Author Q&A with A. I. Lakewood

Author Q&A with A. I. Lakewood

1. Tells us about your writing/ published book(s)

I currently have a children’s dino book available up on Amazon, and while I’m excited about it and I love that one, the book I’d love to talk about is the one currently in editing, “Of Spite and Strife.” I’ve written this piece in response to so many romance books that start off with the male character kidnapping the woman. He tortures her, abuses her, hurts her, then she changes to please him and he falls in love with these changes and the abuse “stops,” they both fall in love, and live happily ever after. There are too many of these books, and I plan on challenging that trope. “Of Spite and Strife” is about a young woman who is forced into an abusive marriage by a beautiful, terrifying prince. He tortures her to break her will, and then shows her his soft side, and she falls in love with him. But after years with him, and the abuse “stops,” she realizes he’s STILL abusive, and finally leaves to find her own voice, her own path, and finds an army of people willing to fight with her to take down the crown.

2. Where’s your favourite place to write?

My favorite writing software is WordPerfect, but my favorite place to write? That’s at home, in a corner seat, with a wall at my back, in a soft, plushy chair that I can prop my feet up in front of, and a nice, cozy blanket, with music or a movie playing in the background.

3. How do you approach starting a new book?

How I approach writing a new book is to visualize it first. I spend maybe a week visualizing it, daydreaming it all day and all night, and then finally, when I’ve worked out a good deal of it, I start putting it to paper–or to screen, really.

4. What’s your favourite genre to read?

My favorite genre to read is sci-fi/fantasy, dark fantasy, dark dystopian. Really, I guess it’s just “fantasy.” As someone who spends much of the day in my own head, I suppose fantasy just comes second nature.

5. Have you always wanted to write?

I have always wanted to write, and to that extent, I suppose I’ve always been writing–or at least, I have been since I was seven years old. I’ve been working on one of my WIPs since I was seven, writing it and destroying it and writing it again. I first finished it when I was 11, but it was over 800 pages long! And I scrapped it and started again. I don’t know when I’ll ever actually finish it, but it’s near and dear to my heart, so I want it to be perfect.

6. What do you do when you have writer’s block?

When I have writer’s block, I daydream, visualize, read other’s works, read my own work. I take a break, work on something else, until I finally have a dream that tells me where to go. Any time I’ve had writer’s block, I’ve found dreams to be the best way to find the next step.

7. Tell us about a scene that you loved but had to edit out of your book

One scene I had to edit out of my book was a torture scene in my very first traditionally published book (that I have completely abandoned.) It’s very not-safe-for-work, so I won’t go into detail, but it was very steamy and sexy, and I was sad to see it go.

8. Do you like reading the same books you write?

Yes! In fact, if someone could write the books in my head that I haven’t gotten around to, I’d read them so fast. Please write them. I don’t want to write them all.

9.Do write under a pen name? If so, tell us about how you chose it

I do write under a pseudonym. A. I. Lakewood, which used to be Ares Irene Lakewood. I chose it out of respect for my very first God, Ares, and to represent my birthplace without getting too close, Cleveland. Ares Irene Cleveland was ick, but Lakewood is great! I ended up shortening it after I left my publisher, and it has been A. I. Lakewood since. The “Irene” part was just a name I decided sounded good with Ares Lakewood. There’s no significance to it, haha.

10. How do you choose your book’s title(s)?

Ick. I suck at choosing book titles. “Dinosaurium” was actually chosen by a dear friend of mine. Ian, if you ever read this, you rock and thank you so much for your help. “Of Spite and Strife,” that I chose, and I chose it for dual meaning. The book was born “of spite” for all the “woman changes her abuser by being sweet and kind and obedient” books, and it was through “strife” that it came to existence. Ambrose, my abusive character, kidnapped Asteria out “of spite,” and it is through “strife” that Asteria is overcoming her trauma.

11. What advice would you give to someone wanting to write their first book?

The best advice I can give someone who is just starting to write, is to READ. And then write. It doesn’t have to be good the first time. It doesn’t even have to be properly spelled or grammatically correct. What matters is to get that story out first. After that, PRACTICE. Rewrite it, rewrite it, rewrite it, again and again. Another bit of advice I give out quite a lot is a quote of mine. “It doesn’t matter where you come from or who you were born as. What matters is where you are going, and who you will become.”

