I Tend To Paint What I Am Writing : Angelique LaFontaine

An interview of the author of Sandstone & Mirrors, Angelique LaFontaine.

Carli, a young woman in her mid twenties finds herself unsatisfied with her life and yearning to discover her own greatness. Through a series of extraordinary events, she finds herself hurled into the middle of a long lasting battle between good and evil where she eagerly accepts responsibility for what it is she was destined to do. Unaware of where reality truly stops and her own dreams and desires begins, Carli not only takes her place in this battle but she discovers her own strengths and capabilities in ways she never thought possible. She discovers the importance of personal sacrifice and the what it means to truly give of ones self in form of love and loyalty.

Welcome Angelique to my blog! 
Tell us about your newest release "Sandstones and Mirrors"!

Sandstone and Mirrors: The Crossover is the first of a 4 book series.  It's a mixture of fantasy and adventure.  The main character, Carli is the heroine in the story and story is basically a story about self discovery...with a lot cool creatures and evil villians to add to the flavor.

What is your motivation behind writing? How did you end up writing "Sandstone and Mirrors"?

Well, I started writing when I was really young and I honestly don't remember what it was that intrigued me at the time but I'm guessing that it's the same thing that keeps me motivated now.  I love stories, I love fiction.  I get a story in my head and I actually get excited when writing the stories.  I guess even though I'm the one creating it, it's still almost a surprise to me at the end of each story.  Mostly because I know what the story is that I'm telling, but a lot of times I have no clue how the story will end until I get to that point.

Haha...I also noticed that in this competitive publishing world, not only did you get published, you also have forayed in to "Digital Short Stories" which are selling hot these days. Shed some light on your journey here!

I was actually a little apprehensive about the ebook, short story concept.  But now that I've done quite a few, I find them to be an outstanding tool both for the reader and the writer.  The reader is able to enjoy the works of his/her favorite writer and not have to commit a lot of time to reading a full length book.  But at the same time, the writer is given the oppurtunity to publish their works in a relatively quick fashion, helps them establish a presence easier.


Angelique, it's been a long time since I have met a versatile individual like you. You are not only a writer, but an artist and a full time mechanical engineer! How do you manage?

I don't sleep!  A lot of times my painting and writing go hand in hand.  I tend to paint about what I'm writing or write about what I'm painting.  And the fact is that, at least for me, it's 90% emotion and 10% talent.  And I think that everyone would agree that emotion is without logic and reason.  Engineering keeps me grounded.  It gives me the logic and reason that writing and art don't.  When I go to work, I can shut that part of my brain off and only focus on stuff that is based off of numbers.  But when I paint and write, I can let myself go, I set the stage, I determine how things are going to look.  I love to paint, I've been doing it for years. I don't paint photographs, meaning that my pieces are how I view the world, how I interperet and express my emotions.  I don't have to prove or explain anything.  And if it doesn't make sense to others, so what, it doesn't have to.  It's an emotional extension of me.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I am, for the most part a panster.  I tend to let my full length books write themselves...I just type it out.  I don't really like to have an outline, for me, that's the fastest way to find yourself with writer's block.  The harder that you try to follow an outline, the more inclined you are to lose the "feel" of the story.  I allowed my book to guide me.  I had no idea how it was going to end.  Which is probably why I'm releasing it as a series...I still don't know what's going to happen.

How many drafts you wrote before submitting it for publication?

I am the worst speller! I did the best I could to edit and reedit before submitting anything.  I think I had about 5 or 6 drafts before I actually sent it to publication.

Writer's block? Ever had it? What did you do?

When I write, I go through spurts where I'll just sit down and hammer out a huge section of the story.  When I was writing Sandstone and Mirrors, I could write maybe 15 pages a day for a few weeks straight, then I would hit a wall and would have to step away for a few weeks.  I never tried to force the story.  So when I was at a loss for what I wanted to write, I would just sit back and wait for it to come to me.  That took a lot of patience because at times, I would be concerned on whether or not the story would get finished.  But it always came to me.  I would just get an idea one day and BAM! I knew where the story would go.

Thank you so much Angelique for sharing your experience of the book with us. I wish you all the best with it!

Angelique LaFontaine is the author of the Sandstone & Mirrors Series. The first is the series is Sandstone & Mirrors: The CrossOver. She is an author, an artist and a mechanical engineer. She is a passionate painter since last 15 years. Find more about her at http://www.angeliqueartwork.com