Welcome to Inside the Mind where we here at The Faerie Review interview authors and creators.
Our guest today is Elle M Drew, the author behind One Night in Garoureve

Lily:  Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview Elle I really enjoyed reading One Night in Garoureve. What inspired you to write this?

Elle:  Of course! I’m always so delighted to talk about it. To be perfectly honest, my initial thought was that I wanted to write about a fat girl getting railed by a werewolf. I wanted a werewolf simp that adored his soulmate from first glance. From there, the story somewhat took off.

Lily:  Honestly, your truly plus size heroine is what really drew me to this. A lot of times plus size just means curvy, it was refreshing to have one I could relate to. Was Ariana based on anyone?

Elle:  Loosely I would say that Ariana is based on my own life experiences and my own personal growth. It took a long time to recognize that I don’t dislike my body or my size, but I do hate the way that the world treats me for it. I wanted to include that in Ariana’s journey, recognizing that within herself.

Lily:  I think you did a great job including that, and it was wonderful to watch her journey of self acceptance. Is there a hidden meaning behind the name of the town, Garoureve?

Elle:  This is what happens when you leave two Southern girls to figure out a book title without talking to other people! Garou is the French word for wolf, and reve is the word for dream. So my idea was that, initially, Ariana would feel as though she was in some sort of dream. This was back when I didn’t plan on writing much more than a novella. I ended up never changing the name because I liked that it was a silly pun, and Colburn (Reeve) would hate it.

Lily:  I love it! Would you want to visit Garoureve?

Elle:  There’s no Wi-Fi in the town (or at least, not yet!) so that’s a big no, but I would love to stop into the bakery.

Lily:  Haha I can totally understand that. Now we’d like to talk about you as a writer. Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Elle:  I plot to pants, and pants where I don’t plot. I have a loose idea as to what’s going to happen, basic bullet points, a general flow, but once my loose plot is figure out, I run with it!

Lily:  Sounds like a great way to go. Is it harder to write or edit the first draft?

Elle: Edit. I hate editing. I do a lot of it, because I’m a perfectionist, but I love to just let the words pour out of me.

Lily:  I can totally understand that. Do you have a routine/ritual to get yourself in the headspace to write?

Elle:  As a mom of two, I write where I can, when I can! But, I tend to do my best writing first thing in the morning with a lot of coffee in me.

Lily:  Coffee is always a great way to get ready to write. Let’s finish up with some fun questions and get inside your mind. What is the most impulsive thing you’ve ever done?

Elle:  I decided to publish a book after 20 years of saying I wouldn’t!

Lily:  That’s awesome, and I’m glad you did! If you lived to 100, would you rather keep the body or the mind of yourself at 30 until you were 100?

Elle:  Probably my mind, so long as I can still communicate in some way, or at least read!

Lily:  I’d have to agree, I don’t want to live without my mind. Do you prefer cake or pie? What flavor is your favorite?

Elle:  Don’t ask me this! Can I pick brownies? If I have to pick, I make a really good devil’s food cake with chocolate buttercream icing, but I also make an amazing chocolate chess pie. Do you notice the running theme with chocolate?

Lily:  Now I want chocolate…What is your favorite word and why?

Elle:  Fortuitous. I have no idea why. I just like saying it.

Lily:  That’s a great word. What’s your favorite holiday? How do you celebrate?

Elle:  My favorite holiday is whichever one my husband is home for! My husband is in the military and is gone a lot, so any time we can be together as a family, I’m happy.

Lily:  I can totally understand that. Family always makes it better. If you could go back in time as an observer, no one could see you, and you couldn’t interact with anything, when/where would you want to go back to?

Elle:  I feel like this would be a better question for true crime junkies that want the ultimate answer to their favorite podcasts, but I would probably just want to go see the dinosaurs. I just think they’re so cool. Wait, I can’t interact? I WANNA PET ONE!

Lily:  Haha I can totally understand wanting to pet one! Is there anything else you would like to add that I haven’t included?

Elle:  Probably not? I’m an eclectic mess holding it all together with luke-warm coffee and dry shampoo. 

Lily:  Ok, I might have just lol’d at that. How can readers discover more about you, and your work?

Elle:  The best place to find out more about my upcoming releases and where to get them is through my Newsletter! But also, Instagram seems to be the most reliable with the algorithm. I have a plan for at least 5 books coming out this year, if not more, and I am so excited to share them with readers!

Book Links
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Author Links
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