Indie Author Spotlight – Fran Veal

I’m absolutely thrilled to spotlight a fantastic fellow indie author, Fran Veal, whose second novel, “Finding My Way Back” was just released last month.

Fran Veal fell in love with the book Little Women in the third grade, and that was the spark that ignited her desire to write.  If Jo could write then she felt she could, too.  Her first attempt at writing stories was in the fifth grade when she began writing and drawing a cartoon for her friends.  The drawing, to be honest, was terrible, but the stories must have been pretty decent because a friend recently informed her she’d kept some of them because “she always knew Fran would be a writer someday.  Fran graduated to writing romance in ninth grade, which was more interesting and, no, there were no pictures (much to the readers’ relief).

It wasn’t until Fran had a teen daughter of her own that she actually began writing again.  Finding My Escape was her debut novel.  The sequel, Finding My Way Back will be released August 23, 2013 with the third and final book in the series coming out in early 2014.  She’s also working on a comedy geared more toward adults, Five Strikes, with fellow writer, Bryden Lloyd.

Fran currently resides in the beautiful city of Murfreesboro, TN with her husband of twenty-seven years, fifteen year old daughter, and one extremely snarky cat.

You can find Fran at her website, on Facebook, and on her Amazon Author page.

Fran’s book is “Finding My Way Back”

Three weeks ago I walked in while my parents were being murdered.  I escaped, but I need to put my life back together again.  There’s just one problem – I don’t know where to begin.

My parents weren’t who I thought they were.
My best friend isn’t who I thought he was.
The killer isn’t who I thought he was.
And scariest of all, I’m not who I thought I was.

FINDING MY WAY BACK is a Young Adult tale of adventure, self-discovery and romance, with a twist of the paranormal. It’s the sequel to the Kindle bestseller FINDING MY ESCAPE.

You can buy the book at Amazon (and you can read MY review of it right here…spoiler alert – I loved it!).

I should note that this book is the second book of a trilogy, and the first book, “Finding My Escape” is also on Amazon (and I reviewed that book as well; again, I loved it!).

I’ve also got an interview with Fran…read on!

Who is your favorite author?

I have many favorites, but if I had to pick one, it would be Ted Dekker. He can weave a story better than just about any writer I’ve read. His stories are very interconnected, yet you can pick up any book in one of his series and start reading without reading the earlier books.

How do you describe your writing style?

My writing style is what I would call ‘tight’. I try to use just enough description to give the reader the idea of what’s going on without overwhelming them with unnecessary detail.

Use no more than two sentences. Why should we read your book?

You should read my book because it’s unique and hard to put down. And because I said to (kidding).

Have any of your characters been modeled after yourself?

I think I see a little of myself in a lot of my female characters, or at least how I’d like to see myself. I wish I’d been as self-assured as Hannah when I was her age. Hannah’s grief was very real to me because I had just lost my father when I was writing Finding My Escape. I also had a very good friend who was murdered. I definitely see a lot of myself in the Aunt Laura character. In fact, I’m thinking of doing a Romancing the Stone type story with her as the center-piece once I finish the Finding My Escape series.

If you could exchange lives with any of your characters for a day which character would you choose and why?

Well, my characters see a lot of action in a typical day, but they also face a lot of danger! I think I’d change places with Hannah for a day, but only if it could be one of the days she spends with Josh in Valeria. I really want to see that world!

What books have most influenced your life?

How much space do you have? Let’s see…Little Women was the first book that got me thinking about writing. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory opened my imagination. The Nancy Drew series expanded my vocabulary and gave me a love for mysteries. And classic British literature such as Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice showed me that the road to love doesn’t always have that fairy tale aspect to it.

If you could select one book that you could rewrite and add your own unique twist on, which book would that be and why?

There are probably a lot of books I’d like to get my hands on, but I think I’d like to take Gone With the Wind and have Melanie’s character just slap Scarlet silly for going after her husband and expose her for the ruthless, self-serving individual she was.

Beatles or Monkees? Why?

Monkees! I grew up watching the Monkees in the sixties and didn’t even really know who the Beatles were other than the name until the 70’s. I had the biggest crush on Davy Jones. I loved the song Last Train to Clarksville. It’s about Clarksville, TN which is close to Fort Campbell, KY and the 101st Airborne division. As a child, I just liked the song, and especially that it’s about a town from my state, but as I grew up, I realized the song had a deeper meaning. The guy in the song is telling the girl to take the ‘last train to Clarksville’ to meet him so they can have one last night together before he’s shipped off to Vietnam. Fun trivia question for your fans – what did Mike Nesmith’s mother invent? (Answer at the end of post.)

Who should play you in a film of your life?

 They’re making a film of my life? Okay, seriously. I think I’d like fellow Tennessean, Meagan Fox to play me when I was younger, and Sandra Bullock to play the older me.

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