in the world of my novels, some in this world, and others somewhere entirely different. There are even a few unpublished stories in there that have never seen the light of day before, so I hope people will enjoy them.

Where can we find your upcoming release? When will it be available?

“The Feline Queen” will be available in 2011, through Fictionwise and from Amazon.com. Look out for it!

Tell us about your Hero. Do you have a favorite, if you’ve written multiple books?

My current hero is always my favourite. I always fall in love with my heroes, just a little bit, then move on to the next one. I’m a fickle lady! And my heroes always seem to have a certain endearing, scruffy charm about them.

Are any of your characters modeled after people you know?

Some of the minor characters are. My high school history teacher makes an appearance in my new novel, as a cadet instructor. He was a wonderful character, terrifying if you did something wrong (I once saw him pick a boy up by his ears for chewing gum in class), but when he taught you something, it went in and stayed there!

LOL My first vehicle ended up in my first novel.  A 1965 Ford Mustang Convertible. When you looked over the front seat you could see the street, *grin* but I loved that car.  What do you do for relaxation?

I find writing quite relaxing, I’d do that all the time if I could. But when I’m cajoled into resting, I like to watch movies, read, play console games, and listen to music.

Do you use music as a motivational source when writing?

Although I take a lot of inspiration from song lyrics, I can’t listen to music while I’m writing because I end up listening to it, rather than working.
Okay I'm going to rattle off a bunch of things: Favorite music? Author? Hobby? Movie? Pass time? Food? Perfume/cologne? Time of year and why?

Music – indie guitar, although I’ll listen to almost anything! Movies – Star Wars, Labyrinth, Dogma, The Terminator. Food – lasagna (I have been nicknamed “Garfield” for the amount of lasagna I can put away at one sitting!) Time of year – Spring – when the daffodils bloom I know it’s around my birthday!

Fun question (possible blackmail material down the line, LOL) What is the most uncharacteristic thing you have ever done? Please, no censoring? I have no qualms about placing a content warning on my blog!

Ok, silly story time! I was at a gig watching a band. I was squashed into the front row, it was very hot, I had stupidly decided to wear skintight PVC trousers, and I fainted. And you know what it’s like when you faint, you don’t really KNOW that you’ve fainted. So, one minute I’m fine. Next second it’s all black and I’m lying on my back on a bed while a green shape shines a light in my eyes. “Oh my god!” I thought. “I’ve been abducted by aliens!” The aliens are shining lights in my face and poking me and trying to get me to drink something which I KNOW is some nasty alien drug because it rattles… So I sit up, yell “No, you’re not going to impregnate me with your alien fetus!” throw the cup of water (with ice) all over the nice ambulance man in his green boiler suit, and bolt from the room…*blush* He must have thought I was crazy!

LOL that is a funny story:)  Wow! I'm thinking I would never want to run into those paramedics again:)

More about Joanne:
Joanne Hall lives in Bristol, England, with her partner. She enjoys writing fantasy, and has been lucky enough to have short stories accepted by From the Asylum, Quantum Muse, Art and Prose, and Afterburn SF, among others. She has also had her New Kingdom Trilogy published by Epress Online ( www.epress-online.com) and a short story featured in Colin Harvey‘s “Future Bristol“ anthology. In her spare time, Joanne enjoys listening to music and going to concerts and the cinema, when she can be coaxed out from behind her keyboard. Her personal website can be found at www.hierath.co.uk, and she’s always happy to hear from readers.

Joanne's link: http://www.epress-online.com/HALL/By-Joanne-Hall.htm



Joanne this has been so much fun and I've even learned more about you and have seen another side of you!  Thank you so much for coming.  Don't be a stranger, ok?