#amwriting: FOR ALWAYS Author/Character Interview & Giveaway

Hello... my name is Beverly and today I'm not only going to be interviewing the author of the FOR ALWAYS series, Janae Mitchell, but I'm also going to interview all of the main characters who star in this hauntingly romantic story. We all decided to meet here at Janae's house, which is located near where this story takes place, right in the heart of east Tennessee. (As everyone settles down and gets comfy on her wrap-around couch, I get started with some warm-up questions.)

First off, I'd like to thank you, Janae, for having us and allowing this exclusive full cast interview to take place here in your home.

Janae: You're welcome! They all practically live here, anyway, so... (She smiles and shrugs.)

Janae, would you care to introduce your characters to those who may not be familiar with them, maybe sharing an insider's secret about them that no one else knows?

Beau: Secrets? (He winks at Malyn, who is snuggled close to him, holding his hand in her lap.) Ya might wanna close your ears, Nellie. (Malyn smacks his arm while Nellie just smiles and shakes her head.)
Janae: Well, of course we've got Beau Brogan, the sexy dead one. (He smiles, showing off his dimples.) From what I gather, he seems to be a favorite among the ladies.

Of course he is. (Yes, I'm swooning just a bit.)

Janae: And cuddled next to him is Malyn Reed, who has always been able to see spirits. She's never been glad that she had that ability, however, until she moved into the house Beau was haunting. (Beau rubs his thumb back and forth across the back of Malyn's hand as her cheeks become a bright pink.) Next to her is Miss Nellie Reed, who is not only Malyn's country-singing, hippie-loving, and a tab-bit eccentric grandmother—
Nellie: Eccentric? (She looks at Max.) Am I eccentric?
Max: (He suddenly has that deer-in-the-headlights look.) Um....
Janae: —but she's also a grandmother to all of the readers, as well, or so they say. Everyone loves Nellie.

Yes, we do. (Nellie smiles, not caring anymore that she may or may not be considered eccentric.)

Janae: And then there's Mr. Maxwell Goins—Max—a Savannah, Georgia native who's our go-to guy when all the freaky, paranormal stuff goes down. (She starts singing the 'Ghostbusters' theme song. When she stops singing, she leans towards me like she's going to tell me a big secret, even though I'm sitting on her fireplace across the room.) Him and Nellie are a bit of an item. (She over-exaggerates a wink.) Next to Max is Beth Stone, Malyn's best friend, who we all adore. (She leans towards me again and lowers her voice.) She's a big One Direction fan.
Beth: (Laughs and throws a little pillow at her.) No, I'm not!
Jace: Then why is that all I ever hear when you're home? (Beth rolls her eyes.)
Janae: And this is the lovely Jace Stone, Beth's older brother. (And lovely he is. Janae leans forward and shakes his shoulders, since he is sitting on the foot of the chaise at the end of the couch next to her.) I don't think people liked him that much at first, but once that second book came out, Jace made them fall in love with him. (Jace just smiles, letting me know how shy he really is.)
Beau: (Laughs) Sap. (Jace laughs and throws a water bottle at him... rather hard, might I add.)
Malyn: (Playfully smacks Beau's arm and lowers her voice.) Be nice.
Beau: He knows I'm just playin'.
Janae: And Jace used to date Malyn, which, as you can tell, doesn't make it awkward at all when the whole gang gets together.

Yes, I can see that. (It's totally awkward.) Okay, so now that we've met everyone, which one is your favorite?

Janae: (Looks surprised by my question.) That's like asking which child you love the best. (She raises an eyebrow at me, obviously not going to answer, as all eyes zoom in on her.)

Moving right along, then. Jace, let's start with you. Since Beau and Malyn are obviously together at the moment, how do you feel about that?

Jace: I'm... I'm happy that she's happy. (He glances back at Malyn and smiles before looking back at me.) That's all I ever want her to be. Does it suck? Yeah, but it is what it is.

And do you still talk to her?

Jace: (His smile widens and becomes a bit mischievous.) All the time. Sometimes in the middle of the night, even... for hours. (Malyn smiles and shakes her head as Beau mumbles something I can't hear.)

Interesting. Nellie, my next question is for you. What did you think when you moved into your house and realized Beau was there, knowing he was close to Malyn's age and that she would be able to see him?

Nellie: Well, I couldn't actually see Beau, I could only sense that he was there, so I had no clue as to how handsome he is. (She smiles at him, which cause his dimples to sink in a bit.) Even though I could tell how special he was, I never thought Malyn would fall as hard as she did for him.

With everything that you know now, if you could do it all over again, would you still move to Dandridge?

Nellie: (She looks back over at Malyn and Beau.) Absolutely.

Are you and Max ever going to get married?

Nellie: (She laughs at my question.) Ain't your question limit up for me? You ain't asked the girls anything yet.

Okay, moving on to the girls. Beth... what did you think when you first found out Malyn could see ghosts?

Beth: Once the shock wore off, I actually thought it was pretty cool. I had a friend who claimed she could see fairies when I was little, but this was totally different.

And Malyn, if there was one thing in the For Always story that you could change, what would it be?

Malyn: (She looks around the room before she answers.) Not a single thing.

This question is for all of you. If you could ask Janae one thing, what would you ask her? Let's start with Jace and just go down the line.

Jace: Why did you try to kill me? (Everyone laughs.) It was really unpleasant.
Janae: It's all about the plots twists; nothing personal. (She leans forward and hugs his back.) I love you, man.

Beau, you're next.

