True love, true pain and the truth of her own heritage: Finding Alice, Andrea DiGiglio VBT Pit Stop Feb 27

Andrea DiGiglio was born and raised in Michigan, she still resides there with her son. Andrea has always been a writer at heart. Over the last decade she has written, starred and directed in many screenplays. She recently in the last few years decided to venture in writing novels. She hasn’t looked back since, giving it her full attention. She is very excited to share the wonderful words she creates, with the world.

Andrea's new release has everything - a heroine, a hero, romance and suspense! Help me give her a warm welcome. And Readers there's a giveaway of Finding Alice to one lucky commenter!

Louise: Andrea, welcome to my blog! I’m so excited you could join me for a chat. When did you first decide to submit your work to be published? Tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step.

Andrea: Great to be here! I have always been a writer but I never thought my work would be good enough to be published out there in the world. I think artists in various mediums feel that way about their work. A friend of mine Charlotte, who is a serious reader, read the beginning of Finding Alice and was instantly hooked. She was the primary encouragement in the beginning and the one who pushed me into pursuing getting Finding Alice published one way or another.

Louise: Please tell us a little about your new release Finding Alice without giving too much of a spoiler away.

Andrea: Alice is a strong young woman who faces great pain and difficult situations without complaint. She truly embraces her destiny and it is a lot easier for her to do that with the chiseled and handsome Cole standing by her side. She chooses to stand with Fallen Angels and prepares to fight God’s angels for her right to live.

Alice is cursed with an intense version of empathy; she runs from a wasted life to start a new one somewhere no one will know her, Hell, Michigan. Alice works at a hole-in-the-wall bar in the middle of nowhere mostly keeping to herself to avoid the overwhelming emotions of those around her. Alice allows her best friend to convince her into taking a few college classes without realizing it would drastically change her life forever. From her first day of class she was hooked on him; his scent, his eyes, the way he talked to her inside her head.

Throughout her struggles she learns about true love, true pain and the truth of her own heritage. Alice must quickly find out who she is because after all everyone else is out to find her. With Angels and Bounty Hunter’s in constant pursuit she finds protection within a group of Fallen Angels. These Fallen Angels vow to do anything to protect her; for it is their belief she will save their kind and all of mankind.

Louise: Do you plan all your characters out before you start a story or do they develop as you write?

Andrea: They develop as I write. I say quite often that I feel as if I am their medium and they are the ones telling the story.

Louise: How much research do you do for your books? Have you found any cool tidbits in your research?

Andrea: As much as I need too and sometimes more. I learned so many insane things in The Book of Enoch, which I refer to frequently in Finding Alice. The Book of Enoch was pulled from being allowed in the Bible. And the other thing I thought was cool is Enoch was Noah’s Great grandfather.

Louise: What is your writing process? Do you outline, write by the seat of your pants (Pantser) or a combination of both?

Andrea: Pantser? LOL First I just start writing so I guess yes in the beginning I write by the seat of my pants. Once I have a feel for my main character (which is usually when I get struck with writers block) I timeline. I literally hang up sheets upon sheets of paper across my wall in a timeline from the beginning of the story until wherever I am or where I think it will end. (And yes when people are over they think I am nuts.) I write out all the ideas I have and put them where I think they will go on my timeline. Ultimately it’s the characters that drive me so I use the timeline as a guide.

Louise: Do you write full time? What did you do before you became a writer or still do?

Andrea: Sadly, no. I work for the family business during the day and write at night. Though I have taken a break from writing screenplays and filming to pursue writing my series and giving it the attention I feel it deserves, well when my 16-month lets me.

Louise: Do you have a ritual when it comes to writing? Example….get coffee, blanket, paper, pen, laptop and a comfy place.

Andrea: Yes I do. Coffee and my writer’s playlist filled with just about everything. The top musicians in my 8 hour playlist; Breaking Benjamin, Florence + The Machine, Jason Walker, A fine Frenzy, Lana Del Rey, 30 Seconds to Mars, etc. (I could go on for hours!)  Those two things are all I need, writing long hand, typing on a laptop or desktop doesn’t matter as much as the music and coffee. Sometimes I prefer long hand but only in the beginning.

