Hey there, Insiders!
Looks like another Monday has lunged at you out of the shadows, waving a bloodied fist at you whilst screaming about how you’re ‘the Devil and must be destroyed’; and that can only mean one thing: Author Interview Time! (And also run, some crazy person with a bloody fist has beef with you).
Break the ice and tell our readers who you are and what kind of thing you write.
I’m the author of the Under the Moon Series, an urban fantasy about witches with magical specialties and the evil they’re entangled with. I also have a holiday short story out and another one planned for May 2016.
How do you approach your stories; do you plan everything out before starting, or are you more a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of a person?
I’m a plotter. In order to stay motivated each day, I need to know where the story is going and what I’m going to be writing each day. Also, I’ve noticed that if I have a particular ending in mind, I can plant little Easter eggs along the way that give the reader an “aha!” moment by the time they reach the end.
Tell us about your most recent release, and why the heck our readers should give it a shot:
My most recent release is called The Full Moon. It’s actually a prequel to my first book, The Blood Moon. Basically, it follows Kathy as she falls for Will, who she learns is a Dark Knight and her struggle to decide whether she wants to abandon her family, who practice white magic, or abandon the love of her life, who practices black magic.
The difference between The Full Moon and The Blood Moon is that Full is more grown up, which allowed me to experiment with ideas such as marriage, criminal investigations, and just giving my characters more responsibilities. So far, I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever written.
What made you decide to go indie, and what do you see as the benefits of indie?
I didn’t know indie was an option until about 2012 when I was in grad school for publishing. They were talking about how books like Fifty Shades of Grey were self-published and then picked up by traditional publishers and I thought that maybe that could be me. Even if it didn’t work out, my books would be making me some money instead of just sitting on a shelf. As I started to do more research, I realized just how profitable indie publishing can be. I love the control I have over my works and the release dates and marketing. It definitely feeds my entrepreneurial spirit.
Who is your favorite fictional character, be it from books, TV, comics, movies or games?
Right now, I’m kind of obsessed with Arrow and basically just DC Comics in general. So I’d have to say my favorite fictional character is Oliver Queen. The balance he has to keep between his personal life, professional life, and super life is so great to watch. Plus, he kicks ass.
D’you listen to music whilst you write? The TV on in the background providing a pleasant white-noise babble? Or d’you DEMAND SILENCE WHILST YOU CREATE FROM NOTHING.
I have written with background noise, but I find it easier to write in silence. It just helps me better immerse myself in the story and picture what exactly the characters are doing so that I can write it out. I know some writers write to gaming or movie soundtracks and I can understand the appeal, but I don’t know if that’ll ever be me.
Which of your own works are you proudest of?
Honestly, probably The Full Moon. I’m not just saying that because it’s the book I’m currently promoting, either. The main character, Kathy, was so fun to write. She’s a strong woman who is very loyal to the people she loves. Even at her own expense. Her relationship with Will and her slow descent into his master plan was awesome to write. Coming from a project like The Blood Moon that took me nine years to write, it was refreshing to have such a great book come together so easily and so quickly.
What’s you’re writing schedule like? Are you super regimented, butt-in-chair every day, tip-tapping away for hours, or an airy-fairy ‘when the muse strikes’ sort of a person?
I try to write as often as possible. That usually works out to (almost) every day. But things come up. Life happens. I set goals for myself, depending on where I am in the process of a book. Right now I’m focusing on 10,000 words a week. That’s comfortable for me. When I’m editing, it’ll be a chapter a day. Then I set longer-term goals like “Finish the first draft of the next book by March,” which leads into the next goal “Format the paperback by April so I can get the cover made” and so on. I have a tentative publishing schedule made that I refer to often to judge how I’m doing.
What’s your number one piece of advice for anyone reading this who is considering going the indie route?
This is going to consume you. When I first started researching indie publishing, people would say that you need to eat, sleep, and breathe indie publishing and your books and I didn’t believe them. I didn’t think a job would ever consume me like that. But it did. Once you get a taste of success, you want more. You keep working at it and trying different things to achieve that success again and, hopefully, maintain it. The only way to do that is to embrace it.
So what treats do you have in store for readers next?
My next release is a very short short story that I actually wrote back in college. This summer, though, I’m releasing my third book in a special format—standard and deluxe editions—and then I have a series of short stories that I’ll release monthly at the end of the year. All within my series. So hopefully readers will be looking forward to wrapping up the series with me!
THANKS!
Check out David’s work HERE