Thank you so much for stopping by, Rebecca! When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
I’ve loved writing stories every since I was a child. I always dreamed of being a published writer, but I never thought it actually would come true—guess I underestimated myself.
It's always wonderful when you prove yourself wrong, isn't it? What has been the most difficult part about being a writer?
The most difficult part about being a writer, for me, is finding someone to help edit my works and marketing. Writing and publishing are easy, but actually selling books is hard.
So true! Nobody ever said it would be easy, but who knew marketing could be such a pain? Do you use a pen name? If so, how did you come up with your pen name?
Yes, I publish under the name Rebecca Jane. I chose that name because when I published my first book, I was in a serious relationship and didn’t want my maiden name to be part of my author name, but I wasn’t one hundred percent sure I was going to be married and have my last name change. So, I just took the safe route and write under my first name and middle name.
That is such a good reason for it! Who are your favorite authors?
I enjoy reading books by Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker the most.
I must confess I've never heard of them but will definitely check them out. What authors inspire you?
Ted Dekker has been a huge inspiration to me. As have a few of my writing friends.
My writer friends definitely help inspire me too. What type of books do you like to read?
I actually read manga most of the time, but I do also enjoy fantasy and Christian fiction works as well.
I used to adore manga! My sister got me hooked on it lol. Haven't read it in forever though *pout* What do you like to do in your free time?
In the extremely limited free time I have, I enjoy writing. That really is my main hobby.
Love it <3 Where is your favorite place to vacation?
I’ve only been a few different places, but my favorite trip that I have ever been on was a trip to Poland, and I really wish I could go back someday. I don’t have a particular favorite vacationing spot.
I've never been to Poland but I've always heard it's simply gorgeous. If you were stuck on a desert island and could have only three things, what would they be?
Assuming that I could find food and water on this island, I’d want to have my husband, my computer, and a boat—that way I can leave, right?
LOL perfect! Although on a deserted island think of how much uninterrupted writing you could get done! Are you a plotter or a pantser with your writing?
I’m not sure what a “pantser” is, but I always have a basic outline or plot that I work from when writing my books.
Definitely a plotter then :) Why did you choose to write young adult fiction?
I began my Satu Country series when I was 16 years old, and I knew that my writing style was not mature enough and perfected enough to be able to write adult fiction, so I aimed to write for people my age at the time. My books contain content that I wouldn’t suggest children to read (violence being the main offender), which is why I suggest my books to older teens. I just write something that I would like to read.
I think that's awesome you started writing it when you were 16 :D What has been the most fun about working on the Satu Country books?
Seeing the feedback from my beta readers. It just thrills my heart when I have someone ask me, “When is the next book coming out?” Or, “Hurry up and write the next chapter so I can read it.” Hearing feedback from people who love what I write makes everything worth it. That’s what keeps me going.
I couldn't agree more. I absolutely LOVE hearing that from my readers. What has been the hardest scene for you to write?
I’ve actually already written seven books in the Satu Country series, I just haven’t typed them up. The scene that was hardest to write is from one of the last books and it involves the death of a main character. I’m not going to say who it is, because someone might hurt me.
My mind is boggled at that many books written lol. Death scenes are always difficult. I'm kind of dreading my first one actually. Do you have any favorite characters? If so, why?
In my own writing? Yes, I do have favorites. I’m particularly fond of Kano Shadow and his family, which readers will meet more of later on. I always tell people that they’d never want to be one of my favorite characters in my books, because that means terrible things will always be happening to them. I show my characters all tough love—more more than others.
LOL I love that answer. How did you come up with the premise for your books?
It all started with a line I came up with during Spanish I class I high school, “Akie walked down the hall, looking down at the ground.” My idea to write a book series centering around a school just took off from there.
Wow that's fabulous that that was all it took. Tell us about Satu Country. How did you come up with it and is any of it based on personal experiences?
I entirely made up Satu because I felt I didn’t know enough of the real world to write a book set anywhere besides Georgia. Take Earth and add in a bit of magic and supernatural beings—that’s pretty much Satu. Some of the events that take place in Satu are based on dreams or real things that happened to me, but the majority of it is completely fictional.
It sounds wonderful <3 Tell us more about your main characters please.
I have quite a few main characters—probably too many. The characters I really follow throughout all of the books are Matsu Cedars, Kamin Chacamo, Kano Shadow, and Michie Sark. Other characters come and go, but those four are really what I would consider the main protagonist characters. Matsu is what you would call a perfect student; he does very well in school. He’s a bit shy and gets awkward around girls, but deep down he’s a great, sweet guy. Kamin is somewhat the female counterpart to Matsu. She’s a good student, sweet, and has a lot of motherly instinct. Kano is my anti-hero and is a favorite of a lot of my readers. He’s dark (don’t tell him I said that), sarcastic, and anti-social. He likes to do things on his own and be left alone, but he does have a strange attraction to Matsu for some reason. Michie is very similar to Kano, but the two of them fight a lot. She doesn’t really care about schoolwork. I also have some recurring antagonists, Keiji Gayelord and Ryu Goldhawk, which are members of the Principalities of Satu. I’m not really sure what readers think of them.
That may be a lot of main characters but they all sound so intriguing. Definitely dying to get to these books in my mountainous review pile now. Is there anything else you’d like to mention about your books?
Satu Country has really been my life’s goal. I’ve been working with the same characters and stories for six years, and I’ve grown quite attached to my characters. I’ll be really sad to see the series end, so I bet I’ll probably go back and write a few books that feature some of the Satu characters later on down the road.
I'm so glad you're realizing your goal and publishing these books because I've got to tell you, I'm betting I'm going to fall in love with the series. What can we expect with the other books?
Well, I know for certain that the series will have seven books in it total. Be watching for relationships to grow, more enemies to appear, and (of course) more action to develop. I plan to introduce a few new characters in the next couple of books that become critical in the series. One of which is a boy named Kiyoshi—I can’t wait to see what readers will think of him.
Yay! Can't wait to see more! What's next for you?
Writing, writing, more writing, oh, and some editing too! I have a lot of work ahead of me if I plan to release a new Satu book every year. I’m also working on my first adult fiction story, so it will be interesting to see how that works out.
I wish you the best of luck achieving that goal! Anything else you want your readers to know?
Thanks for being there for me. My readers are what encourage me to write on, even when I feel like no one is listening. Who would an author be if there was no one to read their works?
Thank you so much for stopping by, Rebecca! Lovelies, be sure to check out the Satu Country books!!
Coming Tides...Buy it Now and start the Satu Country Series!
A fire at a boarding school sparks a journey for seven teens that could change their lives. While the pretentious Doctor Wynn and the exasperated Principal of the school plot of how to destroy the credibility of a bothersome coach, Kano and Hisano Shadow, a brother and sister team, are reunited with their pasts that they would rather forget. As hidden dangers move in from all sides, will the teens be able to all return home? Or will lives have to be sacrificed for the sake of the cause? Coming Tides is the first of the Satu Country tales.
Meet Rebecca!
Rebecca Jane has been writing books since she was 11 years old. In 2010, she won third place in a Christian writing contest hosted by Athanatos Christian Ministries and had her short story "The Dissenters" published in an anthology. Since then, she has self-published seven books ranging in genres from young adult fantasy to reference.
Enjoyed this review!! :)
ReplyDelete