Interview with Author – Shirley Ford
Author Bio:
I have had a varied working life, Coffee Shop Proprietor, Company Director for a Pet Accessory Importer, Holistic Therapist to name but a few. What you would call a Jack of all trades. I never wanted a career, doing the same job over and over. Every few years I would move on to something totally different, taking me out of my comfort zone. My husband and I moved to Dorset, England, several years ago and I planned on retiring and enjoying a quiet life. How wrong could I be! I developed the writing bug instead. A very good friend, Sallyann Sheridan, herself an author, firstly invited me to act as her assistant in her writing workshops and then she set up a writing group in our village called the Jurassic Coast Writers and co-erced me into helping her. The rest is history, as they say. I had already dabbled with poetry, then through Sallyann started writing short stories, but I was never satisfied with them The beginnings of a novel were taking place in my head and I was on my way to writing my first book called Every Why, which was published as a Kindle book in March 2012.
Being a first time author, I didn’t want to publish a book that was too long, so I decided to produce the second half called Be Mindful as a sequel, which was published in December 2012.
I have now taken over the running of the writing group and belong to a book club, which is now more of a luncheon club with a side order of books! My other interests are English Country Dancing, and Tai Chi.
And of course, following on from the books, comes Twitter, bloggings, promoting, all new and exciting things to learn.
What inspires you to write?
I love the buzz I get from ideas running through my head. When I started to write, I worried that I would run out of steam, perhaps not get the book finished. Or if I did, would I get the idea for the next book, but I needn’t have worried. I am three parts the way through my third novel and already have ideas for the next two. I sometimes have to stop myself from beginning the next book. I have to concentrate on the current one. People I meet also inspire me. I hear conversations, look at characters and think, I could use that in my book.
Tell us about your writing process.
I usually have the beginning, the middle and the end of my book, then I work on my characters, I build a family tree and the plot evolves. I don’t seem to deviate much from the original idea.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I think I listen to rather than talk to my characters. All my characters are based on a mix of people who have come into my life. By listening, I think I understand them more.
What advice would you give other writers?
I think I listen to rather than talk to my characters.
My advice would be to Just Do It! If you feel you have the makings of a book, then get writing. Don’t worry about how it will be published, or who is going to read it at this stage, just get it all down. This really is the easy part. The difficult part, as I have learned, comes next, i.e. the editing, the proofreading, the cover design etc. You have to decide whether you rely on yourself and perhaps family or friends to edit and proofread for you, or whether you pay a professional to do it. This is when you have to decide how much money you can allow at this stage, with no guarantee of any sales at the end.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I learnt how easy it was to get a book published on Amazon, through producing a Kindle book. I had heard so many stories of people submitting manuscripts to publishers with no results. It cost a lot of money producing manuscripts, and posting them off and not even getting a rejection letter, the writers getting despondent and in many cases giving up. At least with a Kindle book your book can be listed and for sale without any initial outlay. And you never know a publisher might just happen on your book and think Wow! I want to publish that myself. What a great position to be in, to be contacted by a publisher instead of the other way round.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think the book publishing industry will change. At the moment it seems that you have to be a well-known author to be able to get a publishing deal and publishers are perhaps not spreading their net wide enough and looking at some of the really good indie writers. Ebook publishing will continue to grow and perhaps better deals for authors will come along for authors who want to go the traditional way of producing books. At the moment an author can self-publish, relatively cheaply, but have to do all the marketing and promotion themselves, which not everyone is good at. Myself included.
What genres do you write?
Women’s Fiction
What formats are your books in?
eBook
Website(s)
Link To Author Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
http://www.goodreads.com/shirl13
http://twitter.com/shirleyford11
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