Author Q&A: Amy Vansant

Today we're interviewing USA TODAY and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Amy Vansant.

Vansant has written over twenty books, including the rollicking, twisty Pineapple Port Mysteries, and the action-packed Kilty urban fantasies.

Her latest is The Girl Who Wants, a mystery thriller with plenty of action, psychological drama, and wit.

SADYE: How did you come to see yourself as a writer, and what inspired you to seek publication?

AMY: When I was very little I wrote Winnie-the-Pooh — complete with original drawings.

I didn’t know much about copyright infringement then. But I’ve been writing since I could.

I was East Coast editor of SURFER Magazine and freelanced, then I quit for a while because it was easier to buy food working at my web development firm at the beginning of the Internet, but I came back!

(About three years too late to really enjoy the beginning of Indie publishing. Crap.

SADYE: Tell us something about your writing process that’s unusual or that you haven’t revealed before.

AMY: I literally have no idea what’s going to happen until it does.

I don’t plan a book. I start writing scenes that I like until they make sense, and then I stitch them together. 

SADYE: Which of your characters would you most like to become romantically involved with?

AMY: Sadly, the most fun/interesting male leads are sort of nightmares to date in the long run in real life.

I wrote Declan, my Pineapple Port hero, to be the perfect nice guy, smart, funny, sweet — and people started telling me they thought he was a little boring.

So I made him an ex-mercenary with a troubled past, which probably means although he still seems great, he’d probably be a nightmare in real life!

SADYE: What period of history would you most like to travel back to  and why?

AMY: None. I’m fond of women’s rights, antacid and video on demand. I’ll stay here! 

SADYE: What message or theme would you like readers to take away from your work?

AMY: Mostly I want to leave people happy. Thrilled, excited, maybe a little introspective — but ultimately happy!

Oh, and eager to go buy my next book.

SADYE: What advice, as relates to your writing career, would you give your younger self?

AMY: Go ahead and start the web company, but KEEP WRITING. Don’t quit for a decade. Oh, and build Facebook.

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Learn more about Amy Vansant on her website, where her books can also be purchased; like her on Facebook; and follow her on Twitter and Instagram. 

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