What are your top 10 favorite books/authors?
In no particular order
Jaymin Eve
Lois Lowry
Richelle Mead
Holly Hook
AJ Messenger
Bella Forrest
Suzanne Collins
Stephenie Meyer
Caroline Peckham
SJ West
What book do you think everyone should read?
The Giver by Lois Lowry. It’s a series, but that one is my favorite.
How long have you been writing?
Ten years give or take a few.
Do the characters all come to you at the same time or do some of them come to you as you write?
Some come to me together, like Aria and Alex did, some come to me as I write. Milly is an example of that. She came to me just before I wrote the scene introducing her.
What kind of research do you do before you begin writing a book?
It depends. I made a list of myths I wanted to cover in this series before I started writing and made notes of the general histories of each, but I wanted my characters to be unique so I didn’t focus on it too much.
Do you see writing as a career?
Yeah.
What do you think about the current publishing market?
I think a lot of people have a long of strong beliefs and I try my best to stay out of it, not because I don’t have an opinion, but because it’s a fight no one will win and I think it’s the readers that suffer when they’re caught in the middle. All I’ll say is read what you like, in any way you like and enjoy it.
Do you read yourself and if so what is your favorite genre?
I love to read. I haven’t had much time lately because I’ve been so focused on my writing and promoting my books, but when I have time I love reading NA/YA fantasy/paranormal books. The last book I really enjoyed was the Supernatural Academy series by Jaymin Eve. She’s amazing.
Do you prefer to write in silence or with noise? Why?
It depends on the tone of what I’m writing. If I’m writing a serious scene, I need absolute silence, if I’m writing a more light hearted scene I’ll listen to music or something. I listened to a lot of music writing The Beginning.
Do you write one book at a time or do you have several going at a time?
I wrote The Beginning by itself, but currently I have two books in production. One is book 2 in The Mythical Universe and the other is what will probably become book 8.
A day in the life of the author?
Advice they would give new authors?
Be persistent. In this day and age with the technology we have, the rules for publishing have been thrown out the window. If you don’t want to query a million agents, don’t. But on that same note, master your craft before you go public with it. Get a lot of beta readers who will give you honest and constructive criticism. I had 15 beta readers on this book, nothing was published until every single one of them was 100% happy with what I’d written. Even if you’re broke and don’t have money for an editor or a cover designer don’t listen to everyone screaming about all the reasons you can’t do it. DO IT. Learn. There is absolutely no rule saying you can’t keep working at it. Yeah, it may take years and yes it is HARD, HARD work but if you want this bad enough, keep trying. If you release a book and the reviews are consistently bad, look at what they’re complaining about and FIX IT. Trying again isn’t failing. You only fail when you stop trying.
Audiobooks are very important to the vision impaired community. Making them doesn’t have to cost you anything upfront and will open up your book to a lot of people who otherwise would not have access to them. Make sure you have one made.
Oh yeah and your first draft definitely sucks. Go revise it and then do it again and again.
What is your writing process? For instance do you do an outline first? Do you do the chapters first?
I keep a list of the things I know are going to happen in each book, but I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s an outline. Things are rarely in sequential order, they’re just a sentence or two about the plot, I refer back to it as I need to and then delete it from the list once it’s written.
Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
A little of both, my takes on the myths in my books is definitely original, but at the same time I want my readers to be comfortable with what they’re reading.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Stop doubting yourself. Don’t listen to everyone saying you can’t do it. You can and you will.
How long on average does it take you to write a book?
The Beginning took about twelve weeks from start to finish. Book 2 is taking a little longer because I’m working on promotional stuff for The Beginning while I’m writing.
Do you believe in writer’s block?
I believe sometimes my characters don’t want to tell me things, until they’re ready for me to know them. When they’re ready, they’ll tell me though.
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