Author Interview: Nikki Jefford

Hey everyone :)
I am so happy to share with you my author interview with Nikki Jefford.
I would really like to thank her for taking the time and answering my questions and I am so happy to share them with you! She gave some fantastic answers :) Be sure to check them out.

1. Well to start off, Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I’m a third generation Alaskan, 35, now living in Friday Harbor, WA – on an island without a single traffic light. I love nature hikes, baking, hot chocolate, romantic comedies, travel, foreign accents and languages, and most of all, spending time with my husband and dog.

2. When did you first know you wanted to become a writer/author? Any inspirations?
I was painfully shy growing up. My mom remarried when I was six and we ended up moving all the time. I went to a new school every single year from kindergarten until high school. Creating characters kept me company. I also grew up in an abusive household and reading and writing provided instant escapism. Stories, my own and others, took me to better places.

3. I have to ask! Since Entangled is about witches and Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter is about vampires, which do you prefer reading about vamps or witches? Why?
Great question! Funny enough, my favorite reads don’t feature witches or vampires. I enjoy strong female protagonists, especially when set in a fantasy world: Katniss in The Hunger Games; Trice in Divergent; Kara in The Grimoire Trilogy, Karou in Daughter of Smoke and Bone; Calaena in Throne of Glass; Sloane in This Is Not a Test…young women are kicking butt and authors are getting more and more imaginative. I’m a happy reader!

4. Do you take any part in creating any of your books' book covers? 
I picked out the cover model and color schemes for all the Spellbound books. I tried to do the same with Aurora Sky. I found a model in a parka who looked exactly how I imagined Aurora (with blond hair). My designer humored me, but, as she pointed out, it looked like a cheesy winter romance. I love what she did with the final cover. It screams Alaska to me and adventure. I loved the manipulation of the model image so much I changed Aurora’s hair color to black in the book. LOL


5. If you had a choice to permanently switch places with one of your book characters who would you choose, Aurora or Graylee? Please explain. 
Gray!!! Gray gets to do magic; Aurora has to kill vampires. I hate weapons! Except bows and arrows. Those are fun. I’ve been obsessed with magic for a long time. As a kid I spent hours trying to float, move objects, go invisible, and teleport. Never worked, but I kept trying. Plus, Aurora’s stuck in Alaska, which I spent most of my life trying to get out of while Gray is currently in Barcelona. Yeah, no brainer!

6. Are you currently reading any books? 
The Map of Time by Felix J Palma (in paperback) and Carpe DiEmily by the hilarious Riley J. Ford (on Kindle).

7. Do you have any bookish bad habits that you do? (dog ear pages, use books as coasters, anything lol)
Heck no! I’m neurotic about not breaking book spines or getting fingerprints on my Kindle. I used to make friends wash their hands before reading my Archie comic books. (Had a germ phobia for a couple years as a child – opening doors with tissues sorta thing. Total freak.) I like checking out books from the library because they’re already worn in. I’m more relaxed when I read a book that’s already beat up.

8. Who are some of favorite authors?
Jane Austen, Diana Wynne Jones, Lucy Maud Montgomery, George R. R. Martin, Kendare Blake, Michelle Moran, Philippa Gregory, Cinthia Ritchie, Bob Friel, Stacey Wallace Benefiel, S.M. Boyce, Ada Adams, Rachael Wade, Thomas Winship, (the authors from the books I mentioned previously)…OMG – I have so many!

9. Stand Alones or Series?
Books: Stand alones. TV: Series!

10. Do you have any advice for those who want to become authors/writers?
Read, write, repeat. I wrote six “practice” novels before self-publishing Entangled. Writing is like learning a foreign language. The more you practice the more naturally it comes to you. Some people pick it up quicker than others. I struggled with learning disabilities most of my life and feel like I have to work ten times harder at everything I do. It all comes down to persistence and passion.

11. Where can people buy your books? 
Entangled (Spellbound #1) is on NetGalley till February for reviewers (please post on Amazon!). Entangled and Duplicity are for sale everywhere: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple iStore, Smashwords, Book Depository, sites I never knew existed, pirated sites don’t get them there! Aurora Sky is on Amazon. 

12. Do you have any websites? (Twitter, Facebook, Blog, etc.)
Stop by Nikki’s Blog | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter
Happy Reading!

Author of the Spellbound Trilogy

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