One of my favorite quotes is from Albert Einstein...
"A ship in a harbor is safe, but that's not what ships are built for."

I've always interpreted this to mean, "be courageous".  Take risks, and give yourself credit for the successes in your life, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem to the onlookers.

As an author, I think that courage is a pre-requisite to the endeavor.  I don't see a lot of timid authors out in the world.  Writers, I think, by nature - whether introvert or extrovert - are people who take risks.  We write stories and characters that sometimes make us uncomfortable and challenge our belief systems.  We ask questions of ourselves like, "Would they really do or say that?  Does that make sense?"  We craft story lines that risk losing a reader in complexity or diversion.  We birth books like children, taking the risk that the dialogue we speak may not ring true in a reader's ears.  We ask people to think.

We send books, like ships, out into the world in search of a safe harbor... while what we really strive for is the adventure.  We want to rock the boat on a sea of undulating perspectives.  We want to hunt the great white whale of success while charting new courses for our craft.  We want to discover how we can make our own voice heard over the crashing surf, while remaining constant to our own True North.  It's a perilous journey, fraught with danger and uncertainty.  And yet, we continue on, mustering the courage to reef the mainsail and head into the wind, knowing the harbor is safe, but that's not what our ship was built for.

Trends and tides in the publishing world are vigorous with change.  Occasionally, we land upon the soft, sandy beaches of bookshops and festivals, taking reprieve and respite from the tumult of crashing waves.  But after a few days, we grow restless and bored.  It is in our nature to seek out new island nations of readers at libraries, festivals, and fairs.  We crave the adventure of the open air, the sting of constructive criticism that makes us better writers, and the bounty of opportunity to chart a new course, discovering new genres, characters, and plot twists with every connection of pen and keyboard.

This year has been frustrating for us all.  Our ships have been beached for far too long.  Moored outside of the harbor's safety, yet trapped just inside the coral reefs, preventing us from reaching the wide open sea.  We've tried to seek out alternative adventures, diving deep below decks, stretching fathoms beneath in search of hibernating mermen and merwomen who might also be avid readers.  We've sent out literary seagulls, Zooming into the air, screeching our stories in hopes that passersby might hear, and be intrigued to follow and read.  We've stayed safe, heeding the harbormaster's suggestion that the adventure is never worth sails being torn to shreds by gale force winds, people thrown overboard, and not enough life rings to save everyone.  But it hasn't been easy.

The new sailing season will soon be upon us, however, and it'll hold more adventure than we can imagine.  New writers will join the regatta.  They've been waiting all year to angle their tillers and raise their spinnakers in search of the reading rainbow just off the horizon, their publishing tridents held high with a confidence all greenhorns should possess.  The seasoned veterans of our craft will once again set their course and watch for the tell-tale signs that a favorable current is drawing near.  They'll ready their nets and cast a carefully crafted first line synopsis, hoping for a bountiful catch.  Everywhere, we will hear the gentle songs of loyal literary sirens, singing our praises with reviews and five-star recommendations.

Until then, my dear friends, winterize your hulls, install bubblers to avoid the crushing effects of ice, stock provisions of ink, paper, and chocolate to last the long winter days, and remember... all is not lost.  Take courage.  Our storied ships will indeed sail again, after all, that's what they were built for.

What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?
I can't really say I've gone on any. I have traveled to places I considered writing about in my twenties, like New Orleans and Salem, Massachusetts. 

What is the first book that made you cry?
Charlotte's Web at the age of five, six at the latest.

What is your writing Kryptonite?
I am not sure if I am answering this one correctly, but I will tell you something I indulgently hate: trendy writing rules. You know the ones. One year they say, "mix up your dialogue tags!" and the next they're all, "No! You can only use he/she/it said/asked!" I think people should find their own style. Words are music. They need to flow. Unleash them.

Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
I have my own version of the MCU. All of my book worlds are interconnected and ripple into one another. I also write long epics. 

How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?
I definitely aim to make my books a little shorter now. I also had to streamline my editing process to make the best economy on my time. 

As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
The Fox. Kind of obvious for me. It has been my spirit animal since I was five years old.

What did you edit out of your books? (keep it family-friendly, please).
I had to drop a lot of world building out of Origin of the White Wind. My original manuscript was 142K. I culled over 27K out of that to make the 115K novel that is available on Amazon today. While I sacrificed some of the texture of my futuristic dystopia, I do roll some of it into the later books where it is organically appropriate.

What one thing would you give up to become a better writer?
Getting old - that way I can improve my writing skills and make stories into eternity.

What is your favorite childhood book?
It was Charlotte's Web, because it was the first book that made me cry. Watership Down ran a close second. 

