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Interview with Adrian J Smith, author of Forever Burn

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Forever Burn is my debut novel and follows the life of James Matthews, firefighter extraordinaire.

Here’s the book blurb:

Firefighters are trained to keep calm in the face of extraordinary events, but James was never prepared for this.

Saving people is a regular practice in a firefighter’s line of work; it is not something extraordinary or unusual. Just routine. James has been trained to respond to emergency calls and what to do in difficult situations. For James, the most important part of her work is that she knows how to run into a burning building to save a life. She is a firefighter not for the glory and not for the honor. She is there to make a difference.

Working hard has always been a common practice for James, but when her secret significant other is pressuring her to solidify their relationship, tensions start to rise. James is being pushed into turning her life upside down and inside out. She can’t stop disturbing dreams about a little girl she saved from a house fire years prior. She struggles to find balance through the pressures and stressors of her daily life, but she still can’t shake the ill-fated feeling that something is wrong

Sounds exciting. What genre is it?
Speculative Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Lesbian, LGBT

What kind of readers will it appeal to?
Readers who love a little bit of the supernatural and the weird in everyday lives and those who love to connect to the characters in the books they read. James and her secret significant other have potent personalities that make them feel as though they are a readers best friend.

The supernatural? We weren’t expecting that. Is there anything out there that we might have read or watched that it’s similar to?
Heroes or Alphas.

OK. Tell us a little more about James.
James has lived in the same little town her entire life and has always wanted to be a firefighter. She wanted to run into burning buildings and save lives. It’s not turning out to be that; instead, she is sent to far more medical calls than to fire reports. However, two years before she did go to a house fire and rescued a little girl, Lily, from the flames. Now she can’t stop the nightmares and flashbacks of Lily standing in the house being swallowed by the fiery inferno.

What do we need to know about Lily? And you said something about James’ significant other?
Addison is the Battalion Chief and has quite an adventurous life, but no one knows about it. Addy has the gift of life, meaning telepathy and empathy, and struggles to not use it unless necessary. Addy also can’t help but feel that something is missing from life.

Lily is the little girl James saved from the fire two years prior. Now four years old, she doesn’t speak and has lived in the foster-care system for two years before James and she are reacquainted.

How do you expect readers to feel as they read the last word of your book?
Angry at me.

Angry?
The ending usually angers people, it’s a love-hate though, because the ending makes readers feel far more than they want to feel for these characters and what happens to them through the course of the novel.

Will we get to meet these characters again?
Dying Embers will be released soon and is the prequel to Forever Burn. It follows Addison’s story eighteen months prior to moving to Norwich.

Come back and talk to us about it when it’s published. But for now, tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m random! I actually love my official “about me”, so I’m just going to give you that.

Adrian J. Smith, or “AJ” as she is often called, is a part-time writer with an epic imagination, sharp wit, and kind heart that gets her into a bit of trouble when it comes to taking in all the neighborhood stray cats.  Being obsessed with science fiction, Smith often goes off on tangents about the space-time continuum.  She is also a part-time lunatic with a secretive past.  It’s been rumored that she was once a spy for the government, but anyone who has gotten close enough to know the truth has never lived to tell the tale. When traveling around the world on various classified tasks, Smith requires the following be provided: buffalo jerky, mimosas, and eighty six pennies.  This is all we know about the reclusive woman.

So that’s why we had to pay you 86 pennies for this interview! Now it makes sense.
Do you have a website where we can keep up with your work?

adrianjsmith.wordpress.com.

How can we follow you on Twitter and/or Facebook?
www.facebook.com/adrianjsmithbooks
@adrianajsmith

What’s next?
Up next I have one more edit on Dying Embers and I’m writing Ashes Fall–the sequel to Forever Burn. All should be out by the end of 2015.

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  1. Pingback: Indie Author Land Interview | Adrian J Smith

  2. Pingback: Top 10 Books: Week ending July 19, 2013 | Indie Author Land

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