…that’s one of the titles by Ann M. Noser and definitely a book I will want to read! Here’s what Ann has to say about herself:
My to-do list dictates that I attempt to cram forty-eight hours of living into a day instead of the usual twenty-four. I’ve chosen a life filled with animals. I train for marathons with my dog, then go to work as a small animal veterinarian, and finish the day by tripping over my pets as I attempt to convince my two unruly children that YES, it really IS time for bed. But I can’t wait until the house is quiet to write; I have to steal moments throughout the day. Ten minutes here, a half hour there, I live within my imagination.
Like all busy American mothers, I multi-task. I work out plot holes during runs. Instead of meditating, I type madly during yoga stretches. I find inspiration in everyday things: an NPR program, a beautiful smile, or a newspaper article on a political theory.
I’d love to have more time to write (and run, read, and sleep), but until I find Hermione Granger’s time turner, I will juggle real life with the half-written stories in my head. Main characters and plot lines intertwine in my cranium, and I need to let my writing weave the tales on paper so I can find out what happens next.
Where to find more about Ann:
Blog: http://www.annmnoser.com
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AnnMNoser
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnnMNoser
Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8124757.Ann_M_Noser
Ann was brave enough to sit on my couch and answer few questions…and no, I did not tie her down, she volunteered 🙂
- Do you ever dream about your characters? If yes, what is the weirdest dream you’ve had?
I’ve never dreamt about my characters (unless you count daydreams)—that’s not very Stephanie Meyer of me. Haha
I tend to dream horrible dreams—about my mother’s Alzheimer’s, about my veterinary patients suffering, about losing my kids. Stress is in my blood—maybe this is the only way to flush it out.
- What is your earliest childhood memory?
So many to choose from:
- Recumbent on the couch with my bad ear pressed on a hot water bottle. I was sick all the time, according to my mom, and had to have tubes put in my eardrums at one point. Do they even do that anymore?
- Spending all day out in the woods near home with the neighborhood kids: building forts, sledding, or picking raspberries. Regarding question one, I don’t dream about my characters, but I still dream about my beloved woods—which is the only way I can visit now because they were destroyed to build new
- Wanting my own dog so, so, so bad.
- Wanting a sibling so, so, so bad.
- Wanting blond hair so, so, so bad.
- Searching the local kids’ library for a book I hadn’t read yet.
- Going to concerts, musicals, and dramas at the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire and Menomonie Mabel Tainter theaters. I’m still in awe of a buxom Dolly parading down the magnificent staircase in Hello Dolly and a red-haired Eliza Doolittle crooning in My Fair Lady. I really need to take my kids to more plays. My parents shared their love of the theater with me, which is a gift I maybe didn’t appreciate enough at the time.
- Do you believe in destiny? If yes why, if no why.
Yes and no. I don’t believe in simply lounging around waiting for your destiny. I believe in working hard towards a destiny. I don’t believe it will happen if you don’t earn it—or at least I don’t believe nothing good will happen if you don’t even try.
- Why did you choose to write in this genre?
I don’t actually choose a genre, which is perhaps a failing of mine. Instead, a story idea pokes around in my head and I encourage it by writing it down, worrying about what genre it fits into later. I’ve read that a new writer should write at least five books in the same genre before moving on to another, but I haven’t opted to follow that rule.
- Do you do a lot of researching before starting to write or do you go with the flow and check the details (if doing so) later?
This depends on the book. I researched a great deal for How to Date Dead Guys. I wanted every witchcraft spell to have a base in Wiccan literature. I also researched gang life—this was terrifying. I still have books I haven’t finished after closing them in horror, shocked at the cruelty held within.
For Dead Girl Running, which was possibly part of the thrill of writing it, there was so much anatomy, running, and yoga involved—all of which I had read about extensively already, due to personal interest—that I’d previously done the research without even knowing it.
- What is the one question you’ve always hoped someone would ask you?
Question: What do you do to have such great hair? (Because my hair has always thwarted my desires. I swear it’s possessed—perhaps I’m a reincarnated Medusa.)
Answer: It’s a secret.
