Adelheid Chronicle: Interview with the Indie Book Blogger
Welcome to a little bit of fun! This isn’t part of my usual series of interviews. Today, a reporter for the Adelheid Chronicle interviewed Scott, the Indie Book Blogger! He’s one of the moderators of my GoodReads group, runs a blog devoted to Indie books and is a good friend to the indie writer community! He is also a great sport, and this was a fun interview. He stepped into the world of Adelheid for a while, and I hope he enjoyed his stay. 
Blog: http://indiebookblogger.blogspot.com/
* * *
AC: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Scott: I grew up reading a lot, but got away from it for several years. When my grandfather passed away I was told to get any books from his library that I wanted and I discovered Tom Clancy, W.E.B. Griffin, and many others that reignited my love of reading. My freshman year of school a friend of mine introduced me to the worlds of Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance and that’s when I became a fantasy addict. I’ve been married for almost 2 years now and I have a wonderful little girl that I love to spend time reading to and hope to pass my love of reading to.
AC: Why did you decide to start a blog that reviews indie (self-published) books?
Scott: When my wife got me a Kindle for Christmas in 2010 I saw the lower price tag on indie books and gave them a try. Then I started to cruise the forums looking for new authors and started my own thread on Amazon for authors to pitch their books to me and if they caught my interest I would read and review them. I started getting a few reviewer copies and decided to start a blog to shine as much light as I could on some of the fantastic authors I had found.
AC: What’s the best thing you’ve found about reading and reviewing indie books?
Scott: The indie community is filled with some great people and I’ve made some wonderful friends. There is also no place to find deals as great as you will when you find a fantastic indie author.
AC: What’s the worst?
Scott: There are some terrible books out there with all the good ones. I have found several that seriously need edited and formatted by a professional.
AC: What’s your favorite genre?
Scott: I will always be a fan of the classic fantasy theme with knights, dragons, magic, etc… although I have really been branching out since starting the blog.
AC: Any indie authors that stand out to you to recommend to our readers?
Scott: I always miss some people when I do these lists so I apologize in advance. Lindsay Buroker, Jeffrey Poole, B. Justin Shier, G. David Walker, David Alderman, Robert Day, Ann Charles, Christopher Bunn, John Hartness, Dean Murray, and Marilyn Peake to name a few.
This list doesn’t include several wonderful small pub authors that I have met as well.
AC: How do you feel your general experience working with indie authors has been?
Scott: I’m extremely glad that I started this blog and became a small part of the indie community. I have a great time reading and reviewing all these books and the giveaways and interviews are a blast as well.
AC: Okay, let’s get down to the hot topic that is still on everyone’s mind, even more than a year later. Cameron’s Law, Preternatural Rights: for or against? You can be honest.
Scott: I totally support the members of the alternate species to have protected rights under Cameron’s Law.
AC: Good for you to be so open-minded. A lot of people aren’t these days. But you have to admit, it’s a little odd that all the creatures you’ve been seeing in movies and reading about in books are now sitting next to you on the bus or shopping alongside you at the grocery store, isn’t it?
Scott: To be totally honest I haven’t noticed a ton of difference. I’m not out that much at night so my chances of running into a vampire are fairly slim and shifters blend in pretty well unless they are changed.
AC: I know you said that classic fantasy is a favorite. Did you read much of the horror and paranormal genre before all this law stuff happened?
Scott: Not really, knights and wizards fighting dragons have always been my thing. Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Eberron, and Warhammer take up the majority of my library space. Though some Warhammer is pretty dark and might qualify as horror in some aspects.
AC: Do you know any supernaturals personally?
Scott: I haven’t confirmed anything, but I suspect a few of the people I went to highschool with are actually shifters. I really would like to get to a know some people who are comfortable with it and who wouldn’t be bothered by my endless curiousity.
AC: Do you think the paranormal indie writers out there will keep writing about vampires and werewolves as much as they ever did, and in the same ways, or will this new world see new fiction along with it?
Scott: I think that the genres will continue to exist, but people will actually have real sources for their info. Their won’t be anymore confusion on whether or not vampires are bothered by garlic or running water since you can call one up and ask. I also imagine that the more time that passes the less you will see vampires and werecreatures being typecast as mindless homicidal creatures.
The new aspects of fiction can only be helpful to get some new ideas. Bring on the vampire wizard’s saving the world from an invasion of outerspace monkey like creatures while spouting bad poetry! (This is an example of why I don’t write myself lol)
AC: Well, thank you for your time, Scott. Have fun out there in the indie writing world!
