Lynne Marie: Are you a suspense/horror fan? If so, what is your
favorite suspense/horror author? Your favorite suspense/horror movie or t.v.
show?
Gaby Triana: I’ve always loved scary stories. I grew up reading
Stephen King, Edgar Allan Poe, Anne Rice, Shirley Jackson, and anything with
ghosts in it, so it’s a genre I’ve always enjoyed, both reading and writing. Other
favorites are Joe Hill and Chuck Palahniuk.
LM: Is there a unifying thread between any of your six
novels? If so, how would you describe that thread?
GT: No one is all good, no one is all bad. I’ve always
tried to stay away from hero/villain stereotypes in my writing, so redemption
is an underlying theme in a lot of my stories. What makes someone do the wrong
thing? What dark secrets do good people have? We all have a little bit of
lightness and darkness in our personalities.
LM: I am especially intrigued by your latest book,
Wake the Hollow. How did you come up with the initial concept for that book?
Which came first, the concept or the title?
GT: Wake the Hollow is basically the book I’d want to
read if I were browsing the shelves looking for something spooky. There was
nothing out there that was a retelling of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow with lots
of ghosts. And Halloween stuff. And a haunted house. And Hispanic characters.
And, and, and… So I wrote it myself. When I looked at what I’d done, turns out
I’d basically written a more YA/adult version of Freddie and the Biltmore
Ghost!
LM: How did the title Wake the Hollow come about?
GT: The main character, Micaela Burgos, goes through a
personal awakening. After living naively for so long, she finally opens her
eyes to things that had been going on all around her without her realizing. The
town of Sleepy Hollow itself also goes through an awakening from the moment Mica
comes back to town. Things lying dormant awakening and coming to the surface is
an underlying theme throughout.
LM: What was your job before you became a full-time
author? How did this job inform your current profession?
GT: My Master’s is in Elementary Education. I began as
a 4th grade teacher for 8 years, then I wrote full-time for 10
years, publishing 4 of my YA novels, then I went back to teaching for one year,
then I ran a cake design studio for 2 years, then I went back to teaching for
another year, and now I’ve been full-time writing and ghostwriting again for
four years. Whew. Tired just reading that.
LM: How many times did you submit your first book
before receiving an acceptance? Please share the details of how you went from
unpublished to published.
GT: Freddie and the Biltmore Ghost, still
unpublished, was technically my first submission. Then I submitted Backstage Pass, and I got my agent
immediately with that one and a 2-book contract with HarperCollins one month
later. I had a very lucky start in the business, but subsequent books have been
harder to sell.
LM: What are your thoughts on being a member of SCBWI?
Critique groups?
GT: SCBWI is a great
starting point if you’ve never dealt with the publishing industry before. They
help you find a critique group, learn the basics of the industry so you know
what you’re doing, and they offergreat writing courses to help you improve
your craft.
They’re indispensable to a newbie writer. Critique groups are super
important if you’ve never shared your writing before. It helps to know what 10
people think before you submit your writing to the world.
LM: I know that when you’re writing, you also make
cakes. What is your favorite cake? Why?
GT: I don’t make cakes
anymore, but I did for a long time (Cakes by Gaby on FB). My favorite type of
cake was cinnamon vanilla with dulce de leche buttercream, but I’m gluten-free
now (autoimmune disease), so I feel like the cake years are now a lifetime
away, since I don’t eat that way anymore, nor do I have time for it.
JUST FOR FUN:
1.
If you were a color, what color would you be? YELLOW
2.
If you were a sea creatures, which sea creature
would you be? GIANT SQUID. So I could live at the
bottom of the deepest ocean in solitude and nobody would bother me.
3.
If you were a character in Harry Potter, which one
would you be? SNAPE. Nobody is all good, nor all bad.
;)
4.
If you were a literary character, which one would
you be? POE’S RAVEN
5.
If you were a mythical creature, which one would
you be? GARGOYLE
6.
Who is your favorite children’s author? ROALD DAHL
7.
If there is a book you wish you wrote, which one
would it be? HARRY POTTER. Lol
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