Lena Horn has written Forgotten Fox.
1. What is your name and where do you call home?
I’m Lena Horn and even though
I’m originally from Germany, I currently call Virginia (near Washington D.C.)
my home. But it might not be for much longer as I’m hoping to move to southern
California soon.
2. Do you have a pen name?
I always wanted a pen name,
but at the same time I like my name. I do, however, use the handle PageBreak a
lot online.
3. What is the name of your
most recent book and if you had to sum it up in 20 or less words, what would
you say?
The book is Forgotten Fox, and
it’s a young adult fantasy novel about a young girl who gets exiled from home,
finds a mystical fox, and seeks the truth and a new home.
4. Do you have plans for a new
book? Is this book part of a series?
Forgotten Fox is
the first book of The Celestial Saga. I’m currently working on the
second book. The draft is about halfway done. In addition, I have a
basic storyline for the 3rd book of the series.
5. What or who inspired you to
start writing? And how long have you been writing?
I started creating
stories at a pretty early age and in middle school I started writing (bad)
poetry. Then in high school I wrote short stories and a lot of fan fiction. It
wasn’t until college though that I realized that writing was not just a hobby
for me, but a pure passion that I didn’t just want to pursue, but needed to. I
studied both screenplay and creative writing. I’d love to adapt my stories to
the big screen one day.
6. Do you gift books to
readers for book reviews?
Yes! I love to gift books. I
have eBook versions and some paperbacks ready to send out if anyone’s
interested in the story.
7. How did you come up with
the cover? Who designed the cover of your book?
Since Forgotten Fox is
my first novel and I wrote it pretty straight out of college, my budget was
extremely low and the majority of it went to getting a professional editor.
Therefore, the cover was designed by me. I did get very lucky that a friend of
mine gave me a picture of a fox that he took and said I could use it however I
wanted.
8. Is there anything you would
change about your book covers?
I would love to have gotten an
illustrator to design a cover for me, which would have featured the main
characters, but as it stands, I’m quite happy with how it turned out.
9. Would you have different
book covers for different countries?
I never really thought about
it. It’d certainly be a fun thing to have. I’m very budget conscious though,
and if it were to affect the price of the book, I might not do it. I’d rather
keep the price low.
10. How did you come up with
the title for your book?
Originally, I had titled the
book George the Fox as I had wanted to focus more on George,
but as the story evolved, I realized the title didn’t fit anymore. The word
“forgotten” fit so many themes in the story that as soon as I thought of it, I
knew that had to be it.
11. Is there anything you
would change about your book? And why?
No. I worked incredibly hard
to write and edit the book and I am proud of the way it turned out. There is
always the thought in the back of your head that you need to continue working
on it, make it more perfect, and I got close to getting stuck in a loop where I
continuously go back and edit, but at some point you have to say stop. You have
to believe in yourself that it is not just “good enough” but “great enough.”
Well I certainly hope that it is at least!
12. Do you have a book
trailer? And what are your thoughts on book trailers?
I don’t have a book trailer,
but I do have a video interview on my website. I love book trailers, they often
express a mood or atmosphere that the cover or description may not have been
able to show. It’s another way of finding readers that may otherwise have not
been interested in the book.
13. What is your opinion on
ARCs?
ARCs are a great way to garner
some early feedback and reviews. I was very happy that I decided to do ARCs
since it boosted my confidence that my book was good, even though there were
only a few of them as my budget was limited.
14. Do you prefer e-books,
paperbacks, hardcovers or audiobooks?
I’m kind of on the fence. I
love having an actual book in hand, and hardcover books always feel a little
more special than paperbacks. At the same time, ebooks are great because I like
the environmentally friendly side of it, and getting a book on the spot for
very cheap and within seconds? That’s awesome. I like audiobooks for long
drives, but otherwise I don’t listen to them much.
15. Are you a self-published /
Indie author?
Yes, I’m an indie author. I’d
like to get away from the thought that self-published authors are just people
throwing their stories online and hoping to get rich quick. Many of us aren’t!
I write with pure passion and I chose to self-publish. I also strove for
professionalism in the writing, editing, cover design, and everything else.
16. Have you ever read a book
more than once? And if so what was it?
Nope, but I always mean to
reread books. You know, when I have nothing else to read, but I always have a
ton of books lying around that need to be read.
17. Have you ever bought a
specific edition of a book because of it’s cover? (For example a UK, US or
Canadian version)
I was tempted back when Harry
Potter came out and I saw the various covers. I thought it’d be really
neat to have 1 of each.
18. Have you ever read a book
just based on it’s cover?
Maybe? I have certainly picked
up books and read the back purely because the cover interested me, but in the
end it is the description that convinces me.
19. Has the quality of the
cover of a book ever put you off of reading it?
I hate to admit it, but yes.
I’m getting more into the indie world of authors and seen some very poor cover
designs. It gives the impression that the story won’t have effort put into it
either. That being said, I do give those books a chance and will often read the
first chapter.
20. What is your favourite
film based on a book?
Hmm that’s a tough one. I’m
often disappointed in the adaptations, but I try to see them as separate ways
of interpreting one story.Stardust was a great one, and Romeo
and Juliet (1996) the one with DiCaprio and Claire Danes. Ok I’m not
sure it counts as a book… but I loved the modernization with the original words
from Shakespeare.
21. What is your favourite
book genre at the moment?
Fantasy. I used to read a lot
of young adult books, and more recently I’m into heavy fantasy. I guess that’s
why I write young adult fantasy? I’ll still read anything that catches my
attention, for example, I have a bit of a pirate fascination at the moment.
22. What books have made it
onto your wishlist recently? And why?
Do comic books count? I’ve
been getting into the Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Mass
Effect comics recently.
23. What book are you reading
at the moment? And in what format?
My friend gave me a hardback
fairy tale book from the Brothers Grimm. I find fairy tales fascinating, and I
love comparing them to modern interpretations. They really are everywhere!
24. If you could invite any
four celebrities (alive or dead) to your dinner party, who would you invite and
why?
Joss Whedon – I love his work.
I think I’d get along with him and (only in my wildest dreams) I’d love to work
with him on something. He has the best strong female characters.
Jason Statham – because I’m in
love with him. And maybe he could give me one-on-one martial arts lessons?
Kate Beckinsale – so that I
could convince her to make more action flicks. She’s hot and she’s awesome.
James Cameron – I would like
to explain to him how he could have made Avatar better. You
know, right before he slaps me for insulting him.
Man this would be a weird
dinner party… I hope they get along!
25. Do you have any advice for
other writers? And what’s the best advice that you have been given when it
comes to writing?
I have various pieces of
advice that I’ve taken to heart and I think they can apply to pretty much any
writer. “Just write” is probably the best one. Another one that I think
especially applies today with books like Harry Potter breaking
the tradition that YA books need to be of a limited word count is “a story is
as long as it needs to be.”
26. Do you have any hobbies
that aren’t related to reading & writing?
I’m a gamer! Sometimes that’s
bad because it cuts into my writing time. Whoops! I also love horseback riding,
traveling (when time and money allows), playing with my dog, and when I’m
feeling lazy I love TV/movies.
27. Where can your readers
follow you?
The best place is probably my
blog or my facebook fanpage.
Instagram: @pagebreak
Thankyou so much for taking the time to do this interview and allowing us a glimpse into your writing world!
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