Saturday, January 5, 2013

Interview with author Christina Smith

Let's have a bit of a chat with Ms. Smith!

Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Sure, I live in a small rural town in Ontario, Canada. I like to call it “The middle of nowhere.” I live here with my husband and two kids. I like to read, play games with my family.

I used to be the secretary of my husband’s business. I guess I still am, but we are in the process of closing it, which gives me more time for writing.

I’m extremely close to my mother and two sisters, and love going to movies and spending time with them.

Q: Ok, now can you tell us something unusual about yourself? What makes you stand out?
I can’t think of anything unusual and I’m not sure I do stand out, besides my writing. I don’t know anyone who is one or even knows an Author.

Q: What gave you a start as a writer?

Well I was watching Oprah the year New Moon was coming out, when she had Stephanie Myers on and they were discussing that it wasn’t normal for her to tell herself stories, that not everyone does that. I was shocked, because I had told myself stories my whole life, and thought everyone did.

After hearing this, I thought about some of the stories I made up, and I could only remember two. Fated Dreams was the first one. After the first few paragraphs I thought to myself “that’s not half bad.”

Q: Who would you say is your biggest supporter? What is your biggest inspiration while writing?
Everyone in my family is supportive, but my husband and mother are the ones I talk to most about my books, so I’d have to say them. I have also met some other Authors that are supportive and very helpful.

I never know what will inspire me. Ideas pop in my head at all times, usually at inconvenient times--while I’m trying to sleep, driving, or in the shower or bath, when I don’t have access to a pen or paper.

Q: Do you have any interesting facts about any of your books?

I do have one. Something I didn’t notice until it was too late. After I had finished publishing all my books except Finding Abigail, I was just playing around on my computer, and read a few paragraphs of Riley’s Curse. I read the ending about Sadie Clark. Her name sparked a memory that I couldn’t place.

It wasn’t until later in the shower that it came to me. I have used that name in another book—Delusions. It was given to a very small character that is only in the book a few times. She sings at a party at the beginning of the book.

I couldn’t believe I never noticed before. I, along with all of my family have read every book, some a few times, and we missed that. I didn’t take it out though; I figured it would be a good trivia question someday.

Q: What is your favorite place to write? What, if anything, do you always have with you while writing?

My favorite spot is in my room, on my bed facing the TV. My husband calls it my cave.

The TV remote (I have the TV on mute), and a Diet Coke.

Q: What is your biggest writing sin?

That I don’t do it enough. When I first started, I was obsessed, and wrote all the time. That is why I wrote four books in about a year and a half. When I found self-publishing, I took them all and began to re-write them one at a time, and within a year have published all of the books.

Now, maybe I’m tired, but I’ve been having trouble focussing on the book I’m writing now. Maybe it’s my brain telling me it needs a break.

Q: Do you have any advice for those who want to begin writing?Read a lot, in the genre of your choice.

Do lots of drafts, my first book had a good plot, but the layout was horrible, no paragraphs, just a big block of words, and no details.

Take writing courses. I took an online one and it helped me a lot.

Ok, now on to the good stuff:

Q: What is your favorite species of paranormal?


I went through a vampire phase as I’m sure everyone has, although, I think I like werewolves better. But my favorite series is The Immortals after Dark by Kresley Cole and it has all kinds of beings-vampires, werewolves, demons and many more, so you don’t have to choose, there all in there.

Q: Are any of the characters in any of your books based on people in your life?

The little sister in Delusions was based on my niece Summer. And a lot of traits from people in my life are in my books, either names or attitudes or memories.

Abigail, was kind of based on me when I began writing, she has a lot of my memories, as do most of my characters.

Q: Out of all of the books that you have written, which is closest to your heart?
I can’t choose just one, but it could be Finding Abigail. It has so much of me in it. My sister’s names, my memories, and the name of one of her books (Love you to pieces) is what my mother used to say to me every night. She hasn’t read the book yet because she’s waiting for the paperback, I can’t wait for her reaction.

Q: What sparked you to switch from writing Young Adult novels to contemporary romance for a more mature audience and tackle the volatile subject of abusive relationships with Finding Abigail?

Actually, Finding Abigail was the second book I wrote. I wrote the first draft and then set it aside to write Riley’s Secret, and then I couldn’t get Delusions out of my head so I put it off again. Then I rewrote all of them to self-publish, so it kind of got lost in the shuffle.

But it was my second, and I wrote it because I wanted to write what I read. And I read both genres.

I’m not sure why I chose the subject; it seems so long ago, that I forget where the idea came from. But I think it was a couple things, a movie with Jennifer Lopez called Enough, and a TV show I saw about a woman’s shelter and a resident who was being abused by a man who was a cop, which made it hard to hide when he knew where all the shelters were.

Everyone wonders why abused women don’t leave, I myself have asked that question, and I thought it would be even more difficult if the person abusing you was one of the people supposed to protect you, like a policeman.

