~INTERVIEW with ALASKA ANGELINI aka A.A. Dark following her latest release in dark erotica called 24
Synopsis
Buried deep below the everyday life of our society lives an underground world of nightmares—of violence and murder no one dares speak about. Contracts and laws weave the web of our culture together. Our Masters walk amongst us. They can be our friends, or the ones to make us disappear forever. Where I once had found peace within my existence, it all ended with the death of my cruel, yet caring owner. My world shattered and I was taken back to the one place I had hoped to never see again—the cells of Whitlock—a subterranean fortress for slaves who await their new placement. Now I have no rights. I have no say. My feelings and wellbeing are meaningless. Escape is impossible, but I have nothing left to lose. To stand any chance of survival, I must give my life as collateral to the highest bidder: Soul for Sale. slave 24690
Interview with A.A. Dark
Hi, Alaska, it's an honor to have you here with us, we are grateful for this opportunity as we are sure that the readers out there will be pleased and happy to learn more about who Alaska Angelini, the talented writer,is.
1.Can you tell us is Alaska Angelini, the writer, more the real YOU or is your alias A.A. Dark the dominant part of you?
That's a hard one. I think I'm more of a mix of both. The depth of darkness in the A. A. stories is me, but the romance of Alaska balances me out. Unless the two collide, in which I guess we're dealing with a 24690 situation. (Not necessarily a White Out one, though. That's more were A. A. comes through.) Did I just confuse you? I think I confused myself. Lol
2. How did you decide to start writing in the first place?
Yikes. Well, it's not a pleasant story. Where most discover they have a passion for it at an early age, all I knew was that I loved to read. I did write poetry in my teen years, but it wasn't until I was in a really bad marriage that the question was asked. I was reading a lot at the time and it was more of a jab than anything encouraging. But it was in that moment when he said, 'why don't you just write a book', that it hit me. Why didn't I? I never thought myself good enough, but he lit a fire in me with his harsh words. I wanted to prove to him that I could. And maybe I needed to prove something to myself. So I sat down and within a week of obsessive writing, I finished a historical romance novel. It was horrible, but I had done it. That alone was more empowering than anything I had accomplished before. And it was a world. One, I made. Once I started, I couldn't stop.
3. Alaska/A.A. is a drifter? You stated yourself you don't stay at one place for too long...why? What moves you? Literally and figuratively?
LOL. My husband is military. We get stationed somewhere new every three to four years. Even if we weren't, we're both the same. We love being on the road. We try to take road trips as much as we can.
4. Are you also a traveller? Can you name a few places you visited recently?
Yes! Traveling is one of my passions. I've been to and through almost every state. We once traveled from Connecticut to California, and then went from California to Texas four times within one year.
5.Is the permanent change a constant in you? In what other ways apart from moving?
Keeping in one place too long makes me restless. We moved around a lot as a kid. Never out of the same town, but my parents rented a lot of houses. I can't ever remember being in one place for more than a year or two. At least now, the military keeps us settled in for at least 3 years so that's a little more stable, right?
6.Do you really separate your writing preferences using your real name and alias, or you just give yourself more freedom while writing under the alias?
I've written under many names. I think each one is a piece of me. Now, I only write under the two, Alaska Angelini and A. A. Dark. A. A allows me more freedom when I want to push the bounds on my horror. Plus, there's no guarantee of romance which I need too. Not every story has a happy ending.
7. So, does the dark theme liberate you, like is the dark in you, coming out or is this the way you expand your limits of getting to know how dark one can actually get?
Both? I think I need to release the darkness just as much as I thrive in pushing the bounds on how bad a situation can get.
8.24690 is a mixture of everything, a turmoil of every possible human emotion from the most depraved ones towards the basic positive/light ones...how did the process of exploring the limits of such a wide span of emotions go?
I write one sentence at a time. Rarely can I plot out how the story will go. Every emotion, every plot twist or heartbreak the character goes through, I go through with them just as a reader would. Although, I do think I experience the brunt of what they go through. In those moments, they are a part of me and we're caught in their world/situation together. It can be hard at times, but the story has a life of its own. I'm just honored to be able to put it down for readers to enjoy.
9.Do you get overwhelmed with the subjects you are writing about?
I'm laughing right now because I most certainly do. There have been times where I've had to step away from my computer in tears or overwhelmed with anxiety, only to rush back to finish the scene. (I'm obsessive like that. Lol. I can't just leave a scene unfinished.)
10.How really liberating or crippling are the vile actions you put your characters through?
I think I feel it to the full extent. When the characters suffer, I do as well. When they get their revenge, I'm right there with them.
11.How did you relate with your characters, particularly, with 24690/Everleigh? Or did you at all?
I knew Everleigh more as her stronger self, before I ever started writing her as 24690. To see her grow and turn into the brave woman I'd met before starting the book was more satisfying than I could have imagined. What I didn't expect was how broken she'd become in the process. I never saw the events she'd go through until we were going through them together.
