Author interview - Bre Faucheux part 1.

Hi booklovers

I think it was about two years ago I started watching BookTube videos and I stumbled across a channel called Bre Faucheux.

I really liked Bre's videos, so I started following her on Twitter and we started talking and we got along really well. We still do, btw :-)

I soon found out that Bre is a self-published author and I was curious to read some of her books. I've already read 'The Elder Origins', 'The Keeper's Realm' and the 'Violet Blake' series and I have to say I've thoroughly enjoyed them.

Since I wanted to do something a bit different on my blog, I asked Bre if I could interview her. She agreed, so I asked her some question about herself, her writing and some of her books. I'm so happy that she agreed to do this, because it was really cool to come up with the different questions. Bre was really kind to answer my questions very thoroughly, so I decided to split the interview into three parts. The first part is about who Bre is. The second part will be about writing in general, what her life as a writer looks like, etc. The third part will be about her books in particular.

I hope you enjoy this interview and please go and check out Bre's channel! :-)

• Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?

I was born in Louisiana. I moved over twenty times over the course of my life, lived in over twenty-five different houses, went to three universities, and started pursuing writing full-time about a year ago. I majored in history with an emphasis on medieval Europe and the World Wars. Then I received a graduate degree in Museum Studies abroad. After all those studies, I realized I was disenchanted with academia and having a 9-5 job. I moved home to be with my family and decided I would rather pursue a career of my own making rather than work in an office.
 
I started writing before I knew how to spell out the words I was thinking. I’ve had a journal since I was in single digits. And I wrote my first story in the first grade. I knew I wanted to be a writer before I ever had dreams of doing other things. Even when I studied for other professions through the years, being a writer was the one constant that never changed.  

• What were you like at school?

A fashionable nerd. One of the few who liked to dress up and wear make-up. But still a nerd to the core. I had one group of friends and we stuck by one another and avoided the cheerleaders at all cost.  

• What do you like to read?

I’ve always had an obsession with anything paranormal and occult. Anything with an element of history as well. I sometimes go for psychology, philosophy or spiritual books.  

• Do you have any (unique) hobbies or talents?

I was quite the gymnast in my youth. Then I went on to figure skating. Then I went on to belly dance. Then I went on to swing dancing. I’ve always been physical in my hobbies outside of writing. Right now I’m into Zumba. As far as other talents, I can cook lots of southern dishes handed down by my grandmother. I sew, and I did some makeup artistry in college.  

• Why do you write?

I started writing mostly because there weren’t any books out there about the topics I loved reading. When I was a kid, there wasn’t any material about the paranormal for kids unless you reached for a Goosebumps book. So I started writing the stories I wished were on the bookshelves for kids at the library. Even today I find myself writing what I wish I saw more often.  

•  When did you know you wanted to be an author?

Since I was in single digits. I don’t recall the exact age. I must have been maybe seven or eight.

• Why are you a self-published author?

I started querying agents for my books about three years ago. Not a single bite. I would often get rejection emails in return the same day I sent out my query letter. I think I sent over three hundred. No one wanted to even look at my work. I was face to face with the reality of being a writer in an age that is more concerned with what will sell rather than what is a good story. So I took matters into my own hands. I read about how other writers were making 70% of their royalties by publishing online. And then I read about how traditionally published writers were getting cheated by publishing companies. I quickly realized that having complete control over my books was something I really wanted.

• How did you come up with your pen name?

Bre is my family nickname. Faucheux was my great grandmother’s maiden name. Done and done. My actual name is boring and there were four people with my name at my university for undergrad. I wanted people to be able to Google me and actually find my books. Currently if you Google my real name, you get over 9.4 million results. It seemed like a good idea to have a unique name.

This was part 1 of the interview. Look out for parts 2 and 3.

Bye for now

Annelies