Interview with Author, Eliza Boyd

Getting to know Eliza Boyd, author

1.  You are known for binge-watching your favorite TV shows.  What are you watching lately?

I really DO love to binge-watch shows. Haha! The new season of Orange is the New Blackcame out on Friday, so I spent all of Saturday watching it.  I started watching Sense8 on Netflix too, and I’d love to binge-watch Between, but Netflix is only releasing one episode a week. I’d like to start Hemlock Grove and maybe rewatch Alias because I loved that show. 

2.  We have seen on social media that you love "Pride & Prejudice."  Is Mr Darcy an influence on your male lead for your book?

Oh man, I love that book! I can’t say that I thought much about Mr. Darcy while I was writingOCN, but I’d love to write a Mr. Darcy-esque MMC one day!

3.  Do you listen to music while you write?  Is there a playlist or genre you prefer?

I usually don’t. I’m a big words person, so if I know the lyrics to a song, I’m probably singing along, which isn’t conducive to writing.  Sometimes, I throw on some wordless “Zen” hippie music or even some ragtime tunes to switch it up. I also enjoy Coffitivity.com – a website that pipes in sounds of a café. But I do love country music! 

4.  I hear you have moved to AZ from IL.  How is that weather change going for you?  Have you acclimated to the hotter location?

Oh yes! I love Arizona so much. It’s going to be over 110 degrees F (43 C) all week, which is hot as heck, but it’s much better than snow!

5.  Your new book is a story about taking a chance.  To me, that makes the lead character brave.  What do you want us to know about the book that is not obvious?

Good question! Let’s see. The book IS about taking a chance, making brave changes, but I think I’d want you to know that the book is also about accepting help when it’s needed. We all make choices that don’t put us in the position we thought we’d be in, so we can either make new choices or lie in the bed we’ve made. Chelsea is a woman who’s pretty down about her life, mostly because she thinks she can’t do much to change it for various reasons. So when the universe gives her a helping hand through new people in her life, she has a new choice: take the help or stay stuck. It’s always okay to accept help when we’re not yet strong enough to do things ourselves.  

6.  Do you have anything else coming soon?  Is there a sequel in the works?

Book 2 IS in the works. It’s written but it needs some editing love. But it doesn’t follow Chelsea. By the end of OCN, you know who book 2 is about. And there will be a book 3 about yet another woman, and she’s introduced in book 2, so I won’t say who it is. Then I have lots of other standalone books I would like to write. Lots of stuff coming!

7.  What made you want to be a writer?  Was it a book that you loved?

I don’t think it was a book I loved. I think it was more than I finally felt like I had an original story to tell. Since I was young, I’ve loved to read. And my mother used to ask me all the time when I’d write my own book. For the longest time, I’d say, “No, I’ll leave that to the professionals.” Even when I started blogging. I didn’t think writing was for me. And then I became an editor (which always seemed like the more reasonable path for me). That’s when my answer changed to, “Maybe when I have an original story to tell.” And about nine months after that, I realized I had a LOT of stories to tell. I’ve been writing ever since. 