TRC: Hi Annabeth and welcome to The Reading Café.

Annabeth: It’s nice to be here. Thanks for hosting me.

TRC: Congratulations on the recent release of your first book FIGHTING HEARTS.

Annabeth:I appreciate that. I still can’t believe it’s out there.

TRC: We would like to start with some background information. Would you please tell us something about yourself?

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Annabeth: I’m a native Mid-Westerner, who moved to the Pacific Northwest to attend school. I’d won an essay contest in a fairly prestigious publication, which probably had a lot to do with me getting admitted. I’ve always loved writing, and the ‘day jobs’ I’ve thrived at were those that had a huge writing component to them.

TRC: Who or what influenced your career in writing?

Annabeth: My grandmother. She not only had great stories of her own, but she was a great storyteller.  She was also tirelessly supportive of my writing.

TRC: What challenges or difficulties have you encountered writing and publishing your first novel?

Annabeth: I think the biggest challenge was the ever-changing landscape of romance publishing itself. Fighting Hearts was a finalist in an RWA chapter writing contest. After I finished the book, I was faced with the question: traditional or self publish?In the end, I chose self-publishing. The book was done, and I wanted it out there! That’s just my personality. It’s also nice to be able to chose your editor and cover designer. I’ve been fortunate to find great, great people and that makes this experience even more fun.

TRC: Would you please tell us something about the premise of FIGHTING HEARTS and the Hearts So fine series?

Annabeth: Fighting Hearts is an opposites attract, friends-to-lovers  steamy romance about a trauma nurse who moves in with an MMA fighter after losing her apartment.  They meet in a locker room mix-up at the gym he trains at when she takes  a side job as a martial arts instructor, something she’s trained in since childhood.

The Hearts So Fine series follows a group of Chicago-based nurses, their friends and the fighting men who fall in love with them. All books in the series are stand alone stories.

TRC: How many books do you have planned for the series?

Annabeth: Right now, seven.  The second book in the series, Crazy Hearts, will be out in the fall.

TRC: Did you pull from your experiences in the health care field for the story
line premise?

Annabeth: Somewhat. Many nurses I know speak with a blunt candor that sometimes  carries over into non-clinical conversations. Louise (my heroine) definitely  has that personality trait. It’s both a surprise and a turn-on for the hero (Usalv). It also makes for some lively, fun-to-read exchanges between them!

TRC: What kind of research/plotting did you do, and how long did you spend researching /plotting before beginning FIGHTING HEARTS?

Annabeth: Not much before I started. Over time, I’ve had both active and passive interests in martial arts. Because of my day job working in hospitals, I knew something about hospital life,  The locker room scene, where the hero and heroine first meet, came to me in the middle of the night and I just started writing it. Then on a day-to-day basis, as the story unfolded I’d do the necessary research before and during the writing of the chapters. That method was very, very slow. It’s  hard to quantify how much time I spent researching vs writing that way.

TRC: What was the hardest scene to write?

Annabeth:The HEA. You think that would be easy, because we all know how it’s supposed to end, right? But by that point in the story, my characters had been through a lot, and I didn’t want to just end things because it was time to wrap-it-up. So I tried hard not to trivialize their feelings for the sake of expediency. I wanted the characters to remain their authentic selves–.just happier.

Remember the old school romances, where the hero would propose to the heroine on the last page of the book, and she was shocked to learn he felt that way about her, too? That type of HEA is a lot easier to write, but it can be a jarring experience when a character does something out-of-the-blue like that for the sake of preserving the plot.

My editor, Holly Atkinson was a great help  making sure that things stayed authentic.

TRC: How will publishing FIGHTING HEARTS affect your writing style going forward?

Annabeth: When I started the book I was a panster, but by the end I was more of a plotter. With my second book, Crazy Hearts, I started out a plotter and have remained that way.

TRC: Do you believe the cover image plays a deciding factor for many readers in the process of selecting a book or new series to read?

Annabeth:Absolutely. Especially in the age of digital publishing. It’s really the primary way a reader determines if a book is the ‘type’ they’re looking for. If people aren’t interested in the cover art, they’ll never get to the book blurb.

TRC: When writing a storyline, do the characters direct the writing or do you direct the characters?

Annabeth: On a good writing day, it’s like I’m taking dictation from them.  On a bad writing day, it feels like they’ve ghosted me and I’ve got to figure out how to get them talking  again.. When I start writing, I know the journey that the characters have to go on, but they choose the path forward. Writer’s block for me is when the characters stop to ask for directions. Are you sure that’s how I feel right now? Are you sure we want to do this here?”

TRC: The mark of a good writer is to pull the reader into the storyline so that they experience the emotions along with the characters. What do you believe a writer must do to make this happen?  Where do you believe writer’s fail in this endeavor?

Annabeth: Strong world building. The stories’ world needs to be treated like a character itself. The physical setting, its cultural norms, and the people who occupy it, must act and react to the characters. And the characters must do the same. These interactions should help motivate them along their journey, and provide another vehicle for characters to reveal their thoughts and emotions.

As a writer, I think it can be risky to produce pages of passive description of the characters world, at least in this genre. Even having the characters react emotionally to the setting can leave a reader wondering why they are being given this information right now.

TRC: Do you listen to music while writing? If so, does the style of music influence the storyline direction? Characters?

Annabeth: Never while I’m working on a manuscript. Cold stone silence is best for me. But when I plotting, or working through a troublesome scene I do like music. If it’s an upbeat scene, like the meet cute or a first kiss, then I’ve probably got Carly Rae Jepson playing. If it’s a dark scene, like a break up or big black moment, I’m playing something more dark or angsty. Like Chainsmokers or  even nineties grunge sometimes.  It all depends.

TRC: What do you believe is the biggest misconception people have about authors?

Annabeth: That we live stress-free, easy-going lives with no deadlines or pressure. That it’s not a real job.

TRC: What is something that few, if anybody, knows about you?

Annabeth: I love old jewelry from yard and estate sales.

TRC: On what are you currently working?

Annabeth: Crazy Hearts, the second book in the Hearts So Fine Series. It’s Zoe and Mike’s story.

TRC: Would you like to add anything else?

My email address is author@annabethsaryu.com if you just want to say hi or comment on the books.

My website is https://www.annabethsaryu.com

I’m launching my author newsletter this fall, before the release of Crazy Hearts. Readers can sign up  to receive the latest news on the Hearts So Fine Series, including free content, release dates, giveaways and contests. https://www.annabethsaryu.com/contact

amazon: amazon.com/author/annabethsaryu

goodreads:   https://www.goodreads.com/goodreadscomannabethsaryu

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/annabeth.saryu.9

LIGHTNING ROUND

Favorite Food: Fresh shellfish.

Favorite Dessert: Fruit pie, especially  my mother’s blueberry pie recipe.

Favorite TV Show:Toss up between Peaky Blinders and Ballers.  Make more episodes please!

Last Movie You Saw: Hollywood Dirt, starring Emma Rigby on that new Passionflix channel.

Dark or Milk Chocolate: Dark

Secret Celebrity Crush: Dwayne Johnson

Last Vacation Destination:Jaipur, India.

Do you have any pets?: Two dogs. One standard poodle and one rough collie.

Last book you read: Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell.

TRC: Thank you Annabeth for taking the time to answer our questions.  Congratulations on your the release of FIGHTING HEARTS. We wish you much success.