Welcome to Author Wednesday. Today I welcome Jennifer Donohoe, author of two fantasy novels, The Legend of the Travelers: Willow’s Journey and her most recent release, Fly Away.  Jennifer stops by today for an interview about her writing life.

Welcome to Author Wednesday, Jennifer. Rachel Carson (Silent Spring) said she never chose a subject because as a writer, the subject chose her. Describe a time when a subject chose you.

I always allow the subject to choose me. Most often I usually get inspiration from varying sources, then over weeks, months, or years I develop the story in my mind until I have a strong threshold for it. Currently, most of my stories are fantasy, but I have quite a few ideas that are not. They range from historical fiction to adventure to horror to thriller.

What messages or themes do you try to convey to your readers?

In whatever I write, I try to convey a message. In the two books, I have out now those messages are, “You cannot run from your life. You must face it,” and “We can’t choose the life we’re given, but we can do something about it.”

Fly Away was originally slated to be a psychological thriller. However, my characters decided differently about the whole thing. I combined some favorite themes like the Neverending Story and Dante’s Inferno to create a more unique story. I hope it worked out well.

Are you planning to continue writing in the same genre?

I’ll write wherever my characters take me, but I do plan on moving from fantasy to other genres at some point.

How did you choose the title? Has it been the title from the very beginning?

My titles often come to me prior to the book being written. I move from that title on to the idea of the story. Fly Away came to me for NaNoWriMo [National Novel Writing Month] for 2011, and it smoothed its way into the story it is now.

How long do you estimate it took you to take the book from an idea to a finished, published?

I only had a few weeks to formulate Fly Away into a story, then I wrote the first 50,000 words in a month. After that, the book was completely written within a year (October 2012). From there, I revised it and sent it to a beta reader. I finished revising it in March 2013 and sent it to an editor at that point.

That’s quite an accomplishment. If you listen to music while you’re writing, what is it?

The type of music I listen to completely depends on the type of story I’m writing. For instance, The Legend of the Travelers: Willow’s Journey was written listening to true Celtic music. Fly Away was written to more modern music. I prefer to listen to music without words. The reason behind this is so that the words don’t disrupt my thoughts.

What book are you reading right now?

I am a die hard fantasy reader. I do read other genres too, but fantasy is always my first choice. Currently, I’m reading A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin. You may know it by the title, Game of Thrones.

Thank you for stopping by today, Jennifer. It’s always very interesting to hear from other authors about their process. Somehow you manage to do it all while still working at a day job. Congratulations to you for a job well done.

About Jennifer: Jennifer Donohoe currently lives in Northeast Ohio. She works as a In-Home Counselor to Felony Juvenile Offenders. She loves taking landscape photography as a hobby and uses the photos as descriptions for some of the settings in her stories. Her passion is writing and enjoys the company of her characters.

Purchase links for Fly Away:

Amazon Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/Fly-Away-ebook/dp/B00CEGHLPA

Paperback Link:
http://www.amazon.com/Fly-Away-Jennifer-Donohoe/dp/1480114146

Author Central Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Jennifer-Donohoe/e/B008CTFQGO

About Fly Away:  Robin Sullivan is given a magical book where she can
experience a better life in a new world called Tearmann. She can
finally escape the terrible reality of life with an abusive, alcoholic
father, her mother’s schizophrenia, and her best friend’s Leukemia.
Robin must choose between deserting her real life or living in a world
promising a better one. Events come into play forcing Robin to make a
decision. Will she be able to save those she loves and still save
herself?