Aside: The best notepad I ever bought had this saying on it: “How do you expect me to control my life when I can’t even control my hair?”
- What is your next project?
One word: sequels!
I need to finish the third book in the witchcraft series (How to Destroy Dead Guys will follow How to Date Dead Guys and How to Ditch Dead Guys).
I need to write the sequels to Dead Girl Running (published October 2015 by Curiosity Quills) and An Occasionally Grim Fairy Tale (soon to be published by Fantasy Works).
However, lately I’ve been more interested in writing articles on many topics: veterinary care, writing, and Alzheimer’s disease.
I also plan to write a book on Alzheimer’s disease, partly as a form of therapy. Sometimes seeing my mother deteriorate like this makes me want to run screaming from the nursing home, never to return. But I do.
Dead Girl Running Blurb (published by Curiosity Quills October 2015)
(A YA/NA crossover Dystopian cross between The Giver, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Agenda 21.)
Eight years ago, SILVIA WOOD’s father died in an industrial accident. After suffering through years of Psychotherapy Services and Mandated Medications for depression and multiple suicide attempts, she longs to work in Botanical Sciences. When the Occupation Exam determines she must work in Mortuary Sciences instead, she wonders if the New Order assigned her to the morgue to push her over the edge.
To appease her disappointed mother, Silvia enters the Race for Citizen Glory, in an attempt to stand out in the crowd of Equals. After she begins training with “golden boy” LIAM HARMAN, she discovers he also lost his father in the same accident that ruined her childhood. Then Silvia meets and falls for Liam’s older cousin, whose paranoid intensity makes her question what really happened to her father. As the race nears, Silvia realizes that she’s not only running for glory, she’s running for her life.
How to Date Dead Guys Blurb (published by Curiosity Quills July 2014)
College sophomore Emma Roberts remembers her mother’s sage advice: “don’t sleep around, don’t burp in public, and don’t tell anyone you see ghosts”. But when charming Mike Carlson drowns in the campus river under her watch, Emma’s sheltered life shatters.
Blamed for Mike’s death and haunted by nightmares, Emma turns to witchcraft and a mysterious Book of Shadows to bring him back. Under a Blood Moon, she lights candles, draws a pentacle on the campus bridge, and casts a spell. The invoked river rages up against her, but she escapes its fury. As she stumbles back to the dorm, a stranger drags himself from the water and follows her home. And he isn’t the only one.
Instead of raising Mike, Emma assists the others she stole back from the dead—a pre-med student who jumped off the bridge, a desperate victim determined to solve his own murder, and a frat boy Emma can’t stand…at first. More comfortable with the dead than the living, Emma delves deeper into the seductive Book of Shadows. Her powers grow, but witchcraft may not be enough to protect her against the vengeful river and the killers that feed it their victims.
Inspired by the controversial Smiley Face Murders, HOW TO DATE DEAD GUYS will ignite the secret powers hidden deep within each of us.
An Occasionally Grim Fairy Tale Blurb (soon to be published by Fantasy Works)
Prince Bane Baronne has baby fever. He’s in search of a wife with the proper mystical bloodline to bear him the heir of prophecy. Anna Leon is chosen, but Bane only pretends to be Prince Charming. When Anna questions his intentions, she vanishes from the castle.
Convinced she’s to blame for her younger sister’s disappearance, Maria Leon is coerced into the royal marriage instead. She’s older, wiser, and should know better—but Bane always gets what he wants. And he’s not above using trickery or treachery to do so.
Maria attempts to salvage what she can of a “happily ever after” by working hard to be the best mother and wife. Until the day she learns that every woman who has married into the Baronne line disappears soon after they’ve produced an heir.
And she’s next in line.
Readers who enjoyed the combined wit of a large cast of characters in The Princess Bride and the not-so-happily-ever-after tone of Grimm’s Fairytales will relish this twisted take on Cinderella.
Thank you, Ann! It’s been fun to have you here. Now off to buy your books!
Cheers,
Jen x
AUTHOR JENNIFER LOISKE 
Thanks for the fun interview! Cheers!
My pleasure!