What is the most difficult part of your writing process?
I have a tie. One is that I have trouble sometimes getting the first draft written. One of my tricks is to write wherever I can dig in to get my daily quota, which is easy since so much of it is plotted out. The other is getting feedback from the editor. Not the important critical stuff - I'm paying for that and I want it. But inevitably, when an editor doesn't like something you do, they can make their frustration with your style known, and sometimes the rebuke can sting, whether or not you end up agreeing with it. 
Also — the Library of Congress website is the MVA of the internet. Just saying.

What is the easiest part of your writing process?
Fixing my second draft. I love editing for myself. It's like reading and tweaking the book I want to read, which is the reason I wrote it.

How long on average does it take you to write a book?
That wildly depends. It took me fifteen years to write my trunked magnum opus, which is epically huge and required eight years of research before I began. (It sits at a whopping 1,302,208 words for three books.) With my current series, it only takes me a couple of months to produce a first draft. But The Atlas Dystopia Apocalyptica is meant to be a quick, thrilling joyride, whereas my Tuatha de Danaan Bard series is a high fantasy epic.

A common misconception entwined with authors is that they are socially inept, how true is that?
I used to be quite inept, and I still carry that with me. I was so inept, I made the MC of my trunked trilogy the same way. But to write competently for Hayate, who has mad levels of charisma, I had to research how to be charming. I read books and watched videos, and some of it got into my thick skull. So I'm hopefully not as inept as I used to be at the social game. 

When did it dawn on you that you wanted to be an author?
Always. I fell in love with stories and books since they were read to me. I remember wanting to read for myself so bad and being frustrated by my illiteracy until I was four. On the first day of kindergarten, I learned how the alphabet I was taught by sight finally sounded, and how the letters all went together to form words. I could instantly read. By six, tragedy gave me the miraculous ability to hide in my own characters and stories. I began stapling notebook paper together to make little books about cheetahs and foxes (my two favorite animals of the time). I read books way above my reading level, including grown up fiction and non-fiction science books by the time I was eight. And thanks to the "Reading is FUNdamental" program, I took three free books home with me once a month in elementary school.   Books are my life, then, now, and forever.

Who are your biggest literary influences?
George R.R. Martin. I listened to hours of his first three books on audio repeatedly while painting my house in the summer of 2006. He taught me how to craft a story with many characters, and his influence is felt in my trunked trilogy. The hard realism of every day life and how to show that through character dialogue, even when devoted to one POV, is what I took from him.

Jim Butcher taught me how to put together a fast-paced action thriller series in first person, and give the reader a glimpse of other characters' emotions while the MC remains clueless. I am in love with The Dresden Files, and I have read and listened to the audio (read by James Marsters!).  

What's your favorite movie which was based on a book?  Why?
The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Because for its time, it was beautifully done. Like them or hate them, every Tolkien fan had to gasp at the first sight of Minas Tirith. I mean, come on!

How did it feel when your first book got published? How did you celebrate?
It felt fantastic for twelve hours... then I looked inside my proof copy and saw the first mistake. After, it seemed every page I flipped had a mistake. I proceeded to grieve for the next two weeks, heartbroken and forlorn. But the snide remarks about my lack of perfection (mortifying) were rare. I am in the process of getting a second edition made, now that I have read my debut into a microphone, which is way more effective than reading aloud on its own. I have fixed as many mistakes as I could find. 
So, sadly, I didn't celebrate the occasion.

What is that one thing you think readers generally don't know about authors?
How truly difficult it is to get the mistakes out. When you read and you see them, they jump out. But they hide like weasels when it's your own work, I think because our brains are wired to filter the errors, not correct them. It's harder for indies because we don't have four or five professional editors. We're lucky to have one and a group of beta readers to point out our errors as we read our copies sometimes up to twenty times in a year trying to get it prepped for publication. 

Can you tell us about your current projects?
Yes! I am in the middle of the most wondrous chaos. I have just released TADA Book Two: The Dragon Game. I finished the third and final installment of my Wattpad/Instagram series Come by Night last month. Now I am writing my first draft of TADA Book Three, and I am excited to begin working on getting my trunked series out into the light of day. 

Are you attending any conventions/festivals where readers can meet you and/or buy your books?  Please provide all the "find it" information.
I am attending The Pages Promotions Winter Festival this February, and it looks like that will be a lot of fun. 

