Guest Author Interview with Allison Martine
I recently had the opportunity to interview Allison Martine, author of The Bourbon Books. I hope you enjoy our Q&A! –AJ
Hi, Allison. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to interview you today. Can you introduce yourself and your book(s) to our readers?
Hello! I’m a multi-genre author and podcast host, too. I always thought of myself as a speculative fiction writer, finding my groove somewhere in the liminal space between science fiction and fantasy, but a few years back, I started writing contemporary romance—almost on accident, and those are oddly the first books I have out! I originally released “dibs,” with a small publisher, which was a learning experience, to put it kindly. We parted ways and I ended up publishing three more books in the series, “The Bourbon Books,” on my own in the two years since. They’re romcoms, or at least my spin on them—smart, sexy, with a bit of bourbon and banter. I try to go light on the cringe and the cliches and lean into the feels!
Would you like to talk a little about your writing process?
I’m a total pantser, but I also find my process is always changing, even from book to book. When I wrote “dibs”, it was after spending years on a speculative fiction project—one not yet published. I felt my way through that novel, not knowing the ending or how to get there until I was on top of it. Yet this romcom arrived nearly fully formed in my head. It was literally just the process of typing it all out. Each scene naturally arrived, ready to put on paper. My earliest readers requested a sequel, and so I struck the epilogue from “dibs” and wrote “Since September” afterwards, which continues the storyline and the same couple we met in “dibs”. The later two books in the series shift from Olivia (the leading lady in “dibs”) to feature secondary characters we first met in “dibs,” with Olivia becoming a supporting character in “Move On, Melinda” and “Climb the Salmon Ladder.”
I’ve read the first book in your Bourbon books series, dibs. Your characters were relatable and many reminded me of people I’ve met in my life, which made the book that much more enjoyable. How do you go about creating the individual personalities of your characters?
I love hearing that! My character process is a mishmash, honestly. I steal from everything and everyone—mannerisms from people I know, the cadence of an actor in a particular role, and all of them get a dose of my own insecurities and inner demons. A few folks have spotted themselves and requested to be given bigger storylines.
The main characters in dibs work for an organization called the Ranchers, that reminded me loosely of 4-H. Can you share a little of what inspired the Ranchers group in your series?
(Laughs nervously) In no way was I drawing from a real organization that I worked for years ago, which did in fact have uniforms, a big focus on camping and character growth, and had a two-week training in Texas which I may or may not have attended. Honestly, without naming the particular group that inspired the Ranchers, I have nothing but positive memories from my time with that completely fictional non-profit.
Branching away from your books for a time, I know you co-host a podcast, Vox Vomitus. Would you like to share what it’s about and how your experience has been so far?
As the pandemic lockdown started, a fellow author friend asked me to be a rotating co-host for a podcast she was starting, which she’d named VOX VOMITUS, which is fake Latin for “word vomit,” and an homage to how terrible our first drafts can be. (The “vomit draft” at its finest.) She neglected to tell me we’d be on camera (cue panic) and that the rotation would never actually happen, other than me noping out of an early episode that featured a book that promised to give me nightmares. About a year later, we each started spin off shows focusing on our own genres—I do TO THE MOON, ALLISON, which is speculative fiction (fantasy/sci fi) and romance, and my “booksister” Jennifer Anne Gordon does LET’S SCARE JENNIFER TO DEATH, which is horror and true crime.
The two of us have been going strong for over two years and more than a hundred live VOX VOMITUS episodes, featuring authors new to me and ones I could only ever dream of meeting, let alone having a conversation about their own writing process and the bestselling books I get to read each week. I still get nervous, especially when I talk to an author I’ve read for decades—like Charlaine Harris, author of the True Blood series—but it’s been absolutely amazing, and the best thing? The authors tell us how much fun they have on our shows.
Do you have any upcoming releases you’d like to talk about?
While I’ve been extremely busy, I don’t have a new book coming out just yet, with the next planned release being the final full-length novel in The Bourbon Books. I’m a hybrid author, which means that some books I’ve released on my own, and others are set for the slower, more uncertain traditional publishing path. I’ve been toying with the premise for the last book in the series, which characters will come to the forefront, and wanting to make sure everyone gets their happy ending. The true finale for the series though is a planned Christmas novella, “A Very Lorrie Sunkist Christmas,” featuring everyone’s favorite blonde.
What project(s) are you currently working on, and can you share anything about them?
I just finished my first draft of a dark speculative fiction work, which is heading on the path to traditional publishing, and I’m looking to start my first stand-alone romcom that isn’t part of The Bourbon Books series next! That may have to wait depending on what edits come my way with my speculative fiction.
Besides being a writer, what do you like to do in your spare time?
Spare time?! Does laundry count as a hobby? I’m also a mother of three, so I do a lot of audiobooks while doing dishes or stirring whatever is on the stove.
Do you have any parting thoughts you’d like to share?
None of this process has been what I expected. Now I just have learned to expect curveballs, and to swing for the fences. (I don’t know sports, so hopefully that makes sense!) And whatever you do, just keep reading. (And yes, audiobooks *count* as reading!) THANK YOU!
A big thank you to Allison for taking the time to chat about her books and podcast!
The Bourbon Books are available Amazon.com, or you can learn more about Allison and her series on her website, afictionalhubbard.com.