Author Interview: Juliana Haygert, Author of "Breaking The Reins"

Today, I'm posting an interview with NA author and blogger Juliana Haygert.

Tell us a little about yourself
Hi! I’m Juliana, NA author and all around nice girl. I laugh easily, but I’m also very irritable – you don’t want to be on my pissed off side ;)
I’m a lover of books, video games (World of Warcraft ftw!), chocolate, coffee, wine, jeans, high heels, family and friends – not necessarily in this order.

You write in multiple NA genres. Which is your favorite write? Why?
Why do you focus on NA. I started writing NA way before it had a name – eight years ago or so.
It was quite hard because agents and editors didn’t want NA.
My fave genre? I guess it depends on my mood.
When I’m deep into contemporary, I’m craving fantasy, when I’m deep into fantasy, I want to write contemporary.

Tell us something about yourself that's not in your author bio.
I met my husband when I was 17 (he was 22) – we started dating right away and we got married when I was 20. And I became a mommy at 24.

What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?
Toughest criticism = that I had to work on my narrator inner dialogue.
Best compliment = “Your voice is so rich, and your worldbuilding absolutely lush. I enjoyed the tension and the stakes in play here”
– it came from a known traditional author and it was about the short story I have on Wattpad.

If you could have dinner with anyone- fictional or real, past or present, dead or alive- who would you pick? Why?
This is a hard one.
Fictional, Zuko from The Last Airbender. Or Korra from Legend of Korra – love these two TV shows.

You will be stranded on a deserted island and bring 3 items.
Another hard one, jeez!
My toothbrush + tooth paste (that’s combo so it counts as one), my kindle, which would be loaded with great books (and it’s charger), and a warm blanket.

Have you always aspired to publish a novel? Which writers inspire/influence you?
Not really. I’ve been writing since I was 13, but I only thought about trying to get published when I was 26-27. I love Richelle Mead – her prose is simple and yet, it involves you. She creates rich worlds and fun characters. I like to think her writing influences mine ;)

Which actors/actresses would you like to see playing Hannah, Eric & Leo in Breaking The Reins?
Bah, I don’t know. I try not to think about it much.
One reviewer posted pics for Hannah and Leo on goodreads and I love it – she chose Krystal Reed as Hannah, but I don’t know who the guy is. Want to help me find out? Click here.
But honestly, Leo and his family would have to be Brazilian – maybe Marlon Teixeira or Pedro Arnon as Leo ;)

If you could be on one reality TV show, what would it be?
This is (was?) sort of a secret: my biggest dream is to be one of the celebs on Dancing with the Stars. But first I need to become a celebrity right? lol

Tell us about NA Alley
In the end of 2011, I met Victoria, Jaycee and Carrie online – they wrote NA, like I did, so we bonded over it immediately. Then around Jan/Feb 2012, I was thinking about contacting them and pop a question like what do you guys think of creating a group blog dedicated to NA?
However, Victoria beat me to it. She had already talked to Jaycee and they sent out the email inviting the rest of us.
NA Alley is a fun place where we try to inform and promote New Adult as a category.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Hopefully I’ll have moved back to the Carolinas, I’ll have published a dozen novels, and I’ll be making a good living out of it.
My hubs will still like the challenge of his line of work, and my daughter will be too big for me to even imagine.
I don’t envision getting filthy rich or hitting the NYT Bestseller list or things like that. As long as my books find a couple of readers and they like what they read, I’m happy!

The craziest/wildest thing you ever did.
Moved out of my parents’ house in a small town when I was 16 to live alone in a city of 1.5 million people? In Brazil, education is very different than here. The good schools are in the big cities and, to be accepted into college, you have to get a good education, so I moved out to finish high school in a better school.
Or, spent two months on Rio de Janeiro alone when I was 12 – I participated of a ballet workshop with the best dance company of the country.

Which of your characters do you relate to the most? Are any of them based on people you know?
Mirella from Gypsy Heart. I need to rewrite that manuscript and publish it because I love that story, but I wrote it back in 2010 (or 2009?). My writing improved so much since then, and I had a couple of ideas to make it better …
Mirella has a lot of me on her. I try not basing my characters on any people I know, though I’m sure some relate to the people in my life.

