Woot, woot! Eli Constant is in the house. She’s releasing The Water is Sweeter as a part of The Falling in Deep Collection. On to Part One of our interview!
Tell me about you. What do you write?
I’m 29 and was voted ‘most likely to succeed,’ but I haven’t fulfilled my perceived potential by a long shot; I haven’t fulfilled all the dreams I had as a kid. I’m definitely in a different place in my life than I expected to be and it isn’t what I thought I wanted as a child. I realize now that I’m not sure those wants were right for me. I’ve a family now and once I thought I’d be this worldly loner researching X in the middle of nowhere. Could I live without my children now? If it meant becoming that loner with such life experience and travel? No, probably not. So- this is me- a stay at home mother who is about to be 30, who gave up the research lab for diapers and bottles and writing. I couldn’t be more myself if I tried.
I’m not one for fluff or mindless reading/writing. I don’t just want to entertain people; I want to make my readers consider things deeply, from different angles. That doesn’t mean I don’t want them to also be entertained, just that I want the experience to delve deeper than surface pleasure. That means that I bring them into the way I see reality which sometimes isn’t an escape from their own reality. Does that make sense?
My style is a mash-up in every sense of the word – genres, characters, & point-of-views are all mixed and blended until something unique can be poured out onto the page. I tend towards dark concepts and even my most lighthearted pieces usually have a flipside full of shadow.
When did you start writing? When did you start publishing?
Grade School- I won a contest for best creative fiction. It was a ridiculous piece about space ducks stealing a little boy’s umbrella. Very Howard the Duck inspired. I’ve been scribbling ever since, but never took it seriously until I transitioned from work place to home place. I self-published my first piece back in 2012.
Has there been a progression through genres in your writing?
I started out in the Dystopian & Horror genres with my debut Dead Trees – many of the authors I knew wrote in that genre and it felt natural to follow suit. Now, I’ve pieces that edge towards Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Mystery, etc. I like experimenting.
What authors do you like to read?
Indies: Claire C Riley (Odium, Limerence, Thicker than Blood), Jack Wallen (I Zombie, Shero), TW Brown (The Dead Series, That Ghoul Ava), Ivan Amberlake (The Beholder), Ken Mooney (GodHead), Mike Lee (Starfire)… There’s so many more; I could list them all day.
Traditionally Published: Orson Scott Card, Tolkien, L’Engle, Crichton… again, so many more. I’m an avid reader and can’t imagine life without a book by my bed at night.
You have something coming out very soon. Tell me about that.
‘The Water is Sweeter’ is part of the Falling in Deep Collection. It’s supposed to be about a mermaid(s) and it is, in a way. Lena is a woman who realizes that the relationship she is in is emotionally abusive, but because she’s an orphan, someone who has craved a family her entire life, she has a hard time walking away from her fiancé Truman. She finds freedom in her head (or is it only psychological?) where she can drift away and become a mermaid. There’s a lot more to it than that, but I don’t want to spoil the story line.
Blurb:
When the land becomes a desert, the water will quench your soul
Orphan Lena McMillan used to think that what she shared with Truman Kent was real. Now she sees their relationship for what it really is- controlling and abusive.
She has to choose to die slowly from ‘love’ or say goodbye to the family she’s always desired. Leaving scares her though, so much so that dying seems like her only option.
But fate won’t let her quit life and Truman won’t let her quit his love. Not without a fight.
Under the layers of a lonely childhood and an adulthood romance gone wrong, a starfish holds the key to Lena’s parentage and the answer to the mesmeric ocean dreams that haunt her.
If she can find the strength to leave the only life she knows, Lena will discover the truth. And she will find a new world, one that will cleanse her of the memories of false love and abuse.
One that will finally lead her home.
About the Author:
Eli attended USC-L, Columbia College, Texas A&M, & George Mason University. She studied everything from Mariculture to Differential Equations. Settling on Biology, Eli participated in research fellowships in Texas and at NIH, worked a few random jobs, and finally settled into a Virginia lab where she focused on mastering diagnosis procedures and implementations of histology and pathology.
Choosing to be a dedicated homemaker after the birth of her first child, Eli rediscovered her passion for writing. She’s never regretted the decision. Not only are her kids the most amazing creatures, but writing fulfills her soul the way science never did.
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Eli is the author of Dead Trees, Dead Trees 2, Mastic, DRAG.N & Z Children: Awakening. She is a contributing author to Let’s Scare Cancer to Death, State of Horror: New Jersey, State of Horror: Illinois, & Fading Hope. Her books are available in eBook, paperback, & audio formats.
{Bokerah} 