Category Archives: Danielle Hylton-Outland

Friday Feature: Guest Interview April Fifer and Danielle Hylton-Outland

Joining us today are co-authors April Fifer and Danielle Hylton-Outland. The first book in their Flesh series, Flesh and Feathers, a paranormal romance/urban fantasy, is now available from Silver Publsihing.

Kathy: Thank you so much for stopping by to chat with us today. Could you tell us how your writing partnership began?

Ms. Fifer & Ms. Hylton-Outland: It all began one fateful day… when we really need a cigarette. LOL. We are on break and complaining about a novel we had both read and hated the ending. So we made a blood pact (minus the blood) and decided to write something we wanted to read and end the way we liked.

Kathy: Who initially comes up with the story arcs? Or do you brainstorm plots and storylines together?

Ms. Fifer & Ms. Hylton-Outland: Absolute brainstorming! We have “or maybe” sessions. Well, at least that’s what we like to call them. One of us shouts out something and the other says “or maybe” and we keep doing it till we both scream “Yes” at the same time. I know… real organized system we got there. 

Kathy: Do you develop your characters together? Or do you each develop individual characters and write from their perspective? Do you pick particular scenes to write individually or are all scenes written together?

Ms. Fifer & Ms. Hylton-Outland: As far as characters, they are total collaborations between us. The things we can’t do by ourselves are characters and plots. If not we would each be writing wilding with no structure or idea of what the other is doing. We do separate scenes. If one of us feels strongly about a certain scene, then by all means, that person writes that scene. We have never both want to do the same scene because we have different tastes when it comes to what we like to write about.

Kathy: Where do you find inspiration for your novels and characters? Real life? Or strictly imagination?

Ms. Fifer & Ms. Hylton-Outland: Both! Of course real life has to play a major role in everything we do. Sometimes we have revisited something in our past that we didn’t quite like the ending to… so we will put it in the change and change the whole damn thing, giving us the satisfaction of closure in our own life. Childish huh? We promise it is way more therapeutic! LOL. The rest is imagination but not with out tons of research to base that creativity from.

Kathy: Have either of you published works independent of the other? Do you plan to? Or are you strictly a writing duo?

Ms. Fifer & Ms. Hylton-Outland: There are three rules of what we can or can’t do alone (for us anyway.) 1: Never cry by ourselves… the other has to be there with a giant tub of Hershey’s ice cream. 2: Absolutely never, I repeat never, get a pedicure alone. 3: Lastly, we never write alone. It’s like we have become parents to the characters in these stories and we want nothing but the best for them. So no, we have never published independent and have no intensions. This is just too fun 🙂

Kathy: What types of books do you like to read? Do your choices as a reader influence the type of books you write?

Ms. Fifer & Ms. Hylton-Outland: We love everything (except for history. Agh.) Romance is our favorite, be it contemporary, paranormal, erotica, or even YA. We don’t think we are necessary influenced by what we read in terms of stories we read, but we are influenced by the motivations of authors we choose to read.

Kathy: What is a typical day like as authors April Fifer and Danielle Hylton-Outland? Do you work on multiple projects at one time? How long does it usually take you to complete a book?

Ms. Fifer & Ms. Hylton-Outland: This is top-secret information. Please burn this after reading… This is our day in no particular order… we work full time jobs at the same direct mail company, then there are pets to tend to, children to chase after with their incomplete homework, home projects, class activities, college work for us, dinner, showering, shaving, flat ironing hair… wow, we could go on! But at night, we write. There is no such thing as sleep. And we wouldn’t change that for anything in the world.

Kathy: Can you tell us a little bit about Flesh and Feathers?

Ms. Fifer & Ms. Hylton-Outland: For us, this book was special. Not just because it was our first book, but because we actually finished the damn thing. Haha. You authors know what we are talking about. It’s a fast paced, love story/triangle, with angels and bad guys and the occasionally sword fighting. We hope that it is looked at as a niche of its own. We worked really hard to make it different from any other angel book out there.

Kathy: What projects are you currently working on? What does your publishing schedule for the remainder of 2012 look like at this point?

Ms. Fifer & Ms. Hylton-Outland: Oh Lord. Schedule is looking scary. Flesh and Flames is still being worked on and are not sure when we will be done. We are self-publishing Love, Lies and a Bloke on May 18th (or maybe a little sooner), then we have The Witch and The Werewolf which will come out in June. There are a few others in the works, so we should have two more coming out before the end of the year.

Kathy: I have thoroughly enjoyed chatting with you today. Is there anything else you would like to share with us before you go?

Ms. Fifer & Ms. Hylton-Outland: We want to thank everyone who has followed our blogs and posted. As well as everyone who has read and supported, Flesh and Feathers. We have made some good friends and we love them all 🙂

Kathy: Congratulations on the release of Flesh and Feathers and thank you so much for visiting with us today. Feel free to drop by anytime you happen to be in the neighborhood.


Authors’ Bios:

Danielle Hylton-Outland was raised in Virginia. She grew up having a huge appetite for daydreaming; always wanting to live in the spectacular worlds she created in her mind. She now lives with her husband and dog where she is pursuing a degree in literature. Danielle is a strong animal activist. She is currently co-writing the second book in the Flesh Series, “Flesh and Flames”.

April Fifer grew up in a small town in Virginia, where it was common practice believing that dreams could only be found in stories. At the age of seven she was diagnosed with dyslexia. She was told that she would struggle through life and would never pick up a book to read for pleasure. Although school was hard, she was able to find her way with the help of two teachers who taught her self-discovery. Ignoring what she was taught growing up, she turned it around and found that your dreams could become stories.

Contact Information:

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Title: Flesh and Feathers by April Fifer and Danielle Hylton-Outland
The Flesh Series #1
Publisher: Silver Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Fantasy, Romance, Mystery/Suspense
Length: 249 pages/Word Count: 53278

Summary:

Azaleigh’s life is simple until, by chance, she meets Kale. Charming and handsome, Az is drawn to him. But dangerous plans are unfolding around her. As her life begins to crumble and Kale disappears, Gage, calm and supportive, arrives. Much is at stake, including Az’s life… and her heart.

Azaleigh’s life is simple until she meets Kale. Az is immediately drawn to him but secrets lurk in the hearts of those Az holds most dear, and dangerous plans are unfolding around her. When Kale disappears, Gage arrives, providing a calm port in an increasingly violent storm.

But with every narrow escape from an inhuman bounty hunter, Az begins to unravel a secret with the power to change her forever. In an increasingly hostile world, Azaleigh must navigate her path, choose a side, and ultimately protect her heart. Faced with two gorgeous men, an enemy she doesn’t know, and a future she cannot understand, Az must make a choice–the man she loves, or the man she cannot live without.

CONTENT ADVISORY: This title contains a bittersweet ending.

Click HERE to view the Book Trailer.

Also available for purchase at Amazon.

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Filed under April Fifer, Danielle Hylton-Outland, Friday Feature