An Interview with Charlotte Reagan, author of Just Juliet

Everyone has a ‘first novel’, even if many of them are a rough draft relegated to the bottom and back of your desk drawer (or your external harddrive!). Have you been able to reshape yours, or have you abandoned it for good?

My ‘first novel’ was kind of a science fiction fantasy I guess? I started writing it when I was about ten and to this day I’m really proud of the characters and backgrounds that came out of it! I’m actually still working on it, I can’t seem to leave it alone! (Interesting fact, if you work with a set of characters for eleven or so years, you end up with some serious development!) The overall plot needs some work – turns out my ten year old mind hadn’t quite perfected that – but one day I think I’ll finish it! (Or, at least, I hope so!)

Some authors are able to pump out a novel a year and still be filled with inspiration. Is this the case for you, or do you like to let an idea percolate for a couple of years in order to get a beautiful novel?

I’m definitely not short on inspiration haha, but I don’t like to write more than one book at a time. I don’t know how people do that! It’s amazing, honestly, but not for me. I kind of have to stay in one head space to write. I feel like that’s the best way for me to really know my characters.

I have heard of writers that could only write in one place – then that cafe closed down and they could no longer write! Where do you find yourself writing most often, and on what medium (pen/paper or digital)?

Luckily, I’m pretty versatile. I can write anywhere and on anything. I’ve jotted down paragraphs on napkins before! Most often, however, I write in bed with my laptop and my cat. But I really loved writing in coffee shops, parks, and bars back when I lived in the city.

Before going on to hire an editor, most authors use beta-readers. How do you recruit your beta-readers, and choose an editor? Are you lucky enough to have loving family members who can read and comment on your novel?

I actually didn’t use beta-readers, and I was lucky enough that my agent picked an awesome editor for me! I have a really hard time letting people I actually know read my work, but once my mother finally convinced me, she was an amazing sounding board. Lot’s of her advice went into the final product.

I walk past bookshops and am drawn in by the smell of the books – ebooks simply don’t have the same attraction for me. Does this happen to you, and do you have a favourite bookshop? Or perhaps you are an e-reader fan… where do you source most of your material from?

Oh I love traditional books. Barnes and Noble’s is my absolute favorite place to be – books and coffee? Can a room smell any better than that! (I actually even have an ‘old books’ candle, that’s how obsessed I am). Ebooks are cool, and I appreciate their accessibility, but I will forever be a ‘real’ book type of girl.

I used to find myself buying books in only one genre (fantasy) before I started writing this blog. What is your favourite genre, and do you have a favourite author who sticks in your mind?

Picking favorite authors is weird to me because I never know if I like the author or the story. However, I will say that J.K Rowling probably wins all awards. I am a huge Potterhead and in fact hated reading before someone put Harry Potter in front of me. Then I couldn’t seem to get enough, and before long that passion turned into writing.

In middle school I read just about anything R. L Stine that I could get my hands on, which was quite a lot because our school library was well stalked. Then as a teenager I fell in love with vampire books and latched onto authors like Richelle Mead and Rachel Caine. Quite recently I’ve become a little obsessed with Nora Sakavic

I’m not sure if I have a favorite genre, but I probably read fantasy the most.

Social media is a big thing, much to my disgust! I never have enough time myself to do what I feel is a good job. What’s your opinion?

Social media is huge! I never realized what a big part of promoting it was until I was doing it! I manage my own profiles, and Facebook is probably my favorite platform. I have the largest number of followers there and I already knew how to work it! I spend so much time on it! I definitely don’t mind doing it, but man is it time consuming!

Answering interview questions can often take a long time! Tell me, are you ever tempted to recycle your answers from one to the next?

I get tempted if the questions are similar, if only because there’s only so many ways I can word the same answer! But I try my best to make each interview unique!

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An Interview with John E. Stith

From your other published novels, is there one that is your own personal favourite?

That’s a little like picking a favourite child except that books don’t have feelings. If I had to narrow it down a lot, I’d say two novels: MANHATTAN TRANSFER and REDSHIFT RENDEZVOUS. MT tells the story of the kidnapping of the island of Manhattan, in which it winds up aboard an enormous spaceship in a collection of alien cities. RR is set aboard a hyperspace craft where the speed of light is ten meters per second and relativistic tricks happen at observable speeds.

Everyone has a ‘first novel’, even if many of them are a rough draft relegated to the bottom and back of your desk drawer (or your external hard drive!). Have you been able to reshape yours, or have you abandoned it for good?