Are you going to write a continuation for Breaking The Reins? I'd like to see what happens to the rest of the gang.
It is a possibility – I’ve been getting lots of requests. I know Bia’s story and I have an idea for Hilary’s, but I know readers want to see Ri, Pedro and Gui too, so I’ll have to think (aka plot) for them too.

What is one talent that you’re hopeless at, but you wish you were good at?
Singing. I would love, love, love to sing.

Do events in your life influence your book/Are your life experiences included in your books?
No, not so far. I do have a notebook with major events and past experiences written down, so I can look over them and try to plot a story around them, but so far it didn’t happen.

What is the best book you’ve read recently?
I was working on a UF the last 2 months, so I’ve been reading a lot of UF and PNR. The ones I liked the most are The Archers of Avalon series by Chelsea Fine, and the Crescent Chronicles by Alyssa Rose Ivy.

What is the best advice you have been given?
Do not give up! Simple like that ;)

What’s next for you? Any works in the making that you want us to know about?
I’m working on edits of Soul Oath and Cup of Life (both UF), and soon will finish writing Playing Pretend, a contemporary romance

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Random
Vanilla or chocolate - chocolate
Fave Season of the year - fall
Fave Dessert – hmm, Cookie Cookie Sundae from ColdStone
Fave Name – Isadora (my daughter’s)
Fave Book you wrote – Breaking the Reins
Favorite word - LOVE
Weirdest food combo – none.
Random Fact – I went to Architecture School

The Author
Juliana Haygert is a New Adult author and contributor at NA Alley blog.
While Juliana dreams of being Wonder Woman, Buffy, or a blood elf shadow priest, she settles for the less exciting—but equally gratifying—life of a wife, mother, and author.
Thousands of miles away from her former home in Brazil, she now resides in Connecticut and spends her days writing about kick-ass heroines and the heroes who drive them crazy.
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Read my review of "Breaking The Reins" here
Enter giveaway here

Blog Book Tour: Something Furry Underfoot [Author Interview And Giveaway]

Hi guys, this is the beginning of the giveaway and feature special. There's still a lot of dates to be filled. If you're interested in being a part of this, go here We're starting with the Blog Tour for Amy L Peterson's "Something Furry Underfoot"

The Book
Something Furry Underfoot is a funny, touching book about pets that Amy's husband brought home and how Amy ended up helping care for, and falling for, most of them. In addition to frogs, iguanas, dogs, a stray cat, rabbits, and lots of hamsters, you will meet a male hedgehog that escaped three times to mate with a female hedgehog, a ferret that cost $1,200 in vet bills and a domestic duck.
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When did you become interested in books. Reading & Writing?
I have two fond memories from my childhood about books: my Grandmother Peterson reading me the stories of Br’er Rabbit in her southern accent in a way that made the characters seem alive, and my father making up stories before tucking me and my two siblings to bed. Both of those stuck with me, and somewhere along the line, I thought it’d be so cool to be able to tell fun, memorable stories. When it came to writing, I enjoyed every writing assignment in school and college, entered a few essay contests now and again, but didn’t really make time to write seriously until I married a guy with four kids and realized I might have an interesting story to tell. That was the basis of my first book, From Zero to Four Kids in Thirty Seconds, a humorous, touching memoir about becoming a stepmom. At the same time I was figuring out my role as a stepmom, my husband, Mark, kept bringing pets into our home, and that is the basis for my new book and second humorous, touching memoir, Something Furry Underfoot.

What made you decide to sit down and actually start writing your memoirs?
I wrote From Zero to Four Kids in Thirty Seconds after I realized I had experienced something that might help other people.
The kids were 3, 5, 13 and 15 at the time I met them, so I experienced the innocence and bend-ability of young kids, with a lovely double-dose of teenager. I hadn’t a clue what I was doing most of the time I was figuring out my role as a stepmom, which makes the book a fun read. My original intent in writing Something Furry Underfoot was simply to document the various animals we’d raised, but as I wrote down the details of each animal, it became more and more obvious how different each animal was. For example, one of the hamsters Mark wanted turned out to be pregnant. We kept all eight babies and every one of them was different in what they liked and didn’t like—some liked to run on their wheels more than in a hamster ball; some liked certain foods over others; some tolerated being petted, some did not. As with every pet, I enjoyed trying to figure out what made each one tick.

