Forever Waiting Writers Series: Interview with Elizabeth Arroyo

Today we will be spending time with Elizabeth Arroyo (my awesome critique partner) and author of THE SECOND SIGN, which will be released February 2013 by Sapphire Star Publishing.

Here’s a little teaser about THE SECOND SIGN:

After Gabby refuses to give her soul to a demon, she’s given twenty-four hours to comply while her friends begin to die. Jake, her almost boyfriend, is the key to her salvation, but a fool with a key is a very dangerous thing.

Liz and I became critique partners back in April 2011. Natalie Whipple was kind enough to host critique partner classifieds on her blog and the rest is critique partner history. Liz has not only given me invaluable advice about my own writing but she is there to cheerlead me through it all.

THE SECOND SIGN is intense. I remember flying through it when I read it. What inspired you to write this story? 

Thanks! Demons and ghosts have always scared the crap out of me.  When I was a kid my dad used to tell us all sorts of creepy stories that included demons and ghosts.  And I’ve been hooked with the supernatural ever since.   THE SECOND SIGN was a result of a dream I had that kept nudging me to write.  In the dream I saw a dark man with blood red clothes. He went into my bathroom (yeah, don’t know why) and when he came out he stepped into the light and melted, like wax. But before he melted he said something.  I woke up and those spoken words haunted me. I racked my brain trying to figure out what he had said to me. Until finally I decided that it sounded like “the second coming”.   After doing some research a story was born.  Yes, my subconscious has all sorts of craziness in there and I use writing as an outlet to let it out.

Your first blog post was written September 27, 2009 and was entitled Jumping Off My Platform and on May 25, 2012 you wrote a post entitled My Book is Getting Published!!!! Can you share what your journey has been like from 2009 to 2012?

Wow…I had to go back to read that.  The journey has been hard.  I started my blog so that I would be accountable to what I said I would do. That was hard but it was the best thing I did. I’ve met wonderful people through it, awesome crit partners like you, and learned so much through other people’s journeys and learning experiences.  THE SECOND SIGN is my fourth full manuscript. I sent over 150 queries combined for numerous projects. One I didn’t even bother pitching. I got some full requests with the end result usually leaning toward the concern of the marketability of the project and not the project itself. One agent even suggested I submit to a small publisher.   Needless to say, the journey was not easy, but it allowed me to grow as a writer and a person.

Can you share what it was like to decide to publish THE SECOND SIGN with a fairly new small press like Sapphire Star Publishing?

After an agent asked to read The Second Sign and told me that she thought the writing was good but feared she wouldn’t be able to sell it (the cycle all over again), I decided to query a smaller publisher. Actually, Sapphire Star Publishing was the first on that list after I saw them on Twitter. And…I loved the covers of their books. I’m a visual person. What can I say?  I also wanted the book to be accessible as a hard copy (paperback) and SSP has that option.  After they contacted me stating they loved my book and couldn’t put it down I was thrilled.  It is why I write, to hook the reader so that they forget life and follow my characters as I put them through…well, hell.  The staff at SSP have been wonderful and their authors welcoming. I was hooked.

So now that the contract is signed what’s next with THE SECOND SIGN? Are you working on any other projects?

THE SECOND SIGN will be released February 7, 2013 and I’m going nuts eagerly waiting the edits.  I am currently writing the sequel. Yay!! It still freaks me out to say it. I also have a few other manuscripts in the works.

If you could have any super human ability, what would it be? 

I’d like to move things with my mind.  I’m just lazy that way. =)

You can follow Liz at her blog Chandara Writes, where I am sure she will be sharing her cover reveal and where and when we can pre-order THE SECOND SIGN.

Thanks Anita!