Birth date: March 31, 1982
Location: Washington, DC
Website/blog: www.alayadawnjohnson.com
Genre: Fantasy
Writing credits: The first two books of The Spirit Binders trilogy: Racing the Dark and The Burning City. Also, unrelated, Moonshine, the start of a historical fantasy series staring Zephyr Hollis.
How frequently do you update your site?
Infrequently. Mostly when I have big publishing news to share (book covers, pub dates, big sales, etc.)
Is your site designed for reader interaction? No.
Post of note, something in particular you want readers to check out: I wrote a guest post for The Angry Black Woman this summer about race issues on one of my favorite television shows, Supernatural: http://theangryblackwoman.com/2009/09/09/an-open-letter-to-eric-kripke/
Top 5 reads you’re looking forward to reading in 2010?
Blackout by Connie Willis
Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
Bite Marks by Terence Taylor
White Cat by Holly Black
100 words or less how would you describe your work?
I hate repeating myself with my writing, so the next thing I'm working on is usually very different from the last. Moonshine and The Spirit Binders trilogy are about as far apart thematically as you can get while still falling under the broad category of fantasy. But my overarching themes tend to center around issues of family, female relationships, love (romantic and platonic), and broader issues of coming of age and identity.
100 words on less please share your thoughts on one of the following topics:
Writing life
It's a cliche, but writing is one of the hardest things you can do, and one of the most rewarding. When it's going well, I'm immersed in my stories, my characters and my worlds and I can barely spare the time to eat before I have to get back to them. Unfortunately, it doesn't always go well--many days I stare at my computer screen and wonder why I ever thought I was capable of putting a sentence together. But no matter how difficult it gets, there's never been anything else I've wanted to do. Frustration comes with the territory, but I never forget how lucky I am.
4 comments:
Terri, thank you for highlighting Alaya and her work. I've heard of her but haven't had a chance yet to read her books.
Added on the summer reading list!
I love the cover of Moonshine and think it's a great twist in time to write it in the past. I can't wait to read it.
I'd read a write-up of this in SF Signal, I think -- good to see a woman of color in this field.
I love your work. My little girls name is Tara Alaya. Alaya the nepal word for the spark of the universe in you in the aspekt of the garden. Your soul. Beauti name for a beautiful person. Danijel Bulat from croatia.namaste
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