A. R. Grosjean
It’s October—the best time of the year to celebrate those spooky, scary, mysterious and horror seasons of Halloween. To make it more exciting, we have A. R. Grosjean with us, who’s an expert in taking all your attention by telling her mysterious and magic filled fantasy stories. We are here to catch up with her for a chat.
R. Grosjean writes thrillers-filled magic and action-packed mysterious stories. Her characters are clever and fearless. She creates worlds and captures interesting stories through her talent for writing. Her writings are worth your interest.
She married a wonderful man; she’s a mother of three kids. Two girls and one son. She discovered the love for writing when she was 11 years old. Being bullied in school and at home, she learned that writing could offer her a form of escape that she could not turn down. She also learnedthat it was her calling.
1. Tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Amber, and I write in multiple genres. My favorite is Fantasy, but I don’t like being limited to one genre. I also write Romance, Thriller, Mystery, Science Fiction, Suspense, Non-fiction (will be writing a book about homelessness soon), and more. I am the middle child; I have 2 sisters. I was always the black sheep in the family. I have 3 children who are now grown. Two girls with one son in the middle, just like me, lol. I see so much of myself in them. And so much of their father lol. I’ve been married since 1996. My family didn’t think it would last a year lol. Guess I showed them. They also didn’t think I would ever get published. I made my dream come true, even with the negativity. They still don’t think I can make it. I will spend the rest of my life trying because I believe I c
2. When and why did you begin writing?
Well, I’ve been writing since I was 11 years old. I actually started a story called the Adventures of Norman Whichcraft who died and went to the wrong part of Heaven so he had to find his way. I never finished that story. I asked my mother to read it and she lost it. When I was 12, I wrote another story and finished it. Later that one was published twice (under two pen names). I was bullied growing up and actually tried to end my life when I was 10. I thank God; it didn’t work because a year later; I discovered writing and it saved my life. Being able to escape into a world of fantasy was enough to help me get through my childhood. Of course, later I met my husband, and he saved me again lol. But that’s a different story. It took me 20 years to publish my first book under my original pen name. I was going to use my maiden name, but I was married by then so I ended up using my maiden and married names together. I rebranded after my 4th book was released and republished everything under the new pen name (A.R. Grosjean). I abbreviated my first name and maiden name to make the new pen name. Since I’ve been writing since a young age, my imagination didn’t quite grow up with me so it’s still very vivid today. I am also a very open-minded person which helps me come up with new and exciting ideas all the time. I’m always coming up with something new and have a long list of books waiting to be written. So far I have 10 books published.
3. What inspired you to pen your first novel?
I’m not even sure where the idea came from, originally. It’s really funny. I’ve always had the gift for telling stories but never thought about writing. One day, I was heading home with my grandparents and little sister from visiting my uncle. It was a trip that lasted a few hours so my sister and I had plenty of paper and pens to draw with. As I was looking out of the window for an idea to draw, a story just popped into my head and I began writing. I didn’t see anything in particular that struck me–it was just a country road with fields and cows grazing. And the idea for a ghost who was stuck in the wrong part of Heaven? Just can’t figure it out but that’s how ideas come to me. They just pop in and scream, “here I am!”. Some ideas, I can figure out where they came from but most of the time they just come to me. But that wasn’t a novel since I didn’t finish it. My first novel started out as a short story that I sent to 17 Magazine. Yes, they rejected it because a story about a witch who lives in a haunted castle isn’t exactly their type of story. But they did like it and they encouraged me to keep writing which I did. I sat there, thinking of ways to improve the story and it kept growing and it’s still growing lol. By the time I graduated from high school, I had 7 books in the series written. I ended up losing it and thought it was gone forever. The MC visited my dreams and begged me to write her story. I got tired of her bugging me so I gave in and rewrote it from memory which ended up making it better lol. I’ve matured since I was 12 years old lol. I’ve always loved witches and haunted castles so I think that’s what got me to write it. No idea where the actual idea came from though lol. But it’s my favorite book to this day!
4. Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way?
Everything and everyone. I’ve never really met anyone who has such an open mind like I do. Maybe it was because of the teasing and bullying that made me this way, I really don’t know. Once I picked up the pen, I just feel like this is who I was meant to be. The teasing drove me to become the writer and I’ve forgiven them for the teasing. It has made me who I am. I am constantly changing though so I think I’m influenced by everything around me.
5. How has your environment/upbringing colored your writing?
Because I was teased at school and at home, I didn’t have any friends. At least I didn’t think I did when I was little. It was much later when I began making friends. So I had to invent my own friends. That helped me learn how to speak to my characters, or they speak to me is a better way of putting it lol. I hear my voice and instead of me saying things, I hear the characters so book, my inner voice is different. I suffer from depression as well and anxiety. For Peterson Estate, I envisioned someone like me only better. Then, I wanted her to have a good relationship with her family because I didn’t. By her having that, I felt like I was through her and it helped me get through things. I think I did the same with my other characters growing up, picturing what I was missing in my life. I longed for so many things and by having it in the fictional world, it helped me feel important and special. Of course, when I met my husband, I no longer needed to do that because he filled the empty spaces and I began to heal. But I still had a hunger for the writing and kept going. The more I wrote, the more I wanted it.
6. What inspires you to write paranormal?
I have always been pulled in by the unknown–the Bermuda Triangle, ghosts, aliens, the Loch Ness Monster, etc. I know they aren’t real but monsters like vampires and werewolves too, and witches. As I’ve said, I have an open mind. Mysteries like these have a big place in my heart, always have and always will. So I use them in my writings so I can live them out.
