Interview with Olivia Hardin

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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Can you
give us a brief overview of your latest book? Is it part of a series?</span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">All for
Hope </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">is my first contemporary romance and it’s the very sweet
love story of two friends who haven’t been friends in a long time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Just because their separated, doesn’t
mean they don’t still have feelings for each other so when Hope kidnaps a baby
to save her from an abusive family, Brennan steps in to protect her. This isn’t
planned as a series, but I have some ideas for spinoff stories about some of
the supporting characters.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Have you
ever had a minor character evolve into a major one? Did that change the
direction of the novel at all?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In this story one of the characters, Detective Guillory was
originally just a mere mention at the end of the book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Somewhere along the way I realized it
would elevate the excitement to get a peek at his investigation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Before I knew it I really liked his
character and I so I made sure I left the end of the story so that he might be
able to make an appearance in another story one day.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">If you
used a graphic designer/publisher’s designer, how involved were you during the
creative process for your cover?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">For this book we used the <a href="http://www.onceuponatimecovers.com/&q... Upon a Time Covers</a> and I
absolutely love the work Stephanie Nelson did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I came to the realization I had to step out of her way and
let her creativity work its magic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 
</span>When I tried to get involved it wasn’t nearly as wonderful as what she
eventually came up with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Do you
belong to a critique group? Have they helped improve your writing?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I don’t have a formal critique group, but I do have a
selection of friends and authors who read my work and help me along the
way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>They are invaluable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The important thing with a critique
group/person is that you have to trust their honesty and willingness to tell
you like it is… without smashing your ego to bits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">What is
your writing process? Do you listen to music or do you like silence?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I write in silence… or actually, not total silence but
without any music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>That said,
music is very important for my muse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 
</span>I create playlists and I go to them in order to help me mentally flesh
out a scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>When it’s time to put
that scene to paper, I turn off the music and just listen to the words in my
mind.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Did you
hire an editor to review your manuscript before publishing?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Absolutely!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I
have learned that you can never have too much editing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Currently I use 2-3 different
editors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Each person’s eye catches
something different and you want your manuscript to be as polished as possible
before publishing.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">What have
you’ve learned during your self-publishing journey?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I’ve learned that it’s all a process… hence a journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I have to be patient with myself and
with the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">   </span>Some things
I do will work, some don’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>But
hacking away at it and never giving up are the best lessons.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">What kinds
of marketing [twitter, facebook, blog, forums] are you involved with for
promoting your book(s)?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/oliviahardin...
is my favorite social media outlet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 
</span>I’m trying to learn how to effectively use twitter and I do blog (not
nearly enough).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I’m also starting
to work with <a href="http://pinterest.com/oliviahardin/boa...,
<a href="http://www.tumblr.com/blog/oliviahard... and <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/102581869...
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Do you
find it difficult to juggle your time between marketing your current book and
writing your next book?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Marketing can be tough, especially as you’re trying to
experiment to figure out what works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 
</span>That said, it is getting easier to streamline things and get information
out to people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>It does take time
away from writing though, so finding a good system for me has been essential.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">What’s
next for you?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I have the second in my MAUCs Urban Fantasy Series due out
June 21^st and then I have a short story appearing in the Eternal
Summer Anthology on June 24^th.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 
</span>I’m about to begin work on the first in my For Love of Fae Trilogy,
which is a spinoff of my Bend-Bite-Shift Trilogy.</span></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TwoEnd..." height="1" width="1"/>