#Interview Gypsy Hunted by Andrea Drew @drewwriter

Andrea Drew has been a commercial copy writer and resume writer for over a decade.

She's written for celebrity stylists, assisted business coaches and start-ups, written grants for not for profits, delivered marketing presentations to business owners, and attends Australian writing conventions.

Her self-published book "Pro Resumes Made Easy" has been downloaded over 40,000 times.

Andrea has one husband (more than enough), three kids, a pet rock (her daughters not hers), and a house in the suburbs, where she's hard at work on the second novel in the Gypsy series.

Email her at andrea@andrea-drew.com.

Gypsy Hunted her first fiction novel (her first suspense thriller set in her home town of Melbourne Australia) is available for pre-order on Amazon prior to release on October 28 2014.

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1. At any given time do you work on only one story at a time and maybe plot out the next one or are there many ideas racing around your head?
   I used to have many ideas racing around in my head but to some degree I’ve tamed the beast.  Previously I started a novel then flitted off mid-way onto other short stories or writing down and outlining other ideas as they struck.  The problem with this is that ideas can come quite regularly and a writer doesn’t always know when they’ll strike.  So the focus seems to come off the main body of work (the novel) and is dispersed onto other stories, so I now have learned to rein in the creative beast.  During the writing of this novel, ideas did come to me but I learned to just quickly write them down in a couple of lines and go back to the novel.  This works best, especially as the story for Gypsy Hunted was one that excited me enough that I could continue working on it for nearly a year.

2. Is there a genre you haven't written in but would like to? Or wish you could write in?

Well I’ve only written in the suspense/thriller and non-fiction genres.  I’d really love to write in either science fiction fantasy or romance.  I think my reasons for wanting to write romance are the wrong ones though, those authors seem to clean up financially (or so it seems) but I’d hate to be spending my author career writing stories I’m not keen on just to make money.  Most of us write stories and full length novels because we love the story and can’t get it out of our head!

I’m determined however to write what I love.  In fact I’ve found that I can’t actually finish a novel unless I love and feel very passionately about the story.  That’s only happened so far in the crime/suspense genre, I think mainly because that is where my reading taste gravitates to.  I have three full length novels plotted out, and only the first one is finished, and all three are in the suspense thriller genre.  So when these three are written (by 2016) I’ll reconsider and may write in another genre.

3. Do you add an element of romantic suspense in your stories?

Absolutely yes I had a touch of it in the first thriller suspense novel.  Only a touch however.  A literary agent did recommend I rewrite it to focus on romantic suspense, but have learned enough that I write what I know and love.  If I don’t, there is no way a story with the length of a novel would ever get finished. This book has a touch of romantic suspense in it.  It still finds its way through despite the focus on a rather heavy investigation and psychic suspense element, and I’ve got great feedback on the first book so I’ll continue in the same vein I think!  In my world, readers rule.

4. Say you have unlimited funds: What kind of writing office/cottage would you create for yourself?

I would love a cottage in the Mornington area in Victoria.  I’d go away for weeks at a time and just write.  My lovely husband would be a stay at home daddy and take care of our children and housework.  *Sigh* what a fantastic fantasy.  It would have the stereotypical white picket fence, old world garden, white stonewashed walls, plenty of space for a family of 5 and would be walking distance from the beach, and we would eat, drink and be merry all year round while I indulged in creative writing all day long.  What a life….

5. If you could turn your novel into a TV show, which novel or series would you do? Where would it be set? Network TV (ABC, NBC, CBS), Cable (AMC, BBC, Lifetime) or Premium Cable (HBO, Showtime, Starz)?

I’m not familiar with a lot of these channels to be honest as I’m Australian based.  I’d love to see my novel Gypsy Hunted become a TV show.  Ideally it would be set in Melbourne Australia but it’s written in a way that’s pretty universal.

I’d go for Channel 9 TV here in Australia which is a large mainstream free to air TV station, but is where I think it would fit best.  I think the equivalent of that station would be HBO

However upon talking to my husband who watches a lot more overseas TV, I’d love for it to appear on HBO which it seems is where some of the best produced new, and up and coming series appear, and are of a high quality and well received.

6. Finally, tell us about your latest release!

Ah yes thank you.  I’m very excited about the feedback I’m getting for Gypsy Hunted, a psychic suspense thriller available on amazon in both e-book and paperback book formats.

I wrote it between March and July 2014, then editing and beta reader feedback from July to October.  Quite an intensive learning curve!  I’m working on the next in the series now, Gypsy Cradle, which is “fatal attraction” meets “the sixth sense” I’m loving it.

Here is the blurb to give you an idea of the Gypsy Hunted story:

Reluctant psychic Gypsy Shields (she prefers the term "intuition consultant") finds herself in trouble when, on her way home from a blind date, she interrupts a kidnapping in progress. Her heroic attempt to intervene is repaid with a collision between the attacker's van and a brick wall. She awakens in hospital, paralyzed on her left side and unable to speak. Unable to share vital information about the crime she witnessed. Fortunately, her telepathic connection with her niece helps her throw a line out, attracting the attention of a police detective: Connor Reardon, Gypsy's date the night of the attack. 

Stepping in to protect Gypsy, Connor even listens to her claims of psychic power. She soon senses he's concealing certain powers of his own. Nor are they all he's concealing. A part of Gypsy's new ally's mind is closed to her—what she cannot know is that Connor suspects the kidnapper is someone close to him, and the victim holds secrets that will tear through Connor's department, putting careers and lives at risk. Including Gypsy's, as she is left recovering in hospital and vulnerable as the attacker turns his sights on her once again. 

Can she use her powers to track down the perpetrator in time to prevent her own murder

Gypsy Hunted Available for Pre Order on Amazon

Excerpt:

My eyes went down at the registration plate. I reached into my handbag for my mobile phone, realizing I should have done this earlier and made a damn call to the cops.

He’d got her into the van but she wasn’t going without a fight.

The woman had started banging with her feet kicking the shit out of the van walls. I could almost see the outline of her foot bashing the thin metal veneer.  With the key in the ignition he’d turned up the radio to full blast, drowning out the noise of her screams and kicking.

He revved the crap out of the van, the engine growling so loud I felt it through my toes. But I stood my ground, even with nails biting into my palms, pulse speeding, and heartbeat pounding.  I’d get his details through to the police if it was the last thing I did.

I looked up to face him and the van launched at me. I dialed the emergency services number holding the phone to my ear with fingers so rigid they hurt. The van came at me and in a split second I was hit, my body bouncing off the van.  My head taking the brunt of the blow as I struck the brick wall, landing on the ground like a rag doll unloved and discarded.  Strangely, nothing hurt, at least at this moment. I was sure that it should. 

Colors flashed: green, hot pink, and yellow.  Tires squealed, and I thought I heard frantic footsteps approaching.

Then it was lights out. 

Andrea will be awarding a $20 amazon gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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