J.M.'s Meanderings: Bitter Fruits Author Sarah Daltry Interview!

For fans of dark urban fantasy comes a novel that questions why forbidden fruit is always the most tempting...

But before we get there...lets have a chat with Sarah!

Your currently released Novel is Bitter Fruits. What are you currently working on?

So many things! I have another release coming 12/12. It’s a co-written gamer geek romantic comedy – more YA than adult – called Backward Compatible. I’m also writing Immortal Star, the second book in the Eden’s Fall trilogy, which Bitter Fruits opens. I also have three titles to finish in my contemporary New Adult series, Flowering. I’m also writing a literary novella based on Eliot’s “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” a realistic YA novel, a contemporary adult romance called Scandal, and a romantic fantasy novel called Primordial Dust. So, I’m busy! ;)

When you wrote Bitter Fruits, did anything happen in the story that you didn’t expect?

Not really. Because it’s so woven through with mythology, I had to map a lot out in advance. Normally I am a total pantser and I don’t even know what’s happening on the next page while I write, but the mythology started getting really convoluted, so I had to stop and write notes.

Are you a quick writer? About how many words a day?

I am – when I’m motivated. When I’m on my game, I write 5000 words a day on average. However, when I hit a slump, like I’m in now, I struggle to write 500.

Excuse me while I recover... 5k a day! Where is your ideal writing place?

Anywhere comfortable. I tend to always be uncomfortable, so I whine a lot about it! I need a really comfy chair.

Have you ever written something that shocked you when you read back over it? If so, what?

Not really. I’ve written things that would shock the hell out of my mom, though! Lol.

In Bitter Fruits, which of your characters would you most like to have lunch with?

Nora. She’s smart and sarcastic, which I love in a heroine.

What would Nora want to eat?

Probably something boring like a grilled cheese. When she and Caleb stops for lunch, she’s happy to enjoy greasy comfort food at a diner. I don’t see her as a fancy restaurant kind of girl.

Which is the more enjoyable to write, a hero or villain?

I like to write people who have a little of each. No hero is perfect and no villain is totally evil. At least not in my books. I like heroes with flaws and villains who can be brought to the side of the heroes.

Have you used a personal tragedy or difficulty as basis for a scene?

Yeah, in Lily of the Valley, I talked a lot about my own experience with suicide through Jack.

Give us an item on your bucket list.

To go to Australia. Think Escape will invite me?

Hopefully we'll both get tickets. Have you ever written vicariously? Had a character do something that you’ve always wanted to?

Not really. I really love truth in writing. I’m a big fan of Hemingway, for instance. I really believe the old adage, “write what you know.” I don’t mean write autobiographies, but I have never been to Australia, as I said. Why would I write a book about it? It seems like someone who knows the landscape would do it more justice. I’m not a fan of books that don’t ring true to me. I know – I wrote an urban fantasy novel. I just mean that the author should know his or her material. I know art, history, and mythology. I know Biblical mythology very well, since I grew up studying theology and the Bible in depth. I felt like I was able to write about it well.

What is your favorite attribute in a person.

A sense of humor, intelligence, and empathy.

You least favorite attribute in a person.

Selfishness, ignorance, and judgment.

Did you include either of those in your current novel?

Mostly the first. Like I said, I don’t feel that even villains are always bad. “Everyone is the hero in his own story.” My cowriter wrote that in a play he wrote and I agree completely. We never know the entire story – and that’s what makes me like first person. I like knowing that the story is biased through the eyes of one character, just as it is biased through the eyes of one reader.

Your personal or favorite motto.

“Everyone is the hero in his own story.” I love this quote and I think it tells us why empathy is so important. If we tried to see the world through another person’s eyes a little more and spent less time on ourselves, the world would be far more interesting. I think that’s why I love to read – I love seeing the way others view the world around them.

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Praise for Bitter Fruits:

“This book is one of the best paranormals I've read, and I've read a lot. Five stars hands down! I am proud to pass it on to all of you. Buy this book, devour it and enjoy. ”

A vampire-themed masquerade party isn’t really her scene, but Nora is sick of frat parties and bars. When she meets Alec, the appeal suddenly becomes clear. It’s obvious that they’ve been struck by the same intense mutual attraction, but Alec keeps his distance. Intrigued despite herself, Nora pushes a little deeper — and discovers Alec’s unimaginable secret...

Nora is not afraid of following Alec into the darkness, but the choice is soon taken from her. Someone is hunting her — someone tied to the secret and desperate to see it play out. But when Nora finally meets her aggressor, she finds herself hopelessly drawn to him. She needs to make a choice between the two men, but can she save them both, knowing one is destined to die?

About The Author:

Sarah Daltry writes about the regular people who populate our lives. She's written works in various genres - romance, erotica, fantasy, horror. Genre isn't as important as telling a story about people and how their lives unfold. Sarah tends to focus on YA/NA characters but she's been known to shake it up. Most of her stories are about relationships - romantic, familial, friendly - because love and empathy are the foundation of life. It doesn't matter if the story is set in contemporary NY, historical Britain, or a fantasy world in the future - human beings are most interesting in the ways they interact with others. This is the principle behind all of Sarah's stories.

Sarah has spent most of her life in school, from her BA and MA in English and writing to teaching both at the high school and college level. She also loves studying art history and really anything because learning is fun.

When Sarah isn't writing, she tends to waste a lot of time checking Facebook for pictures of cats, shooting virtual zombies, and simply staring out the window.