I was lucky to scoop an interview with Jenn soon after the launch of her new release: Tiva Boon: Royal Guardian.
- Book title: Tiva Boon: Royal Guardian
- Genre: SciFi-Fantasy, Upper YA, New Adult
- Publish date: July 10, 2014
- Publisher: Crushing Hearts & Black Butterfly Publishing
Blurb:
The kingdom of Abennelp has enjoyed an age of peace.
Tiva Boon, a loyal and ambitious Royal Guardian is determined
to carry on tradition and become an elite protector to the
throne. It is all she has ever wanted. Possessing abilities and
strength beyond her age, Tiva dedicates her youth and risks
her life in the service of her king to prove she is worthy. With
her goal achieved and her destiny in motion, a mysterious
off-world threat emerges and shatters everything Tiva holds
dear.
Exiled from her home and running for her life, Tiva seeks
asylum with the Union, a universal security force, and attempts
to put the past behind her. Finding herself alone among
various space faring races, Tiva integrates herself into the
strange society using her skills as a protector and befriends
several aliens she meets along the way, ones who will change
her life forever.
When a message from those loyal to her king reaches her
months after she feels safe in her new life, Tiva’s destiny and
the fate of her people collide.
Author interview:
Hi Jenn, welcome to the Fantasy Sci-Fi Network space shuttle.
Jenn: Thanks so much for the interview
Kasper: My pleasure. Let's begin by asking when you started writing and why? I’ve been writing in one form or another since elementary school. In the 5th grade I made a book of poetry for my parents. I wrote video game ideas for the Atari(!), and eventually started to write stories of my own as I got older. Ahh ... the good old Atari. That takes me back too. :-) |
I’ve written a few Romantic Suspense novels, I’ve dabbled in Mystery and Thriller, but mostly I stick to Sci-Fi and Suspense.
What made you choose to write fantasy and sci-fi?
This genre chose me. I’ve always had love for Science Fiction, as a young kid I was fascinated with Batman and Superman, then movies like Star Wars just solidified my geek status. I didn’t start writing Sci-Fi until High School when I fell in love with Quantum Leap and time travel!
Geeks rule!
What’s the story behind your book title?
Tiva Boon: Royal Guardian was about as straight-forward and easy as you can get when it comes to titles. It’s simply her name and title. I would have gone with something like Chronicles of Tiva Boon, but Riddick stole that from me. J
What’s the basic plot of your book?
In book 1, Tiva’s growing up on her planet, learning what it takes to become a Royal Guardian to her king, while a strange threat to the kingdom begins to emerge. She’s thrust into an unknown conspiracy which alters the course of her life and planet.
That's so cool that one guardian has the potential to save the planet. Awesome!
Which character from your book do you like best and why?
I love young Tiva, she’s precocious, headstrong, and fiercely loyal. All of her interactions with her parents, King, and friends are very interesting to me and were lots of fun to write. I love her strange futuristic-medieval society and enjoyed writing about her struggles.
My second would be King Delos. He’s a fair and kind leader who made a few big mistakes in his life that change Tiva’s destiny forever.
How did you develop your heroine, Tiva?
Tiva is a bit of an enigma when it comes to character development. I originally created her to play a Star Trek Roleplaying game on AOL. Individuals would create a character, they’d be giving a post on a Starship and we would act out self-written episodes of the adventures out ships went on. |
Sounds like a fun idea.
Have you used any real people in your characters?
In this book, I took many friends names and mashed them up to create the character names. Personality or looks wise, no real person made it into this one, but I have used friends and family on occasion to fill out secondary characters.
Which one of your characters would you like to be?
I’d love to say I’d be Tiva, but in reality, I’m probably the most like Bet from the Lucky’s Charm series. She’s a bit of a control freak with mother hen issues and that is very me.
That description made me laugh out loud. Good one.
Have you used any real events or places as inspiration for your writing?
I didn’t realize I had done this until after the book was finished and I re-read it, but in Tiva’s story, she loses a family member at a very young age which changes her and her outlook on life. At 10 years old, I lost my youngest brother to a freak accident, which obviously changed me, too.
In the Lucky series, I use many real places I have been to around the country to keep her life authentic.
Do you have another job outside of writing?
Yes, I have a day job working for an Accountant. I’m the Office Manger.
What are you working on now?
Right now I am promoting my novels and editing a few more to get them ready for publication.
Excellent. I hope we will hear from Tiva Boon again.
What do you do when you have writers’ block?
I like to watch movies to help with writers’ block. Sometimes I watch Castle. Other times I just sit at my computer and re-read something I’ve written to help inspire new ideas.
Keep on writing. It has been great having you here on the blog today, Jenn. I wish you all the best and brightest for the future.
Thank you for having me!
Check out Jenn's Links:
Website: www.jennnixon.com
Blog: www.jennafern.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/JennNixonAuthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/712429.Jenn_Nixon
Twitter: @jennnixon
Book trailer: animoto.com/play/Buz4Xuc0p0WeSEKjyeDWfg
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LN8S32U
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