12. Do you do research for your books? If so, what kind of research?

 I do research for my books when I need to. For example, “Of Spite and Strife” required research about pirate boats, more research about swords, and trauma, though I have plenty of my own to draw from, sometimes it’s helpful to hear from others!

13. How do you fit writing into your everyday life?

I fit writing into my everyday life by making time for it. When my oldest is in school and my youngest naps, I write. When they’re both in bed, I write. I treat writing like a real job, because one day, it will be my career. If I don’t pay attention to it and nurture it now, it never will be.

14. How do you approach ‘world building’?

I approach world building by visualizing it first. Then I write everything out, either in the book or in a separate document. I write it all out. Then I’ll draw, or animate, different parts of the world, the people, their clothing styles, their cultures, so that I can see it. It helps to see it.

15. How do you handle criticism?

I handle criticism by trying to take it seriously, and trying to work on the things that inspired it. Be it grammar, world building, lack of texture, too much dialogue, too much repetition, I work on it. I find repetition is something I struggle most with, in both writing and in the real world.

16. Describe your perfect character to me

A perfect character is one that is not perfect. Flaws, imperfections, traumas, scars, I want to relate to my characters. A perfect character isn’t a perfect person.

17. Tell me about your current work

My current work, “Of Spite and Strife,” is my way of challenging tropes of many kinds. For example, the “abused woman changes for her abuser, finds she is happy that way, falls in love with him, and he falls in love with her,” trope. However, there is also the “the man is the one the prophesy is about, and only the man” trope that I’m challenging. Also the “white savior” trope. My main character is a white woman, and the crown is a white government. The people in charge are largely white, and the minorities are POC, LGBTQ+, poverty-stricken people, much as like this world. The top 10 percent are rich, white, straight. In my book, my main character, Asteria, does play a part in taking the government down, but she isn’t NEEDED to do so. She plays a part, but she’s not the hero. The heros are the minorities that put the most of the work in, and I will be showcasing that more in the following books, showing how her inheritance, her presence, she herself, that all helps, but she’s not the driving force, not the main player. Yes, my main character is more like a side character in her world, because I refused to do the “white person saves the minorities.” The book revolves around healing trauma, overcoming abuse, and the beginning of taking down a corrupt, abusive government.

18. Tell me about your main character

Asteria Kinge was born to privilege. She is white, and grew up as third to the crown. She was a pampered aristocrat until she was kidnapped days before her wedding to Jonathan Engeham. She is then tortured by Ambrose, and forced into marrying him, where for years, she stays, submissive, thinking she is happy. Until she finally makes the choice to flee, after one traumatic night. She meets a wanna-be pirate, who convinces her to run away with him and start a crew. She becomes Captain Story, he becomes First Mate Lyszen, and from there, they build an army.
Lyszen is also a main character for me. Perhaps even more so. Zenith Lysander, whose last name isn’t mentioned until the second book. He goes by “Lyszen” as his pirate name. He is a first mate who refuses to touch a sword or throw a punch, very much a pacifist, until Asteria is in trouble one day. Only then will he have to make the decision to fight, if he can bring himself to overcome past wounds.

19. Would you want your book made into a film?

I would absolutely love to see my book on the big screen, but I would want to be a part of the entire thing. I am very picky about who would be who, and I would not want to see white-washing of my many characters, or dulling down of my others. I would want to make sure everything was perfect–nothing left out, nothing changed. I am, after all, a perfectionist.

20. How many books do you own?

How many books do I own? Uhhhhh, I plead the fifth? More than enough to fill two or three bookshelves, and let’s leave it at that, haha.

This or that

Short books or Long books
Long books!

Romance or Fantasy
Fantasy all the way, love.

Bright book covers or Muted book covers
Bright! GIVE ME COLAH!

Ebooks, Paperbacks or Audiobooks
Paperbacks. The smellllll.

Writing in the Morning or Evening
Writing in the evening, so much more creative juice at night.

Character Driven or Plot Driven
A good balance between character and plot is what I would hope for!

 

Finally, what’s the best piece of advice someone has given you about writing, marketing, or just generally about life? The best advice anyone has given me about life is to never let the fear of losing keep you from playing the game. (It came from a movie, to be honest.) Also, “you can achieve what you want, but you HAVE to put the work in.”

 

Where can you find A. I. Lakewood?

Twitter