Wednesday, November 18, 2015

My First Author Interview -- Tricia Mingerink, Author of Deny!

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Ladies and Gentlemen, I am very pleased to welcome to my blog Tricia Mingerink. She is the author of the book Dare which is a young adult adventure novel released in June of this year, and the sequel Deny which will be released on the 30th of this month! I found out about Dare when Kathrese McKee (author of the Mardan's Mark series) interviewed Tricia on her blog.  I was intrigued by the idea of her setting, which is a medieval-type time period in an American West-type landscape. I got the book on Kindle and read it in less than two days. Tricia is definitely one of those authors who snatches you into her story as soon as you open the book! My review for Dare can be read here. I will post my review for Deny tomorrow, but today I am thrilled to have the opportunity to interview Tricia about the writing of Deny. 

About the Author
DSC09457-2Tricia Mingerink is a twenty-something, book-loving, horse-riding country girl. She lives in Michigan with her family and their pack of pets. When she isn't writing, she can be found pursuing backwoods adventures across the country. You can connect with her on Facebook, Pinterest, 
Goodreads, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog

About the book:
Deny_cover_resizeAll lies have consequences.

Promoted to the top rank among King Respen’s assassins, First Blade Leith Torren hides his involvement with the Resistance. How many lies will it take to protect his secret?
Renna Faythe has done nothing but survive for the past four years, but now Leith’s courage inspires her to try to be something more. If only she could figure out what that duty might be.
When the unthinkable happens, faith waivers. Friendships tear. What else will they be forced to deny?
But this time, Leith faces his greatest fear.
He can’t save everyone.

 Welcome, Tricia! For those who may not know, what gave you the idea for the series? 

 Tricia: It was really a combination of things. I had recently graduated from a public college where I’d have several instances where I should’ve stood up for my faith and I didn’t. I also had just finished researching my great-grandparents’ experiences during WWII in the Netherlands. WWII tore the Netherlands apart. Some Christians joined the Dutch Resistance. Some Christians didn’t believe they should rebel against the government and did nothing. Others went so far as to help the Nazis and turn in their fellow Christians for Resistance activity. Those two things inspired The Blades of Acktar. 

 Which comes easier to you, writing plot or writing characters?

 Tricia: Plot. By far. My sister-in-law spends hours walking with me while I complain about how hard characters are to write. I go through drafts and drafts trying to get the characters right. In Dare, Renna had a habit of disappearing in a scene, even the ones from her POV. In Deny, she was flat through most of the book. As my editor said, Renna has a shell, but she shouldn’t have a shell from the reader. The problem was, she had a shell from the writer too! 

 Speaking of characters, how did you decide what needed to happen with the characters in Deny? Did you have specific plans for them as far as what how you wanted them to develop and what needed to happen to make that development occur? 

 Tricia: I tend to get ideas in big chunks. When I got the idea for The Blades of Acktar, I knew most of the first book and the third book all at once. To figure out what had to happen in Deny, I had to decide what would get the characters from Dare to Book 3. And that was the events of Deny. 

 What was the most difficult thing about writing a sequel?

 Tricia: The expectations. When I released Dare, only  a few people had any expectation of what the book would be like. Now I have readers depending on me to deliver the same great story with Deny as I did with Dare. Preferably get even better. And that pressure was almost crippling at first because, as far as first drafts go, Deny was much weaker than Dare. It took rather drastic re-writing to get the book to what it is now. 

 What was the thing that most surprised you about the story or characters in this book?

 Tricia: Jamie is probably the character that surprised me most. In the first draft, Jamie didn’t have much of a role. I actually considered cutting him entirely, until I wrote the draft of Book 3 and realized that he was a really important character. I’m really glad I didn’t! The response of my early readers to Jamie has really surprised me. 

 Teaser question: Is there a scene you are particularly proud of? Can you answer that without giving too much away? ;-)

 Tricia: The climax scene. I can’t really say too much about it, but it’s one of the few scenes that didn’t change much during revisions. 

 If there is one message you really hope to convey to your readers through this book, what is it?

 Tricia: God is in control even in our darkest moments. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense to us and it’s easy to doubt during those times. Doubt is natural. Weakness is natural. If we didn’t have that doubt and weakness, we wouldn’t be able to see the strength found in God. 

 Thank you so much for visiting my blog, Tricia!

 Deny comes out November 30th! Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for a chance to win signed copies of Dare and Deny! Make sure to follow the blog tour leading up to the Facebook Launch Party on December 4th as well. Just click on the names of the bloggers and you will be taken directly to their pages.
Blog Tour Schedule
November 16
November 17
November 18
November 19
November 20
November 21
November 23
November 24
November 25
November 27
November 30
  • Release Day!
December 1
December 2
December 3
December 4

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