Hello and welcome to another Sunday Speed Date! Today I am pleased to welcome Angela D’Onofrio.
Hampshire with her lovely wife, Laurel, two particularly eccentric cats, and one opinionated conure named Jupiter. She roots the places she creates in the places that she loves, and friends and family may just find hints of the familiar in the streets of Aviario. While writing is not currently her only bread and butter, she spends much of her free time on aspects of the process, toting around her tools of the trade in case inspiration strikes.Welcome Angela! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
A friend of mine once said that I am the personification of the 90’s. I think I can stand up to that assessment pretty well: I like good music, doing my part to try and make the world a better place, bright colors, and – yes – tooling around malls. Still. I’m also a Druid-in-training… I believe in a spiritual world closely intertwined in this one, which is brought out by good deeds and compassion.
A Druid, wow! That is so awesome. I think it is a perfect way to find and maintain the balance between the spiritual and physical worlds. I’m so excited for you about this!
Can you tell us a little about your latest project?
I’m gearing up for my first NaNoWriMo as a Municipal Liason and finishing my third novel, The Proper Bearing. It’s a coming-of-age story set in a British public (that’s private to Yanks) school in 1979. There’s a dash of magic, a lot of suspense and heart, and some characters and elements people will recognize from my first two novels.
Oh, that sounds like it’ll be a lot of fun to write. I love coming of age stories. :)
Tell us one funny story about you as a kid.
Growing up, I was Matilda without the telekinesis. When I was in elementary school, I was tested for reading and came out at a college level… so this little tiny 3rd grader started showing up in the 5th-grade reading classes toting her books. A few months in, we read Alice in Wonderland. I had a big, gorgeous old hardcover copy of both the Alice books, and brought it in — I was adamant about reading my copy. The teacher made a huge fuss and said I couldn’t, because the page numbers were different. I told him to pick a page and read me the first sentence. He did. I opened my copy and read him the next one… He let me bring my copies of our books from home after that.
Oh my goodness, I love this story so much!
Have you ever broken any bones?
Luckily, no! I’m amazed I’ve made it 34 years now without a single break.
Lucky.
Do you have any pets? (I love pictures!)
Two cats and a Jenday Conure! Bella – the brown one – is my wife Laurel’s cat. She’s skittish — it took her three months of living together to get used to me, but now she’s an absolute lovebug. The Sneak – the black one – is my little silent sootball dervish. She doesn’t meow, but only makes little raspy noises, and enjoys mashing her face into 
things. I have no idea why. Jupiter, my conure, is opinionated, weird, and equally smart and stupid. I’ve had him for 12 years now, and I don’t know what I’m going to do without him. I hope I don’t have to find out for at least another 12.
Aww, I love critters. They have a way of sneaking their way into our hearts and just taking up residence there. :)
What is one entity or group that supports you and your writing outside your family?
Twitter, oh my goodness, Twitter. The community there is amazingly supportive and bright. My #2bitTues, #Thurds, and #FARG friends are a blessing.
Not going to lie, Twitter is a little intimidating to me. Kudos to you for making it your community!
How did you discover it/them?
When I decided to start the journey to self-publishing, I looked up a few blogs. Angela Ackerman, Becca Pugilisi, and K.M. Weiland were the first authors I found and followed on Twitter. I started engaging with them, and from there, my community grew. In fact, if I hadn’t found K.M., I would never have ended up back in touch with Jewel E. Leonard… we were online besties when I was in high school, but grew apart in college. It’s a small world wide web after all…
It truly is. I don’t think people realize how small and tight-knit the writing community is. It is an excellent place to meet and connect with people.
What are the challenges of writing a series of books where the location plays such an important part of the story?
My biggest challenge was the map. I nipped it in the bud very early on, while I was still in college, and I’ve been adding to it ever since. I suspect that after a while, I’ll have to be on the lookout for any repetitious descriptions… one of my pet peeves about series is when an author gives the same set of details over and over in every book.
Oh yes. I completely agree. World Building is such a huge part of fiction. I love visiting the worlds of the books I read and enjoy learning new things about them.
I know you live in New England. Are any of the characters or locations based on people and places you know?
