Author Interview with Paula Acton

If you are a follower of my blog, you will have seen I read and reviewed every story in the Love Ever After anthology.

I chose a winner, which was my favourite, and little did I know it would be the first one in the book. First Contact by Paula Action. The story started off normally enough, and then unexpectedly takes a dark turn. It’s introduced as not being a bad turn of events but I knew that although a lot of people in the story were embracing it, I had a bad feeling this would not turn out well. I was right, and could see this as a Netflix series as I love finding this type of thing. Of course, I am not going to explain what ‘it’ is, because I want you to read it for yourself. That way you get the knee jerk reaction I did. Follow the link above.

As part of the winner’s prize, I got to interview Paula to find out more about her and her stories.

Please introduce yourself. Who are you? Where do you live?

My name is Paula Acton, I am originally from Leeds but have spent most of my life living in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire which is credited with being the birthplace of Rugby League and the setting for the classic BBC series Last Of The Summer Wine.

Karen – God’s own Country is what they call Yorkshire. It is a beautiful place because of the lovely Yorkshire stone used in buildings. I have family in Harrogate, so have been many times.

What kind of books do you write?

I initially classed myself as a dark, Medieval fantasy author, however I am rapidly becoming a multi-genre author, I have written twisted love stories, ghost stories and the fantasy novel, all those alongside various anthologies which push me out of my comfort zone and encourage me to branch out more.

Karen – Very much like me. I started out as a romance writer but quickly found I liked to dabble in other genres. Mostly with a twist of romance and humour in them, too.

How long have you been writing for and when did you publish your first one?

I can’t remember a time where I didn’t write or want to, but I started writing seriously when I turned forty, that was nine years ago. I didn’t publish anything though until 2015, I wish I had started younger but the reality is you have to play the hand life deals you and that meant that other things had to happen to take me to that point.

Karen – my first book was published in 2014. It was time when Amazon opened it up to Indie Authors and the community took off on Facebook. So any earlier probably would have been a lot harder to get published.

Please tell us what that book is?

The first book I published was called Disintegration & Other Stories. It is a book of twisted love stories or what I refer to as Happily Never After. I had written some of the stories previously, but I decided to publish it after the end of my 18 year relationship, and that is no to say it came out of bitterness or sadness, it was simply me having the freedom to be me and not to answer to anyone.

How many have you written, and do you plan any more in the future?

I have three published books, one of which is the first part of a trilogy, the remaining parts for that will be out next year, I am currently working on a standalone romance novel and have a few other standalones in the pipeline.

What does writing mean to you, and do you do any other kind of writing besides novels?

Writing means so many things to me, it is a form of expression, it is a way of quietening the voices in my head that have always been there from being a child, every time I read a book they would pipe up saying yeah but what if this had happened or this would be a better ending. I do have a blog where I do book reviews and lots of random posts about other things, and I also keep a journal, I did that when I was younger then my ex made me stop as he didn’t like the idea that there may be things written in them about him so then I restarted once we broke up, it is a way of clearing my own thoughts.

What is your favourite book as a reader, and why?

This is such a hard question as I love so many different genres and have favourite books for each genre but if we go on the fact I have reread this book more times than any other the answer would have to be Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, this is a book where ever character has flaws and yet you still fall in love with most of them.  It is a love story in a time where actual love was a luxury that ironically the poor had more access to than the rich, as we see when Lydia runs away, one family members indiscretions threatened to ruin the whole family yet somehow love can overcome. But what I also love is that at a time when so many other female authors were forced to publish under male names she stood firm that it should be her own name adorning her books.

Karen – it is a hard question, and you answered it very well. Most people have so many favourites now. But if we dig deep, like you have, one usually stands out above all others.

What is your favourite book you have written, and why?

This is such an unfair question you should never ask a parent which is their favourite child lol in one way it is Disintegration as it was the first and it gave me confidence to believe I could do this but Ascension is a part of my soul, those characters a part of me, someone said that they think the reason I keep delaying writing the rest is because I want to keep them to myself but that’s not true, this trilogy is a huge thing to write as I have a huge story arc which goes through all three books but I also wanted to make sure each book could be read alone so the issues in the book are resolved, don’t get me wrong I don’t mind cliff hangers to make the reader want to come back but I don’t like books that leave you with no answers.

Karen – it was unfair. It’s very difficult to choose one amongst our children. Each individual one has something different to the rest which you love. So, again, a very good answer.

Tell us something quirky about you?

I am a geek between me and my son we have a huge collection of Doctor Who figures and memorabilia, I love Marvel more than DC, we have an eclectic collection of pop funkos which are all out of their boxes because I believe they were made to be handled not sit in their boxes untouched.

If readers would like to hear more from you, where shall I direct them?

They can come over and like my Facebook page but I would suggest if they really want to get to know me better join my readers group.

Thank you Paula. This has been very interesting, and I hope readers will go over and read your books. They sound fascinating and I’m sure I will also make my way over eventually.

Books by Paula Acton

Find and Follow her on Amazon

Paula has a halloween freebie to offer you.