BEFORE YOU: A Talk With The Author!

We have a special guest on the blog today! I've had the opportunity to read and review her novel a few weeks ago and I fell in love with it! And so I thought about having her over today! That novel is none other than Before You. And to commemorate this novel's release today (HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY, BEFORE YOU!), we have the lovely author have a little chat with us and be able to know some fun stuff. Under the cut is an interview with none other than Amber Hart!
Say 'hi' to everyone and tell us a bit about yourself!
Hey, everyone! I'm Amber Hart, author of the Before & After series (Young Adult), and the Until You Find Me series (New Adult). *waves* I currently live on the FL coast. Will soon be living in the Smoky Mountains. If I don't have my face in a book, you can pretty much find me writing, daydreaming, or eating copious amounts of chocolate.

Tell us a little about Before You.
Before You is the story of Faith, a good girl with a secret past, and Diego, a bad boy on the run from his own demons. They shouldn't have anything in common. They don't seem like they belong together, but fate is as tricky as it is lovely. When Faith and Diego explode into each other's lives, the attraction between them is undeniable. Suddenly the tattooed, scared Cuban boy and the seemingly perfect American girl are pushing each other to the breaking point. Love, it will ruin you…and save you.

How did the idea of the Before and After trilogy occur to you? (Did it appear to you in a dream? In a random ride home? Have you had the idea for a long time now?)
I grew up in very diverse cities (central FL, and Atlanta, GA), where I saw many cultures. It made me think: what would happen if two worlds combined? Different backgrounds, different customs, different languages. The seed of an idea was born of this thought.

When did you start drafting and writing Before You? Mind telling us a bit about the process?
Before You began in 2011 (long time ago!). I edit a lot. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, though I know there is no such thing as perfect. You can prob imagine how maddening that can be. A few sets of editors and a publishing team later and ta da! Before You is finally here :)

Are any of your characters based on real people? Did you have specific faces in mind whilst writing about them?
Yes. I have a real life Diego. He even has the accent and speaks Spanish as his first language. He was very inspirational. I absolutely see my characters in color, full form. It's the only way I can bring them to life, to see them that way in the first place.

I love the diversity in the trilogy! Your main male character--Diego--and a lot other minor characters are Latinos and have gone through all sorts of tough life.Where did you get inspiration from writing about such?
Thank you! I'm such a huge supporter of diversity myself. And I know tough life fist hand. My childhood was hard. I saw a lot of things, felt some of the same emotions my characters do. I know what it's like to wonder if hope is real. I know what it's like to be hungry, to not have enough money for food, to wonder from day to day if you are safe or if the violence around you will claim what little bit of life you have left. Also, I lost my mother to her drug addiction one year ago. Though the pain is raw, I draw from it in hopes that maybe, just maybe, I can let other people who are going through similar situations know that they are not alone.

Is there a specific thing you want your readers to get or learn from your novel?
Yes. If they take even one thing away from my words, let it be this:

HOPE IS REAL.

What can we expect from After Us?
Melissa. Javier. Attraction. Vengeance. Scars. That's all I can say for now!
(After Us is Melissa and Javier's story, releasing December 30, 2014).


Fast facts! What is/are your favorite: 
TV Show?    
  • Friends, hands down. 
Movie?    
  • Anything super funny. 
Band?     
  • If you asked me this when I was a teen, I would have said Rise Against. But I have such a diverse taste in music now that it's hard to narrow down.   
Writing food? 
  • Does chocolate count as a food? Because it should. 
Comfort food? 
  • I love a good grilled cheese sandwich with an ice cold coke. But really, I adore almost any southern cooked meal.  
Genre of Novel?    
  • I don't have a fav, but this is what I seem to gravitate to the most: contemp, romance, paranormal, fantasy, dystopian, and pretty much anything gritty or creepy. I like to see the world in warped focus through the eyes of other people.  
Classic novel?    
  • The Wizard of Oz. 
Contemporary novel? 
  • I'm really into the Lunar Chronicles right now.

Anything you want to tell your present and future readers?

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That being said, here are the sites you can get through to get in touch with Amber:
P.S. Meet you there? -Amber
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