Jennifer Foxcroft
Connect with Jennifer
1. In your own words, please describe the book.
Sanguine Mountain is a story about discovery. Connie and Rocks are my main characters. When they meet, both characters are on a path toward finding answers. They're trying to discover who they are, and where they belong in this crazy world. Rocks accidentally lets Connie know he isn't just a human. After she accepts his secret, they decide to team up and find their answers together. So to make their journey of discovery more interesting, there’s a touch of paranormal thrown in for fun based on mythology.
2. What genre/genres does your book fall under?
Young adult and paranormal romance with a twist of humor.
3. What was your inspiration behind your book?
I used to have a very long commute to my office job. The upside to that was it gave me lots of thinking time, and one day at a red light, the concept of Rocks just popped into my head. I read a lot of paranormal, especially vampires, and a lot of fantasy so I'm always thinking about the existence of different creatures. Rocks was born out of wondering what if? And he stayed in my head haunting me for 3 years until I finally wrote Sanguine Mountain and let him out.
4. So far, what has been the greatest moment in your writing career?
This might sound silly, but I will never forget when my book appeared on GoodReads. I love GoodReads. I'm always on there looking at books to add to my TBR list. So to join the ranks of authors on there was a dream come true for me. I also got the email really late at night, and I had nobody to tell because it was close to midnight so I was freaking out in my living room alone.
5. How did you come up with the title of your book?
I find naming stories quite challenging. Sanguine Mountain just evolved because of something that features in the story, so I can't explain it too much without giving something away. *whispers* And, Rocks would never forgive me if I did that. ;)
6. How long does it take you to finish a novel?
Sanguine Mountain took me 5 weeks to complete writing full-time. I start with a pretty detailed plot outline and go from there. Some authors write scenes and weave it all together, but I need to write from start to finish in the order it happens. Book two in the Camaztoz Trilogy took me 7 weeks to complete. The first draft is the easy part though. Editing is where it gets sticky and takes lots of time for me. I was editing for months and months.
7. If there was one thing you could tell your readers, what would it be?
Book 1 is written from Connie’s POV. I’m working on a short novella that will be from Rocks’ POV that will be available later this year on my website for free. It will be several scenes that happen in book one that don't involve Connie—stuff that happens at the market where Rocks works. So if any readers are interested, stop by my website and sign up for the newsletter to find out when the novella is available.
8. How can readers connect with you?
So many ways. I'm on twitter. I have an author’s Facebook page. Plus GoodReads, and I have a tumblr. My poor tumblr is a work in progress as finding time to post on it is tricky since I'm keen to get book two moving along. But, when I do find the time I add pictures of things that appear in Sanguine Mountain. And there’s a contact form on my website if you need more than 140 characters to say hello.
9. What advice do you have for aspiring young authors?
Number one… don't be scared. Be brave!
Number two… just do it. Seriously. Just. Do. It.
Number three… write something every single day.
I learned these things the hard way. In 2002, I tried to get a short story published. I had a magazine very keen, and they had basically said they wanted my story. All I had to do was finish it and email them. Then for some reason, I lost all my nerve and literally put my story through a shredder. I didn't even keep a digital copy for myself. So don't let fear stop you. Even though I walked away from doing what I loved all those years ago, the desire to write and tell stories never left me. So here I am in 2015 finally publishing my first book. Don't let fear of the unknown stop you like I did. You can do it! You really can and the publishing industry has changed so much. Anything is possible now. Do it and do it today. Open that word doc or finish that manuscript that has been haunting you. It will make you feel better in the long run to do what you love.
10. Can you tell us something about the writer behind the book?
There are two parts of Connie that come from me. Firstly, she’s animal crazy. I love animals—big, small, wild, domestic, you name it—I love them. If I could, I would have a crazy menagerie of animals, but I'm not allowed pets in my apartment. One day in the future though, I'll be surrounded by them. I want to rescue some older dogs or cats that nobody else wants any longer. Years ago I adopted a 12 year-old cat, and even though we only shared three years together, she will always live inside my heart.
Secondly, I’m addicted to nail art. Connie and I share that love to the core. All the nail art mentioned in the book, I have painted on my nails. Those designs were some of my favorites, and I'm slowly putting the pictures up on Tumblr. I would be delighted if readers tweeted me snaps of their favorite nail art designs too.
Thank you so much Jennifer for taking the time to answer my questions.
-SandraTheBookWorm
