It is a truth universally acknowledged, that an aspiring author who interviews her writing heroes, must fangirl over said heroes.
A little over a year ago, maybe two, I stumbled upon the most stunning Bookstagram photos (Instagram photos about books). They looked something like this:
I don’t know if someone I was following shared them, or if I found them during a search, or how exactly I first saw them. But regardless of how that Insta meet cute happened, once it did, I was hooked. I am talking of course about A.S. Thornton. If you follow her, you know what I mean. If you don’t, and you love Bookstagrammers, then you’re missing out. But don’t worry, I got you covered. You can find her here.
When I first started following A.S. (Alexandra) on Instagram, she had an agent, but no contract for her debut novel, Daughter of the Salt King. Then she shared her contract announcement and I was ecstatic for her. Fast forward to today, and her debut novel isn’t only out in the world since February, but is also a Silver Medal Winner for Best First Fiction Book in the Independent Publishers Book Awards of 2021.
I reached out to Alexandra last month, and was thrilled when she agreed to do an Author Spotlight for the blog. I loved reading her answers and getting to know her better. She has an amazing sense of humor. I think you will agree. Drum roll please…
1. Why do you write?
I love the practice in empathy. Why are these characters behaving this way? How would this make me feel? Why would I react like that? I enjoy taking really horrible character traits and making them relatable. I suppose it’s how I cope with the people in my day to day not behaving as I’d want them to. I also write because I love to live in the fantasy worlds and scenarios I’ve created. What would you do if you found a jinni? I got to explore that in Daughter of the Salt King.
2. What/who inspires you in life?
My husband has to be the most inspiring person in my life. I am never, ever satisfied with what I am doing currently and always need to be doing more, doing better. My husband takes joy in the little things in life and is content with where his life is right now. I need to learn some of that contentment!
3. What are some of your favorite things?
In the realm of writing, my favorite thing is my AlphaSmart3000 which is a dinky piece of equipment that allows me to type without any distractions! It’s been wonderful for drafting.
4. What would your perfect day look like…?
I wake up when I want to, and I have nothing to do. No errands, no chores, no work… and I can just sit and read or hang out with my family all day. Well, considering right now I wake up long before dawn, write, feed child, go to work, come home to an hour of family time before putting the kiddo down, then write some more before bed… it would be quite different! I suppose that having no obligations would be boring after a while. But I’d take a few days of it.
5. If you could invite a group of writers…?
Ha! I wouldn’t invite any writers to a tea party because I’d be afraid they’d turn me down and then use that refusal as validation of my being the worst person ever. And then of course there would be the fear that they would accept and I’d have to talk to them. I would completely embarrass myself because I’d either put my foot in my mouth or say nothing of interest at all. So basically I’d rather have no tea party at all. Can you tell I’m an introvert?
Isn’t she absolutely hilarious? I can’t wait to read her book. It is the next one on my TBR list (yay!), and I can already tell that I will love it. Desert, forbidden love, and a wish-granting jinni, I don’t think it gets better than that. Unless of course…I get to read a signed copy, so I guess, yes, it does get better (woot woot!). You can get a signed copy, too, FYI (U.S. Residents only unfortunately). Click here for more on that.
Also, if you want to learn more about Alexandra, you can find her website here. Her book, Daughter of the Salt King, follows Emel, one of the king’s daughters, who instead of being a powerful princess, is a pawn to his father’s thirst for power. Until she discovers his secret—the awesome jinni, Saalim. Emel is drawn to more than his magic, and will soon have to decide between love and freedom, dreams and responsibilities. Can you tell I’m totally psyched about starting my reading adventure?
Be sure to check out not only her Bookstagram, which I highly recommend, and her book, but also her other social media platforms. You can find those here:
I hope you enjoyed getting to know A.S. Thornton as much as I did. Now, go fall in love with her story. I know I will.
Want to collaborate with me? I love to work with fellow writers, spotlight authors, and host writing challenges. I’ve also been known to swap short critiques on occasion. Don’t be shy, reach out to me here.
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M.C. Muhlenkamp 