Q&A with AJ Nuest

It’s still Harper Impulse Fortnight and today I am absolutely delighted to welcome AJ to Star Crossed Reviews today.

AJ can you tell us a little about you?

I am a multi-published, award winning author who lives in the middle of a cornfield in NW Indiana. My loving husband and two beautiful children have agreed to stay and, in exchange for laundry service and three meals per day, tolerate my lunacy. While I spend most days writing romance across a multitude of genres, a secret coup has been percolating. The dog just informed me the cats are vying for dictatorship.

Can you tell us about your latest book?

The Golden Key Legacy is a four-part serial fantasy romance that was written as the spin-off to the original series, The Golden Key Chronicles. Legacy is set twenty years after the first series, and features the daughter of Caedmon and Rowena (the hero and heroine of Chronicles) as she ventures into the future to learn the secrets behind the her troubling nightmares. What she finds there is a modern-day bad boy artist who has been painting her portrait for years. Together, Rhys and Faedrah embark on an epic journey, traveling back and forth through time to destroy the evil plaguing her world.

What is your favourite place to write?

See, this is sorta a trick question for me because I’m always writing. Like, even when I’m having a conversation with someone, I’m working on a story in the back of my head. It’s crazy. I have to really, really concentrate to tune out the story and focus on what’s being said. My stories are the last thing I think about before I fall asleep at night, and they’re streaming live the minute I wake up in the morning. So, I guess the answer to this question would then be, My favorite place to write is “in my head.” LOL

Where do you get your character inspiration from?

I honestly do not know. While most authors state that inspiration can come from anywhere, and this is most definitely true…the smallest of things can start those wheels spinning…for me, it’s more like I get the overall theme of the story first. The situation, the circumstances I want to put my characters in. Then once I start considering those circumstances, the characters slowly take shape. I envision their history, all the life-defining moments they’ve been through prior to where the story begins. Then I think about their goals. What it is that they want and how they plan to go about getting it. Once I start writing, I usually have a pretty good idea of who they are…and when I introduce them to each other, alI I usually have to do is sit back and take dictation. They’re talking and going about their business and I’m just sorta the innocent bystander…who handed them the full on mess they have to unravel. Because that’s the way I roll.

What are your 3 desert island books?

Oh, good grief. Hard question. The Bible, a dictionary and a blank book with limitless pages so I can keep writing. LOL! Wheeee!

What is your favourite place to read?

Honestly, I could read hanging upside down in a tree. Asking me this is like asking, what is your favorite place to breathe? LOL Everywhere is my favorite place to read…because reading is one of my most favorite things to do. 🙂

What is your favourite book and why?

You’re kidding, right? AJ glances over both shoulders Is this another trick question? There is no way on all of God’s green Earth, I could choose ONE favorite book. No way. I can tell you that fantasy is my first choice for pleasure reading…as long as it contains some elements of romance. I love Patrick Rothfuss’ King Killer Chronicles, Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Dart Series, Terry Goodkind’s Sword of the Truth Series…really, the list is endless.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

A lot. Bake and cook and garden and make jewelry and go boating with my family and paint (like a room or a wall) and read and do jigsaw puzzles and crossword puzzles and watch movies and snuggle with my kids and kiss my husband and drink wine and go dancing and laugh with friends and eat to much and visit family and everything. I’m one of those people who will never run out of things to do when I retire.

Chocolate or sweets?

Chocolate!!!!! In fact, if it’s not chocolate, I’ll take a pass.

Is there a book you wished you wrote?

Um…no, not really. First, because I’m a writer, I wouldn’t feel right about taking that achievement away from someone else. Writing a book pretty much equals opening a vein and bleeding onto the page. Everyone has their own creative process and ideas and I wouldn’t feel right about stealing that from anyone. And second, I’m really happy with what I’ve written thus far. Don’t get me wrong, I have so many ideas and characters scrambling around for attention, I’ll never run out of material, but if there was a book I really wanted to write, I’d write it, you know? Okay, does that sound weird?

You have a free flight and accommodation to anywhere in the world where would you go?

I would fly to Europe and spend as long as I could traveling through every single country. I would explore castles and sit in pubs so I could just talk to people. I would go to Paris and drink coffee at a sidewalk cafe, studying people and soaking in the atmosphere. I would visit museums and watch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. I would stay as long as everyone let me and ask tons of questions and take a billion notes until the entire UK was sick and tired of me and forced me onto a plane back home.

What is your favourite season?

Definitely, definitely Fall. I love cooler weather. Sweater weather. The summers here are incredibly humid and hot and super windy. They are also filled with tons and tons of work because we live on over three acres of land. In the Fall, all the fresh veggies are in from our garden. YUM. We can play outside for hours without getting overheated and, best of all, Winter is right around the corner. The time when I get most of my writing done. Yay!

Where can we find you?

Twitter | Facebook | Blog | Website | Street Team

AJ’s first book Rowena’s Key is currently free in both the UK and US. You can read my review here and below is a little bit about this fantastic book. You can also read my reviews for Candra’s Freedom and Cademons Curse which are books 2 and three of this series.

Rowena's Key by A.J Nuest
Also by this author: Rowena's Key, Candra's Freedom, Cademon's Curse, Braedric's Bane
Series: The Golden Key Chronicles #1
Also in this series: Rowena's Key, Candra's Freedom, Cademon's Curse, Braedric's Bane
Published by One More Chapter on 7th November 2013
Genres: Chicklit, Fairytale, Fantasy, Fiction, Love & Romance, Magic
Pages: 109
Goodreads
Amazon Kindle, Audible

The key would unlock his future and the safety of his kingdom, but he never imagined the sorceress would unlock his heart…

Antiques restorer, Rowena Lindstrom, finds herself the owner of an ancestral armoire containing a hidden key and a magic mirror leading to another realm!

But the handsome warrior prince waiting on the other side is truly the final straw. This must be an elaborate joke, right? As she struggles to discover the truth, Rowena learns Prince Caedmon Austiere needs the key to save his kingdom. In the end, she cannot deny him anything. Including her heart.

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