Louise: Describe a typical writing day for you.

Andrea: There is no such thing though I wish there were. It’s usually me chasing my toddler all day and when I finally tire him out in the evening I get to sit down and write.

Louise: Please give us a sneak peek at your future books. What’s on the horizon?

Andrea: I am currently working on book 2 in The Alice Clark Series called Alice’s Sacrifice. It picks up right where we left off except it is in 3^rd person point of view and not just Alice’s POV this time. I am also working on a paranormal novel with author and friend Jessica Gibson but that is top secret at the moment.

Louise: What is your favorite genre to read and who is your favorite author?

Andrea: Paranormal anything. Are we surprised? I love anything supernatural, young adult, paranormal romance, and horror. If it has ghosts, fallen angels, vampires, werewolves, witches etc; I will probably eat it up. Favorite author, that is really tough I don’t think I have one author I love more than the other. With each book they write they bring this whole new adventure into my life and I love them all equally for sharing their work.

Louise: Is there anything else you would like to tell the readers we have not touched on?

Andrea: Writing is scary thing to do, to open yourself up to complete strangers and share a piece of yourself. I’m honored to be able to do the same.

Louise: Where can the readers learn more about you and find your books on the web?

Andrea: All of the links will be on my website www.andreadigiglio.com

Louise: Andrea, thank you again for visiting with me today!
Readers, leave a comment for a chance to win an eBook copy. Please leave your email address in your comment so we can easily contact the winner. Thanks!

Excerpt

     I moved from town to town for a short while, working random jobs just to pay for my next move, until I found a place that felt like home. It was a really odd feeling for me, never having felt that before, but this place just drew me in like a magnet. This, for most people, would seem like lunacy. No sane person chooses Michigan.

I found a hole-in-the-wall bar just outside of Hell, Michigan, and convinced the owner to hire me. By “convince,” I mean I played him in a game of pool for it. He was actually pretty good—must come from owning your own bar—but I hustled him. I’ve been working there for over a year now. I spend most of my day reading or drawing, and sometimes I work extra shifts just to pass the time.

 This is where I met Camille. She was absolutely stunning to look at. She had brown hair with highlights that looked golden and her skin was pale but flawless. Her legs looked longer than they were due to her overly short shorts and the tower of heels she wore. She definitely didn’t belong in a bar like this but just the same, she loved it here. She went to a community college and came here to get away. She says she works better with a few drinks in her. Somehow she convinced me that I should go back to school, that I was too antisocial and needed to get out of this town every once in a while to mingle with real people, or something like that. I used to just laugh at her, but I began deeply considering it.

We became friends, almost like sisters after this really bad bar fight a few months back. An overly large biker came and challenged one of our regular drunks to a game of pool. I’m assuming it was for a decent chunk of change, because when he lost to Jake, he almost killed him. There I was minding my own business at the bar when this giant ass of man pulled out a pistol. Camille flew out of her seat, attempting to run toward the door, but this guy shifted his aim at her, stopping her dead in her tracks. Jake just stood there blank, refusing to give in to him, pushing Camille behind him protectively. I heard the click as the biker readied his gun. Next thing I knew, I was standing next to him with his gun in my hand, pressed against his cheek.

 “How about you get your fat ass out of my bar?” I barely recognized my cold voice leaving my lips.

Everyone stood in shock, but it was Camille’s face I noticed. I watched her eyes busily recalculating the last few seconds. I felt all the other patrons watch in terror. He spit on the floor, threw his hands up and left. Jake let out a sigh of relief and hugged me, flashing one of those “Way to make me feel like a pussy” grins. I pushed away from the hug quickly and noticed Camille leaning toward a single black feather on the ground. I snatched it up and stuffed it into my pocket. I watched for her reaction but she didn’t even notice.

      The most amazing thing was Camille never asked me how I got there so quickly, how I grabbed the gun without anyone seeing me actually do it. That is why we are such good friends. Well, that and she is so rational, I don’t have to deal with her emotions overloading my mind. I couldn’t explain it to her even if I wanted to. I couldn’t even explain it to myself.

Book Trailer Link -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1x_DvGx4CA&feature=youtu.be)

Finding Alice on Amazon