AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH:

HEATH AMODIO

     

A young boy must defend the Books of Power from those that would use them to create an army of the most infamous villains ever written.Villains such as Captain Hook, The Invisible Man, Dorian Gray, and the winged beasts from the land of Oz come to life in the first book of this adventure series. Every famous classic novel was once a hand-written manuscript into which its author poured his or her heart and soul. These manuscripts, full of raw passion and life, have the power to bring characters to life when read aloud. For over a century, protecting these manuscripts from those who would use their infamous villains to wage war on humanity has fallen upon the shoulders of the Adkins Family. Now, with his parents killed and grandfather kidnapped, Shay must take up the mantel of The Keeper and protect the Books of Power from the worst threat yet. For fans of Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and The Hunger Games.  THANKS FOR BEING ON THE BLONDE BOOKIE BLOG, HEATH. TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR BOOK.  My name is Heath Amodio. I write screenplays, comic books, and my first two novels are currently available. The novels are the first two chapters in what I'm hoping is a long series. Book one is The Keeper and the Books of Power. In book one, Shay must face the murders of both parents and prevent his evil uncle from building an army of fiction's most infamous villains. It's Goonies meets a YA adventure in the vein of Percy Jackson and Harry Potter. The second book is The Keeper and the Rise of Hyde. It follows Shay and his friends on another adventure while an even darker enemy rises to power.  GOONIES IS MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE, SO THIS SOUNDS LIKE A SERIES I WOULD LOVE! WHEN AND HOW DID YOU BECOME A WRITER? According to my progress reports in elementary school, I've been writing since grade school. Lol. I started taking it seriously when I decided to take a shot at an open submissions call by Marvel Comics. They chose my comic, along with four other writers, to have my issue published through their indie line Epic. Unfortunately that fell through but it showed me I had some actual talent. I mean it's Marvel after all.  BEING CHOSEN BY MARVEL IS A DREAM, SO CONGRATS ON GETTING THAT FAR. IT'S A HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT! WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS YOUR GREATEST WRITING ACHIEVEMENT? Aside from the Marvel thing, I'd have to say wowing actress Emmanuelle Chriqui with my script Weight of It All. We've been friends on Twitter for a few years now and she's always been kind enough to read my work. She loved this particular script and thanks to her I was able to option the script. It's now in pre-production.  WOW! OKAY, YOU MAY BE LIVING MY DREAM. CONGRATS! WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT BEING A WRITER? The lack of time. There are always too many ideas, too many projects, and NEVER enough time. I still work a 9-5 so I can only write in my spare time and stories fall by the wayside because of it. That part sucks.  A close second would be the waiting. Waiting for replies from agents, publishers, etc. It's part of the process, but it feels like being stuck in neutral. It's hard to move onto the next project when you're dying to know the status of the last one.  THE WAITING IS THE WORST, BECAUSE IF YOU START SOMETHING NEW TO GET YOUR MIND OFF OF IT, AT SOME POINT YOU HAVE TO GO BACK TO IT. WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON AT THE MOMENT? I'm currently working on two comic book series, a graphic novel, a picture book, the third Keeper book, two television pilots, and putting the finishing touches on three feature screenplays. See what I mean about time?  YOU ARE SUPER BUSY! WHAT GENRE(S) DO YOU WRITE OR WISH TO WRITE? Literally anything and everything. If it comes to mind, I write it.  DO YOU EVER SUFFER FROM WRITER’S BLOCK? HOW DO YOU GET PAST IT?  It's only happened a couple of times. I usually move on to the next thing and go back when I'm inspired. That's why I try to have 2 or 3 things going at once.  DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE PLACE TO WRITE? I do 90% of my writing on my phone or tablet now. I guess my favorite place to write is anywhere I have 5 minutes.  YES, YOU HAVE TO GET IT IN WHEN YOU CAN! WHAT’S THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT YOU EVER RECEIVED FROM A READER? There's a 5-way tie.  --When my mother first told me she liked my writing.  --When Marvel said they loved my submission and were going to publish it. --One woman said that she read my first book in three hours and wanted the next one.  --Actor Jonathan Tucker called me and left me a voicemail that said my writing was "a breath of fresh air." That he opened the file just to browse it and couldn't stop reading.  --When Emmanuelle sent me her first reaction to my screenplay. It's NSFW but it was awesome! Honestly I take any kind words with the highest regard.  YOU'VE HAD SOME GREAT ONES! WHAT WAS THE WORST COMMENT FROM A READER? It's not awful or mean but I'm really tired of hearing the words... "I liked it a lot, I just didn't love it."  What am I supposed to do with that? OTHER THAN WRITING, WHAT ELSE DO YOU LOVE? Family, friends, fiancé, my DOG.... I'm obsessed with comics, good tv, great movies, fantasy football, playing basketball, and POPs. DID YOU HAVE YOUR BOOK(S) PROFESSIONALLY EDITED BEFORE PUBLICATION? I had friends that were willing to help. An English teacher named Evan Bates from the local high school did a great job on the first book.  HOW DID YOUR BOOK COVERS COME TO FRUITION? I found a couple amazing artists on Deviantart.com Mathieu Morse did the cover to book one. Carl Canelas did the back cover. Arthur Asa did the cover to book two.  DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN ANY OF YOUR CHARACTERS? I've been told there's a lot of my sense of humor in Shay. WHICH DO YOU PREFER – SELF PUBLISHING OR TRADITIONAL? Haven't published anything traditionally so it's difficult to compare. DOES THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY FRUSTRATE YOU? Immensely.... Liking but not loving lol DID YOU EVER THINK OF QUITTING? Never! GOOD FOR YOU! HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE ‘SUCCESS’ AS A WRITER? When strangers take the time to read my work and enjoy it. There are so many books -- SO MANY -- that knowing they read mine and liked it... Nothing compares. IT IS OVERWHELMING HOW MANY BOOKS ARE OUT THERE AND NEW ONES GETTING PUBLISHED EVERYDAY. DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR NEW WRITERS? Pay attention to grammar and NEVER give up. Keep working on improving because you can always be better. ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO ADD? Just a sincere thank you for giving me this opportunity. I don't have the backing from a major publisher, so interviews like this are what give my books a shot. Self-publishing avenues like Create Space have given writers a chance to get their writing out to people that may have never read a word of it before. We don't have to wait for someone to deem our writing as good enough to publish. It's such a subjective thing and to find that one agent, editor, publisher on the day they were in the right mood to read and enjoy your story... Can you imagine the odds. AMEN TO THAT! OK NOW ON TO HEATH'S QUICKIES... Speed Round—HEATH'S “BLONDE” BASICS: FAVORITE FOOD? Used to be everything Italian but since I'm type 2 diabetic it's basically fully loaded salads. FAVORITE MOVIE? My fallback is always Man on Fire. The top spot tends to change but Man on Fire is always at least number two.  FAVORITE BOOK? IT by Stephen King. I must've read it 6-7 times. Perks of Being a Wallflower, the Ender's Game series, and the Harry Potter series are close seconds. Stephen Fry's Harry Potter Audiobooks are better than the movies.  FAVORITE SUPERHERO? 1. Daredevil 2. Tim Drake's Robin 3. Nightcrawler 4. Beast 5. Colossus 6. Invincible FAVORITE AUTHOR? 1. Stephen King 2. J.K. Rowling 3. Charles Bukowski 4. Robert Ludlum 5. Whoever I'm reading and loving at that moment Where you can find HEATH:  https://www.facebook.com/Keeperboardgame/ https://www.facebook.com/Thekeepernovel/                              THANKS AGAIN FOR JOINING THE BLOG, HEATH :)