I'm delighted to welcome Iyana Jenna to my blog.
Hello Iyana – It’s lovely to have you on the
blog and I’m sure your readers are looking forward to reading what you have to
share. But before we discover more about, Santa’s Reindeer, here are a few questions that will hopefully
give your readers an insight into some of the things that matter to you.
Arabella: How did you manage to get your first novel published and what did you learn from the experience?
Iyana: It was actually a short
story that became my first experience as a published author. I think I waited
quite sometime until I heard back from the publisher so I actually kind of
forgot that I sent something out there! Well, I don’t know. Perhaps I had so many
things to do that I didn’t even remember. LOL.
My short story got a rather nice welcome. A reviewer even gave it a ‘Booyah!’ However, it turned to be a bitter experience, too, with the publisher since they ran away with the authors’ money. Well, I haven’t got too much money from my story, but imagine the other authors. They lost thousands of dollars!
I’m thankful that I had another publisher republish it. By the way the story is titled Just a Little Unwell and it is now with JMS Books.
Arabella: Roses, Lilies, or another flower of choice?
Iyana: Umm, I’m not really a
flower person. Heheheh.
Iyana: My latest release is Santa’s
Reindeer, and like many of my other stories, it was also inspired by my
favorite actor, Elijah Wood.
Arabella: If you could
choose, which would it be?
1)
A
walk in the woods
2)
A
walk along a beachfront to dip your toes in the sea
3)
A
day shopping for clothes
Iyana: A walk along a
beachfront to dip my toes in the sea
Arabella: Which authors or what books have influenced your writing?
Iyana: J. R. R. Tolkien with
his otherworldly trilogy The Lord of the Rings is the sole reason why I started
writing. But I admire other authors, too, such as Paulo Coelho, Jeffrey Archer,
and John Grisham.
Arabella: Some authors write at first light, others need a mug of coffee or a glass of wine before putting pen to paper. When writing, are there any “essentials” you need to help the words flow?
Iyana: Unfortunately I can’t
drink coffee anymore because of my GERD. *weeps* But I just need my song playlist
when I write stories on my cellphone.
Arabella: You’re halfway through the work-in-progress and you’re stuck! If you had to contact an “author/publisher/editor friend” for guidance, who would it be?
Iyana: I’m a kind of person
who believes that I’m not supposed to talk to others when it comes to stories
that are unfinished. So I just stop and read others’ stories when I get stuck.
Arabella: The T.V. is
on and you’re in control of the remote. Which would it be?
1)
A
quiz programme
2) An afternoon of sport
3) A family soap
4) A romantic film you always wanted
to see but missed when it was shown at the cinema?
Iyana: Either 3 or 4
Arabella: Do you have
any great writing, publishing, or marketing tips you’d like to share with
“want-to-be” authors starting out on their writing journey?
Iyana: I know I’m not really a
best-seller author, yet, and I also haven’t dedicated all my time to writing or
marketing, so I’m not too ambitious. But I still do whatever I can to share
what I have published out there in terms of marketing. And yeah, marketing a
book doesn’t stop only when it is released. It has to be done consistently and
continuously.
One
more thing, I’m always afraid to be a one-hit wonder. So I try to always have new
releases every time. Building a blacklist is very important for an author.
Thank you so much, Arabella! Wow, I’d say you are
very good at making questions. It was so much fun answering them. I’m sorry,
though, if I talk too much. LOL.
Thank you for joining me on
Arabella's Blog and Chit-Chat, Iyana. Your latest YA MM release - Santa’s Reindeer,
sounds amazing. Congratulations...
Best wishes and lots more
happy-ever-after writing.
Arabella Sheen
About Iyana Jenna
Reading, watching movies, and being unable to find exactly the thing she wanted to read have led Iyana to write her own stories, mostly about man-on-man romance that has fascinated her since as early as the Starsky and Hutch era. Teaching and writing English course books during the day, Iyana spends her nights mostly dreaming about love stories between two men who are protective toward each other.
Author Links:
https://facebook.com/books.by.iyanajenna
http://instagram.com/iyanajenna
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/iyanajenna
https://www.amazon.com/Iyana-Jenna/e/B00C9C41IO/
http://iyanajennaauthor.wordpress.com
Book Blurb
Santa’s Reindeer
Tyler gets left behind by the group. He makes a mistake of landing on earth when Santa is delivering a package. He is enticed by the sparkly stuff at a window. He has seen things like that when he was with Santa going places but never got a chance to watch closer. Now he does.
Excerpt:
The night was getting dark and the snow was falling harder and thicker. Tyler tightened the thin blanket he’d snatched from a clothesline earlier this afternoon around his body. It didn’t help much. The best it could do was keep his dignity.
He looked around the town. It wasn’t as lively as several hours before. Not many people were still on the streets—which was completely understandable judging from the weather and cold temperature—and not for the first time Tyler regretted his own stupidity. He wanted to blame those sparkling lights coming from the stores and the streets’ Christmas decorations, but that wouldn’t be fair. Those lights had always been there every time he stopped by the town, which was only his second time this year. Yeah, what did you expect? He was just thirteen. The youngest Santa allowed a boy to come along was twelve.
Buy Links:
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1100164
Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/book/520831934/Santa-s-Reindeer
Chapters Indigo: https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/santas-reindeer/9781005070687-item.html
Genre: YA MM Christmas shifter short story
Length: 2,900 words
Release Date: October 7, 2021