Naming people would be telling… though anyone who gave me permission to do so gets a lot of love in my acknowledgments. Buster Heywood’s favorite restaurant, The Fountain, is based on The Soda Shoppe, a little diner in the Lakes Region where I had many a frappe with my grandmother growing up, and still frequent to this day. Aviario’s Dunwich Park is modeled after a little park in Derby, CT. Marlowe House is lifted from the floor plan of a Victorian that my uncle used to own, also in Derby… though I’ve taken a couple of liberties that you’ll see when you read In The Cards.
Where did the idea for the town of Aviario come from?
Ahaha, can I plead the fifth? I’m going to be vague and say that a very, VERY long time ago, I wrote fan fiction for a show where most of the characters were birds. When a couple of the original characters refused to let me stop writing them, I had to give them a new place to live. What better place than an aviary? Though it’s now pronounced “AY-vee-uh-REE-oh.”
Hahaha! I think it’s so neat that you got this idea from FanFiction. I’ve never been brave enough to jump in someone else’s world. I love the fact that you did so and now made it your own.
Who is one character that readers are eager to know more about?
I’m finding that people really like Ral O’Dailigh, one of the heroes of In The Cards. And of course, there’s The Spanner from Buster Heywood… he’s full of mysteries.
How do you choose the names of your characters? Do you lock on the way they sound, or is there some underlying meaning?
Six of one, half a dozen of the other! Some names start as parodies or plays on names of characters or concepts which inspired me; others get names which have a meaning similar to their role. Dr. Jon Knight was inspired by Danny Elfman, so his first name’s from the song “Only A Lad,” and his last is a nod to The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo.
That is some combination to create one character. I love it. It’s always more complex than anyone thinks, isn’t it?
Do you have any naming resources that you like to use or recommend?
I had two really amazing ones I used when I was in the research phase for The Proper Bearing, but my bookmarks folder was completely lost a couple of months ago. I’m still mourning its loss.
Oh my goodness! I am so sorry for your loss. That is a traumatic experience for any writer!
What is your favorite book to movie adaptation?
That’s a toss-up between Secret Window and Practical Magic.
I adore Practical Magic. It is one of my all time faves. I hate to say it… I think I like the movie better than the book…
What is your very favorite part of your day?
This time of year, it’s the moment when I step outside, look up at the crisp green of leaves against the blue of the sky, and get the first whiff of fall in the air. Second-best is lunchtime when it’s just me, some delicious, healthy munchies, and my Real Work.
Real Work. I love it! I think all us part-time writers feel it is our Real Work. The other jobs just pay the bills. :)
I know you’re a Disney fan, so if you could be any Disney character, who would you be and why?
Up until recently, there would have been no hesitation, and I would’ve said Belle. But ANY? I think I have to amend myself and say Judy Hopps from Zootopia: the one who knew what she wanted to be, worked hard for it and didn’t let anyone stop her from being it.
I can understand the feeling of that. Dream Big. Work Hard. Make It Happen.
Do you have and Writer’s Words of Wisdom to impart on us?
“Once your book is out there, it is out there forever. It will catch as long as you maintain your social presence. Word of the local author doing good things travels faster than a free download.”
The first of many gems I got from A.B. Funkhauser: a great friend whose experience never steers me wrong. (Her books are brilliant, too, of course!)
Such a powerful message for writing in today’s modern age of publishing.
What’s coming next in the town of Aviario, CT?
Once readers follow Nick to Aviario from London next year in The Proper 
Bearing, they’ll have two novellas next in line… the villains of In The Cards don’t show their true colors until the end, and their backstories are too rich not to tell. I don’t have titles for them yet, but stay tuned!
Oh, how exciting! I love it when characters are so well developed, and you can’t help but give them their own story — villain or not!
Where can readers find out more about you and what you write?
Oh, geez. I’m EVERYWHERE, though not with the same degree of devotion. You’re most likely to find me on Twitter, or Facebook and Instagram, but here are some others: Google+, Goodreads, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Pinterest.
Wonderful! I can’t wait to see you around some more online. Thanks again for stopping by!
Thank you for having me!