My First Interview!

My first author interview! Eeep!

It’s terrifying how fast this has all come around. It was only during the summer just gone that I made the massive decision to self publish my books. To me, it was like the fate of my future on my shoulders. I know, melodramatic much? But still, there I was, thinking of all those brave and passionate peeps out there who ‘go it alone’ and wondering if I’d ever pluck up the courage to do it myself.

Well, on January 6th, I made that first step. Honest is out there, and it’s being read and reviewed. More humbling than that is the fact its first review got five stars! This was from somebody who literally just loves reading and reviewing books, and after just a couple interactions on twitter, she read my entire book in just a day or so. Next thing I know, she’s given me a 5 star review and offered me an interview spot on her blog.

To me, that’s just the coolest thing ever. It’s like fancy dress. I  get to put on my fancy-shmancy author clothes and answer questions like a grown-up!

So, thanks to Liisur, I’ve started making baby steps. The support of the book bloggers and the self-publishing community is the thing that really astonishes me. There’s no one-upmanship at all; just lots of people willing to help a brother out. So far, my experience has been really pleasant and I’m so grateful for those people who have contacted me to get a copy of Honest; especially those who started reading right away.

I’ve said it to them, and I’ll say it now: even a 1 star review would be worth everything to me. Even if you hated my work and thought it was a steaming pile of cow dung, I’d still be a happy camper. All I ever wanted was to write books and for people to read them. If you’ve read and considered my work enough to actually review it, then you’re a star.

Of course, I won’t be saying that when the pitchforks come out, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, hahaha…eerrrrh…yeah.

Anyway, if you fancy getting to know me a little bit better, and wouldn’t mind hearing about my writing process and what inspired my first book, you can find it HERE on the lovely Liisur’s blog!

In the interview, I talk a little bit about my other books too, starting with All Girls Cry. That’s coming your way soon, folks, though I don’t want to make any promises time-wise. Soon means soon. Suffice it to say, I made the right choice about the order in which to release them, or so I think. All Girls Cry is about as popular as Honest has been on Goodreads, so I’m sure it’s one of the most sought-after from my little collection.

Of course, the fact that Leap and Beyond haven’t had proper covers this whole time hasn’t helped to get them much exposure. Leap does have a gorgeous cover now, but Beyond is taking a little more time to find the right one. That’s no matter, though, because Beyond is also still being proofread by the lovely Dayna at Secret Lives of Fiction Lovers, so in a funny ol’ way, it’s all worked out!

Beyond is really special, though, so it’s worth the wait. It’s my most “romantic” (OooOOO) book and I’ve described it in my interview with Liisur as ‘a bitter-sweet tale of letting go’, so that gives you an idea.

So there we have it. Things be a’brewin’, folks!  I’ll be hopefully doing a couple of guest blogs in the very near future too, so look out for those. Or don’t. I could very well bore you to tears. In which case, as you were!

‘Beyond’ in editorial & the perks of being self-employed

Howdy-ho, folks.

You know, there’s something to be said for  being a teenager. Remember when it was acceptable to sleep until midday with one hoof out the covers? As an adult, I became aware of the fact that it wasn’t “acceptable” to be lazy any more. Well, it was whilst I was a student, of course, but by the time you enter the world of work, it becomes less a sign of being a care-free, albeit slobbish teenager, and more of being a lazy disgrace.

So, despite an illness I have which slows my metabolism to rock-bottom and used to make me sleep for England through sheer exhaustion, I try to make sure I’m up and at ’em at a reasonable time in the morning. The perks of being self-employed, however, make this “acceptable” waking time somewhere between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. – not the ghastly 6 a.m.-7 a.m. of everyone else. I have no train to catch, no suit or uniform to wiggle into – I need only wake up, eat something, and waddle over to my couch with my laptop.

It is a beautiful way of working. EVERYONE should get to work like this. It saves money for the company and, believe it or not, I’m actually way more productive than I would be in a boring office.

My best friend, however, pointed out that she’s not good with distractions, and being around her TV, her books, her games, the shops – you name it, she’d stray to it. I argued she wouldn’t if she had deadlines, like me, but she insisted that she’d only take longer to do the job and therefore do a *poor* job of it. So I can see where she’s coming from, totally.

Now, why am I bringing up this particular topic? Well, it’s not to boast, although it could be seen that way. I bring it up because last night, I couldn’t switch my brain off at all. I laid awake for hours thinking of babies, of houses, of weddings, of money, of all *seemingly* nice and wholesome stuff. Except if that stuff requires money  – and it does, in shed-loads – then it actually becomes a point of anxiety, not excitement. I simply couldn’t stop thinking about the mundanities and expense of the future.

So when I awoke this morning feeling totally refreshed, you can imagine my surprise. Well, that soon left me when I saw the clock. It was 11.58 a.m.

I had, in fact, slept like a teenager. It was beautiful.

Turns out I’d mumbled something about not getting to sleep to my boyfriend, who was just leaving for work, and he must have switched the alarm off. Utter, utter bliss.

There were no knocks on the door, no phone-calls – not even any work in my inbox. I was left to sleep, and I hadn’t slept that long since I was a student. You know what? Screw adulthood. Sleep is good for everyone. Work to live, don’t live to work, as they say.

Mm-mmm.

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So in other news, my new novel, “Beyond”, has gone through two sets of edits with me, and another with my partner – an editor by profession, as luck would have it. So now that it’s taken a roughly good shape, I’ve passed it on to the awesome Dayna of Secret Lives of Fiction Lovers. She’s offered her services for free, ladies and gents, despite the fact that she has qualifications in proofreading and a backlog of edited novels under her belt.

She has been paid in the past, even though she was only seeking to expand her CV at this point, so I’m naturally incredibly grateful that she has offered to do this totally free of charge. I hope I help some way towards Dayna reaching her goal of working in the industry – oh, and I hope my novel isn’t so terrible that she gets bored and wants to sling it out the window ASAP. I have *assured* her that she isn’t obliged to continue working on it if it makes her wince. Aren’t I nice?

I will be looking for BETA READERS, so watch this space or message me on twitter. I’ll be giving books away like hot cakes – whether they’ll taste like hot cakes or steaming piles of dung, however, remains to be seen.

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Toodles!