Meet Guest Author Anje Hergt

Today, though it is not my usual day to post guest authors, I am introducing you to Guest Author Antje Hergt. She was supposed to be on Thursday, however, with doctor visits and Yom Kippur this week, I was unable to post it. I am sure you are going to love her work!

Let's learn more about Antje Hergt:

You said you travel between Germany and Canada. How do you find going back and forth between countries?

I love it. You get the best of both worlds. Canada was my favorite country ever since I read about it in a children’s novel and wanted to get to know it. Before I moved to Canada, I travelled lots of times to Ontario and Eastern Canada with my family or alone. Then I studied two semesters at SFU in Burnaby and in the end, it was a job offer that led me to the Albertan Rockies.

Was there one person who inspired you to write?

There are so many great children authors out there that I find it hard to select one, but if I had to choose, it would be Lucy Maud Montgomery. The person, who actually encouraged me to write, was a fellow business student. We both hated the subject, but had to pass it. So in order to motivate ourselves, we rewarded each other with writing and sharing a short story for every study session we finished.

Please tell us about your writing process.

I collect random ideas for stories and books until I find one that sparks a story line. From then on, I plunge in and just write. Anything from scenes to dialogue and character descriptions, then I create an outline and rearranged everything.

How did you get the idea for your character, Darinel Dragonhunter?

Actually, from a Goodnight story for my friend’s son. He wanted a knight and fight story, but the dragon popped into my head and how misunderstood he was. So, I told him the scene when Prince Darinel and the dragon meet for the first time.

Please let us know the path your novel took to be published.

To be honest, I never planed for that story to become a book, but the Banff Center for the Arts offered a creative writing course for children's books and I applied. It was a great course and I met very encouraging beginning fellow writers who urged me to continue and write my book. I wrote the first draft of the first and second book fairly fast and without knowing anything about the process of book publishing. Needless to say, after that came many more writing courses and the editing session of the first book and I got acquainted with slow and discouraging process of finding a publisher for my book. After many years and many rejection letters, I met my editor Nancy Bell as she gave a talk about e-book publishing and she encouraged me to submit to MuseitUp Publishing.

Nancy was my editor and she helped me to hone my book so well!!

Are you a "pantser" or a plotter? 

I am more a ‘pantser’ and jump right into the story. I love flow writing and before I know it the characters are developed and demand their course of action. I love not always knowing where my story or characters take me. 

Do you have any books ready to be published?

My first MG novel Darinel Dragonhunter was just released in June and I am editing the second book at the moment while writing the third one.

Do you have any events planned to promote your novel?

A fellow author threw me a facebook book release party shortly after the book was published and we had fun. My book appeared on various blogs of fellow authors and I am active with GoodReads. I still try to engage new readers through various new blog appearances and giveaways. They can always check out my latest interview or blog hop on my website: www.antjehergt.com or they can check out my facebook author page or follow me on Twitter @AntjeHergt.

Thank you so much for having me on your great blog!

It is my pleasure, Antje and I know my readers would love to know more about your book, Darinel Dragonhunter.

Blurb:

Prince Darinel is traveling–for what feels like forever. Expelled from his father’s kingdom, he just wants to find a new home. When a shadow lures him to a wealthy kingdom, he stays to discover more about the darkness, but the citizens are tight-lipped.

Their king welcomes the foreign Prince hoping that he will solve his two problems: the dragon and his strong-willed daughter. Coming from a warrior kingdom, Darinel despises violence, but charmed by Princess Tuskja’s dare, he sets out to confront the beast. Instead of finding a fierce dragon, he finds a friend. The dragon’s malicious humor and his love of fairy tales entangle Darinel in a summer of adventures, while danger stirs in the East, the Dark Prince. Being refused by the Princess and humiliated by the dragon, this proud prince seeks revenge.

       In compliance with the king’s decree, Darinel is torn between his friendship with the dragon and his love for Princess Tuskja, whom he can only marry if he kills his friend. Before he can make a decision, the kingdom is under attack. Now it is up to the dragon to either help his friend or respect his wish to not interfere.

Excerpt (200):

The prince sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. Do you mind if I take a break here?”

“Oh no. Be my guest,” the voice replied, cheerfully.

Darinel dismounted and reached to tie Tibor’s reins to the trunk of a tree, when a dark shadow swished over him. The horse bolted in panic and disappeared. Dumbfounded, he stared down the path they had just travelled.

“Oops!” The voice sounded a bit regretful.

“That was not supposed to happen.” Still shaking his head, he turned to a little sparkling stream at his feet and knelt beside it. He took off his helmet and splashed water onto his face and over his head.

“It is a bit inconvenient, isn’t it?” the voice said. “But don’t worry, the way down always seems faster,” it added cheerfully.

“Yeah, right!” the prince said with a smirk as he slid back to lean on a big boulder behind him. “Now you see I am no threat to you, won’t you come out and sit with me?” He ruffled his hand through his wet hair.

“I’d love to, but don’t you know, there’s a fierce dragon in these mountains?” the voice pointed out.

Antje, your book sounds delightful! Also, I am so happy to have learned more about you.:) I know you are giving away a free ebook to the lucky commenter who wins the drawing!! So please leave your comments. 

Thank you, Antje for being my guest and I hope you had fun.:)

I had a lot of fun hosting you and learning more about you and your book, Darinel Dragonhunter.

Here are Antje Hergt's bio and links:

Born and raised in Germany, I came to explore the Canadian Rockies in Canmore, Alberta in 2003. Taking part in the Writing-with-Style Program at the Banff Centre for the Arts in 2007 encouraged me to follow my passion: writing for children. Darinel Dragonhunter is my first novel, which was inspired by my deep love for classic children literature and fairy tales. My thrill for science fiction/fantasy movies and television shows had an outlet in various genre short stories. I am a member of the Alberta Writer’s Guild and graduated from the Justus-Liebig-University in Giessen with a degree in Modern Languages.

Currently, I live in Germany with my snoring cat, Sally, but I miss the magic of the Rocky Mountains. When I am not in Canmore, you can find me in Germany.

Links:

Website

www.antjehergt.com 

MuseItUp Publishing

https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore/index.php/our-authors/58-our-authors/authors-h/171-antje-hergt

Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Darinel-Dragonhunter-Reluctant-Series-ebook/dp/B00DI8FDT4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379225876&sr=8-1&keywords=darinel+dragonhunter