Q: Now that you’ve written both young adult and adult novels, which do you prefer?
I like writing Adult novels because I’m not limited to what I say, I can swear, because I do in real life, and I can be more liberal with sex scenes, without worrying about who’s reading it.

But, I have more ideas for Young Adult fantasy. I’m not sure if I can choose either one.

Q: And most importantly, what’s up next for you (writing wise)?

Right now, I’m writing the second book in the Moon’s glow series. I’m taking a short break until my kids go back to school, but I will get back to it after that. It’s not easy writing with them home all day. The constant “Mom he’s bugging me” is a little distracting. When I’m done that, I’ll do the last book in the trilogy.


Find out more about Christina Smith and her upcoming releases on her website

Christina Smith is the author of The Affinity Series, A Moon's Glow Series, and Finding Abigail.

The Affinity Series consists of:

Do you believe in true love? Sarah Samson doesn't until she meets hers. But for Sarah, meeting the guy of her dreams comes with a price.

On the outside Sarah looks like she has it all--friends, a loving family, and a hobby she's really good at. But if you look closer, Sarah's keeping secrets from everyone in her life, even...Lucas. From the very first time they bumped into one another, she has felt drawn to him. He makes her feel like she's found something she never realized was missing. Life would be perfect if it wasn't for the constant feeling that someone is following her. She feels a presence everywhere she goes, work, home, even...in her dreams.

Sarah suddenly finds herself wrapped up in a dangerous mystery that started eighty years ago involving two tragic deaths. After several attempts on her life, she and Lucas realize they must solve it before history repeats itself.

Get your copy of Fated Dreams online here today.

Can Fate be wrong? When all signs point to a certain someone, do you just blindly follow whether you like them or not? What if that person turns out to be someone you hate? Could Destiny be so cruel?

Lisa Miller is a typical seventeen-year-old, busy with family, work, friends and...revenge. Her last summer in high school should be spent having fun. But ever since Logan Tate played a prank on her two years ago, she doesn't have much of a social life, instead, spending her free time trying to get even.

Unfortunately Logan's not making it easy for her; he's trying to convince her that he has changed. But she is not fooled by his charming personality, and stunning good looks. No one can change that drastically.

Things aren't much better at home. Ever since her father left a year and a half ago, she refuses to speak to him, causing tension with her mom and sister.

As if she didn't have enough problems, someone is sending prank emails and phone calls, mysteriously knowing about the dreams she's been having. Who would do such a thing, and how could they know.

Get your copy of Delusions here today!

A Moon's Glow Series Consists of:

Because of one fateful night, Nathaniel Riley loses his girl, his family, and life as he knows it. His world has been turned upside down. One day, a normal teen living in the 1890's, the next a mythical creature he didn't know existed. How can he live with himself with deadly urges he can't control?

He's a monster with a conscience who wants to make up for all the pain he's caused, but how can he do that when a fellow monster wants to take everything in his life away from him.

Nathaniel Riley has lived for a long time. Before he met Megan, he had a family, another girl he loved and a world in which he was happy. Find out how it all changed in just one moment.

 Read my review of Riley's Curse.

Buy your copy online here today.


Megan Banks feels like an imposter in her own life; she doesn’t belong with her friends or with her parents, who ignore her. After a fire she’s indirectly involved with, she finds herself with two hundred hours of community service. It’s the charity she volunteers at that finally makes her feel like she belongs. These people, with whom she has nothing in common, mean more to her than her rich, selfish friends.

But for some reason her supervisor, Nate Green, doesn’t want her there. He thinks she’s a self-centered rich girl who deserves to be in jail. After she’s threatened by the kids who started the fire, Nate and Megan form a strange friendship, built only for her protection. But the more she feels for him, the more he pushes her away.

As they become closer, Megan knows Nate is attracted to her as well, but she also believes that he is hiding something. But she could never guess what he really is. Before she realizes what is happening, she becomes involved in a world she didn't know existed.

In this strange new reality, can she finally find a place where she belongs?


Read my review of Riley's Secret.

Buy your copy here today.


Christina's Adult Contemporary Romance novels include:



Abby Watson thought she'd know a monster if she ever saw one. It's what she does for a living, writing children's fantasy books. But what she didn't realize is that monsters are not always fiction, and they come in all shapes and sizes.

She wasn't really looking for her Prince Charming; her family and friends were doing that enough for her. In her line of work she is immersed in the fantasy world and fairy tales. Then one day she meets a man in a shiny police uniform. He is attentive and showers her with compliments and gifts—he is the perfect man. Or is he? When he shows his true colors, she realizes he might not be her Prince Charming after all.

After a traumatic year, Abby loses who she once was. She hides herself from the world and stops doing what she loves the most—writing.

Will she give up looking for love because of one toad, or will she open herself up to new things, and in doing so find herself, and a man worthy of her love?

Due to violence and language, this book is recommended for 17+ – Adult Contemporary romance.


Read my review of Finding Abigail.

Buy your copy online here today.

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