WATCH OUT: Penny Estelle
SC: I want to welcome you all to another edition of Watch Out. This week I’m pleased to bring you author Penny Estelle. Welcome to Watch Out, it is so great to have you here.
PE: I am very excited to be here and I thank you for having me.
SC: For the readers out there who might not know about you or your work, can you please tell them a little about yourself.
PE: Well, I worked as an elementary school secretary for 21 years. I retired recently to our ranch in AZ. We live “off the grid” and for a city gal this has been a real adjustment. I must admit, so far, I love it!
SC: Can you tell us a little about your current release?
PE: Hike Up Devil’s Mountain is a fantasy of sorts for the MG kids. Ten year old Andy Thompson sneaks into the basement of an old house that is to be torn down the following day. Unfortunately, the school bully, twelve year old Jason Crew and his ten year old brother pick that time to check out the old basement also and all three lives are turned upside down. Their only hope is at the top of Devil’s Mountain……but will they survive the trip?
SC: Which do you prefer eBooks or paperback?
PE: That is sticky.. I believe eBooks are the way of the future and I have two books that have been picked up and they are both eBooks, but I’m not crazy about reading from my computer. You can’t cuddle up on the couch with a desktop! I wish everybody could own an e-reader of some sort. That being said – you can’t hold up an eBook, sign the cover, wrap it up, and give it to your grandchild as a gift. Were you looking for a one word answer? LOL
SC: What influences the topics, and genre’s that you pick to write a story in?
PE: At this point, it’s for the MG/tweens. As I said, I was a school secretary and I heard so many reasons and/or excuses why these kids were sent to see the principal. Truly imaginative! I love working with kids. I use a lot or a little fantasy in my stories. I think it’s just something that belongs with kid stories.
SC: One thing readers might be surprised to know about you?
PE: I live on a fifty-four acre ranch, in the middle of nowhere, with only a few neighbors around, and I am afraid of the dark!
SC: What is the biggest misconception you think people have about erotic authors?
PE: Let me be honest here and say I really don’t know much about erotic stories. For instance, does erotic mean steamy or downright panties stick to the wall smut! (which I’m good with either way) My plan is to buy and read a few because I would like to try my hand at writing one!
SC: Your favourite part about being an author?
PE: Well getting a contract is always good, but the best for me is typing….THE END
SC: What are you currently reading?
PE: The Dead Series by Charlaine Harris
SC: Has life changed for you since you decided to follow the publishing dream?
PE: Well I had hoped I would be busy packing to travel the world with all my new found money, but to date that hasn’t happened. LOL The amount of time spent on the computer for blogging, tweeting, etc., is a definite change. I clearly need to organize better. That’s a work in progress.
SC: Describe your writing in 3 words.
PE: Kids, adventure, humor
SC: If you could step into the shoes of another author who would you pick? Why?
PE: Janet Evanovich. To stand in her shoes for only a few minutes and know the success she feels and to get a glimpse of what it would feel like to have that kind of following would be amazing. Plus, she was a guest on my blog so she is my FAV (favorite)!
SC: What do you think sets your stories apart from other authors?
PE: I THINK I have come up with some unique or different story lines for this age group. My hope is to get kids who don’t like to read more into it. I like humor, sarcasm, and adventure. If you looked tween up in the dictionary – those three words would be in the description.
SC: Is there anything you’re currently working on that you can give us a taste of?
PE: I have a book coming out in May called Billy Cooper’s Awesome Nightmare. It’s about a 7th grader who meets, face to face, the 14 Century subject he is to do an oral report on. I would like to do a series of this type book. Kids of today, with their whit, sarcasm, etc., meeting legends of the past. Funny, adventure and education all wrapped up in one.
SC: What is the best advice you ever got with regards to writing?
PE: I was told a great idea you have in your head could be a bestseller, but it can’t stay there. Quote: Get off your ass and write!
SC: What is one pet peeve you have when it comes to publishing?
PE: Well that rejection stuff is a little annoying, but my real peeve is when you search out markets and you find the PERFECT one for you manuscript and they only take authors represented by agents. GRRRRRR!
SC: Any advice for new writers out there?
PE: WRITE, WRITE, WRITE…..SUBMIT…..WRITE, WRITE, WRITE
SC: Where can readers find out more about you and your work?
PE: www.pennystales.com,
http://pennyestelle.blogspot.com
Thank you again for having me. I appreciate it very much!
Hi Penny. It’s great to meet you. I can just imagine the excuses the kids came up with. Definitely good for inspiration.
I’m smiling about the erotic romance comment. Curiosity started me on that path 🙂
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Penny, I think you have such a great imagination. Your ability to write these stories for tweens is something truly amazing. Not being much of a reader myself, I have enjoyed all that you have authored. I guess I’m a tween at heart. Keep writing! Pam
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Penny, thank you for being my guest today..It is so wonderful to have you here. I really enjoyed getting to interview you…
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Hi, Penny. It’s a pleasure to meet you. You are living my dream. I’d love to retire ‘off the grid.’
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I like Penny’s no nonsense attitude – my type of woman!
Great interview Savannah, and nice to meet you Penny.
eden
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Thanks everybody for the comments. I appreciate them!
Savannah – thank you so much for having me today. You are the best!
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Wonderful interview! I’d so love to live off the grid…at least for a little while. 🙂
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Love the titles of your books, Penny. They sound fun! And a city gal now living on 50 acres in the middle of nowhere sounds like quite an adventure itself. 😉
Great interview.
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Penny, I enjoy your stories, so do my grandchildren. You have great imagination. After working with children for so many years, I bet you have lots of tales to tell. Keep up the good work.
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Penny Estelle
Your stories are great. I love reading them & so do my grandchildren.
The stories are different, exciting & you use a lot of imagination in your stories. After working with children for so long, I’m sure you have lots of tales to tell. Keep up the good work
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Actually I gave all 3 of my grkids Kindles for their “Christmas Eve presents” (it’s always Please can we open one? haha) and gift cards with them. They’re all reading even more than ever now and they already were ‘readers’ Personally I LOVE both my Nook and Kindle, especially since I read at night in bed. A lot easier to handle than a hardcover. JMO and I usually have one. 🙂
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You can’t smell an ebook. I love the smell of a new book, holding it and being able to look at a bookshelf and knowing where to find the book I’m looking for. I can remember on what page I read something, go there and find it. That was good in school…but not when you have to go through pages on an ebook. I can tuck a real book in the door of my car or truck for those times I’m waiting or read one on the front patio in any kind of light.
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