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.
Social Media
LInks
- 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.
