Nancy Christie's Blog - Posts Tagged "interview"

In my
author interview
with novelist Al Pessin, Al talks about his novels and his writing routine—and the role Rory plays in the creative process!
Al Pessin #interview

On my Living the Writing Life podcast, my guest Casie Bazay shares the long road she followed from pitching to publication, and how she handled the rejection process.

Here’s some background on Casie: she’s a former middle school teacher whose debut novel, Not Our Summer, was released in the spring of 2021 by Running Press Kids.

A freelance writer and editor, Casie lives on a hay farm in Oklahoma with her husband and two children, and in her spare time, enjoys exploring the great outdoors, spending time at the barn with her horses and goats, reading, and watching movies.

Casie also loves traveling to new and exciting destinations whenever she can.

For more about Casie, visit her website and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Listen to the episode here.

This is an excerpt from my post on Focus on Fiction. Click here to read the full interview.

Kim Smith is the author of the Mt. Moriah Series, a collection of romantic women's fiction, as well as fantasy, mystery, and YA. Her books have made Amazon Top 100 lists, climbing as high as #1. A devout coffee addict, Kim is a full-time author living in Central Florida with her husband and their charming Chihuahua dog, Lady Darby Doolittle.

In the following excerpt from my interview with her, Kim answers a few questions about her latest book and her use of social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube to reach her fans.

Let’s start with your newest book, The Little Theater, that just came out. Tell us about it.

It’s the fourth in the Mt. Moriah series—an uplifting small-town romance where two opposites attract. And the fact that they live close enough to see each other’s home, certainly helps. It’s all fun and games until a celebrity comes to town and ends up in your salon. Sarah Greene knew better than to get involved. Men were the bane of her existence. Asher Shelton, a well-loved movie star, moves to Mt. Moriah to get away from stardom. He never expected to fall in love.

Building an author platform and expanding your fan base is a challenge for virtually all the authors I have spoken with. What were some of the strategies you used to get your name out there and generate buzz about your books?

I am a screamer. I got on every social media network who would allow me to sign up and I started talking about my books. Then, I decided to get a podcast, and a YouTube channel, and went to differing formats to get new ways to gain friends.

Once COVID hit, in-person events came to a grinding halt. How did you handle the pandemic restrictions and still promote your books?

Well, I am always online so that was really not too hard. I did go through quite a lot of health debacles during that time, so NOT being in person worked to my advantage. I participated in an online creatives conference so that I was still being "Seen."

You are on TikTok. How does that platform stack up against the “older” ones: Twitter and Facebook, for example? What do you like about using TikTok as a way to reach readers?

I love TikTok. Not only am I on it for writing purposes, but I am a huge fan of the platform. I left Facebook this year, due to the lack of participation for writers (you have a hard time being seen there). I filled all that time I spent on FB on TikTok and it has been a great move. Twitter also has proven to gain me a lot of traction.

You also have a YouTube channel called Writer Groupie. How are you using it?

Writer Groupie is so much fun. I started out using it to help other writers. I love to chat about writing and learn other's processes. Then, I decided to go solo and see if I could do YouTube as a sort of writing guru. Now I am producing short videos there and I JUST LOVE IT!!!

On my Living the Writing Life podcast, my guest Dana Spiotta and I discuss the impact of gender and age on writing—in terms of the types of topics covered, the depictions of female characters, and on creativity itself. Listen to the episode here.

Dana is the author of five novels: Lightning Field (2002), Eat the Document (2006), Stone Arabia (2011), Innocents & Others (2016), and her most recent, Wayward (2021) that was called by the New York Times a “virtuosic, singular and very funny portrait of a woman seeking sanity and purpose in a world gone mad.”

Dana has been a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Rome Prize, the St. Francis College Literary Prize, and the John Updike Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

On my Living the Writing Life podcast, my guest Deborah Tobola and I discuss the role the arts can play in the lives of those who are incarcerated, what led her to become involved with prisoners, and her goal in writing her memoir.

Listen to the episode here.

Deborah's work has earned four Pushcart Prize nominations, three Academy of American Poets awards and a Children’s Choice Book Award.

Hummingbird in Underworld: Teaching in a Men’s Prison, A Memoir won a Next Generation Indie Book Award in Social Justice, a Nautilus Silver Book Award in Heroic Journeys, a Readers’ Favorite bronze medal in Non-Fiction – Social Issues, and first place in Chanticleer International’s HEARTEN Awards. It was also a finalist in the Willa Literary Awards’ Women Writing the West in Creative Nonfiction.

Deborah has worked as a journalist, legislative aide and adjunct English faculty member in Alaska and California. She began teaching creative writing in California prisons in 1992, taking the job of Institution Artist Facilitator at the California Men’s Colony in 2000, before retiring at the end of 2008.

In 2014, Deborah returned to prison as a contract artist, where she currently teaches creative writing and theatre at the California Men’s Colony.

In 2009, she founded the Poetic Justice Project, a program of the William James Association, the country’s first theatre company created for formerly incarcerated actors, where she serves as artistic director.

Poetic Justice Project’s pandemic miracle, the play Terms of Confinement is now on YouTube, written by her, is based on writings from her students who had been incarcerated.

On my Living the Writing Life podcast, my guest Kathryn Schulz and I discuss the concepts of loss and discovery, both from the personal perspective and from that as a creative.

Listen to the episode here.

Kathryn Schulz is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of Being Wrong and her most recent book, Lost & Found—an insightful and moving exploration of grief and love, and how those two emotions have the power to change us, transform us, and expand our concept of who we are and how we can live.

