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Hi, Valerie take a seat. Glad you could come. Get comfortable, take off your shoes, relax. When did you start writing, and what did you write about?
I started writing in my head ever since I
was young. But actually writing novels was about five years ago. I wrote For
the Sake of Amelia- Tormented, which led to two more in the series, but
Tormented took me three years to complete.
Please write a
few lines about the books you have published, and what brought you to
publishing each one of them.
The Amelia Series
The Amelia series is about an abused woman
trying to overcome her past. Throughout the series the reader watches Amelia go
from a terrified woman to becoming a strong individual. She learns not all men
are created equal. Being a victim of abuse and seeing many people around me, I
felt the need to show people there is always a light at the end of the
tunnel…never give up.
What is the
difference in your perception between now and the time you started writing?
I never thought I would get published after
receiving a few rejection letter, now I know I can and I know my novels are
good from the reviews I’ve received. Nothing is impossible.
The Mind of a Madman Series
Now the second series is far different from
the love, drama and suspense of the Amelia series. Mind of a Madman is a story
about a psychological killer. In this novel the murderer escapes from prison
with the idea he will hide in the forest where no one will find him. As the
story progresses so does his disease until he can no longer control his
violence. These novels have graphic murder scenes (I was told they weren’t for
the faint hearted.) I wrote this series to release the inner hatred of my past.
I guess I thought it’d be better to kill in a book rather than in person.
Exactly. I have a character, Durham from "The Fishing Trip", who satisfies my urge for retribution. Maybe the two can have a conversation. I'll work on that. What are you writing about now and why are you writing this book?
Right now I’m writing another Thriller
titled The Enchanted Oasis. I’m about half done with it but will have to stop
during the month of November to write in the national novel writing contest. TI
at least hope to come away from November challenge with a workable first draft.
That novel is titled Shattered it’s about a mentally abused woman (based on a
true story)
Tell me, how do you go about
writing your books? Do the ideas just pop in your head or do you have to plot
and plan?
To tell you the truth I wing it. Whatever
comes to mind at the time I’m writing goes down on paper. Thankfully I have
movies playing in my head when I set myself up to write so the task isn’t
difficult.
I’m having a bit of a hard time
marketing my books. What are your techniques and do you feel they are working?
I promote my novels everywhere and I’m
constantly looking for sites that are willing to give a little space to a lowly
author. Many bloggers are willing to give interviews and there are various
sites such as Goodreads where you can run contests. Sometimes all I do is rely
on word of mouth. I have one novel written under a pen name I don’t promote,
but that seems to be selling like hotcakes. I think it’s a matter of promoting
yourself relentlessly on social network sites. I’m on numerous pages on
Facebook and I spam them until the cows come home so to speak.
That's funny, one of my favorite things to say. I'm going to have to follow down some of your trails. Where
can the audience purchase your books?
I just
recently placed all my novels (paperbacks and e-books) on Amazon.
They are also available on Smashwords (not all
novels available)
Barnes & Noble (not all novels available)
I have a habit of talking (interviewing) to the people
in my books. How do you communicate with
your characters?
First of
all I’d like to know if the people talk back and if they do, do they argue?
Of course, they
always argue about who will get their story worked on first. My characters have
serious conversations and sometimes they have a lot of fun. Just check through this blog.
But
seriously, if I get stuck, I imagine the characters going through different
scenarios, when one takes the ball and runs with it, I know that’s the way the
others will follow.
If I were to interview one or two of the
characters from your novel what do you think he/she would say about the role
you put him/her in? Do you think they would like the book?
I would
love to interview the Madman. He would tell me there was nothing wrong with
him. He’d say if everyone left him alone he wouldn’t have been forced to do the
things he’s done. I think he would tell me he hated the role because I made him
out to be the bad guy.
That's really interesting. I really have to get him on the blog. What hobby or activity do you enjoy other
than writing?
Hobbies? Is
there something other than writing people can do? Seriously, I love to take my
dog to the park to play ball. She is a very active Siberian Husky and literally
gives me a run for my money.
Big dogs are my favorite. I had an Old English Sheepdog when I was younger, but at the moment we have a Yorkie.
Well, seems as if our time is up, I want to thank you for your time and stopping over to chat with us here at IN THE
CHAIR. It’s been fun and I hope to get a chance to review a couple of your books.
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