Interview with Joyce Hertzoff

What process did you go through to get your book published?
I entered a contest from a publisher, sending the first five hundred words. Before the contest was over, they requested the entire manuscript, and a few weeks later offered me a contract on that story and any others in the series.

What was the hardest part of writing your book?
Probably the hardest was killing off a character I'd grown fond of. Second hardest was maintaining the tension.

What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?
I enjoyed writing the meeting between Nissa and Madoc's family at the Citadel. It was fun to write her reactions to them as well as theirs to her.

Do you have a specific writing style?
I think I have a different voice for the hero of each of my stories. Since I mainly write in first person, I felt it important to give them a specific personality reflected in their voices.

Do you work with an outline, or just write?
I usually start out with an outline of the first five or six chapters, but after the first few times the characters take me in a different direction than I planned, I scrap the rest of the outline and just write whatever they tell me to.

One/two themes I return to again and again in my stories, and why:
As a teenager, I was told that girls don't go into science. That was many years ago and as a society we've come a long way, but I still like to write about girls and women who fight to learn whatever they want.

Share a character's "favorite recipe" or a "secret family recipe":
Bonus: There are a number of things my characters eat in The Crimson Orb. The launch of my book took place at a cupcake bakery that agreed to make the fortune cupcakes they ate to obtain secret messages. But the characters favorite treats were Meecham cookies. Nissa and Carys worked out the recipe, and I've made them for parties and for the hospitality suite at Bubonicon. Here's the recipe:

Meecham Cookies
The Official Cookies of The Crimson Orb               

Ingredients:
     
2 cups all purpose flour                            
1/4 cup finely ground hazelnuts
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons milk
Directions: 

In a bowl, combine flour and nuts, and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and half the vanilla; mix well. Add flour mixture; mix until incorporated. Divide dough into two pieces; press into round disks, about 1 inch thick. Wrap separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours or until firm enough to roll.
 
Preheat oven to 350 F. On floured surface, roll out one disc of dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut half of the dough using a round cutter with an insert to cut the middle for the top cookies, and cut an equal number of round cookies without the insert for the bottom cookies.
 
Bake 10-12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool on cookie sheet 2 minutes. Remove from sheet and cool completely. Invert bottom cookies, spread with about 1 teaspoon jam, then cover with top cookie. 

Mix confectioners sugar and milk, then add remaining vanilla for glaze. Drip on cookies.
 
Fill center with another dollop of jam.

Enjoy! 

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About The Crimson Orb:

While others seek the Crimson Orb, teenage Nissa searches for her mysteriously missing magic teacher, Madoc, and discovers how little she knows about her world and herself. Nissa has always been determined to learn all the boys are taught at Holm Manor where she grew up, and her journey allows her to learn those skills. Along the way, she kills a sea monster and then cooks it in a ship's galley, she befriends a prince and princess, she faces an ice bear on the Frozen Tundra of Sorn, and she eats fortune cupcakes and Meecham cookies. But with help from Madoc's brother and sister, can she rescue him? And can they prevent his abductors from finding the Orb and using it to destroy the world?

The book is now available at:

Amazon print (createspace)
Amazon paperback
Amazon Kindle
Barnes and Noble for Nook
Smashwords 

Find Joyce around the web:
Email: hertzoffjo@gmail.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/joyce.hertzoff.3
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyceHertzoff
My website: www.joycehertzoffauthor.com
My book website: www.fantasybyjoycehertzoff.com
My blog: www.hertzoffjo.blogspot.com

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