I was actually able to sell my first novel (SCAPESCOPE), after maybe a dozen drafts and a few years. I think it’s the weakest of my novels, and I’ve sometimes wished I’d had a stronger book for my entrance to professional publication, but on the other hand one parent told me it was the first book his son ever read cover to cover. That made up for a lot of second thoughts.

Some authors are able to pump out a novel a year and still be filled with inspiration. Is this the case for you, or do you like to let an idea percolate for a couple of years in order to get a beautiful novel?

There have been a few times in my career when I could finish a novel in a bit over a year, but for me it’s a stretch. I hear the occasional stories of geniuses who’ve turned out a brilliant novel in an amazingly short time, but that’s not me. For me to do a book in six months, I would have to use the first plot outline I came up with, and go with the first ways that occurred to me to handle each scene. I’m invariably dissatisfied with what comes out onto the page first and have to do a good deal of re-plotting and re-writing before I feel comfortable showing it to anyone else. And even then I get insightful comments and helpful reactions from family, first readers, agents, and editors.

I have heard of writers that could only write in one place – then that cafe closed down and they could no longer write! Where do you find yourself writing most often, and on what medium (pen/paper or digital)?

Early on, I had the habit of writing longhand before work and during my lunch hour, and then transcribing it at night. By the time I got to novel number four or five, I had a laptop (of sorts) that let me use a keyboard from then on. Once in a while I experiment with speech-to-text, but so far I keep going back to the keyboard. I generally write in my office. I’m just not one of the people who can write on trips and at conventions.

Before going on to hire an editor, most authors use beta-readers. How do you recruit your beta-readers, and choose an editor? Are you lucky enough to have loving family members who can read and comment on your novel?

I’ve not hired an editor. The editors I’ve worked with have been employed by my publishers. And while some copy editing was done, the bulk of my editorial input has been related to more macro-level aspects, like characters, setting, and plot. I try to turn in a manuscript that’s as free as possible of grammatical errors and misspellings. Words are the only tool a writer really has to know how to use, so I wouldn’t comfortable sending out a novel that needed someone else to make it professional.

To get beta readers, I’ve solicited on my Facebook page, in my newsletter, and when talking to friends. And my wife has been an enormous help.

I walk past bookshops and am drawn in by the smell of the books – ebooks simply don’t have the same attraction for me. Does this happen to you, and do you have a favourite bookshop? Or perhaps you are an e-reader fan… where do you source most of your material from?

I’m torn. I love both. There’s nothing better than a beautiful hardcover book. But over the years I’ve probably discarded in the thousands of books, from paperbacks whose binding disintegrated, to book club editions that fell apart, to magazines whose pages yellowed and crumbled. And I’ve worn out a host of friends who helped me move a few times when I had well over a hundred book boxes to manhandle. So ebooks have become a new love. I love being able to store more than I’d ever need for a vacation, to be able to change the font size, etc. So gradually as I’ve discarded more physical books, my e-library has grown. But I still have a (smaller now) physical library.

When I want a physical book, Hooked on Books in Colorado Springs is a wonderful source.

I get most of my ebooks from Amazon or the local library. In Colorado Springs, the Pikes Pike Library District (PPLD) led the nation in the shift to computers. I can check out ebooks on my phone using Overdrive. PPLD also allows you to check out many e-magazines with the Zinio reader.

I used to find myself buying books in only one genre (fantasy) before I started writing this blog. What is your favorite genre, and do you have a favorite author who sticks in your mind from:

1. childhood? Mostly SF and mysteries, from Hardy Boys to Nancy Drew, Ken Holt, Rick Brant, and more.
2. adolescence? Predominantly SF, from Heinlein, Clarke, Asimov, Simak, Sheckley, Bradbury, and many more.
3. young adult? Much the same pattern as for adolescence.
4. adult? I’ve seen a gradual shift from SF to mysteries. There are many fine books still being written in SF, but I just found myself drawn to more and more mysteries, mostly psychological thrillers and techno-thrillers. SF is still in my love-to-read pile, though.

Social media is a big thing, much to my disgust! I never have enough time myself to do what I feel is a good job. How do you cope with it?

I spent a number of years in software development, so I always felt comfortable with managing first a website and now a website plus social media. For my own site, I like the power that comes with a content management system, in my case Drupal. It offers lots of convenience. As one example, I post book covers with the associated metadata, so a reader could easily find all the US and international covers for a given novel.

I probably spend on average of an hour a week posting on social media. My big three are Facebook (personal and pro), Twitter, and my website (neverend.com). I spend a lesser amount on Google+, Goodreads, Instagram, Pinterest, and Tumblr.