7. How much of your work is realistic?
Well, in my head they all are lol. Realistically, not much of it is real. Although the piece I am working on now was inspired by my daughter and granddaughter. The MC is molded from my granddaughter so the actual character is her through and through. The personality is real, her description all the way down to the pacemaker is all her. The idea of the story came from my daughter’s love for unicorns. I just put the two together and started to think of all the fairy tales I grew up hearing and put them in the story, saying they are real, hence the name Fairytale’s Truth. I’m expecting to have it finished in the next month and get it edited in time for it’s release in Feb 2021. But I also use some of my memories and give those memories to my characters as well.
8. Should you like to share a little of your current work with us?
Fairytale’s Truth is told through the eyes of a gnome named Nemoy (the name came from Spock just changed the spelling lol—yes, I am a Trecky lol). Maria (MC) is 10 years old (my granddaughter is almost 4, so I did change her age for the story) and she accidentally meets Nemoy and learns that fairy tales are real and are hidden because of a war. A treaty was signed forcing them to hide and are only remembered through stories. Maria and Nemoy go on an adventure to find the Elders, a group of people who signed the treaty with the humans. Maria wants to save them before another war breaks out since she broke the treaty by accident. Now that she’s met them, she must go on a quest and make a new treaty between the fairy tale creatures and the humans. It is a fantasy adventure story for the young-at-heart.
9. What was the highlight of writing this book?
Experiencing all the things my granddaughter does and says. She is the most beautiful little girl, inside and out that I know and being able to tell this kind of story is an honor for me. She’s been through a lot in her short life so far and giving her this gift means the world to me. And it’s a way to keep her frozen in time.
10. What were the key challenges you faced when writing a new story?
For the longest time, just finishing the story was a challenge. Back in the beginning of my career, I would write multiple books at a time so when I hit a brick wall, I would just switch gears and work on another story. But as much as I was writing, nothing was getting done so I decided to work on one story at a time until it was finished. Then I would edit it. While a Beta reader was looking it over, I would begin the next story. After switching to that method, I’ve been finishing up my stories so much faster. And that’s why I have 10 out now! Other challenges I’ve faced was finding the right names for the characters. And sometimes I have a problem with show, not tell. I’ve gotten so much better but there are times when I tell instead of showing. It doesn’t take away from the story but still, there’s room for improvement and I will continue to grow as a writer.
11. Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing, while writing horror?
Sticking with horror is the challenge. When I began, I wanted my mother to be able to enjoy something I wrote, and she only read horror—she’s a big Stephen King fan and I love his movies so I tried writing my first horror. In fact, it was the first book I actually got published. I was so proud of that story. People enjoyed it too. One person who read it told me there was more romance in the story than there was horror, which I didn’t mean to write in—it just happened lol. That’s what happens when you let the characters tell the story but that’s how I like to write (it puts me in the readers’ seats so everything is a surprise when it happens and that’s more fun). But when I rebranded, I ended up changing the story and rewrote it with the Romance Paranormal genre instead of horror, but kept the horror elements because that was part of the story. Needless to say, I will never get my mother to enjoy a book I wrote because she just doesn’t believe in me. But that’s okay, I’ve gotten over it and don’t need someone like that. I’ve got real fans who do like my work.
12. Do your stories scare you?
Not really but some of my ideas scare my husband lol. This is a real story lol. My husband and I were downtown, Fort Wayne, Indiana, and we were walking. It was getting dark and as we passed an alley, I just happened to look down the darkened alley. Suddenly an idea hit me just out of the blew. I blurted it out, not thinking and my husband looked at me and said, “Amber, you scare the blankety blank out of me” and I laughed. The idea was of a man who murders people while sleepwalking. I used to sleep walk when I was a kid so that kind of stayed with me. I’ll eventually write that story though because I thought it was a cool idea lol.
13. Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?
It doesn’t hit very often, but it does strike. Sometimes it takes a while to get through it. Sometimes, it’s just one word that I can’t think of. Once I remember what the word is that I want, I head back into writing. If I can’t think of the right word that I want after a while, I rewrite the sentence to work around it lol. If it’s more than a single word, I’ll take a little break maybe a day or two and I’ll go back. I will read the last page written with my fingers ready to type. When I get to the last sentence, I will begin typing without really overthinking things. Usually that snaps me back into the story. If it doesn’t work, I’ll take another break and take my mind off of things. If that doesn’t work, I’ll look at what I have and rewrite. The characters are stuck somewhere at that point and just need a nudge in the right direction. That’s the only time I put in my two-cents worth. The rest of the time, I give my characters full reign over the story and it usually works.
14. If you could leave your readers with one legacy, what would you want it to be?
That you can’t give up. I’ve been a quitter my entire life, but writing was the one thing I didn’t give up on and it’s paying off. True, sales are a bit low but that’s only because I’m a writer, not a salesperson lol. I’m learning how to market my books and it takes time. I won’t give up on my stories. They deserve more; I deserve more. So if anything, that’s what I want to leave behind—that I made something of myself and I didn’t quit. Dreams do come true, and because I believed in myself, I did it. And I’d like people to remember me as the queen of twisted lol. I have at least one in every story lol. You just don’t see them coming. I give an escape to my readers and hopefully that escape can save a person, just a little. Just like it saved me. That’s my mission as a writer.
15. Where your fans can find links to your books? (Share links please).
All of my books are available on Amazon in paperback and ebook. Some of them are in audio as well. Since there are 10 books, here’s the link to my author page on Amazon where you can find all the books together including the ones under my original pen name (Amber Rigby Grosjean)
It was a nice meeting with A. R. Grosjean. She writes multiple genres; that makes her an extraordinary writer. We have tried hard to know more about her, but if you want to know her more, follow her on her website.
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