Beau: Dang, that's a tough one. I guess I'd wanna know why she made me a hero and didn't just have me die in some farmin' accident or somethin'.
Janae: I wanted to establish right off the bat that you were special and what better way to do that than make you the hero that you are.
Malyn: Why did you take my parents away from me when I was so young?
Nellie: Malyn!
Janae: No, it's okay. (She laughs awkwardly.) I guess it was me who did that, huh? Well, first off, I'm sorry about that. I wanted Nellie to be the main authority in your life and the only way I knew how to do that was to remove the others. I'm sorry.
Malyn: That's okay. You brought several other amazing people into my life, so I forgive you.

Well, that's good. Having one of your own book characters pissed off at you may have been a first.

Janae: Well, if it's gonna happen to somebody, it'll happen to me; that's how I roll. (We all laugh.)

Nellie and Max?

Nellie: Why do ya think I'm eccentric?
Janae: (Laughs) Well, you just are. That's not a bad thing, though. I mean... how many people can wear what you do and pull it off?
Nellie: What's wrong with how I dress? (Everyone laughs.)
Janae: Nothing. (Still laughing) I love it. If I ever need glasses, I'm getting some violet ones like yours.
Nellie: I'll make sure to leave these to ya in my will when I die. No, I guess you need to do that... whenever ya kill me off.
Max: Well, when you kill me off, can ya kill me first? That's my question. I wanna go before she does. (He points at Nellie.)
Beth: Oh, my gosh, don't start talkin' about that stuff and get us all depressed. Nobody's dying anytime soon, right Janae? (Looks at Janae, who averts her eyes and doesn't answer her.) They better not. Well, anyway... my question is, why wasn't there more Hunter in the story?
Janae: Sorry, Beth, but he's just a minor character.
Beth: Minor? But he's my boyfriend and I miss him.
Malyn: Then pick up the phone and call him, silly.
Jace: Yeah. It's the same way with Ty. If I need to talk to him, I call him while another scene's going on that I'm not in. We have lives outside of our scenes, you know.

As we near the end of this interview, I'd like to ask you all what you think about the proposed characters for The Imagine Film List. Beau, you seem to have the most picks so far, what do you think about them?

Beau: (Looks confused.) I have no idea what you're talkin' about.
Janae: (Jumps up and down in her seat, almost jarring Jace into the floor.) Oh, oh, oh! I forgot to tell y'all... There is this website where readers can pick the actor they think should play you if "For Always" should ever become a movie.
Malyn: And people have chosen actors to play us?
Janae: Yes!
Malyn: Oh, mylanta! Really?

Actually, I've got all of the pictures here if you'd like to see. (Unanimous yeses prompt me to get the proposed actors' pictures out.) Beau, since you have the most, let's start with you.
The two actors tied with the most votes to play Beau Brogan are Chace Crawford and Matt Lanter.

Malyn: Oh, yeah!
Janae: Woo hoo! They chose pretty well.
Malyn: Mmm, hmm.
Beth: I agree.

And for Malyn—

Malyn: Oh, gosh....
Beau: They couldn't find anybody that could possibly compare to you. (He leans over and kisses her forehead, causing her to blush again.)

—the readers chose Maia Mitchell.

Malyn: Aww... she's pretty.
Janae: Of course she is. I think she'd be perfect. (They both look at Beau.)
Beau: Not bad... but still not you.
Nellie: But pretty darn close.

Beth and Jace both have three proposed actors, but the one who is in the lead to play Jace Stone is Jesse Roberts.

Beth: He's too cute to play you, Jace.
Malyn: I think he'd work.

And Beth has a three-way tie; it's between Hayden Panettiere, Olivia Holt, and Maddie Hasson.

Beth: They're cute.
Malyn: Just like you.

Nellie, they think Diane Keaton should play your part and that Jeff Bridges should portray Max.

Max: Jeff Bridges? I can handle that.
Nellie: I don't look like Diane Keaton.
Malyn: If they made her up to look like you, I bet she could.
Janae: I think they're all pretty great. I love seeing who people pick for each character. There's even one on there for Amber.
Malyn: Really? (Janae nods.) Aww, I'll have to tell her.

Readers can actually download the first book, "For Always", for free, is that correct?

Janae: Yes, when last I checked. Book three, "For Eternity", is available for pre-order and is coming out November 4th, so the first book is free for those who haven't started this series yet.

And book two, "For Now", is the one you're giving away at the end of the interview?

Janae: Yes. There's also another monster giveaway going on during the entire month of October that has not only more giveaways of mine, but several other authors, as well.

Readers will have to make sure they check that out. Well, that about wraps it up for this interview. I'd like to thank you all for being so candid while answering my questions.

Beth: Wait a minute. I've got a question for you.

Um... okay.

Beth: You look really familiar. Aren't you... Janae's mom?

Oh. Why yes... yes I am. I'm also her Event Assistant, Books Swag Designer, one of her Beta Readers, and now, her Interviewer. I'm also her Number One Biggest Fan by default.

Janae: Thanks, Mom!

You're welcome.

Janae: And thanks to you, Beau, Malyn, Nellie, Max, Beth, and Jace, for becoming the awesome characters you are—characters that I've grown to love. The last book is coming out soon and I'm going to miss you all so, so much.
Malyn: But we're always with you, really.
Janae: Yeah, I guess you're right, but it's not the same. Who knows, maybe I don't have to completely let go just yet.
Malyn: What do you mean?
Beau: Knowin' her, there's no tellin'.