All in all it’s not what I would call fun, except from the thrill of positive feedback from readers and friends, but it seems a necessary part of the business.

Answering interview questions can often take a long time! Tell me, are you ever tempted to recycle your answers from one to the next?

Tempted, but so far I don’t think I’ve done any recycling. Except maybe electrons from the power company.

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An Interview with Jane Abbott, author of Elegy

Everyone has a ‘first novel’, even if many of them are a rough draft relegated to the bottom and back of your desk drawer (or your external harddrive!). Have you been able to reshape yours, or have you abandoned it for good?

Elegy was my first novel, and for this reason I consider it very close to my heart. And yes, it took many, many attempts to get it fit for publication.

Some authors are able to pump out a novel a year and still be filled with inspiration. Is this the case for you, or do you like to let an idea percolate for a couple of years in order to get a beautiful novel?

One thing I’ve learned is that there is no right way to write. You do what suits, and everyone’s different. I wrote two novels in the same year, so can only answer from that experience. In both cases I allowed the themes, plot and characters to percolate for a bit before sitting down and writing them out. The first drafts of Elegy and Watershed took eight and twelve weeks, respectively. Then the hard work began!

I have heard of writers that could only write in one place – then that cafe closed down and they could no longer write! Where do you find yourself writing most often, and on what medium (pen/paper or digital)?

That’s a really interesting question. I can’t write in a café, or anywhere noisy, or on a laptop. I need my proper keyboard and big screen on my messy desk, with the kettle close by! I think there may be some truth to the idea of a perfect writing place, an author’s good luck charm, as it were. But as I’ve left mine – we moved house last year – I’m rather hoping this isn’t the case.

Before going on to hire an editor, most authors use beta-readers. How do you recruit your beta-readers, and choose an editor? Are you lucky enough to have loving family members who can read and comment on your novel?

Actually, I did the reverse. About two thirds of the way through Watershed, I began to get cold feet. I wasn’t sure of some of the content, whether it would be deemed suitable or even publishable, so I contacted a wonderful freelance editor who agreed to read through what I had. She urged me to continue, and when I was done, I also sent her Elegy to read. She’s been a fantastic mentor and was the first to encourage me to submit Watershed to the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript (in my case, also unedited!) where it received a Commendation. Since then, I have relied on friends and family members to read and advise, but of course no one who really cares about you will ever tell you that you’ve written a load of rubbish. The best piece of advice I can give any emerging writer is to submit their work to competitions; you won’t get real feedback, but if you score any kind of recognition then you know you’re on the right track.

I walk past bookshops and am drawn in by the smell of the books – ebooks simply don’t have the same attraction for me. Does this happen to you, and do you have a favourite bookshop? Or perhaps you are an e-reader fan… where do you source most of your material from?

I love the smell and feel of books too, and opening a new book is such a treat. I’m not a digital reader; I’m a bit old-fashioned, and I spend enough time staring at a screen, but I do think ebooks have opened up the market to so many who perhaps might not have read as much as they are doing now. I have two favourite bookshops, neither of them local, so going to one or the other is always a special treat. My eldest son was an avid reader, so we’d head off to the bookshop every week or so to stock up. When he left home, I donated most of his YA books to the local high school. I simply didn’t have room to keep them all.

I used to find myself buying books in only one genre (fantasy) before I started writing this blog. What is your favourite genre, and do you have a favourite author who sticks in your mind?

I have pretty eclectic tastes when it comes to novels; I’ll read anything as long as it interests me. But growing up, I was a fan of fantasy also. My all-time favourite from childhood was Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. In adolescence, it was A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula Le Guin. Later I switched to more contemporary (we’re talking 30 years ago), grittier books.: SE Hinton’s The Outsiders, and That Was Then, This Is Now. I also became a huge Stephen King fan. As an adult, two books that are real standouts for me are The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, and Christopher Wilson’s The Ballad of Lee Cotton.

Social media is a big thing, much to my disgust! I never have enough time myself to do what I feel is a good job. What are your thoughts?

I think social media is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it gives followers instant access to you and your work, on the other it can be a terrible distraction for writers. I have a Facebook profile, which I manage myself. But I do find it a bit of a timewaster – too many articles to read. I haven’t bothered to set up a Facebook page, although I’m sure it would be easy enough to manage if needed. I do use Twitter, though not as often as I used to.

Answering interview questions can often take a long time! Tell me, are you ever tempted to recycle your answers from one to the next?

As this is my first interview for Elegy, I can say, with all honesty, not yet! I suppose it’s inevitable that a few of the same questions are asked by interviewers, but I remember being surprised when doing radio interviews for Watershed, how diverse the questions were. I suppose everyone has a different take on a book, or warms to different characters. And I always came away from each interview feeling that a new facet of the novel had been opened up and explored. It was rewarding.

