For today’s Author Spotlight, I’m joined by the wonderful Brittany Cournoyer! We chatted about bratty side characters, writing different things and Jeff Goldblum cameo’s.

Over to you Brittany…

First things first, please introduce yourself!
Hello! My name is Brittany, and I currently reside in Indiana with my fur baby, Delilah aka Queen D. I had to make the hard choice to go back to work full time, and when I’m not either working, writing, or being bossed around by Delilah, I love watching true crime (research) and the Hallmark channel (also research). 

Tell us a little bit about your writing style.
 I love to write bratty side characters who redeem themselves in their own book. I truly believe almost everyone deserves a second chance, and I like to throw sarcasm and humor into every book I write, even the paranormal or suspense. And banter is my favorite thing to write.

Describe your books in only three words.
 This one is super hard since I write so many different things. But I guess I’ll go with: Entertaining, snarky, and varied. 

What are you working on right now?
I’ve had a lot of stuff happen in the last few months that has slowed down my writing, but I am a few thousand words into something new that is “supposed” to be a stand-alone, so we’ll see how that goes. I’m pretty sure anyone who reads this knows why I put “supposed” in quotations.

Out of all your books, which one are you most proud of?
Sinister Shadows. That was my psychological thriller that really pushed me as a writer.  I had to trick my readers into feeling empathy toward the villain only for a huge twist at the end.

What or who (or both) has influenced you most as a writer?
Stephen King for sure, since I love the dark and mysterious, and that man can tell a story. Also Lucy Lennox, Kyleen Neuhold, and Aimee Nicole Walker. All for different reasons, but each one plays a major impact for why I want to push myself even harder. 

What inspired you to start writing?
 I’ve always wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. From an early age there are VHS tapes of me sitting on my mom’s lap reading a book. And as I got older, the books got thicker but the stories in my head got louder, so I started writing them down on notebooks when I should’ve been paying attention at school. Writing them to turn them into a book seemed like a natural transition.

What’s your writing process like? Do you have a typical “writing day”?
When I was writing full time, I’d get up, take Delilah on her walk, get her fed, make coffee, and then sit down in hopes to reach my daily writing goal. Sometimes I’d go over, sometimes I’d stop when the chapter ended. I try to use the Forest Focus app to block out social media and anything tempting, and then, once reaching my goal (or coming close) I’ll reward myself with a book I’m dying to read or a show I want to watch. In between sprints, I’d pause to let D out on breaks or just stretch to keep the blood flowing. 

What comes first for you – the plot or the characters?
The plot.

What’s a book that you wish you’d written?
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Only because it’s the one big I remember reading over and over again when I was younger, and growing up, I read it during the time I was going through puberty. And I’m sure a lot of girls growing up around that time felt the same way. 

If you could only write one trope for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Probably rom-com since I enjoy writing snarky banter and funny scenes.

What would be your three desert island books?
Rocket Science by Kyleen Neuhold. Confessions: Robbie by Ella Frank. And The Stand by Stephen King (that book is long so it’d eat up a lot of time getting through it lol).

If one of your books could be made into a movie/TV series, which would you choose and who would you cast?
Hmmmm that’s a tough one, but probably Godfather Wars since it was just such a fun, cute book to write. And I don’t care who is cast in it as long as one of the actors is Tom Ellis and Jeff Goldblum has a cameo lol.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing? Do you have a secret passion or hobby that we don’t know about?
 I’m slowly attempting to knit a scarf, and I like to spend my time up at Lake Michigan since it’s a few hours away. And I know I’m late to the party, but I recently started to binge watch the show Reba, and I’m almost finished!

Finally, what’s your favourite dinosaur?
 Definitely a Brontosaurus!

Brittany was born in a small town in Alabama and moved to Indiana when she was thirteen years old. She currently resides there and, when not writing, works in customer service. In her free time, she loves to spend her free time writing stories, playing with her puppy, Delilah, watching television, and spending time with loved ones.

You can find more about Brittany’s work by following her on Facebook and Instagram. You can also join her Facebook group, Brittany’s Men and Mayhem, for more news and updates.