12. Since the main heroine is actually depraved from her human personality and the sense of it taken with the mere number 24690...how hard/easy was it for you to „feel“ her? How real was she to you?
As odd as it sounds, Everleigh is just as real to me as you are. She was from the very beginning. I think I connected with her a lot faster than I have with any other character I've written. To be viewed as she was—property. She has no rights, no voice. Well, we connected, lol.
13.I personally loved the way she - 24690/Everleigh found her strength in the darkness. I can't really imagine what it's like being that broken and shattered and then rise again in the purest sense of self-worth, only to be beaten and crumbled to the ground all over again and then she had risen to the angel of vengeance...did you find that process cathartic in any way?
I went through many ups and downs with this book. It put me through the ringer, for sure. But I knew one thing: I knew the real Everleigh. The one who came to me way before I started writing. She's been through more than most people would be able to handle and I knew she'd have her revenge ... even if it's short-lived.
14.Where did the idea of the storyline for 24690 come from?
It actually came from one of my road trips. (The one from Connecticut to California.) We were driving through Wyoming and I swear we were driving forever through this nothingness. For as far as I could see ... no homes, no stores, nothing. Just mountains and flatness between them. I started thinking, 'what the hell could happen here? Anything could, and no one would ever know the difference'. The more we got into the mountains, the more my mind raced. And Whitlock was born. It stayed in my mind for a very long time before I finally had a chance to write the book.
15. Do you usually get the general idea of what you want to make a storyline from, or do the shapes of possible characters pop up in your mind first?
It's different. Sometimes I'll get the title first. Sometimes it's the world that comes. Other times, it'll be the character that breaks through before everything else. Marko was that way. He came before the world or title ever did. For two months he tormented me to write his story. I was in the middle of another book and completely locked up with writers block for a good week and a half until I finally gave in and wrote the Prologue for Prey. Only then, did I finally managed to finish the book.
16.Where do you find the thin line that separates or in some way justifies the deeds your characters do? What makes them redeemable in all the segments of their actions when there are only shapes and shades of wrong and wrong-er?
I'm smiling again. I don't justify it. They're not always redeemable, yet I love that about them. Most readers hated West for everything he did to Everleigh and Bram. Although I love those two, too, I love West maybe just as much. Possibly more. I've always been one to pull for the villain. In Whitlock, everyone becomes the bad guy at some point. No one is without sin or wrongdoing and when one searches for the line to try to make up for the evil they commit, I think the story loses power. Good doesn't always prevail. Not here.
17. 24690 goes through such horrid, vile things through out the story...how did the process of writing those scenes impact you?
Lots of breaks. lol
18. Does she have any of your own characteristics?
I think each character holds a part of me in them. Everleigh has been through hell. She's had to find her strength when there was no other option but to fight. I'm a fighter. I've been through more stuff than anyone would know or even possibly believe. If there's one thing about my heroines, it's that I make them prove what they're made of. And in that fight ... they shine.
19.How long did it take you to finish the story? And how long after you finish writing do you actually stay „in the head“ of your characters? Or is it the other way around? Do they ever leave you?
I finished the first draft in a week and a half? I know it wasn't long. 24690 was one of those stories that had waited so long to be written that it just poured out onto the pages when I finally started. And no, I don't think they ever really leave. Songs trigger them, food triggers them. I can't eat potato soup without thinking of Mary from Slade (my first Alaska book). No ... they never leave.
20.What is it that you find appealing in the darkness? Can you elaborate?
There's a certain power in the dark. The power to express, the power to push the bounds. Anything is possible and every action has a reaction. What's not to love about the dark? I say bring on the pitch black and let's see what chaos and madness we can manifest.
21. Is the „darker“ more interesting only because of the wider spectre of actions you can make your characters go through, thus making your readers react and live vicariously through them, knowing/hoping one would never go through something like that in real life?
I didn't choose darker for any other reason than it was where I needed to go with my writing at the time. Although, I do love the way you put it. The truth is, I don't like anything to hold me back. The love I have for indie and for writing is that we can express ourselves any way we wish. I think some readers would be surprised just how much people really do go through in the real world. Most think, this is a story. Things like this don't happen. They do. I know of NO Whitlock, but there are girls and boys who are sold every single day to monsters. That is the truth. That is reality. And it's scary as hell.
22.Writing about difficult subjects probably leaves an impact on you...how do you release the pressure of it? What is your outlet?
Writing is purging for me. It's the only way I know to release what's within. The subject matter may be hard, but I get my release within the world in one way or another.
23.Why did you choose the dark/erotica bordering thriller/horror genre?
I've always gravitated toward thriller/ a darker style. My very first book even through it was a historical romance was full of suspense and nail biting scenes. When I got published, I did notice the notes in the edits were ... can we 'tone' this down, or something along those lines. It bothered me so much that I got writers block for 2 yrs and didn't write. When I finally came back, it didn't take me long to realize that I needed to follow my passion and go indie.
24.I am a visual person, and my imagination is like 80% of visualisation of the story I am reading...with your writing style it almost flows fluently cause you give such vivid detailed descriptive pictures that one gets enveloped in it effortlessly. How hard/easy is to write in such a way? Do you re-read those scenes to see if it will work that way, do you put extra emphasis on that?
