Author Crush Friday: A.L. Davroe
Glitter girls, you have pressing questions for your favorite authors and we have their answers. Welcome to our weekly segment, Author Crush Fridays.
We love asking questions and we love the answers from some of our favorite authors. Today we’re talking to A.L. Davroe, author of Nexis (December 1, 2015; Entangled Teen). Thank you for talking to us today, A.L.! We’re honored!
GLITTER: For those who haven’t read your book yet, how would you describe Nexis?
A.L.: My favorite one-liner way to describe Nexis is: “Matrix meets Tron meets Ender’s Game.” That’s usually epic enough to answer all the questions. We have a daughter going into her father’s virtual reality game (which is more than what it seems). My characters are wicked cool — flying through the air, riding motorcycles, (generally just being awesome) while battling in-game baddies (and also possibly saving the world). Yet, the main character playing the game ends up making a giant boo-boo that screws up Real World in a big way.
P.S. — There’s also a love story, glitter-bomb flying monkeys, and crazy robots. How could you not wanna read something like that?
GLITTER: How much of our current world did you put into your novel?
A.L.: Oh, that’s a fun question! So, a little background on the world that Nexis takes place in: It’s the far future – after we’ve basically destroyed our world (and almost ourselves) in a massive World War which has been titled the Bio-Nuclear War. My heroine, Ella, lives in one of ten domed cities. There is no contact between cities and almost no contact with the outside world. Each city develops its own little insular society. In Ella’s city, Evanescence, there is no race, religion, politics, ethnicity or anything like that. It’s pretty much a monarchy run by the descendants of the original founders of the city. People have chips implanted in their heads to keep them in line and the thing that people care most about is social advancement. All pre-dome history and tradition is virtually forgotten. Ella’s father, who is a pre-dome history buff, develops a virtual reality game called Nexis. Inside Nexis is really where the worlds collide as her father has programmed everything from pre-dome history into the game, but in a mish mash. There are zebras who walk upright and wear Greco-Roman garb, there are worlds that are similar to fantasy settings from popular books, there’s a disco-era section, a Chinese section, a Victorian-inspired section, etc. Ella encounters many things for the very first time and it results in some pretty entertaining scenes – like trying to figure out how to use a straw or battling mutant gummy bears.
GLITTER: Who was your favorite character to write in Nexis?
A.L.: I love all my characters, of course, but I tend to love writing my boys. So, Guster is the most entertaining to me. Especially because I know things about him that the readers won’t find out until book two! Nah-Nah!
GLITTER: Is it part of a series? Please say yes!
A.L.: Of course! I actually just recently finished the sequel, Redux, though I don’t know when Entangled is planning on putting it out yet. It’s a different sort of book from Nexis — a little darker and more dystopic, but also more juicy in certain areas. Hello plot twists! I am hoping that there will be more after Redux – I want to take the story much farther and I’m also keen on telling the stories of some of the secondary characters — but we’ll have to see!
GLITTER: Did you always want to be an author? Did you ever feel like giving up? Did you receive rejection letters in the beginning? How did you get over them?
A.L.: I didn’t always want to be an author. I wanted to be a veterinarian. I even went to a vocational agriculture program for it in high school, but I decided it wasn’t my thing. I went to college under the assumption that I’d figure myself out. I never really did – getting two degrees in things I just liked as opposed to things that I’d actually use toward a career. After that I shifted from job to job trying to find myself. I’d been writing since high school and continued to do it as a hobby throughout college. It wasn’t until I finished one of my books and felt this compelling need to publish it that I even considered being an author.
I felt like giving up in the beginning. It’s always hard when you’re first putting yourself out there, baring your soul and your hard word. At first it felt like people were ripping me to shreds and I cried and complained a lot. But, I had a really good support network that truly believed in me. They listened to my whining, dried my tears, then set me back on track. Besides them, I just really wanted this. It was something I had to prove to myself I could do. I’m German — stubborn as heck. So, I stuck with it.
I had tons of rejections. From magazines and journals at first. Then agents. Then editors. Nexis is the third book I’ve tried to get published, so obviously it doesn’t always work the first time. What’s important to remember is that it’s not always you. The publishing industry is all about timing and luck for the author and the bottom dollar for everyone else. Agents want something that they can easily sell to an editor and editors want things they can easily sell to the public. However, while it’s not always your work that’s the cause of not getting picked up, it’s also important to be humble and always try to improve yourself as an author as well. Take rejection and criticism with grace and use it to your advantage. Think about what they’re saying and why they are saying it. Revise and edit. Learn and use what they’re saying to your advantage.
GLITTER: What are your favorite words to use?
A.L.: It writing or in general? I don’t think I have favorite usage words… Probably “breathed” and “mused” if my editor has anything to say about it. XP In general my favorite words are: “whimsical,” “chime,” “harlequin,” and “masquerade.” I like how they come off the tongue and invoke certain feelings within. Is it a surprise that I like carnivals and faeries? Probably not with those words. My least favorite word is probably “vomit.”
GLITTER: What book are you currently reading?
A.L.: I’m reading two, actually. Familiar Things by the lovely Lia Habel, which is about a young witch in a 50s inspired parallel universe, and Lord of the Dead by Tom Holland, which is a dark history of Lord Byron. I’m very much enjoying Familiar Things. I don’t really know how I feel about Lord of the Dead yet…
GLITTER: We understand that you also love cosplay. Is there any character you love dressing up as the most?
A.L.: I do love cosplay. ‘Cause I’m a total geek-girl. I actually don’t often play specific characters. I’ve never really resonated with a character enough to play them, but I will dress as a character if I’m doing a group cosplay with my friends. Instead, I tend to dress in particular styles of clothing. My favorites are Steampunk and Lolita.
GLITTER: What are you currently working on?
A.L.: Everything plus the kitchen sink. No, seriously. Now that Redux is finished, I’m focusing on pitching a YA horror-thriller that I wrote called Cutter’s Kids, so that’s going to get a few final edits before it gets sent out. After that I’ll most likely work on another one of my Hill Dweller books or try to finish a Steampunk novel I’m writing called The Great White Light.
A.L. Davroe grew up in Connecticut and, after traveling to many countries, many states, and many fantasy realms – sometimes even living in them – she has decided that Connecticut is a wonderful little state. She likes books, cats, chai tea lattes, and the word “chime.” By day, A.L. makes cheese for a local artisan dairy and, by night, A.L. writes in various sub-genres of adult and YA fantasy, science fiction, horror, and romance, but most of her work tends to have a revisionist twist to it. You can follow her various forays into aesthetic merriment and misbegotten shenanigans on Facebook or Twitter and you can check out her current musical obsessions on her website: www.ALDavroe.com.
Where You Can Find Her:
Website: http://www.aldavroe.com/
Twitter: @ALDavroe
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ALDavroe
Instagram: @aldavroe
Editorial Director | Writer | Tweet me @heatherriccio
