I got in contact with some lovely people at Filles Vertes Publishing last week and asked to do an author interview with Tracy Renee Wolfe. I was able to ask her a few fun questions and get to know her a little bit, and it was a lot of fun! I posted the cover reveal for her new book, Abducted Hope, on my blog last week and you can find that here. Her new book comes out next Friday, March 30th.
About Tracy, from her website:
Tracy Renee Wolfe is an author, lover of books, Christian, wife, mom, animal lover, geek, and Hokie. She lives in her native state of Virginia with her husband and son. She loves all furry animals, including rats, and is known for stopping to pet any dog she encounters.
As a self-professed geek, she loves science fiction and fantasy and fervently defends her belief that Star Trek and Star Wars are not mutually exclusive fandoms. She considers herself to be an online extrovert and an offline introvert, leading to her love of social media. Additionally, she shares many interests with little kids, such as Disney movies, the opinion that no food can be βtoo sweetβ, and cheesy poetry that rhymes. An example of the latter can be found in the poetry anthology, βOur Virginia: The State For Lovers.β
Her debut novel, βAbducted Hope,β is a new-adult, space opera, coming soon fromΒ Filles Vertes Publishing. She canβt wait to share it with other book lovers!
Connect with Tracy on Her Official Website, Facebook, Twitter, andΒ Goodreads.
Eliza: Tracy, thank you so much for joining me today. You have a really interesting about page and I just have to ask: what are your rats’ names and do you let them wear tiny hats? Are they ever featured in your writing?
Tracy: Iβm happy to be here! We started with a pair of rats named Cookies and Creme, who both turned out to be pregnant. We eventually ended up with a total of five rats that we kept: Cookies, Oreo, Nilla, Tagalong, and Baileys. They were so cuddly and I loved to dress them up and pose them! They were good sports! Unfortunately theyβve all passed away, but featuring them in my writing would be a great idea! (see attached picture π )
Photo Courtesy of Tracy Renee Wolfe
Eliza: Ahhh! I love a rodent with good party wear. Silliness out of the way, I want to know more about your new book, Abducted Hope. You have to be so excited that it is going to be released in just a week! How long has it been from when you first started writing to publication?
Tracy: I am beyond excited! Itβs pretty surreal, in fact, that Iβll soon have a published book that I wrote in my hands! I believe I started querying in early 2016. Before I found Filles Vertes Publishing through a pitch contest on Twitter, Iβd already been rejected over 100 times by literary agencies. It was a long process to find the right home for my book!
Eliza: I read that your book is 362 pages. That’s a lot! How long did it take you to write?
Tracy: Iβd say it took me over a year to write Abducted Hope. I wrote it while working part-time washing dishes in the cafeteria at my sonβs elementary school. The monotony of washing dishes helped me think of all kinds of plot twists!
Eliza: If you had to use one gif to express how you feel about the writing process, what would it be?
Tracy:
Eliza: Amazing, I love it!Β A lot of the people that read my blog are writers as well. One tip I like to give other writers is: use one garbage can only for paper (just in case you decide to keep what you threw out yesterday.) Do you have any tips for new writers that hope to be published one day as well?
Tracy: Never give up! This applies to both the writing process and the publishing process. In my earlier years, I gave up on my work way too quickly. Abducted Hope is actually the first story that I let other people read. I donβt even have earlier stories because I thought they were terrible and deleted them!
Eliza: What drew you to writing for the new adult category? Is it more to do with the age of the main character or the intended audience?
Tracy: It definitely has more to do with the character than the intended audience. As a kid, I mostly read adult books, and as an adult, I mostly read young adult books. I love that books transcend age categories! The age categories are tricky these days though. Iβve read some theories that if the main character is college-aged, the book should be considered new adult. However, thereβs another school of thought that believes new adult is strictly reserved for explicit content. For the record, Abducted Hope does not fit into the latter.
Eliza:Β Good to know! I have definitely heard that about new adult, as well. From the description about your book is sounds like a lot of it takes place on a space station. Did you do research about space stations while writing the book?
Tracy: I didnβt really research space stations very much, but I had to do a lot of research in science and medicine. Thatβs the tricky part of science fiction. I wanted to just βmake upβ things, but it had to be plausible!
Eliza: I love creating my own world building maps and designs for places I’m writing about. Did you draw or design the space station in your book?
Tracy: Iβm not artistically inclined, so I did not make any maps or designs, though it definitely would have been helpful to keep details straight.
Eliza:Β I’m not very artistic either. Mine usually look like a toddler drawing chickens, but I do my best! I wish there was an Inkarnate for Science Fiction books. One of the characters in your book, Orion, is described as an alien doctor. What do the aliens look like in your book?
Tracy: Orion is a Phaeite. They look human, with the exception of their lack of hair. There are other species as well, but I canβt divulge too many details on them without spoiling the book.
Eliza:Β I can’t imagine being thrust into the situation that the main character, Melissa, is in. She is impregnated by aliens, has her daughter taken from her, and is tortured by the Ruling Class. What is the driving force, or motive, that gets her through those challenges?
Tracy: Youβre killing me with these thought-provoking questions, Eliza! Lol. Melissa only briefly mentions her belief in God at one point in the book, but I like to think that her faith keeps her going.
Eliza:Β Β You’re doing great! Which character in your book do you most relate to and why?
Tracy: I definitely relate to Melissa the most. I envisioned myself in her shoes every step of the story. Iβm also sure that I unintentionally gifted her with many of my own strengths and weaknesses.
Eliza: If your book was turned into a movie, who would you pick to play Melissa?
Tracy: I would say that I havenβt even thought that far ahead, but that would be a lie, lol. I havenβt really considered who would play Melissa though. However, Iβve pictured Chris Hemsworth as Orion, particularly in the second half of the book.
Eliza:Β But would it be Hemsworth without all of that dreamy hair? Well, this is the last question. I apologize as it’s a bit of a kicker. What is your favorite science fiction book of all time?
Tracy: For the longest time, I would have said Lightning by Dean Koontz. Today, I have so many favorites that I canβt narrow it down. I will say that I lean towards the dystopian end of the sci-fi spectrum.
Eliza:Β It’s so hard to choose just one, right? Thanks for answering these questions for me and my readers! Congratulations on Abducted Hope which comes out on March 30th.
Tracy: Thank you so much!
You can find Tracy on Her Official Website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads.
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