You can catch my review of her book here.

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In this episode from my Living the Writing Life podcast
my guest Corie Adjmi and I discuss the various challenges women face when pursuing the writing life: time constraints, family responsibilities, financial issues and their own self-doubts about their right to write.

Listen to the episode here.

Corie Adjmi is the author of the short story collection Life and Other Shortcomings, which won an International Book Award, an IBPA Benjamin Franklin award, and an American Fiction Award, and the forthcoming novel, The Marriage Box, named a Must-Read New Book of 2022 that is due out in 2023.

Her prize-winning essays and short stories have appeared in dozens of journals and magazines, including HuffPost, North American Review, Indiana Review, Medium, Motherwell and Kveller, and she has been featured in Travel and Leisure, New York Magazine, The Hollywood Times, Parade and BuzzFeed.

The following is an edited excerpt from my interview with author Jan Romes. Read the full interview on Focus on Fiction

Jan’s novels—romance and women's fiction (humor included)—focus on the power of love and friendship. Her first book came out in 2010, and to date, she has written 28 books, with two more due out this year!

To learn more about Jan, visit her website.

Let’s start with your career as an author. When was your first book published and what was it? And how many books have you published to date?
My first book was One Small Fib published by The Wild Rose Press in September 2010. It's still one of my favorites. I have twenty-eight published stories, with two more waiting in the wings.

What is your writing schedule?
Regarding my writing schedule... It has been a lot of hit and miss in the past couple of years due to some unexpected life events. I wasn’t sure I would get back on track. Fortunately, things leveled off and I'm back to writing every day (even if it's just a page or two).

What are the advantages of self-publishing?
Some of the advantages of self-publishing is being able to pick the date a book will be published, whereas with a traditional publisher they pick the date. With self-publishing you have full control over the title of the book and cover art. You have to make arrangements for formatting and editing, set the price for your e-books and print books, secure ISBN numbers and protect your work by getting it copyrighted. You're solely responsible for promotion.

What is your marketing strategy for your books?
My marketing strategy includes having a website and blog, a daily presence on a few social media sites, book signings, attending events like literary festivals and craft-vendor shows, and word of mouth.

How important is it for an author to have covers that clearly define the series and more broadly, serve as a branding image?
It's important for the covers to reflect the genre and contents within. The branding image affects how the reader perceives the series, so it's important they get a feel for what awaits them in the books.

My No Sweat Pants Allowed Wine Series is easy-reading, humorous women's fiction. Lighthearted cover art was a must. Texas Boys Falling Fast Series is romance with just a touch of humor. To convey serious romance, I chose wedding dresses and flower bouquets to grace the covers. Each book has different flowers and the reason for them is revealed as the story progresses.

What is the next project you have in the works?
I have several, but to name a few: the sequel to Tucked Away, also book #3 in my Coffee & Dessert in Key West Series, and possibly the three-book romantic suspense series I mentioned earlier.

What advice do you have for those who are dipping their toe into writing and publishing novels -- whether on their own or through a traditional publisher?
Be true to your writing voice, we all have one. Be fearless in your quest to have a career - the old adage 'nothing ventured, nothing gained' applies.

Listen to what other authors have to say, but sort through the information - what works for one, may not work for another, that's just the way of it.

Don't get discouraged if you want to go the traditional route and you query agents and/or publishing companies and receive the dreaded rejection letter. Those happen. Keep your chin up.

Keep writing. Keep learning.

On my Living the Writing Life podcast, author and screenwriter Peter Berk talked about the experience of collaborating with his father on creative projects, and the challenges and advantages of turning a screenplay into a book. 

Listen to the episode at https://livingthewritinglife.podbean....

A bit about Peter: He's the son of noted writer Howard Berk, whose credits included Columbo, Mission: Impossible and several novels and features. Peter has co-written several screenplays with his father, and on his own has written a recently-optioned sci-fi/time travel TV pilot, seven scripts and five novels in the TimeLock series, the first of which was published in late 2022  and is available here.

He also co-authored a non-fiction book with actor Dick Van Patten that was published some 15 years ago. Peter lives in Southern California and is the proud father of two sons and one grandson, with another grandson and a granddaughter on the way the first half of 2023.

You can learn more about Peter and his novel at http://www.ingramelliott.com/timelock... or follow him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?... and Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/timelocknovel/.

So in less than two weeks, the paperback edition of Reinventing Rita will be sent out to all those lovely people who pre-ordered her—and my deepest thanks to all of you!

But just in case you haven't made the move yet, you can still take advantage of the pre-paperback-launch deal!

Preorder the paperback version from the BookBaby Bookshop page with the code MaySpecial and you’ll get it for just $11.99! That’s $5 off the list price! But the deal is only good until May 31 so hurry now and reserve your copy.

REINVENTING RITA will ship out June 1—just in time to enjoy a relaxing summer read!

In the meantime, I've been finishing all my pre-launch activities, which included a fun interview with NN Light's Book Heaven and another one with Michele Orwin at Bacon and Books blog.

I also added a new book trailer—So many changes—and a video about why I decided to write novels featuring midlife women to my Midlife Moxie Novel Series channel on YouTube.

Check them out and share your thoughts!

I've also scheduled a ton of in-person events for the next six months. Here's the link
and if you're in the area, stop by and say hi!

And if you do read REINVENTING RITA, I would be so grateful if you'd post a review here on Goodreads or on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or BookBub!











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