Getting to Know Augustina Van Hoven

The Write Way Café welcomes Augustina Van Hoven, who keeps writing and finishing a variety of stories.

Tell us a little about The Last Christmas on Earth.
The Last Christmas on Earth is a prequel for my series, A New Frontier, coming out in March.  Scott Southerland is an engineer aboard the colony starship Halcyon.  The ship is currently in dry dock going through final fittings and testing for its trip to a new world.  Harper Castille is a botanist specializing in cloning vegetable plants.  They are both looking forward to their new lives on an alien world but someone has other plans.  How do you choose between your lifelong dream and your soulmate?

If The Last Christmas on Earth was made into a movie, who would play your main characters, and why?
Actor Ben Barnes would play engineer Scott Southerland and actress Eleanor Tomlinson.  I really liked Ben Barnes as Sam Adams in the Sons of Liberty.  He is what I picture Scott to look like.  I love Eleanor Tomlinson in Poldark.  I picture her as Harper.

What or who has been instrumental in or to your writing journey?
I’ve always written stories, even when I was a little girl.  I didn’t get serious about it until much later.  My good friend, Rebecca Zanetti kept encouraging me and I finally finished my first book.  It was picked up by a small press and published in 2014.  That was the beginning of my writing career.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve been given?  What’s your best writing advice for others?
I was told to write what you want to read and that is what I try to do.  The advice I give other writers is to write every day.  The only way to finish a story is to keep at it.

What “keepers” are in your home library?
The book that has been in my library the longest is JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.  I got it for my birthday when I was 12 and it has been my favorite ever since.  I like a wide selection of books from fantasy, science fiction, romance, to thrillers.  My library covers the walls in three rooms of my house.

If you could be a character in any book you’ve read (or written), which character would you be and why?
I would be Eowyn from Lord of the Rings.  I loved her story of not wanting to be in a cage, disguising herself to go off to war, and in the end she finds true love.

What book do you wish you could have written?
I wish I had written Outlander.  I love the story of Jamie and Claire, soul mates through time.

We’re adding books to our Café menu.  Would your book be a drink, an appetizer, an entrée or a dessert?  What would you call it? 
The Last Christmas is definitely an appetizer, a tasty morsel that gets you ready for the main course.
Pastry star puffs with marinara sauce.

What is your favorite social media?  Why?
Pinterest.  I have gotten lots of story and scene ideas from the amazing pictures I have found there.

Tell us about the book in your closet.
There are actually several books hidden in my closet waiting to come out, the first book in the New Frontier series, a romantic suspense, the second book in the time travel series, and a new paranormal series.

And now for the fun stuff! 

If you aren’t a full-time writer, what is your day job?
For my day job, I am a controller for an electronics firm.

Are you a glass half empty or glass half full personality?
I’m definitely a glass half full person.  I always look for the positive side of things.

Are you a dog/cat/other person?
I’m actually a cat and dog person.  I have an Akita named Lancelot and a German Shepherd named Guinevere.  I have three cats.  Sammy is a tuxedo cat, Zayden is a long haired black cat and Tyrion is a long haired gray cat.

What is your favorite season and why?
I love the fall.  I love all the colors from the turning of the leaves.  I am an avid gardener and it’s the time of year I get to harvest the fruits (and vegetables) of my labor.

Do you have any strange writing habits (like standing on your head or writing in the shower)?
I love to plot and plan out scenes in the shower.  I don’t know whether it’s the hot steam clearing my head or the pounding of water rattling my brains from the shower massage, but I do my best thinking in the shower.

Coming soon!

What would you do 

if you had to choose 

between your life’s dream 

or your soul mate?

Augustina Van Hoven was born in The Netherlands and currently resides in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, two dogs and three cats.   She is an avid reader of romance, science fiction and fantasy.  When she’s not writing she likes to work in her garden or in the winter months crochet and knit on her knitting machines.  

@augustinavhoven     FaceBook     Pinterest