Hello dear readers,

And welcome to a New Year!  It's RoseBlossom79 again speaking on behalf of the Adult Fiction Team! To accompany this Book of the Month's story,  Too Late,  I had the honor to interview the author in a comfy 'virtual WP' pub earlier this month. And I would like to tell you about my chat with Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt (ABEhrhardt). So, shall we get started? 🤔

And for this one ... I boarded a plane to get my next destination😁.

January 1, 2018

Cheerio folks! RoseBlossom 79 here in Dublin, Ireland, where I'm here to meet the author of Too Late. Alicia is not quite here yet, but I might as well get us a table to chat with our guest of honor. But I guess I should sit myself down by the bar.

Irish Bartender: What shall I get you me lady?

RoseBlossom79: Um, do you happen to have some root beer?

Irish Bartender: Sure do! 

(As he made the drink for me, I noticed the bearded man was eyeing me as I have not been here before. Nervously, I tapped my fingers on the table as I eyed all these Irish people around me. I hoped Alicia would get here soon so we could have our meeting, as their confused eyes looked at me. But sure enough, my guest arrived within minutes of my first sip of the drink.)

ABEhrhardt: Hello, you must be RoseBlossom79!

RoseBlossom79: Why yes I am, and you must be Alicia, the author of Too Late, Adult Fiction's Book of the Month! Pleased to meet you!

ABEhrhardt: Nice to meet you too. I'm sorry for running late.  The bus took longer for me to get here.  

RoseBlossom79:  No problem at all dear author. May I offer you a drink? Ice tea, water, root beer?

ABEhrhardt:  Water please, I had to run to get here in time. And can you add some beer along with it? Thank you.

RoseBlossom79:  No problem my dear! It's on Adult Fiction's tab! ( Pats her gently on the back with sympathy. Thus, I waved my hand to attract the bartender's attention and asked him for the drinks.)

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RoseBlossom79: First question, if I'm correct your short story, Too Late, is set in an Irish Pub? 

ABEhrhardt: Too Late actually has three scenes; the first two are set on-street locations in downtown Dublin, and the last one is in an Irish Pub.

RoseBlossom79: Can you please also tell us how you came up with this story? Is the Irish background something you wanted to always write about? And for those like myself who have not read your other story, Pride's Children, would you recommend us to read that one first to get a better understanding of your characters?

ABEhrhardt: For a number of reasons, I picked a country with a rich tradition of literacy and also of lunacy - the drink is part of it, how the English treated the Irish, medieval monks who kept the books going through the middle ages... I don't know enough about the Irish background, so I had to dig deep and find me several Irish people who answered questions; several have kindly said I did a decent job of it. I've always loved the accent - but it varies all over Ireland, so I have someone in County Galway; I can ask when it gets down to the specific details. 

I also have a way too romantic view of sheep 🐑 and sheep farmers 👨🏻‍🌾, and a friend who is one (farmer, not sheep)😂. Andrew's family has usually had a black sheep - someone who couldn't stay down on the farm - he's an uncle who was on the stage 🎭.

Pride's Children is very long - and a complex story. I have had men and women of all ages read it and have liked it, but Too Late is a story you can read without knowing anything else. I hope it will make people want to read PC as well.

RoseBlossom79: I'm sure it will Alicia, I was captivated by your writing too and am willing to read PC! 😃

It was very creative of you to do a prequel of your existing book Pride's Children. What was the reason behind that? Did you want your characters to talk in an Irish accent, as well?

ABEhrhardt: Pride's Children is set in the milieu of worldwide entertainment - Hollywood, Bollywood, and the world of books in English. When I thought about Andrew in Pride's Children, and some of the actors in the real world, that gave me ideas for him. One of the questions that kept coming up is how he feels about the competition between his professional life and a personal life, and that led me to ask myself how he got that way. An episode from earlier in his life came to me, and I just followed it. Then I found out about Irish laws for the paternity of children born out of wedlock and the story wrote itself. The details of that are mentioned in the story; it broke my heart 💔.

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RoseBlossom79: Did you want to become a writer when you were a child? And where do your ideas come from?

ABEhrhardt:  I have always been a voracious and omnivorous reader, and I always knew I would write more. I wrote as a teen (I'm trying to find some of those stories) but deviated from physics for school and my working life. Now I just write. Every day unless life interferes, and then I get back to writing as soon as I can. I hate going to bed without having had my writing time!  

RoseBlossom79:  Do you start with an outline or a plot? Or do you just prefer to see where an idea takes you? 

ABEhrhardt: I'm an extreme plotter; I know where all the bits and pieces go, and how the different characters relate. Too Late was short enough that I set up the three time periods, spent time with a calendar making sure the two possibilities were feasible (so you won't know for sure because he can't), and then wrote down the things that had to be in each scene. My plots now always have to go somewhere, and the beginning and end have to be tightly tied together, and I work that part all out before I write. I say it's like having all the steel in place for a skyscraper before you put the decorating touches on the apartments and offices. You can't build tall without detailed planning of where the water pipes will go.

RoseBlossom79:   What is the hardest thing you have done when it comes to writing? Do you have any advice for those who would like to write in the adult fiction genre?