My style is just how I see the world developing. For me it's like that too. From the first sentence, I see the world open up. It's like I'm watching a movie the entire time. I don't really see the words I type. I watch the movie and my fingers take care of the words. It's probably why my revisions are so hard. Lol It's almost impossible to catch all the little mistakes when each time you start reading, you see a movie and not a sentence.
25. Do you have authors you look up to? Who did influence your writing?
Oh, wow. There are so many. Stephen King, for one. Anne Rice, Jude Deveraux, Stephanie Laurens, Lois Duncan. Although I write dark, I don't always read it. I'm a huge historical romance junkie. I can seriously finish a novel a day. It's the same with YA. Once I start, sometimes it'll be weeks before I stop my binge.
26. While writing do you need silence or do you listen to music? If yes, what are you listening to?
Always music, and it ranges all over the place. I have a playlist on Spotify for every book I write.
https://open.spotify.com/user/127411939
27. If you could pick one song that could relate to/describe Bram, what would it be? (well, I have one but I ain't telling yet lol)
LOL I had his song playing the moment I wrote his first word on the Prologue. This Night by Black Lab.
28. There were poems in the book that main anti-hero Bram wrote...do you write poetry as well? Or was that „Bram taking over“ moment for you?
LOL I don't always write poetry, but I used to write it all the time. The poems throughout are mine. The one at the very end of the book came to me just before I fell into a deep sleep. I literally flew from bed and sprinted to my computer to write it down. I was up for a good two hours perfecting it.
29. Your other work includes the fantasy world of vampires (Marco Delacroix novels 1-5) and werewolves (Wolf in Wolf River series). How much of the „freedom“ did you find writing in fantasy genre as oppose to the dark erotica field of adult fiction or there's no difference at all?
Paranormal is my favorite to write, BY FAR. My imagination just thrives when you combine darkness with any paranormal creature. I have so many ideas and stories and not enough time to write them.
30.Will there be more books in the Wolf River series?
Yes! I'll be starting Bad Blood in the next few months.
31. A few quickies: vampires or werewolves?
Dammit. Lol....I was hoping that question wouldn't come. I love both, but vampires are my favorite.
32. Coffee or tea?
Coffee.
33.Beer or vine?
I haven't had a drink in over 10 years, but if I had to pick, I'm more of a beer person. (Okay, that's a lie. I had a pina colada a few months ago, but that was the first in a decade, I swear. Lol)
34. Favorite food?
I'm a health nut.
Chicken and veggies for me.
35. Book or Movie?
Book, hands down.
36. Well, I happen to know that Wolf will be made into a movie. Who would you like to see starring as the main character from Wolf?
That's so hard. I like Tyler Hoechlin for Alex, but I'm not opposed to someone completely undiscovered playing him. He would have to have a sexy, rugged appearance to pull it off.
37. If 24690 should be made into a movie, who would you like to see as 24690/Everleigh, Bram and West?
For the movie, I can only say for West since he was the strongest for me in appearance concerning actors. West would have to be played by Stephen Amell, without a doubt. It was who he was from the beginning. Bram was Dusan Susnjar, a model and not an actor so I have no idea who would play him. As for Everleigh ... I don't know. I wish I could think of someone closely resembling her, but I haven't been able to find a good match yet.
38. While picturing your characters as you write them do you already have the visual features of them based on real people or they are strictly figment of imagination?
West is the only one who wasn't strictly imagination. He started out that way, but he resembled Stephen Amell so much that I quickly couldn't separate the two in terms of appearance in my head. Otherwise, the characters never resemble celebrities and I have the hardest time finding a good match.
39.Is there something you would like to share with the readers?
I just hope each and every one of you enjoy my stories. I put a lot of emotion and heart into my work. I truly hope it shines through and you're able to connected with them just as much as I do.
40.What are your future plans?
WORLD DOMINATION!
Sorry, that wasn't supposed to slip out.
One story at a time. I'm just enjoying these adventures and living in the moment.
Alaska, thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview on The Sirens Book Reviews blog. We wish you all the success with your future work and we are looking forward to hopefully have the chance to repeat this phenomenal experience.
All the best,
The Sirens Book Reviews
Interview arranged and conducted under the supervision of The Sirens Book Reviews, August, 2016.
About Alaska Angelini
A.A. Dark is Alaska Angelini's pen for her darker books. These are dark to the EXTREME-Thriller, Horror based. **Caution when reading.** Alaska Angelini is a Best Selling Author of dark, twisted happily-ever-afters. She currently resides in Wisconsin, but moves at the drop of a dime. Check back in a few months and she's guaranteed to live somewhere new. Obsessive, stalking, mega-alpha hero's/anti-heros are her thing. Throw in some rope, cuffs, and a whip or two, and watch the magic begin. If you're looking to connect with her to learn more, feel free to email her at alaska_angelini@yahoo.com, or find her on Facebook.
