SUITE: Where do you get your character’s names?
AYN: Aunt Alice, one of the little old ladies, is based on my Aunt Alice, the way she was before Alzheimer’s so tragically wrecked her. She was like a second mother to me, just like Aunt Alice in my books is like Jessica’s second mother. Emily, the other little old lady, is based on Aunt Alice’s real-life best friend.
Where the name Jessica came from however, I don’t have the vaguest clue. When I first started writing, that’s the name that just “popped up,” and it stuck. The other characters names also just kind of were there when I started writing. I have no idea where they came from.
SUITE: What about writing is important to you?
AYN: The act of creation is the most important. I create new new environments for them to explore, and as I immerse myself in my characters, I get to experience what they do.
SUITE: Any advice to an unpublished writer?
AYN: I get asked that a lot. I think the most important is to read, read, read, and write, write, write. Then decide what is interesting to you enough to write about on a long term basis. Choose something you care passionately about, whether it’s solving murders, experiencing what it is to a ghost …whatever. And then, after you practice your craft, don’t give up. Be tough too. Very few people will love you being a writer. It’s a very demanding profession, taking up most of your time and energy, but keep at it. Persistence does pay off.
SUITE: Anything you would like to add.
AYN: Yes, I think becoming your characters is the most important when writing a story. Characters are what the stories, no matter what those stories are, are about. If you don’t have believable, three-dimensional characters, you basically don’t have a good story. Through dialogue and interaction, your characters move the story along. It’s their motivation that sees the story through to get conflicts and problems resolved. I’d also like to add that UNWILLING KILLERS is coming out in May from PublishAmerica. And my second book, (also a paranormal mystery) is on-line at londoncircle.com. Although these are part of a series, they are also stand-alones, and don’t have to be read in order. And, if anyone would like to receive my free monthly newsletter about ghosts, please e-mail me at AynHunt@aol.com.
SUITE: Website URL.
AYN: www.AuthorsDen.com/aynhunt www.PublishAmerica.com www.londoncircle.com/obsessed.html
Thanks so much for joining us this week, Ayn and best of luck with your new book. If you’re like mysteries and you like ghosts, you should give these books a try.
