Author Q&A with Alana Oxford (S. J. Lomas)

Author Q&A with S. J. Lomas and Alana Oxford

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

I write under two names: S.J. Lomas and Alana Oxford. I’ve written as S.J. since 2013, starting with YA SciFi/Fantasy and poetry. The YA novels are Dream Girl and Dream Frequency. The Poetry is The Blue Muse and In Between. I also have two YA short stories available on Amazon: Sick Day and Kiss of Death. There’s also a book for adults (although also appropriate for teenagers) called Winter Chills. I have two winter themed ghost stories in that book, which includes 6 holiday ghost stories by 4 authors.

Alana Oxford is my pen name for romance and humorous women’s fiction. I’ve written a romcom novella, Blue Skies. I recently completed my full length romance, Scotsman in the Stacks, which I plan to release in 2022.

 

2. What’s your favourite genre to read?

 

I’ve been voraciously reading romance for the past 3 years. Before that, it was YA sci-fi or historical. There are currently no signs of romance relinquishing the top spot.

 

3. Have you always wanted to write?

 

Yes! One of my earliest memories is telling my grandpa a long story about a talking hamburger when I was about 4 years old. In 2nd grade, my teacher gave us all little journals to write in every week for English class and I LOVED it. My favorite thing became writing in that journal and I never stopped writing stories since then.

 

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

The only books I ever read again, all the way through, are Blue Skies and my poetry books. The poetry books are like verbal photographs of different moments in my life and I like to look back on those from time to time.

The novels took so much time to write, and revise, and edit, and revise that by the time they were published, I didn’t have the inclination to read those words again. I might revisit a chapter or two now and again, but I’ve yet to reread the entire thing.

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

 

For my upcoming book, Scotsman in the Stacks, I talked with some Scottish friends of mine to be sure that my Scotsman was authentic. They helped me pick a plausible location for him to be from and then I went on Google and looked up the area so I’d have an idea of what it looks like there. I imagined my character walking around there and making memories with his family and friends. It was a lot of fun!

 

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

I think it would be really fun to see someone’s cinematic interpretation of my books! I especially think my YA books would make a cool movie. They’re about dreamworlds, government conspiracy, friendship, and romance. I visualized some very rich settings and scenes for those books. It would be amazing to see them come to life on the big screen.

 

7. How many books do you own?

Including ebooks, too many to count.

This or That Questions…

Romance or Fantasy – Romance

Bright book covers or Muted book covers – Bright

Ebooks, Paperbacks or Audiobooks – Paperbacks

Character Driven or Plot Driven – Character

Finally, what’s the best piece of advice someone has given you about writing, marketing, or just generally about life?

I can get in my own head too much when I’m writing, or getting ready to start a project. Sometimes a scene seems too difficult or a book feels too ambitious and I can get paralyzed. I was venting to a good friend and they said, “Just write.” It sounds simple enough, but it really resonated with me. When I find myself getting stuck and frustrated or afraid of how the book is working out, I try to take a deep breath and think, “Just write.” After all, it’s easier to revise something than to stare at a blank page.

 

Where can you find Alana?

Twitter

www.sjlomas.com