Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule, especially during the holiday season, to meet with me today. I am excited to introduce you to my readers!
I always kick off my interviews with the same question because it is quite insightful. Therefore, please tell us how you’d describe yourself?
I am hectic. Between working fulltime, writing, raising a family, and trying to keep myself sane, there isn’t a second in the day when I am not doing something. But I wouldn’t have it any other way! For me writing isn’t just a process, it’s a release of all those ideas and inspirations that my day provides me.
One thing that I enjoy is to learn who inspired authors. Sometimes, we find other writers have helped to shape them. Other times, it’s someone or something more unexpected. With that in mind, I would like to explore your development as a reader and writer. Who inspired you, where your muse lies, and what drives you?
Were there any book(s) or author(s) that stuck out for you, moving you in ways that helped steer you into your current career?
There’s no one specific book or author that influenced me overall.
I have the exceptional fortune to be in a place that offers amazing support for authors. Between the local writing group, Eyre Writers, founded over 30 years ago as a local support for anyone wishing to pursue writing, to the state Writers SA, connecting a range of workshops and author speakers, I am surrounded by supports. Befriending as many authors as I can helps me to build a network of inspirations and drives me to keep writing and keep achieving my own goals.
Do you ever get writer’s block, and if so, how do you handle it? What do you do to replenish your reserves, sort of speak?
I’ll be honest, not really. I do sometimes find myself stuck in a loop or veering off a path for a story that I thought I had planned out. But I also go through peaks and troughs of productivity. If one side of my life is extreme, it might pull away time I have for writing. During this, I will save up my ideas or concepts, and then later take a weekend or a week off to focus just on my writing. I have been on many a writer’s retreat!
Where do you find your muse(s)? Do you draw from your dreams, people or events in life, or random thoughts or occurrences? Where are your stories born?
I write what I see in my mind. I am what you could call a visual writer, as in the stories play out like a movie in my mind when I sit down to type, and I am simply writing to capture what I see unfolding before me. It often gives me surprises as a character or scenario unfolds like a movie scene that I didn’t write!
Do you have a writing regiment? I mean, do you have a daily routine or certain things you prefer when you are settling in to write (i.e. music, beverage, location)?
No, I don’t have a set writing regiment and can often be found writing or editing in front of the television! But my best work is done when I go on retreat. Solitude and silence bring the success!
How does research play into your writing? Does it help or hinder your flow?
Short version – it rarely does. I find that when I focus too hard on the research, I lose the flow of the story and since most of my stories are fantasy/paranormal, I can make the world appear anyway I want to (within reason!).
Where do you prefer to research? Do you go to the library, on site, or Google?
Online. How did we survive without the internet?
Have your findings ever inspired a new story or altered the original plot of an intended story?
Not that I can think of.
Let’s talk about your writing. I know you began at a young age, but you didn’t start your literary career until 2018. At that point, you opted to go indie. Oh, so much to investigate 😊
Your first publication was The Secret Life of Sarah Meads. This was done independently – what made you decide to go indie?
Fear of rejection. That’s the short version.
The longer version is that I am okay with learning as I go. I am not afraid being ‘green’, but I am afraid of not giving something I believe in a shot. I knew it was a good story. Does it need work? Probably. But I loved (and still love) that story and those characters. And I knew that they needed to be read, but I also wasn’t confident that I would be considered as a new author. I didn’t have credentials or a piece of paper that showed I could do it. So, I figured I would do it, and then let the cards fall where they may.
What do you feel are the benefits to being published independently?
The pros are you are in full control. You get to determine the story, the marketing, the pricing and reap the rewards.
What drawbacks did you encounter?
You are the author, publisher, marketer, and social media guru. You have to be all things to all people for that book and it can be a LOT of work! Don’t do it expecting to be an overnight success. Do it because you back yourself.
Had you considered traditional publishing – why, or why not?
Some of my books are done through a traditional small publisher who is USA based. I love my publisher dearly, but they support me in making that call about which books to submit to them. Sometimes it makes sense and sometimes I might be trying a market and it wouldn’t be in their best interests. Its about finding that balance.
