Author Interview with Elle Brooks

Posted by New Chicks On The Blog March 03, 2015

Author Interview with Elle Brooks

Blog Tour – Elle Brooks

Author Q & A

Hi Elle! Welcome to New Chicks On The Blog! And thank you for doing an interview. I had so much trouble in forming my questions because they were just so many, but I have cut it down to 10. And those questions were the ones I wanted an answer to.

So…let’s get started

Okay, I'm excited let’s do this!

1. So, this is one is a very basic question, but what was that moment when you were like ‘I want to write a book’ and something like the Promises Series?

That’s really hard to pin point. I've had ‘Write a Novel’ on my bucket list for years and years. I originally had wanted to check it off, before I hit 30. Life doesn't always pan out the way you expect though, and when I finally reached 30 and realized that I still hadn't done it, I decided that it was now or never. I sat down at my kitchen table, night after night, armed with a glass of wine and Spotify. I wrote, and wrote, and wrote, every night for months. My husband had no idea what I was up to until Promises Hurt was half done. I had a rough idea of the story I wanted to tell, but it wasn't until I began typing, that Blair & Ethan really unfolded.

2. Why specifically the word ‘Promises’ for the title?

It’s kind of the theme of all three books. They're all about making promises that are sometimes impossible to keep. Everyone makes them with the best intentions, but life is unpredictable, and circumstances can find you in situations that you’d never have been able to dream.

3. Now to my favorite part, the characters of the book. Ethan is shown as the attentive caring boyfriend in ‘Forgotten Promises’ and ‘Promises Hurt’ but when I read ‘Empty Promises’ he came across as the typical famous-ignorant high school popular guy? Why the difference? (He could have become friends with Emily, sort of!)

Ha ha… Well, Ethan is a complex character. He feels like he has to put on a front and be the person that people expect him to be. In book 1 & 2, you see Blair break down his walls and allow him to be free. The Ethan you see in Book 3, the prequel, is how people regarded him. He’s cocky, yet distant. He’s dealing with a lot in his home life, and doesn’t feel like he has anyone to talk to about it. It’s not until Blair makes him question his life that he finally begins to let his guard down.

4. I love, like really LOVE the character of Emily. What was your inspiration for her character?

My beautiful daughter was diagnosed with leukemia in 2011 at three years old. Throughout her treatment, I witnessed things that I never expected to in a million years. I watched some pretty amazing children, my own included; beat the dreadful disease that is cancer. On the flip side, I also observed the most heroic children anyone could ever have the absolute pleasure of meeting, make the most of each and every day, with poise and grace, knowing that they were dying. One particular little girl that I was fortunate enough to meet inspired Emily’s character. We met on a wish trip to Lapland, and seeing this little girl play, and have fun was magical. She was so full of life and happy, you would never have guessed that she was ill. Three months later, she died. I attended her funeral, and I was terrified… she was six years old. Her family and friends talked about her short little life, and how she lived each day to the max, so when I began to write Emily, little pieces of her came from that beautiful six year old.

5. These days it is very rare for people, especially girls, to have that level of commitment in a friendship like Blair and Emily do. Is this relationship based on a fact or is it completely fiction?

No it’s fact. My daughter as I mentioned was very young when she was diagnosed. Her best friend, Isabelle visited her frequently and would tell the nurses off when they needed to do anything (like take blood) that made her cry. She was fiercely loyal, and they would sit hand in hand while the nurses did their jobs. They were three years old, and the level of commitment, compassion and love they had for one and other was amazing. They’re still the same today, and are both almost seven. Their friendship is something to aspire to.

6. Next question is on my new favorite character. Lucas Wade. Is there more for him in the future? A HEA?

Oh, #PoorLucas

I didn't expect to fall as hard for Lucas as I did, but once I had his character and voice in my head, the rest was history… I smiled, and cried so much writing him. There was never any plan to give Lucas his own book, but I miss him already. So I guess the best answer I can give is that I never say never.

7. My fellow blogger, Kimberly, asked whether you listen to music when you write? If yes, what band or song inspires you the most.

Yes, I ALWAYS listen to music when I write, although it has to be on very quietly. I have really eclectic taste, and the type of scene I'm writing dictates the music I listen to. I love anything from John Legend, to Hozier, Pink Floyd, BonJovi, Ed Sheeran and Sia …. See, ECLECTIC!

(Apart from Hoizer, who truthfully I've never heard of, and Pink Floyd you and I have amazing music taste!)

8. Misty wants to know if you use an outline for your character and plot. Or do they have a mind of their own and mess with your head?

I always outline them, but very roughly, I like to give my imagination free reign and let the characters in a sense, write themselves. I find if I try and outline them in too much detail, it stifles their growth, because the mental barriers that I’ve placed on them confine me.

9. Are there going to be spin-offs? And also do we get more Ethan and Blair?

I think I may give people a little more Ethan & Blair in the form of a novella at the end of the year.

(Can't wait for that one!)

10. I really want to know, what inspires you to continue writing such heart-wrenching, pull–at-your-heart-string kind of books? Because, to date I have cried only thrice while reading a book! And the second place is yours!!

Ha ha, is it bad that I love this!

I love to write what I like to read. For me, there is nothing better than a book that makes you feel! I want to be so caught up in the world that an author has created, that I feel like I'm witnessing the events first hand. I want to love, laugh and cry with the characters. If I can make people feel with my books, my work is done. There's no bigger compliment.

Thank you so much for doing an interviews with us and breaking our cherry 😉

(She’s been popping quite a few virginal cherries these days!)