Anna Albergucci - Time Travel Romance with Thriller Elements

Anna Albergucci - Time Travel Romance with Thriller Elements
author of the day

Growing up, Anna Albergucci has always had a vivid imagination and took great pleasure from retelling her colorful dreams to others. Today, she creates relatable characters who tell her stories and live lives the rest of us can only dream of. As our Author of the Day, Albergucci chats about her time travel romance series, The Phoenix Decree, reveals whether she believes in soul mates or not and tells us how her dreams still inspire her books.

Anna had a bright imagination and entertained others with the telling of her colorful dreams. She now weaves her stories into fiery characters that live lives the rest of us only dream of

Please give us a short introduction to The Phoenix Decree

It’s a time travel romance series with thriller elements. Devon, a nineteenth-century English aristocrat makes a discovery that binds him to his soul mate, Elz, who happens to live today in Boston. Because of who she is, she has a flame in her eyes that draws certain types of males to her—they being the only ones who can see the flame. Devon, the most skilled fighter of his time, must protect her. This is what drives the plot throughout the series and leads the large cast of characters into some surprising adventures.

Your book explores the theme of soul mates. Do you believe soul mates exist in real life?

Of course I do. I’m a romantic.

What inspired you to write about a nineteenth-century Englishman who travels through time to protect a girl in the future?

Well, I wasn’t really inspired to write it; the whole story just whooshed into my head one night. It had never occurred to me to write time travel, but it’s been thrilling, and now I’m hooked.

Tell us more about Elz's character. Who is she and what makes her so special?

I love Elz, even if she is my hardest character to relate to. She’s far more refined than I am and has a knack for organization. The thing that sometimes gets her into trouble, however, is her strong compassion for others. You’ll see what I mean as you read through the series. That is the thing I really related to with Elz because I tend to be that way myself. That, and the fact that she is fiercely loyal. One thing that makes her special is her lineage, which will require her to be protected, yet allow her to become a protector herself; otherwise the world might become a very different place. And, really, the fact that she has the love and devotion of Devon Phoenix—sigh—is enough to prove she’s special, right?

As a child, you loved telling people stories inspired by your colorful dreams. Do your dreams still influence your work?

Yes, they do. But I would also add my work now inspires my dreams. When I’m really engrossed in writing, it’s funny, because I will dream in narration. Let’s say I dream of someone crossing the street toward a fire. Aside from hearing all the sounds within that scene, I hear the voice of a narrator saying, “Cinders swirled overhead as he dashed across the darkened street toward the burning Cola Bottling plant, the acrid smell of melted plastic burning his nostrils.”

You describe your scenes with great detail. How did you pull this off?

I have to be completely in the scene with no outside interruptions other than the music I’m listening to—usually Breaking Benjamin, with their passionate lyrics—and then I simply write what is around me in my mind as the scene unfolds. I don’t usually build the surroundings in my scenes; I see most of them already intact, if that makes any sense. They’re just there in my mind—like a memory would be. Though they’re not memories . . . unless I lived this in a past life. —Smiles

Besides writing, what other secret skills do you have?

I have a talent for interior decorating and spend a fair amount of time in antique shops. I adore my family and love that they love my cooking. Also, I suppose you could say I’m appreciated for being a generous hostess.

Did you plan out the twists in your book?

Not in the first seven books of the Phoenix Decree Saga. They just came to me, and I wrote them as fast as I could. But I’ve planned out the last two books in the series and hope to get them written in the next year.

Did you know right from the start that this was going to be a series? Can the book be read as a standalone?

No, it can’t be read as a standalone. It’s a continuing saga with the same characters throughout the series. More characters are added as you go. And, no, I didn’t realize it was going to be a series until it hit a certain word count and I knew there was still so much left to write. Even then, I assumed it would be a trilogy.  When the word count for a trilogy came and went, and I had written seven books, I realized it would take two more full novels to finish the saga. By the end, it will be a nine book series.

The Phoenix Decree is told from multiple points of view. Why did you take this approach?

Well, I first wrote the books in omniscient POV, but wanted to add more character voice. To then write it in only one or two points of view would have lost half the scenes in the book, so I rewrote each scene using the character in the room that I felt was best to narrate that scene. The result was an unsystematic and natural narration—the way a conversation among a group of friends happens, where those involved don’t take turns talking, but rather speak randomly, which makes it more interesting in my opinion.

Do you have any interesting writing habits? Do you work from notes, have a favorite writing spot, time of day to write?

I write at all hours of the day and night. Nighttime, I write in my bed. Daytime, I write in a number of places in the house, but always in front of a large window. This summer, I plan on writing out by the pool a lot. And I did work from notes when writing To Each His Own, the first book in The McGrail Clan Series—a spinoff of the Phoenix Decree Saga—but there have been no notes so far with Decree. Books 8-9 have notes I’ve made that I’ll work from. As far as interesting habits, I’m beginning to wonder if rewriting every book will become a habit. It seems to be gaining footing since I wrote this series first in omniscient past tense, then in first person present tense, and now in first person past tense. Let’s hope that’s a habit I break.

How long does it typically take you to finish a book, and do you let them "stew" before you go back to edit and publish?

Yes, I let them “stew”. And it takes me three to six months to write a full novel, around two for a novella, depending on how much privacy I have. And then a month or two for edits, cover, and layout, depending on the editor’s and designers’ schedules.

What are you working on right now?

I’ve been busy getting the seven books in the Decree series ready for publication. Book six is with the editor now. As soon as it publishes, I’ll move on to critiquing book seven and start the process over with a mad dash to get it to the reader. After that, I’m really looking forward to the slower pace of writing books eight and nine.

Where can our readers discover more of your work or interact with you? ~ My books are sold by Amazon, and on most e-Reader platforms, such as Kindle, iBooks, Nook, Kobo, etc… And you can find me at: annaalbergucci.com or on Facebook. I love to hear from readers!

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