ABEhrhardt:  For me, the hardest part every day is getting my brain to start! After that, I know that once I get started on the current scene, I will be at it for hours. For new writers I suggest one thing: don't swallow anyone's advice! Nobody knows exactly what each writer needs, even though the articles and books are titled 'How To...,' the advice has to make sense to you. I spent a number of years trying to be a pantser, like Lawrence Block, because I loved his book Telling Lies for Fun and Profit - but I write so differently that we might as well be different species. I can't possibly write if I might have to toss whole plot lines and characters; it's too much of me invested. For adult fiction, which can be anywhere from PG, PG-13, on, find a story you're going to stick with for a while, because it takes a lot of work to do a good job you will want to put your name on. Too Late took over six months to write, as I kept coming back to it to get pieces right - and it's not very long. PC, Book 1, took me fifteen years. Books 2 and 3 will take at least a couple of years each.

RoseBlossom79:  Wow😲! That's a first, I never heard anyone tell that to me before and I appreciate how you told me that! And I do agree with you that nobody exactly knows what a writer needs. Everyone has their own style and preference. So, do you read much and if so who are your favorite authors, those on Wattpad or not?     

ABEhrhardt:  I don't read as much as I used to because my brain is slow: if I read, I don't write; if I write, I can't let myself get distracted by reading. But I have such a huge database that for now, it's okay. I read everything when I was younger. Now, when I'm taking a break (or just being self-indulgent), I'll read a book in a day. If it's good. I have no qualms anymore about dumping a book that isn't what I thought it would be, quality- or plot-wise. I owe a lot of people on Wattpad reads - it's on my to-do list - but I don't do well with unfinished work, so I tend to wait until the story is finished and polished. I'm very slow, and there isn't enough energy to write something as involved as Pride's Children, and still read a lot. I tend to reread things like Travis McGee novels and Dorothy L. Sayers mysteries because I can put them down (I know how they end), and not keep reading until it's 6 am.  

RoseBlossom79: For your own reading, do you prefer e-books 💻 or those on traditional paper/hardback books 📚? 

 ABEhrhardt: Ebooks. Paper - especially for the complex novels I like - is heavy. It's hard to hold, and publishers are often very skimpy with font size and gutter margins. With my Kindle or desktop apps, I can blow the text up to a decent size. My paperback copy of Gone With the Wind is 1468 pages long - and the print is tiny! And unsearchable - hard to find the quote I'm looking for because I get caught up in the reading! So, I do most of my reading on the big TV monitor my husband gave me as a present, and I make the text as big as I need it. My Kindle is fully loaded and easy to stick in my purse. 

RoseBlossom79: I see. Well, I understand that Pride's Children is now on Amazon, so how are you publishing this book? And could you give our readers who are interested in purchasing this book where we could find it?  

ABEhrhardt: I'm formatting Too Late to put on Amazon. The publication cover is ready (Unfortunately, I can't use the lovely cover Jewel (Julie T. Chapman jewel1307) made for me anywhere except on Wattpad), and it's my next priority. 

Meanwhile, Too Late will stay in the current version here on Wattpad for the people who have read it so many times, and new readers. I'm hoping it will get people interested in reading Pride's Children, and I have a standing offer here to send you all a free electronic Advance Reader Copy of PC, Book 1 and hope you will like it enough to write a review. Amazon has rules for reviews, though, and many Wattpadders are not in the US and/or don't have a credit card to have an account with Amazon, but I would still love to have them read. Send me a PM if you'd like to read the rest after you've started reading PC on Wattpad. If you want the published book, it's on Amazon in ebook and paperback. Readers who already like the classics and read mainstream literature are more likely to enjoy it. Although PC is a mainstream love story, readers of Romance, which typically has only two main characters and specific conventions, will probably find it too long; I don't follow Romance conventions at all.

RoseBlossom79: Lastly, would like to add anything to this interview about your writing career? You could also tag anyone on Wattpad if you would like.

ABEhrhardt: I'm a complete do-it-yourselfer. As a self-published author, I literally did everything necessary, from writing to editing to cover to formatting and proofreading. I loved learning graphics for PC - I wasn't ready to do a cover when Too Late was featured, and so I'm immensely grateful to Jewel for her cover (see acknowledgments at the end of the story). I don't necessarily recommend it to everyone for every book, but, if I ever farm out some of the tasks, I will know how to evaluate other people's work before I hire them. Everyone should learn to self-edit, whether they have an outside editor or not - no matter who helps you, the responsibility is yours if you're a self-published author. Keep your standards up, and learn the craft. I've read at least a hundred books on writing and too many blog posts to a number. There are way too many people on Wattpad I read and talk to, so I'll just mention in particular how kind ColmHerron was about my writing when I started publishing it here. 

RoseBlossom79:  And thank you, Alicia, for being part of this recorded interview.

ABEhrhardt:  I'm being recorded? 😲

RoseBlossom79:  Yes,  didn't you see it on the table? I guess I forgot to tell you about it. Since I will have to fly back to Wattpad Headquarters, I need to have some way of taking notes down. I hope that you are okay with that. Sorry that I didn't remind you.

ABEhrhardt: I'm okay, just a little startled with my 15 minutes of fame! ✨ I'm glad to have lent a hand.

RoseBlossom79:   Thank you. And before we go, can we have one last toast? 

ABEhrhardt: Sure!

(To New Beginnings!)

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Hope   everyone has enjoyed the first interview for the New Year! And if you are interested in reading Too Late by  ABEhrhardt

Please visit the link below:

https://www.wattpad.com/story/24904832-too-late-a-pride%27s-children-prequel-short-story

See you next time!