Author Interview & Giveaway - Assassins: Discord by Erica Cameron

Assassins: Discord

by Erica Cameron

 *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

Talking with Erica Cameron!!

Walk us through your writing process.

I have never written two books the same way. Recently I did start to think that I was beginning to develop an actual method of sorts, but that flew out the window with my most recent ideas. I haven’t really started writing them yet, but I already have the three stories mapped out in a way that I’ve never done before. Definitely not at this stage.  

More often (not always, but more often) I start with a line or a moment between two or more characters, or a question I want to answer. Then, I write without planning much of anything, researching bits and pieces as I develop the story. That can save time sometimes, but other times my research suddenly points out something that changes the story and I realize I’ve got to delete a lot of words. It depends. Once I’m in the story, I can either finish it without much planning or outlining, or I have to go back to the beginning and figure out how all of the pieces I’ve laid out connect to everything I need to happen before the end. Then I hand my messy first draft to a critique partner or whichever of my editors the project is due to and beg them to help me fix it. Editing comes next. LOTS of editing.  

What is your ideal writing space? 

Ideally? A shaded café patio that offered a great view on a cool but sunny day. More realistically, any café. If I were less lazy, slept on a normal person’s schedule, and if Starbucks had more comfortable/ergonomic seats, I’d probably write at my local Starbucks every day. The baristas there are absolutely lovely, and the reminder that there’s a world outside my computer is nice. There’s also the not at all negligible importance of perceived peer pressure, the need to look like I’m doing something and not just messing around on social media. Since I’m usually either asleep or at work during the day, I tend to write at home instead. I have a great office setup in a corner of my room, but I also spend a lot of time in my living room where I can put something on TV in the background and feel slightly less confined.   

What keeps you motivated? Do you get writer’s block? 

If by block you mean a lack of ideas, then no. If by block you mean I know what needs to happen and who needs to do what and can even point to where and how all of that has to occur but I still can’t manage to put decent words on a page, then yes. There’s an inescapable amount of emotional energy and brainwork that goes into writing a book. If something else in your body or in your life diverts that elsewhere, writing becomes nearly impossible. It becomes a slog. You feel blocked. Maybe it can feel like you don’t have ideas, but I think that most of the time it’s that something else is throwing your mental balance off. Whether that’s money trouble, health problems, family drama, work stress, or something else entirely, even a small shift can make a big difference in how well your brain functions. Or at least it does for me.  

What was the research process like for Discord? 

If there is such a thing as an FBI/NSA/Homeland watchlist based on search history, I am probably on it. Weapons, computer hacking, homemade explosives, breaking into cars, security systems, non-extradition countries, and almost anything else you can think of. I had wanted to also take lessons at a gun range, but unfortunately neither time nor money allowed for that to happen.  

There’s a Microsoft Office program called OneNote that I use to organize all of my research, especially after I learned the hard way not to trust that you’ll always be able to find an article online again when you need it. I’m finishing up with the last bit of edits on the second book, NEMESIS, and so for the entire series, when I export the OneNote to a PDF backup, I ended up with over 400 pages of notes. Maps, locations, images of clothes and characters and weapons—I have all of that. Plus, I have a Google Map with dozens of pins on locations I need to remember, and I have a Google calendar specifically for the book to help me timeline the whole series of events and figure out who’s doing what when. 

This book got complicated on me, but always in the best ways.  

If you listen to music while writing, share your playlist. 

What I listen to changes a lot depending on where I am, what is happening around me, and what my headspace is like. I listen to the Spa channel on SiriusXM often since it’s quiet, continuous, and there are zero commercials. If you visit my Spotify profile, you’ll see a lot of my public playlists including my Music to Write to playlist. It’s a lot of movie scores and classical music. I don’t usually listen to music with lyrics because I end up paying too much attention to the lyrics and losing focus on the writing. Oddly enough, that doesn’t apply to movies. I can put a movie on in the background—as long as it’s not a favorite that I can’t help actually watching.   

What would the soundtrack to your book sound like? 

Below are some of the songs on the full playlist. Listen to the whole list on Spotify here. 

Persona – Blue Man Group
Angels Fall – Breaking Benjamin
I Will Not Bow – Breaking Benjamin
Lights Out – Breaking Benjamin
Gone Too Long – Churchill
Howl – Florence + The Machine
Skeletons – Heartist
2 Heads – Coleman Hell
Hush – HELLYEAH
Work – Jimmy Eat World
Love the Way You Hate Me – Like a Storm
Guilty All The Same – Linkin Park
Leave Out All The Rest – Linkin Park
Runaway – Linkin Park
Waiting for the End – Linkin Park
I Disappear – Metallica
Close to Your Heart – Morning Parade
Us & Ourselves – Morning Parade
Knights of Cydonia – Muse
Allies – Mutemath
Clipping – Mutemath
Noticed – Mutemath
Consider This – Anna Nalick
Wires – The Neighborhood
Tonight You're Perfect – New Politics
All the Love in the World – Nine Inch Nails
Getting Smaller – Nine Inch Nails
The Hand That Feeds – Nine Inch Nails
This is the Time (Ballast) – Nothing More
Would You Still Be There – Of Mice & Men
The Tempest – Pendulum
Shadow of Doubt – Bonnie Raitt
I Don't Want to be Here – Rise Against
Fairly Local – Twenty One Pilots
One Way Or Another – Until the Ribbon Breaks 

 *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

About Assassins: Discord: 

Kindra’s moral compass has never pointed north, but that’s what happens when you’re raised as an assassin and a thief. At sixteen, she’s fantastic with a blade, an expert at slipping through the world unnoticed, and trapped in a life she didn’t chose. But nothing in her training prepares her for what happens when her father misses a target. 

In the week-long aftermath, Kindra breaks ranks for the first time in her life. She steals documents, starts questioning who their client is and why the target needs to die, botches a second hit on her father’s target, and is nearly killed. And that’s before she’s kidnapped by a green-eyed stranger connected to a part of her childhood she’d almost forgotten. 

Kindra has to decide who to trust and which side of the battle to fight for. She has to do it fast and she has to be right, because the wrong choice will kill her just when she’s finally found something worth living for. 

Purchase at Riptide: http://riptidepublishing.com/authors/erica-cameron

Purchase at Amazon:  http://amzn.to/2bZuShM 

 *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

About Erica Cameron: 

After a lifelong obsession with books, Erica Cameron spent her college years getting credit for reading and learning how to make stories of her own. Erica graduated with a double major in psychology and creative writing from Florida State University and began pursuing a career as an author. 

Erica is many things but most notably the following: writer, reader, editor, dance fan, choreographer, singer, lover of musical theater, movie obsessed, sucker for romance, ex-Florida resident, and quasi-recluse. She loves the beach but hates the heat, has equal passion for the art of Salvador Dali and Venetian Carnival masks, has a penchant for unique jewelry and sun/moon décor pieces, and a desire to travel the entire world on a cruise ship. Or a private yacht. You know, whatever works. 

Connect with Erica:

• Website  http://byericacameron.com
• Twitter  http://twitter.com/byericacameron
• Tumblr  http://byericacameron.tumblr.com
• Facebook  http://facebook.com/byericacameron
• Instagram http://instagram.com/byericacameron
• Email erica@byericacameron.com

 *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

Giveaway: 

To celebrate the release of Assassins: Discord, one lucky winner will receive $30 in Riptide Publishing credit!

Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest.

Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on September 10, 2016.

Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries.

Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!