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An Interview with Din Ka, author of Where Tomorrow Waits

Everyone has a ‘first novel’, even if many of them are a rough draft relegated to the bottom and back of your desk drawer (or your external harddrive!). Have you been able to reshape yours, or have you abandoned it for good?

My first novel was actually written as a screenplay. I majored and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in TV/Film/Screenwriting. I was told my screenplays were too detailed and descriptive and read more like a novel. My screenplays never went anywhere and sat tucked away in the deepest of interstellar limbo of my harddrive. Then I had this idea for an actual novel, not a screenplay, that was inspired by a story my mother told me and didn’t know how to come about turning it into something that told a fluid story and make people want to read it. So I took my screenplay and the inspired idea from my mother’s life and mashed it together and the end result was my first published novel, “Where Tomorrow Waits.”

Some authors are able to pump out a novel a year and still be filled with inspiration. Is this the case for you, or do you like to let an idea percolate for a couple of years in order to get a beautiful novel?

I would love to be able to spit out a novel every year, but for me it’s been every year and a half to two years. But once I can write full time I would totally have more time to focus on my passion and creativity. I don’t put a time frame over my ideas and when they should be written, but I also don’t want to allow to much time to go by without writing either, so it’s a double edge sword—I don’t want to rush an idea, but then again I don’t want to sit with a blank page in front of me either. Hope I make sense. As for inspiration, I feel it’s all around me and is just a matter of taking the time to stop and smell the roses.

I have heard of writers that could only write in one place – then that cafe closed down and they could no longer write! Where do you find yourself writing most often, and on what medium (pen/paper or digital)?

My first novel idea came to me while sitting in a Barnes and Noble café. It hit me like the biggest light bulb that ever went off inside me. It was connected to a movie theatre and a mall, and the barstool I sat on had a beautiful view of Westwood from the second story window. Then it shut down and I was out of an office and an inspirational view. It was a sad moment filled with lots of happy writing memories. But there was a sliver of hope as I moped around the place, and found a hidden gem on the third floor that led into a department store and to an entranceway of a movie theatre. The large hallway was well lit, bright and spacious and had sofas and chairs for relaxing and unwinding. Best of all it had power outlets and a floor to ceiling window with a stunning view of Westwood and the infamous Los Angeles traffic that stretched out as far as the eye could see.
So all wasn’t lost and the place still stands proud in all its glory till this very day, except now I write mostly from home on my computer in a makeshift office that doubles as my dog’s playroom.

Before going on to hire an editor, most authors use beta-readers. How do you recruit your beta-readers, and choose an editor? Are you lucky enough to have loving family members who can read and comment on your novel?

My longtime girlfriend is my main go to beta-reader. She’s brutal, honest, and finds the details that my eyes can’t catch. I had a few friends that beta-read for me, but they were always trying to spare my feelings when something didn’t add up and in the long run it only hurts your work.

And as far as choosing an editor, I work with whomever my publisher assigns to me. So far I’ve been very pleased with my editor.

I walk past bookshops and am drawn in by the smell of the books – ebooks simply don’t have the same attraction for me. Does this happen to you, and do you have a favourite bookshop? Or perhaps you are an e-reader fan… where do you source most of your material from?

I love both and each one has their advantages for me. Ebooks is very convenient and I can read anywhere and anytime either through my phone or computer without having to haul stacks of books around in a backpack. Actual print books like you mentioned do have that smell, that fragrance of creativity and inspiration, and that actual feel of joy in your hands. And might I add, print books look just absolutely beautiful to me sitting on a shelf like a library. It’s paradise for me.

For some of my favorite books, I do have both formats—print and digital. I don’t have a favorite or particular bookstore I shop at, I love both chained bookstores and smaller local bookshops. And for ebooks I usually shop through the Kindle store.

I used to find myself buying books in only one genre (fantasy) before I started writing this blog. What is your favourite genre, and do you have a favourite author who sticks in your mind from your different life stages?

I read many genres. I never limit myself and always keep an open mind. I’ll read things related to science and sci-fi, crime novels, drama, spiritual just to name a few and the list goes on and on from there.

My favourite novels from childhood were The Barenstain Bears, Clifford The Big Red Dog, and a favorite was, Where the Wild Things Are. During elementary school I read the classics and really enjoyed reading the likes of, “The Great Gatsby” and “Of Mice and Men.” So John Steinback and F. Scott Fitzgerald. As an adult, I enjoyed The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, For One More Day by Mitch Albom, Outside The Lines by Amy Hatvany, and Brilliance Saga by Marcus Sakey, and of course many many more authors.

