https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B095PYQZRZ/
Catalyst looks like an exciting story. Can you tell us a little about it?
It’s about a woman who has a terrible accident and has to deal with a terrible personal loss and ongoing medical issues that are affecting her mind. She feels as though she is going crazy, but it turns out there is much more going on!
Congratulations on winning the Readers’ Favorite award. Can you tell us about it?
Readers’ Favorite is a website that reviews all sorts of books. I was lucky enough to be included in their enormous catalog of reviews as well as receive a 5-star review from one of their staff. It’s a huge honor for me and I am so glad to have some validation that the book and story are good.
What inspired you when writing Catalyst?
I have been fascinated with the concept of the möbius strip being related to time travel for some time. I workshopped a bunch of different possible storylines and approaches, but nothing really seemed to fit the way I wanted. Then it came to me one day that it isn’t so much about the concept (which I still think is cool) as it is about the people.
Can you tell us a little about Taylor?
Taylor is flawed. She was stuck in her life before the accident, but she didn’t really recognize that. Having lost both of her parents when she was relatively young, she is still a child in a lot of ways. She is selfish and dramatic, but she has a good heart. She just doesn’t clearly see her flaws when the story begins, so she can’t figure out how to work on them. When she starts to figure out what is going on with her, she has to address her desires as well as her flaws.
Did anything stick out as particularly challenging when writing Catalyst?
I saw this as a one-off story. That is what I write, normally, so this was initially going to be the same. When I finished it, I sent it off to my beta readers and editors and sat back for the bit of respite between sending a book out and starting the work on the edit. I woke up in a panic one night because I had this horrible feeling that the story wasn’t over. Taylor wasn’t done. The end was too easy, and it didn’t feel like the end. So, the next day, I spoke with my editor and my marketer and told them I was freaking out because I think the story is really a trilogy. Everyone who read it agreed (except my dad, who said “Where can you go from here?” but changed his tune after he read book two and is now pestering me for book 3.) The biggest trouble with this revelation is that I had to go back and change Catalyst to fit with the larger narrative. There were things I had to change about the outline, which is a nightmare when you have a finished book. Usually, I spend three months on just the outline, then 1-2 writing the first draft. So, I take my outlines VERY seriously. I was going to release Catalyst in January of this year, but that one revelation pushed my schedule back four months. That was particularly hard.
What do you like to do when not writing?
I enjoy creative endeavors of all sorts. I have an MFA in photography, so I like to make images and play around with film and alternative processes – like tin types, cyanotypes, Van Dyke Browns – and of course just photograph the world around me. I have been a college professor for a decade, but jobs are slim right now because of the pandemic. So, I turned back to my good friend writing. I have also taken a drawing course on Udemy and am learning character drawing, and for the last month I have been frantically sewing to make my sons’ Halloween costumes. They wanted to be a witherstorm and a pokemon. So, I have my hands full – and my creative mind is pushed to its limit!
Where can readers find out more about your work?
All of my books – including my technical photography books – are on amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=amanda+quintenz-fiedler&crid=3HVYA8GLNNH2&sprefix=Amanda+Quintenz-Fiedler%2Caps%2C114&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_23
I also have a website: amandaquintenz.com
And my publisher has a website: ravenandquailpress.com
You can also find my bio and other stuff on BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/amanda-quintenz-fiedler
And I have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AmandaQuintenzFiedlerAuthor/?ref=pages_you_manage
I am personally most active on Facebook, but I have blogs and other stuff linked to various accounts!
Thank you so much for your interest in Catalyst: Book 1 of The Möbius Syndrome Trilogy!
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