Tell us a
little about yourself.
I was born in Minsk, Belarus, where I still live
together with my husband, my little daughter and our cat:) I write fantasy
novels for young adults. Before becoming a writer I was working as a lawyer,
signing contracts and reading Civil Codes. I can’t but admit that signing books
is much more pleasurable:) At the moment I’m working on my Love Lines series,
three books of which have already been published. Apart from writing I like
reading! And I’m a huge fan of fantasy:) I read all the most popular fantasy
series from Harry Potter to Twilight. Too bad I don’t have much time to read
now:) But every time I get a chance to read, I try to spend it with a good book
in my hands. As every other woman I like shopping. I’m very communicative
person and even when I don’t have an opportunity to see my friends, I try not
to forget about them:) Christmas is my favorite time of the year, though I hate
winter and adore summer. I like chocolate sweets and ice-cream with fruits;
strawberry and tea with milk:) I hate mean people and liars and I admire
honesty and bravery. What else?.. I play the piano and though I forgot most of
the songs I used to know before, I still enjoy playing. I speak several foreign
languages, including Polish, Spanish and English. The last one is about to
become my second native language:) I used to write my books in Russian, but
later I realized that it was much easier and faster to write them in English.
Well, I guess that’s all I can tell about myself in a few sentences:)
When in life did you decide to start
writing?
Just a few months ago I remembered about my
first book, written about ten years ago. It was my childish variant of some of
those Brazilian soap operas everyone liked watching so much:) So I guess my
writing talent had been sleeping peacefully somewhere at the background of my
mind for years, until one day I wrote my Love Lines novel, that was my first published book.
What
influenced you specifically in writing the Love Lines Series?
The love I feel myself, I guess:) When
someone asks me if there are events in my book based on my own life, I always
say that my books are works of fiction and the only real thing about them is
love.
Between
all your wonderful characters was there any that started out completely
different from the way they ended up in your final draft?
Yes. Alexis Wilde. She wasn’t supposed to be
that bad:) But when it came to creating villains I thought it would be
unexpected if I tuned her into one of the enemies. I wasn’t planning to involve
Evan in all the events of the story but as it turned out I just couldn’t stop
myself from writing more about him. Some of the characters were missing in the
first draft, but later I included them into the story.
And how
many drafts did you go through before fully finishing you’re first book?
Almost everything was written in the first draft
that was ready in 30 days! I can’t believe I managed to write LL in such a
short period of time, lol. Just some small details were added and changed while
editing the text.
Is
there any character that reflects anyone, or is modeled a little after, people
you know?
No. I always say that it’s better not to piss me
off or I will turn you into another villain of my book:) Just kidding, of
course:) I don’t copy people I know:) Yes, I do take some features of their
character or appearance. But none of my characters has a prototype in real life.
Out of all of the voices (Eileen, Evan,
Christian, etc.…) in your head is there a favorite?
I like all of them! Eileen is reasonable and
responsible. Amanda makes me smile. Evan is very funny and smart. His comments
are my favorite:) And Christian’s always charming and gallant. The sound of his
voice will melt every girl’s heart:)
When you
are writing do you need silence or is there something in the background?
I like writing in silence:) I listen to music
before getting to work on my books. Especially when I need some inspiration to
create specific scenes.
What is
the first thing you do after you have finished working on a project? How do you celebrate?
I take a deep breath, smile, clap my hands and
make a cup of tea to drink it watching a movie or reading a book:) I can’t stay
long without writing, so usually after finishing one book I get straight to the
next one. Two weeks of Christmas holidays were pure torture for me, lol
Do you ever get overwhelmed or
frustrated? How do you handle it and what advice would you give others who are
just starting out in this line of work?
I call it “a bad day”:) If I can’t write or it
doesn’t go the way it was supposed to, I leave it for tomorrow:) Because I know
that when I’m in a bad mood, frustrated and don’t have inspiration, the words
will never be good enough to be included into the manuscript.
You have written two books in
the Love Lines Series, how many more do you have plotted out for the future?
And what details can you give us now about you’re latest work?
There will be three more books in the Love Lines
series. My latest book it’s actually a short story named From Scratch. It’s also
a part of the LL series. It shows the beginning of Evan’s and Tara’s romance.
And I can give you a short teaser :
I knew that arguing with Eileen was a lost cause.
She never gave up, and I always wondered how Christian managed to control her,
because sometimes it seemed that he was the only person able to stop whatever
craziness crossed her pretty head. Of course, I shouldn’t have been afraid of
any physical punishment but I knew that my refusal would upset Eileen. And I
didn’t like it when she was upset. Besides, the idea of a centenary silent war
that I was sure was coming along with my 'no' wasn’t thrilling. She was my
friend after all, and losing her because of some nonsense wasn’t an option.
Favorites:
What is your favorite gift at Dever at the moment?
Or one you’d wish to possess?
It’s a hard question. I would say it’s magic,
but other gifts are valuable too. So I think I would choose a little of each of
them:)
Who is your favorite male character?
Evan!!!:)
Who is your favorite female character?
I like both Eileen and Amanda:)
What has been your favorite scene to write thus
far in each of Love Lines books?
Love Lines: the scene of Eileen’s and Christian’s first kiss and the
performances of the Festival of Arts.
Songs of the wind: every scene was great. I think:) So it’s hard
to choose only one. But I enjoyed working on Evan’s memories.
From Scratch: the first meeting of Evan and Tara:)