How do you decide what to share and what not to share?
That’s a great question. Part of the difficulty with a book like this is that pets die and I didn’t want to gloss over that or pretend it didn’t happen, AND I didn’t want to dwell on the sadness and make the book a real downer. So I tried to share that each pets’ passing was a bummer to me without sharing the play-by-play except for a couple of the pets. Other details were left out to add to the humor.
For example, while I describe how the ferrets ran in and out of the cupboards, I left out the fact that we actually rinsed and cleaned the pots and pans the ferrets ran in and out of, to add to the humor.

You have written 4 children picture books (about some of your pets) and one self help book for new stepmothers. Why a memoir about living with pets?
The four children’s picture books are short, rhyming books that kids can read to see what having a certain pet—a dog, a cat, a ferret, or a domestic duck—is like. The books are: Dusty, the Angel Pup; Purrkins, the Cat; Goodnight, Big Wuzzy; and Bumpkin Gets Big. Each ends with a message for parents to consider before taking on each of the pet, and each one is written from the animals’ perspective to better share what they need, like and dislike.
Something Furry Underfoot is a memoir with details about those four pets, plus many, many more pets. The book also includes tips, making it a bit of a primer for pet care, too. Some proceeds from all of my animal books will support animal rescue organizations.

What's a typical day in your life like?
I need to do a blog posting about that, because it’s quite complicated. Lately, it starts between 3:30 and 5:30 a.m. when one of our two puppies, Winston and Snickers, decides it’s time to go outside.
Because my husband is retired, he’s the one that lets the pups out while I try to go back to sleep, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. I usually get up around 6 a.m. and am greeted by the two pups and a middle-aged cat, Purrkins, who is less than thrilled with two crazed pups in the house. After I shower, Purrkins gets fresh water out of the bathroom sink while I the pups try to run off with my towel. I get dressed, feed Purrkins three different types of food, put the humming bird feeder outside, fill several bird feeders outside and make a pile of seeds for the chipmunks, squirrels and our new friend, a groundhog. After topping off thistle feeders, replacing empty suet blocks and ensuring the birds have water, I’m off to work.
At 4:30, I am greeted by two rowdy pups, Purrkins and Mark. After saying hello to each, I feed Purrkins and let the puppies out and back in again. After a two-mile run, I help with dinner, clean up and sit down for sporadic bits of work at the computer.
I get very little focused time because over the rest of the evening we make time to train the pups and play with them; take pups in and out a half dozen times; retrieve items that walk by in the mouths of pups that aren’t appropriate (a shoe, a paperback book, a card game) and replace them with something else; empty the kitty litter pan; feed the hamsters; put the younger hamsters in hamster exercise balls; feed and play with the mynah birds; return hamsters to their cages; make sure hamsters have water to drink; make sure mynah birds have deonized water to drinkand bathe in; bring in the hummingbird feeder so the raccoons don’t slurp down the sugary water; check a couple of live traps in the basement because we’ve had a mouse and shrew problem in the past; and feed fish in three fish tanks. We go to bed wondering what time in the morning Snickers will whine to be let outside to start the day tomorrow.

How did your love of animals come about? Your husband?
I’ve always loved animals. I grew up watching Jacques Cousteau and Wild Kingdom and loved every critter underwater and on land that I saw on TV.
I spent a lot of time outdoors romping around as a kid and had dogs from about the age of 12 on up. One of the things that attracted me to Mark was his love of animals. I just had no idea he’d want to bring so many different kinds of animals into our house!

You are also a photographer. What created your interest in this field?
My Grandfather Peterson was an amateur photographer and he once spent most of a day near a particular building waiting around for the best light of the day to create a photograph he had envisioned. I have a great appreciation for photography because of the time it can take to get a still photo, and for those once-in-a-lifetime wildlife photos that people get when they make the time, have the luck, and get that shot nobody else has taken.

What book(s) are you currently reading?
I tend to read whatever Mark has in the house, which right now is a series of books on the Civil War by Michael Shaarah and Jeff Shaarah. These are excellent books because they get into the thoughts/mind of some of the prominent soldiers in the Civil War.

You will be stranded on a deserted island and. Bring 3 items.
My husband and my two puppies?

If you could have dinner with anyone, past or present, fictional or real, who would it be? Why?
If I could invite one person to dinner, I’d want to invite someone who makes me laugh, likes pets and is well connected so they can help me sell books. The first person that comes to mind is Ellen DeGeneres.
After a light-hearted dinner, I’d try to persuade her to buy some copies of my book to give to the people in her audience on her next show. And maybe she’d invite me to be on her show so I can tout my book and share my new YouTube video about Bumpkin, the duck.
You can see my Bumpkin video on my website, by clicking on Videos.