Social media is a big thing, much to my disgust! I never have enough time myself to do what I feel is a good job. Do you manage your own profile or have someone else deal with it?

I mainly managed my own profile and I admit I am horrible at it. Sometimes I feel my profile just gets lost in a sea of millions maybe even billions in cyber space. The life of a writer isn’t something as interesting as a Hollywood star as I sit confined to my office and live out another world inside my head. From time to time I’ll have my girlfriend take over on things by posting pics of our hiking adventures with our two four–legged kids, or being an advocate for sheltered dogs and animals.

I prefer Twitter, it’s simple, short and quick for all to see and hear. But I should be on social media more, so shame on me. Social media is the present and future and I believe it’s a great tool to self promote and gain some fans.

Answering interview questions can often take a long time! Tell me, are you ever tempted to recycle your answers from one to the next?

I never ever feel the need to recycle any answers pertaining to an interview. I feel the person takes the time to map out the questions to ask, so I should give them an individual and unique response every time, all the time. Besides I love to be interviewed, it makes me feel like, “Wow someone out there actually cares about my writing,” and that alone is a very blissful feeling of being on the right path.

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An Interview with Jonathan L. Ferrara, author of The Ghost of Buxton Manor

I’m not going to be reviewing your newest novel, but from your other published novels, is there one that is your own personal favourite?

The Ghost of Buxton Manor is actually my fourth book (two others are published and one of those is a sequel currently with my editor), but this one is my favorite because it truly has a special place in my heart. I completely and whole-heartly relate to this book.

Everyone has a ‘first novel’, even if many of them are a rough draft relegated to the bottom and back of your desk drawer (or your external harddrive!). Have you been able to reshape yours, or have you abandoned it for good?

Nice question! Well, my first novel I wrote when I was 14-16-years-old. I reshaped it at 21, and yes, you’re right, it has been left hidden in my external hard drive. Maybe one day, in the far off future, I’ll give it another go.

Some authors are able to pump out a novel a year and still be filled with inspiration. Is this the case for you, or do you like to let an idea percolate for a couple of years in order to get a beautiful novel?

I’ve noticed that I’m able to write a book, edit, clean it up within a year, but then I have about 3-4 month break before diving into the next novel. I can’t take much breaks. I need to write!

I have heard of writers that could only write in one place – then that cafe closed down and they could no longer write! Where do you find yourself writing most often, and on what medium (pen/paper or digital)?

That’s terrible! No, thank God I don’t have that same problem. Although I do have to write in my house at my desk and on a computer–so I can move and be perfectly fine.

Before going on to hire an editor, most authors use beta-readers. How do you recruit your beta-readers, and choose an editor? Are you lucky enough to have loving family members who can read and comment on your novel?

My husband is my #1 teammate and reads and edits everything I write before I send it out. I also have a good friend (who is an avid reader) who edits my books before sending them off as well. I guess I’m lucky enough to have a little team in my corner.

I walk past bookshops and am drawn in by the smell of the books – ebooks simply don’t have the same attraction for me. Does this happen to you, and do you have a favourite bookshop? Or perhaps you are an e-reader fan… where do you source most of your material from?

I wish I could jump on the E-reader train, but I’m like you, I love the smell of books. I haven’t been able to successfully read a single book in E-form. In Downtown Los Angeles, there is an amazing bookshop called the Last Bookstore and it’s Heaven for any real reader.

I used to find myself buying books in only one genre (fantasy) before I started writing this blog. What is your favourite genre, and do you have a favourite author who sticks in your mind?

I’m 30 years old and still stuck in the Young Adult section. I usually stick to fantasy and horror, but I like all kinds of genres in Young Adult. J.K. Rowing is my favorite.

Social media is a big thing, much to my disgust! I never have enough time myself to do what I feel is a good job. What’s your take on this?

It’s usually me that manages my profile, but like I said before my husband is my business partner as well. We do a webcomic, blog, and have a Youtube Channel under Husband & Husband. So, if it’s not me, it’s Aaron.

I love having my own Youtube channel and blog, but I don’t think I could do it alone. I’m very lucky to have a husband who shares in the same passion as me and who also loves to be creative. We always say, “We’re better together.” It’s very true especially when it comes to social media.

Answering interview questions can often take a long time! Tell me, are you ever tempted to recycle your answers from one to the next?

Not really because most interviewers have different flows in their questions. However, there are some things you have to recycle when it comes to something like your favorite author.

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