Simplicity Tour: Author Interview

Hey peoples =) Today I am apart of the Simplicity by Valia Lind hosted by the lovely Valia herself! Ever since I started following her blog I've wanted to check out her book so I'm wicked excited to be apart of the blog tour! Anyways let's find out a little about the book before our interview shall we?

Book Blurb: 
Driven, beautiful Alexis Sinclair lives her life to the fullest, following her dreams of running a big company. But when her world is torn apart by a storm, everything she has ever known disappears. Now, marooned on an island with a group of men, Alexis must learn to live in a world made up of simple things. Letting go of every known convenience, she realizes how insignificant her life has become. Filled with unrequited love for her rescuer she must battle the demons buried deep inside and she must look within herself and to her faith to find the strength needed to survive. 
Strong and influential, Jacob Peterson, has done all he can to survive. When the fate turned its tables on him, he learned to cope with the inevitable. Plagued by his past and secrets buried there, Jacob exerts a rigid control, refusing to succumb to the joys, and torturous pain, of strong emotions. Without considering love a gift he may never receive, he believes--he chooses to live by strict set of rules. But when a strange beautiful woman washes up on his beach, the walls that he has put up long ago begin to crumble. Is she a punishment sent from God to torment his weary soul? Or is she a gift, sent from above, there to teach him how to trust? Who is this woman? And how will he stop himself from losing his heart?
Will he learn to forgive the past in order to save the woman he loves?


Now it's time to welcome Valia for an interview **Drum roll please!** Welcome Valia!!

P: When did you know you definitely wanted to be a writer? 

V: Honestly, I’m not exactly sure when I had the big epiphany about my writing. As cliche as it sounds, I was always a writer but not until Simplicity did I have any desire to get published. Well, no serious desire. Sure, I dreamed of having my book on shelves before, but Simplicity was the first push in that direction. So I guess when I wrote Simplicity? 

P: What is you favorite genre to read? 

V: Right now I’m in love with YA books of every kind. However, I’m a big fan of every possible genre so it just depends on what I’m feeling like at the moment. It varies. 

P: How many books do you plan on writing excluding Simplicity? 

V: Well, I have 3 books complete as of today (4 including Simplicity). I have written a companion story to Simplicity and two YA books. As for plans, I have no idea. I’ll be writing until I can’t write no more!

P: I’m really excited to read Simplicity. Where did you get the idea for the book? 

         V: It just came to me. No, seriously, it did. It was a Saturday night, I was laying on my bed in my dorm room, trying to fall asleep and the next thing I know I have this island in my mind, and there is stuff happening on it. I stayed up all night planning it in my head and the next morning I got up and told my friend about it. She said I had to write it down and so I did. And no, before you ask, its not like Lost. I haven’t watched that show until this summer. 

P: What do you do to get yourself motivated for writing?

V: This is a good question, to which I don’t really have a good answer to. I know writing is a part of me, it’s something I have to do. So when I’m working on a book, I just sit down and write. Plus, I want to get better, and that requires practice. It’s like learning to play the piano. You want to do it, you take lessons, and then you practice your heart out. You do it because you love it, and thats the greatest motivation to have. 

P: Do you have a favorite spot or time to write? 

V: I’m a night owl. I love writing at night, because I feel like that’s when my thoughts are the clearest. I don’t have a particular spot to write, not since Borders closed. I used to have this one corner at the one next to my house. Now, I just write wherever and whenever I need to. 

P: Do you have any advice for young authors?

V: I think my biggest advice is to find yourself in your writing and stay true to that. Don’t focus so much on everyone else. If you love writing, then write for the love of it. Writing is an extension of you, and people want to see you, not someone else. The other part of this is ask questions. I was so lost when I decided to publish Simplicity, and I had no idea what I was doing. Find someone out there who’s done it, who knows how the whole system works and ask for their help. You won’t be sorry. 

Speed round:

P: Chocolate or Carmel? 

V: Can I have chocolate with caramel? 

P: Sneakers or Flip flops?

V: Sneakers! I walk too fast for my own good!

P: Burgers & Fries or Hot Dogs & Doritos? 

V: Oh, I’m a burgers and fries kind of a girl. Especially if it has bacon on it!

V: Thank you so much Paige for having me on your blog! I hope you all enjoy Simplicity. 

I hope you guys enjoyed the interview. I sure did! If you want to get in touch with Valia try checking out her awesome blog, Words Are Things Now are you ready for the giveaway? I hope so because you guys deserve it! and here's a little extra about Valia:

Author. Photographer. Artist. Born and raised in St. Petersburg, Russia Valia always had a love for the written word. She wrote her first full book on the bathroom floor of her dormitory, while procrastinating to study for her college classes. Upon graduation, she has moved her writing to more respectable places, and have found her voice in YA fiction. Her first adult book Simplicity is being republished, while her YA science fiction is on submission to find a home. Find her at http://wordsareinnermusic.blogspot.com and @ValiaLind.

You can also find the book on Amazon, and Goodreads.