Author Interview: Janiera Eldridge + GIVEAWAY

Chandra: Janiera, you have such a beautiful and unique name.  Who is the real person behind that name so that we can get to know her better?

Janiera: Thank you so much. My parents named me after the country Rio De Janiero, they just replaced the O with an a.  I’m currently working toward becoming a full time writer so  I pretty much write, edit and promote all day and I love it! When I can, I work as a freelance Entertainment writer and enjoy bringing awareness to people about Fibromyalgia. This is an illness I suffer from.

Chandra: Are you originally from New York?

Janiera: No, I’m a Florida southern girl at heart. My parents are from New York and I love the city’s history which is why I chose it as Dana’s birth place.

Chandra: Do you live to work as a writer or write to work?

Janiera: I live to work as a writer. I would NEVER advise someone write to work. The writing world can be extremely shaky. You have to love writing to work as a writer and truly believe in your work. Not everyone is going to like your work so you have to believe in it 100%. I live to work as a writer and entertain; I’m not after writing the great American novel. I just want people to be able to escape through my work.

Chandra: How did you feel once your first book was published?

Janiera: I felt excited and nervous all at the same time. I was excited people would finally be reading it and nervous about what they would say. So far people either love it or hate it, which is kind of cool to me it evokes that much emotion. I recently got picked up by Mystic Press for publishing my books with them for 2 years. Soul Sisters will be re-released and I’m so excited. I never thought that within 2 months of self-publishing my dream about being published author would come true and I feel so blessed about that.

Chandra: The cover of “Soul Sisters” definitely represents the storyline.  Tell us about the cover and design and did you create the cover design.

Janiera: I didn’t create the cover; a very talented Marya Heiman did it. I told her about the story and she came up with the cover right away. It was perfect for the theme of the book. Their twins that live an adventurous and chic life. I think the cover really displays that

Chandra: Soul Sisters reac.hes through the centuries.  What inspired you to write about events in (2) separate centuries?

Janiera: Well when you have someone who’s immortal, I know from personal reading I always want to know where they come from. I thought it was important that I talk about where Dana came from to give a better sense of her personality.

Chandra: Did you have to do any research to come up with the chosen time periods?

Janiera: I did, the early 1900’s in New York was a really exciting time for African-Americans. The Harlem Renaissance was an amazing age for art, fashion and wealth for Blacks in New York and I had to include it in my story.

Chandra: A vampire twin.  In the beginning I was completely thrown off about how one could be a twin and the other not.  How did you come up with that concept?

Janiera: Well I’m not going to leave any spoilers since all the details aren’t revealed until book two but, I was really looking to put a new spin on the vampire genre. People talk about how close twins are to the point they can be split at birth and still live the same lifestyle. I find that fascinating. So I thought what would twins be like if one was a human immortal and one was a vampire immortal? The answer I’ve created is simply my idea of what that would be like.

Chandra: You left us with a cliff hanger. Give us a hint and tell us what do we have to look forward to when picking up a copy of your next book?

Janiera: Dark Expectations picks up a month after he end of Soul Sisters. I can’t say anymore or else it might mess up the first book. But it doesn’t take long for things to get crazy again.

Chandra: What is your favorite genre to read and why?

Janiera: I love the mystery, horror and thriller genre. I like to be rattled when I read.

Chandra: What do you do for fun besides reading and writing?

Janiera: There really isn’t much I enjoy doing more than reading and writing but, I love getting into my favorite television shows like Once Upon a Time and American Horror Story.

Chandra: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers and fans?

Janiera: Thank you so much for reading and supporting my work. I truly believe my readers are the reason I got picked up by Mystic Publishing and I never take for granted your support!

Chandra: Today’s world is all about social networking so where can we find you on the internet? 

Janiera: I have a pretty big presence  on social media so any of these places are great to connect with me at:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/lazenbeauty

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/janiera.eldridge.1

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/jaeldridge18/

Blog: Books & Beauty http://janieraeldridge.blogspot.com

Chandra: The Jeep Diva would love to take a peek at any of your upcoming books.  We hope that you will allow us to gun our jeep engine and vroom vroom vroom your books.

Janiera: Hoping to have book 2 Dark Expectations out this fall and will put you on my list for early review copies! Thanks for having me.

Janiera is giving away an ebook copy of the winners choice, comment below with email address. I will announce the winner on Monday August 13.