What appealed to you about the traditional route?
The support definitely. To know that someone else is also trying to sell your book certainly helps you to feel less lonely in the process. And they have access to amazing resources such as editors and designers.
What turned you off to that option?
I’m not at all! My publisher has my next book coming out in February 2022!
What was the most challenging part of publishing for you?
Facing the fear of failure and understanding that it’s a marathon not a short distance race. You get back what you put in, so sometimes you have to make the hard choices.
How do you address editing, and has that process changed since you first began publishing?
I now have a solid support structure from editing, beta readers, and designers so that when and if I want to do my own work, I can make it as professional as possible. It takes time to build up a team that can provide you with the professional output that the readers now expect.
As an indie author, how did you tackle covers initially, and has that strategy changed in any way – why, or why not?
I tried doing my own, but I am simply not trained enough! I also had to remind myself as I paid the designers bill that they can do three times the work in half the time it would have taken me, and my time is worth something as well. Its okay to admit you aren’t an expert in everything!
What about marketing? What tools do you feel have made it easier for self-promotion?
There are so many tools available now. From Amazon ads, Facebook ads, or newsletters, we now have access to tools that authors ten years ago only dreamed of.
If you could do things over again, what – if anything – would you do differently, and why?
Honestly, I have made a heap of mistakes, but I think that’s part of the package. We learn from our failures which helps build our successes.
How have things changed since you first published? I mean, there are many innovations, and the indie aspect of the industry has settled into a proper business now, instead of a fade. Have you seen improvements to the process? Detriments?
The process is already getting easier and faster. Products which can assist with design, editing and formatting are continuing to grow. Its an exciting time to be an author.
Detriments?
There are too many options, and we are in a saturated market. Trying to get your book in front of readers means competing with a billion other books online. It makes you have to really focus.
What advice would you give to a novice writer looking to published?
Be brave.
Where do you think the industry is headed? Do you think there will be a comeback of paperbacks, a growth of audiobooks, or do you think indie is the wave of the future? Why?
I think we are already in the Indie wave. We are seeing previously traditional authors even considering the indie route. It’s exciting!
Like you, I am a multi-genre writer. Most, if not all my titles, cross genres, as well. There are some who think you should use a pen name for each genre you write in for the sake of marketing. I don’t subscribe to that train of thought, as all my books my mine. Clearly, you have chosen to publish with the same ideology as me. I’d like to discuss this a bit more.
Why didn’t you choose to specialize in one genre? What made it important to you to retain flexibility, penning stories in chick-lit, paranormal, suspense, and rom-com?
I write based on the story that unfolds to me. I don’t start with a genre in mind, I start with a couple of characters in a location. And I let it go from there. Readers then get to pick and choose which books interest them to read whilst knowing my style of writing.
Why didn’t you opt to use a pen name for each genre?
Because managing multiple pen names seems like a nightmare. These are my books, and I am proud of all of them. I don’t think a different pen name would change a person’s desire to read them. Readers read the story, not the author.
To be fair, not all authors think about it when they first start out. However, when they handle their own marketing, they tend to feel it is easier to use pen names per genre because it helps make target marketing easier with ads. Was this ever a consideration? Why, or why not?
I did consider it, and then I realized the headaches that presents.
I don’t feel that being a multi-genre author impedes me in any way. Some argue it limits your audience because sci-fi readers don’t want to read romance. I disagree because I think all stories have a cross-over to some extent, and your audience is following YOUR writing, not your genre. What are your thoughts on this topic?
I write about relationships. If you want to give me a genre – that’s it. All the rest is just background noise. So, for me, my readers can pick and choose based on what plotline interests them.
What guidance would you offer a novice writer who is just starting to form their brand and identity?
Ask yourself why you are writing. Is it to write to market under multiple pen names? Then sure. If its to be the best writer you can, then pick a name and write what you like.
For me, writing is its own reward, and the rest is just a bonus.
What can we expect to see from you over the coming year?
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