Interview with an Author Featuring A.R. Hadley

The Literary Vixen presents…

bio pic sept 2020 pic 1

Joining us today is A.R. Hadley! Her newest release, Moonlight Drive released on May 18th.

What inspired you to start writing?

I’ve been writing since I was a kid. I won first place in my fourth-grade class, creating a mystery-themed fictional story, penned poetry as an angst-filled teenager, and even wrote for a local paper for a short time in the early 2000s. However, it was in 2014 that I once again tried my hand at fiction. The inspiration came in the form of years of suppression of my voice — it would no longer accept the silencing it had endured. The two stories themselves, the ones I drafted in 2014, started with two dreams, literal dreams. Cal and Jack were both dreams. Funny, isn’t it? The universe knows what it’s doing. The writing was therapeutic in ways I hadn’t dreamed (lol) it would be. And I loved every minute of it! Even days when I threw my phone across the room in a panic!

What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

I’ve written all my first drafts on my iPhone notepad using my right index finger — and I’m left-handed. *snort*

How do you deal with the emotional impact of a book (on yourself) as you are writing the story?

This is a great question. Everything I write impacts me heavily. I’m not sure I’ve come up with a perfect solution –- or that it’s actually a problem. The draft, rewrites, and editing are the love affair stage of the process: feeling everything, drowning in it, and allowing the experience to heal the places that need love and light. I enjoy meditation. That practice certainly helps ground me. And talking with my friends in the business is also a source of great comfort.

How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

I’m about to publish my seventh book, but I’ve written more. My favorite, though… My current WIP is probably my favorite. The Ocean in His Veins. The character, Cal Prescott from my South Beach Connection Trilogy, has his own story — one I originally drafted in 2015. Soon, he will finally see the light of day! He’s certainly my favorite character. However, Moonlight Drive is also at the top of my list because of the amazing experience I had writing it and doing research for it. Books can be compared to children — only in the sense that we don’t pick favorites. But Cal is my favorite … just don’t tell the others. Lol.

What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?

Ernest Hemingway, I hope, has influenced me the most. The way he writes men. The way he uses a subtle tempo, leading the reader to a beautiful climax. His dialogue. The way he understands and conveys human emotion. Everything. The Garden of Eden is my favorite Hemingway book. The Old Man and the Sea and For Whom the Bell Tolls. So many. I also love the short stories The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Hills Like White Elephants.

Do you hear from your readers much? What do they say?

I love hearing from readers. I’m a reader and have reached out to authors so I know what it’s like to be on both ends. Reading and finishing a book can be a religious experience. It’s personal. I love the quote: “Books are like mirrors: you only see in them what you already have inside you.”

What book is currently on your bedside table?

Becoming Supernatural by Dr. Joe Dispenza

Do you have any new series planned?

I’ve not written a series and have no plans to write one right now. The Ocean in His Veins is my current WIP, and it will hopefully be released before the start of fall.

If your book was to be made into a movie, who are the celebrities that would star in it?

Well … Nikki Sixx was the muse for my character Nick in Moonlight Drive. The actor who played Nikki in The Dirt did a fabulous job! I’m not sure who could play Dani. I’m not really up to speed on younger actors. Someone who can sing. Has presence. Can be vulnerable.

What advice would you give to other authors?

Follow your intuition. Read books. Break rules. And have fun!

What is the one thing you want people to know about you and your books?

One thing. You’re tough… Right now, I’m loving the quote: “She believed she could … so she did.” I want my kids to see that I did that. That I am doing that! Anything is possible!

One thing about my books… To “expect the unexpected” — as one reviewer said about one of my novels. Every book I write is different from the next. They all showcase my voice and style but are completely unique stories, sometimes with interchanging POVs. I write soul connections. Love. Sex. Not romance. Expect the unexpected.

Thank you A.R. Hadley for chatting with me! I will include her information down below. Check out her newest release, Moonlight Drive today!

~Synopsis~

The magazines didn’t do him justice.

Not long after running away from home, Dani Isabella joins Moonlight Drive’s 1985 Live and Wired tour, hoping her long-lost friend, Nick, will remember her.

He’s finally made it — just like he promised. He’s the bassist for one of the biggest rock bands in the world.

Only, he’s reinvented himself and doesn’t recognize his childhood sweetheart. Nicki Quick has been seduced by the decadent lifestyle of the music scene of the eighties, lost in a haze of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. And to Nicki, Daniela is just another chick in a long line of groupies.

He soon finds she isn’t like the other girls, though. Music runs through her veins — it’s part of her soul. She’s a songwriter. A dreamer. A girl determined to make it in a boys’ world.

This is the story of two musicians. A boy and a girl. A man and a woman.

Two people who learn that being lost is sometimes the same as being found.

MD graphic ebooks sold purple-2

A.R. Hadley writes imperfectly perfect sentences by the light of her iPhone.

She loves the ocean.

Chocolate.

Her children.

And Cary Grant.

She annoys those darling little children by quoting lines from Back to the Future, but despite her knowledge of eighties and nineties pop culture, she was actually meant to live alongside the Lost Generation after the Great War and write a mediocre novel while drinking absinthe with Hemingway. Instead, find her sipping unsweet tea near a beautiful garden as she weaves fictional tales of love and connection amid reality.