Author Aleera Anya Ceres #interview

Please give a warm welcome to

Tell us a bit about yourself

*this makes me nervous*
Okay, a little about myself? What can I say that hasn’t already been said before? I’m a Scottish/Irish Mexican mix of a person, and live in Mexico with my husband and son in a small town surrounded on every side by mountains and volanoes. I’m a bit of an introvert, but I’m trying to break out of that shell and make friends for myself. I loooove anything and everything that has to do with the ocean. I seriously wish I lived by the beach. I have two pet goldfish (Frankenfish and Jordan) and a pet guinea pig named Jacob Kawalsky. I’m pretty open and will probably answer any question haha.

Have you always wanted to become an author?

I’ve wanted to be an author since I was 12 or 13 years old. It’s kind of when my love for books started. My mom says I’ve always been a bookaholic, but I remember that books didn’t start to really, truly impact me until I started middle school and that’s when I started dabbling in poetry and writing stories for manga. It just stuck with me. I loved it, still do.

What was your inspiration for your current book/series?

My current series is… *counts on fingers* Okay, well I have a lot of current series but the most recent one I published (Slave to Ice & Shadows, Royal Lies) is a spin off to Royal Secrets. I just really wanted to write from the point of view of a female main character who was different from the rest. But overrall, the idea of this whole world came to me because of my love for mermaids, and because I thought it would be fun to have a type of “I look like royalty and am going to pretend to be her for a while” type story for myself. (Lizzie McGuire/Monte Carlo, anyone?) hahahah.

What are you working on now?

Right now I’m working on a cowrite with someone who has been my best friend since we were 15. It’s a secret project and I can’t say much about it except that it’s out of my comfort zone and going to be a contemporary romance series. I’m also working on book three of Origins of the Six series with my coauthor, AK Koonce, as well as book three of Royal Lies.

Do you have any quirks while writing?

Hmm… I wouldn’t really call it a quirk, but I have to have absolute silence when I’m writing. I’m one of those people who can’t concentrate with noise in the background or any little bothersome thing. I have to be in a comfortable position, so that means sweatpants or pajamas, and if it’s cold warm socks, while I sit on a pillow and am covered in my mermaid tail blanket. I also can’t write in long sleeves for some reason. And I have to have something to drink and/or snack on in front of me or else I’m lost.
Once, I couldn’t write a scene because the goldfish kept pushing the rocks around in their tank and that was just way too much noise for me hahahah.

What are your hopes for the future?

So–and I think a lot of authors might have this–I have a list of “author” goals. It’s a mental list, mind you, that I started when I knew I wanted to publish books. I won’t go into super detail about what’s on this list, I don’t want anyone to think I’m super delusional or overly ambitious (is there such a thing?), but right now what I want/hope for is to cconnect with fans. I really would like to go to an author con somewhere and meet other authors, meet fans, sign books, give out swag. That’s one of my ultimate goals for next year.

Do you have any advice for new authors about the publishing world?

I would suggest, write what you love and make sure it comes from the heart. Also, don’t give up. Writing is HARD, but you have to keep doing it. Even if you feel down or sad or like you aren’t good enough, you ARE. I know it may not seem like it and I’ve felt that way a lot, I still feel that way sometimes (most times lol), but it really is a very rewarding career. Even if your first paycheck is only a few dollars, I like to look at it like “I have a few people out there who know my name, who read my story, and that’s enough.”

Do you have anything to say to your readers?

To my readers, I probably don’t say this enough because I’m always busy, but I just want to thank you for picking up my book, for reading, for reviewing, for recommending. It means the world to me and it’s everything I’ve ever wanted out of an author career. Please, if you feel intimidated or scared to send me a message and you really want to DON’T. I looove receiving messages from you guys, even if it’s just a quick “I really liked your book”, it makes my day so much better and I WILL reply. Probably not right away, but I will. I promise. 🙂