Six Authors/Six Days: Interviews & Giveaway Ofelia Grand

Six days, six authors will be interviewed and each are giving away a story. All the stories are from the Boughs of Evergreen charity anthology and all proceeds from the book will go to the Trevor Project.

Today, our interview is with Ofelia Gränd, author of From All of Us to All of You

Ofelia Gränd lives on the southern west coast of Sweden with her husband and their three children. At the moment she's on parental leave. She could give up her glamorous life as a stay-at-home mom, and go back to her job as a teacher if she wanted to. But why not take advantage of the situation when she's living in a parental leave utopia? Enough about her being a parent, you think, and you're quite right. Ofelia is a ’No Poo practiser, a pescatarian who bakes her own bread and makes her own soap. Now you wished that we'd stuck to the children, don't you?

Do you plan everything or just let the story flow? 

I plan just about everything in my life but not my writing. I have things I want in there, of course, and once I have those scenes in my head I want to get to them as soon as possible, but I mostly just let the story flow. I don’t know if it’s a good strategy, I tend to jump back and forth in the text while writing, adding, deleting, and moving things around. Sometimes I don’t know what I’m doing *laugh*.

Do your characters ever want to take over the story?

They do! Sometimes I can’t get them to behave, it’s quite frustrating. I should be in charge of the story, shouldn’t I?

What drew you to the M/M genre in particular?

I don’t know, I find the lack of too-stupid-to-live heroines really liberating.

Do you write in other genres besides M/M?

Well, I’m a new author so I haven’t written much of anything. I like M/M, I like reading M/M, and I like writing M/M, so that’s what I do for now, but you never know what will happen in the future. What I write isn’t especially heavy on the romance. I want my stories to have more than just the tumbling-into-bed scenes. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but you’ll probably never see me write erotica.

What is your favourite food?

Food? Do we have to do food?

I can’t come up with anything, sorry. I’m a pescatarian which means I eat fish but no other meat. I love inarizushi with peanuts.

Are you a morning person or a night owl?

Morning person! My brain stops working somewhere around six in the evening. I do most of my writing in the evenings when the kids have fallen asleep, but that really isn’t ideal for me. Some days I just stare at the screen even though I know what I want to write.

Where do you dream of travelling to and why?

I’m quite boring when it comes to travelling, I like to be at home. I have this romanticized idea of the American South, and I’d love to go to New Orleans some day, but I doubt I will.

Do distant places feature in your books?

Not yet, but you’ll never know. Maybe they will in the future.

Do you listen to music while writing?

No, I need peace and quiet which is why I do it in the evenings.

Could you tell us a bit about your latest release?

From All of Us to All of You is a short holiday story that takes place in Sweden—which isn’t distant for me since I live here. Simon is pretty miserable, Christmas is close and with Christmas comes a whole lot of anxiety since Simon’s dad is an alcoholic and likes to celebrate with some Christmas whiskey. But while Simon is worrying about the coming holiday, he meets Hannes. He is instantly drawn to Hannes, but Hannes isn’t gay—or so he claims. Simon tries to ignore his attraction and just be friends with Hannes, but it’s hard, and in the end he thinks he’s deluding himself into seeing things that just aren’t there. But as Christmas is approaching, Hannes tries to make him feel better.

What have you learned about writing and publishing since you first started?

Probably loads. What I can see for myself is that my language is improving. English is not my first language and when I first decided to write in English I was scared that I wouldn´t be able to get my message across, but I’m learning new things everyday. And thank God for good beta-readers and editors, right? I don’t know much about publishing, I’m relying on Debbie McGowan at Beaten Track Publishing for everything that has to do with that part at the moment.

Who, or what, if anything has influenced your writing?

Anything can influence me, it can be something someone says or does, a song, a movie, a dream, anything that makes an idea pop up in my head. I don’t have a person that I can point out and say that he or she influences me, it’s just things in everyday life I guess.

What are three words that describe you?

Hungry? No that’s just right now. Erm…it’s really hard to come up with three words. I’m a bit of loner, quite strange (or so people tell me), and punctual—yes, I know that sounds really boring, but if it’s one thing I can’t stand it’s being late.

What's your favourite book or who is your favourite writer?

Oh, I don’t know, there are so many great books. My first thought was the Harry Potter books so I think I’ll go with that. *Laugh*

Blurb of your latest release or coming soon book

Simon hates the Holidays. It’s the same every year - awaiting the dreaded Christmas Eve, when his father gets drunk, while the family fake Christmas spirit and strain to hear the TV over Dad’s snoring. This year, Simon’s sister is celebrating Christmas elsewhere, leaving him to deal with their parents on his own. But there’s a glimmer of hope. A work colleague introduces Simon to her son Hannes at the Lucia Day celebrations, the trouble being that Simon mistakenly believes it’s a blind date, and as if that isn’t embarrassing enough, Hannes wants them to be friends, and Simon’s starting to see signals that aren’t there. He’s beginning to wonder if he’ll make it through Christmas with his sanity intact.

Any websites/places readers can find you on the web

Website: http://ofeliagrand.com/

Mailinglist

Instagram: http://instagram.com/ofelia.grand (@ofelia.grand)

Google+: google.com/+OfeliaGränd

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ofelia.grand

Facebok page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ofelia-Grand/1405427199716172

Goordreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7874960.Ofelia_Gr_nd

***

Giveaway Prizes:

One lucky winner will receive a copy of each story.

Matthias Williamson — Holidays with Drum and Bell!

Amelia Mann — Always Have, Always Will

Debbie McGowan — A Midnight Clear

Jonathan Penn — Homme for the Holidays

K.C. Faelan — A Little Christmas Magic

Ofelia Gränd — From All of Us to All of You

a Rafflecopter giveaway