Please provide links and/or instructions about how readers can purchase signed copies of your books.
For signed copies, please contact me over DM or Messenger on: 
Facebook https://facebook.com/ayakashi.fox.9/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ayakashi_fox/
Twitter https://twitter.com/ayakashifox1
The ebook version of The Origin of the White Wind can be found on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B081GJN5ZN/ref=cm_cr_arp_mb_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8
And The Dragon Game: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08K39K7KN?ref_=pe_3052080_276849420

Any advice you would like to give to aspiring authors?
I would say, don't try to get it perfect on the first draft. You're going to have to edit it anyway, so be prepared to read your manuscript quite a lot. If you want to be a writer, write, even if it is three sentences a day. It adds up, and over time the word count will increase. Your endurance will improve. Never give up and keep at it — but take it seriously. Set aside time each day and make yourself do it. You are the only one who can tell your story your way. ​

What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?
I have not gone on any.
What is the first book that made you cry?
“Where the Red Fern Grows” by Wilson Rawls.
What is your writing Kryptonite?
Music.
Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
I want each book to stand on its own.
How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?
I learned that I needed to be okay with the first rough draft not being perfect in order to finish the book.
As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
A mouse.
What did you edit out of your books? (keep it family-friendly, please)
I edited dialogue and the structure of the dialog.
What one thing would you give up to become a better writer?
Self doubt.
What is your favorite childhood book?
“Ella Enchanted” by Gail Carson Levine.
What is the most difficult part of your writing process?
Not editing along the way.
What is the easiest part of your writing process?
Outlining.
How long on average does it take you to write a book?
6 months.
A common misconception entwined with authors is that they are socially inept, how true is that?
We like our people to be a bit eccentric, like us.
When did it dawn on you that you wanted to be an author?
When I was ten years old.
Who are your biggest literary influences?
L. Frank Baum, Lewis Carroll, Veronica Roth, and A.G Howard.
What’s your favorite movie which was based on a book?  Why?
The Outsiders because both the book and the movie were emotional.
How did it feel when your first book got published? How did you celebrate?
It felt exciting. My fiancé and I cooked a nice dinner, since it was in the beginning of the lock down.
What is that one thing you think readers generally don’t know about authors?
All authors need to promote themselves, and it's helpful when readers write reviews.
Can you tell us about your current projects?
I am currently writing a drama about a young girl who almost unknowingly becomes a fairy queen. My fiancé and I are working on a series of “Otterly Awful” stories. They are anthropomorphic mysteries for adults.
Are you attending any conventions/festivals where readers can meet you and/or buy your books?  Please provide all the “find it” information.
Not currently but I plan to after there is a vaccine for COVID19.
Please provide links and/or instructions about how readers can purchase signed copies of your books.
My author website is mariemichaelabooks.com. For a signed copy, I will post when I will attend conventions/festivals. I can be reached through my email address: [email protected]
Any advice you would like to give to aspiring authors?
Make a habit of spending one hour a day working on writing. There is a reader who has been looking for your story.

As a human being, one of the very best things you can do in life is to be surprised by someone who you thought you knew.  For readers, that means discovering something new inside the writing of an author you thought you already understood.  Such is the case for me with Andrew Allen Smith.  And it's exhilarating.

In Andrew's novel, Vengeful Son, which I took FAR TOO LONG to read, I have discovered additional layers to the writing acumen I already knew this fine gentleman possessed.  Andrew is a friend, a fellow of my writing community.  He is a profound thinker, offering up meditation pieces each day about the simplest moments of life.  They inspire and comfort me, daily.  Andrew is also a master at short stories that insinuate the answers to questions we didn't knew we needed to ask; some that make us comfortable with the shadows that follow us - which is a little unnerving at times. 

Andrew is a super-tight writer.  I knew that going into this book.  Andrew understands the twist ending like few others I've read.  I knew that, too.  What I didn't know was that Andrew also knows how to give you depth of emotion and layers of intellect, without making it seem like the characters have something to prove.  These are real people he writes about, confronted with extraordinary circumstances, that in truth, simply make up their ordinary lives.  Having that glimpse into their motivations - and the lack of the necessity to explain themselves - is refreshing and alluring.  

This is an action-packed thriller that doesn't overwhelm you with the details you really don't need to know, anyway.  Backstory be dammed.  Beginning with Chapter One starting out at a comfortable ninety miles per hour, Andrew offers you the opportunity to go on a ride that at first glance, you may think you've been on before... but you'd be wrong.  He drops you directly into the action, and simultaneously draws you into the empathy of each character he introduces.  He allows the hook of each chapter to entice you deeper into the story, with what seems like effortless negligence for "the way it's supposed to happen".  The people you're set up to dislike have qualities about them that make you question your own judgement.  The people you like immediately, only grow on you as time passes.  And the dogs are by far, the most remarkable illustration of dichotomy I've seen in quite some time.  This is a fast-paced read that forced me to put it down every so often - just so I could catch my breath.

I like these characters.  I like their story goals.  And I like Andrew's equal, high-octane treatment of both.  I am engaged so fully in the world he has created, that I'm actually a little disgruntled with myself that I promised to read other author's books before moving the rest of this series to the top of my list.  But in time - they shall all be read.  With my apologies and thanks, to the author.