Author Interview: A.L. Bryant, Author of 'Blessed: The Prodigal Daughter' @albryanthsw #supernatural #Christian #thriller #horror #interview

A.L. Bryant was born and raised in St. Petersburg FL. She became interested in writing at an early age; an interest that depending on the circumstance brought punishment (detention for passing out the latest installment of her novella during class) and praise (being chosen for a youth writers conference at the Poynter Institute.)  A.L. Bryant gets her inspiration from both her mother and her Great Grandmother. Her mother recently published an inspirational children’s book under a pseudonym and her great grandmother is South Carolina’s first published African-American female author and playwright.

Until recently writing had simply been a pastime for A.L. Bryant who although she attended several writing courses, graduated with a B.A. in International Business. It was shortly after her second job as a Financial Office Manager at a Goodwill correctional facility that she realized she loved writing more than anything else. It would still be some years before she would convert the short story she wrote in college into a novel.

Besides writing, A.L. Bryant loves traveling the world. God has blessed her with the opportunity to visit a total of seven countries. She has studied abroad in Seoul and has traveled throughout Kenya; two locations she researched for her Blessed series. Her dream is to visit every country in the world.

Her latest book is the supernatural Christian thriller horror novel, Blessed: The Prodigal Daughter.

SOCIAL LINKS:                                                      

Twitter Link: https://twitter.com/ALBryantHSW

Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100029069148653

About the Book:

Title: BLESSED: THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER
Author: A.L. Bryant
Publisher: HSW Publications LLC
Pages: 279
Genre: Supernatural Christian Thriller/Horror

BOOK BLURB:

On New Year’s Eve 2021 the staff at St. Ann’s Hospital witness a medical miracle when a semi-conscious woman walks into the emergency room. The Jane Doe has been stabbed multiple times and as the staff struggle to keep the woman alive in the end all they can do is stand back and watch as their mysterious patient revives herself.

Glory wakes up in St. Ann’s Hospital gravely injured from an attack she cannot remember. However, her memory loss is no ordinary amnesia and she is no ordinary patient. Much to the shock of the hospital staff Glory heals at three times the rate of an average person. Soon the administration hears of her unique case and waste no time convincing the recovering Glory to be a part of an experiment to discover the origins of her power.

Once outside the comforting walls of the hospital it becomes apparent that healing is just a small portion of Glory’s capabilities. Abilities that to Glory’s distress are becoming increasingly unstable. Deciding that the hospital’s experiments are in vain, Glory embarks on her own Journey to discover the source of her power, unaware that she is a major pawn in a war between two secret organizations.

The two syndicates continue to clash in their fight for control and their battles result in several casualties. The crimes of their warfare surface and draw the attention of Dennis Wilson, a NYPD Detective known for solving his cases in the first forty-eight hours. Dennis follows the trail of bodies out of curiosity. But when his curiosity causes the deaths of his loved ones Detective Dennis becomes obsessed with the case.

In his overzealous attempts to find the murderer Dennis becomes the syndicates’ next target. Now the Detective must run for his life and the only person capable of saving him is the very person he suspects.

Blessed: The Prodigal Daughter is a hybrid of government espionage and supernatural Thriller. This novel is intended for audiences 18+ that seek an edgier outlook on Christian fiction. Blessed: The Prodigal Daughter is the first installment of the Blessed trilogy.

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Q: Welcome to The Writer's Life!  Now that your book has been published, we’d love to find out more about the process.  Can we begin by having you take us at the beginning?  When did you come up with the idea to write your book?

Thank you for having me! I first came up with the idea for Blessed: The Prodigal Daughter in one of my college courses. I wanted to play around with the notion of a spiritual being (or someone more in tune with spirituality) living in a natural world. A world that only acknowledges the natural. What struggles would someone like that face? How would they cope? COULD they cope when, according to the world they live in, their very existence is a lie?

Q: How hard was it to write a book like this and do you have any tips that you could pass on which would make the journey easier for other writers?

This book was not necessarily hard to write but it did take a long time. Originally, I had no intention of publishing it. I just kept adding to it month after month, year after year until I got serious about it one day and was like; yeah, I’d like to share this. After I made up my mind, the rest of the book (about half) took very little time to finish. So, my biggest tip to writers is, take yourself and your craft seriously. Don’t get in your head; you have a great story to tell. Just make sure you invest time, energy, and yes money into your novel to make it the best that it can be before release.

Q: Who is your publisher and how did you find them or did you self-publish?

I started my own LLC and self-published.

Q: Is there anything that surprised you about getting your first book published?

I think I was surprised at how hard it actually is. Writing the novel is not even half the work. Of course, this is nothing new. I can recall a handful of articles where other authors have expressed this very same sentiment. However, it’s one thing to hear it and another to experience it. If you are a social introvert like myself, there’s a chance reaching out to people for reviews and marketing will be some of the hardest challenges you will face.

Q: What other books are you working on and when will they be published?

I am currently working on Blessed: The Peacemaker which is the second book in the Blessed series, it has a tentative publishing schedule of mid to late 2020. I am also looking to re-publish a charming children’s book named Ray’s Wisdom which did not get the care it deserved, and I am looking to re-publish that by the end of 2019.

Q: Finally, what message are you trying to get across with your book?

I believe that knowing an author’s message beforehand can dilute the experience. Is there a message that I wanted to convey? Yes; but I would rather readers draw their own conclusions.

  

Q: Thank you again for this interview!  Do you have any final words?

I just want to say being a published author has been my dream for years now and I appreciate all the support! I hope I have succeeded in producing a memorable story that will enhance lives for years to come!