Random
Fave Season of the year: Fall. No, spring. No, fall. No, spring.
Fave Dessert: Chocolate mousse.
Fave Book you wrote: Something Fury Underfoot
Fave book written by another author: Erma Bombeck.
Random Fact: I love fishing, especially if fishing takes me to another country. And most especially if I catch a bigger fish, or more fish, than Mark.

The Author

Amy Peterson became a stepmotherin 1994 when shemarried a man who had four kids, an old VW Rabbit and a boat load of fishing tackle. Unable to find other true, uplifting stories about becoming a stepmother, Amy used her casual, entertaining writing style to tell her amusing but heartwarming story. The conflicts she faces (and avoids) are universal to all stepmothers, and the conflicts with her beau are amusing universal struggles between the sexes. Amy’s goal was to write a story that would have universal appeal to women, while being particularly helpful for women contemplating becoming stepmothers.
Amy has been published in numerous magazines and does weekly blog postings on her web site, amylpeterson.com, about nature, pets and life. Like her book, most of her blog postings are humorous if not also sometimes information. Amy works m for the state of Michigan and lives with her husband and a variety of fuzzy animals, all of which provide good material for her next book.
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Read my review here
Enter giveaway here

REVIEW: Breaking The Reins by Juliana Haygert

Free copy courtesy of the author

Finished:August 30, 2013
Rating: 4.5 stars

*The Book
Horses, mansions, tea parties, and lies are twenty-year-old Hannah Taylor’s life. To others, her family and her relationship with Eric is perfect. But she knows the truth. She lives it.

After a fire takes her grandma's life and kills her horse, Hannah's immaculate life spirals out of control. Her father disapproves of her decision to run her grandma’s ranch instead of focusing solely on learning the family business.
Animal Control brings her Argus, a mistreated horse that she can't turn away even though she's not ready for another horse; and her boyfriend, Eric Bennett, a world famous polo player, becomes possessive and authoritarian. Despite her best efforts to disguise it, Hannah grows wary of him.
Then, Leonardo Fernandes struts onto the polo scene. A cocky rookie with a messy life of his own, he’s drawn to Hannah and isn’t afraid of showing it, even when Eric makes it clear she is his and he’ll do whatever it takes to keep it that way. Hannah suffers for Eric’s jealousy. The abuse only gets worse when Leo steals the title of best polo player in the world from Eric.

But the title isn’t enough for Leo. He wants Hannah too, and she can’t deny her attraction to him either.
Somehow, she must find a way to break free from abusive Eric before he breaks every bone in her body.

My Opinion
I looooooooved this. I love how the story progresses. The storyline is great. The plot is strong.

There was a lot of action going on. The relationship between Hannah(central character) and everyone else(including the horses) is easy to understand.
Obviously Eric is a piece of sh*t and Leo is an angel.
Seeing how events(big and small) affected Hannah's relationship with everyone, especially Leo and Argus.
I'm not going to put any spoilers. You should definitely read this book. Even if you aren't a fan of horse books. (I never liked horse books after reading Black Beauty. it was soon boring. maybe because I was seven or eight when I read it).
I totally enjoyed this book.
and I want to read more about Leo's family and Hillary (Hannah's sister). I hope the author continues this one as a series

Contains scenes of domestic violence

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REVIEW: Something Furry Underfoot by Amy L Peterson

Received a free ebook copy from the author

Finished: August 12, 2013
Rating: 4.5 stars

The Book
Something Furry Underfoot is a funny, touching book about pets that Amy's husband brought home and how Amy ended up helping care for, and falling for, most of them. In addition to frogs, iguanas, dogs, a stray cat, gerbils, rabbits, and lots of hamsters, you will meet a male hedgehog that escaped three times to mate with a female hedgehog, a ferret that cost $1,200 in vet bills and a domestic duck.

My Opinion
I loved this book. It was funny and emotional. I felt like the pets were mine and they made me laugh and cry.
Some 200 pages of laughter, some tears and some information you hopefully wouldn't need.
Amy Peterson is one calm and patient wife and care giver.
I wanted to post quotes but I would have ended up posting the whole book.
If you like memoirs, especially humorous ones, you should read this

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