Today’s author interview is with author and poet, Richard Wall. He’s also a creator of short stories and has turned his hand to writing songs, sleeve notes, and album reviews for indie musicians. His literary creations reflect his life-long fascination with the dark underbelly of American culture.
Hi Richard. Lovely to see you today. Why don’t you introduce yourself to the readers before we get started?
Thanks for inviting me to take part. I’m Richard Wall, author of the novels Fat Man Blues, Near Death, a bunch of short stories and poems, and a very occasional blog page.
Tell us about your latest book. What’s it called and what was the inspiration behind it?
My latest book is the one that is being written as we speak. Its working title is Born Again and it’s the sequel to my second novel Near Death (see what I did there?). Born Again is set in South Carolina in 1969 and begins with the arrest of John Henry Beauregard following the grisly discovery of a dead body near his cabin in the mountains. The story follows John Henry as he tries to find a killer who seems to be controlled from beyond the grave.
The story features the return of some characters from Near Death, as well as introducing new ones, including a voodoo priestess from Louisiana. Oh, and it has fast cars and blues music, too.
Speaking of inspiration, what inspires your writing?
It could be anything; a conversation in a bar in Clarksdale Mississippi sparked the first chapter of Fat Man Blues. A simple ‘what if’ question triggered Near Death. Driving to work one day a few years ago I was thinking about nonsense poetry when the line ’Thomas Green The Submarine’ popped in my head. That became a dark monologue which has since been narrated by Hull musician Half Deaf Clatch.
Also, reading (the verb, not the city).
Here’s the festive question: If you could have Christmas Dinner with any fictional character, who would it be?
I’m such a voracious reader that I have a wealth of fictional characters I would love to meet.
I would love to sit down for a meal with Burke, the anti-hero of the dark crime novels written by Andrew Vachss. The meal would be at Mama’s Chinese resturant in New York, sitting at the booth which doubles as Burke’s ‘office’.
Equally I think Tom Joad, hero of The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, would make an interesting companion.
Finally, what bookish plans do you have for 2022?
I’m hoping that Born Again will be finished and in a fit state to be pitched to a certain independent publisher. I also have an idea to compile all of my short stories and poetry into paperback form – working title: ’Nicotine, Liquor & Blasphemy’.
Thanks for talking to me today, Richard. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for Born Again.
*
If you’d like to find out more about Richard and his books, here are all the useful links you might need:
And finally, here’s my 5* review of Richard’s novel.
Near Death
“I do love a horror novel with teeth, and Near Death is certainly that. I expected complex, flawed characters and I wasn’t disappointed in John Henry Beauregard, a prison chaplain still haunted by his experience of the Korean war.
Near Death is a novel of parts – our first introduction to the murderous Joseph Hickey, John Henry’s attempt to leave his years as a prison chaplain behind, what happens in New York, tragedy, and the final showdown. Each part serves what is to come and adds depth to the world of the novel.
What stood out most for me was the character of Joseph Hickey. Vile. Dangerous beyond reckoning. Seemingly unstoppable. If anything is going to get a reaction out of the reader, it’s him.
I enjoyed reading this novel immensely and want more books please from Richard Wall.”
December is flying by. It’s the second week (only 18 sleeps until the big day) and also the second of this month’s author interviews. Today it’s the turn of historical ghost story writer, Patricia Ayling.
Hi Patricia. Lovely to see you today. Why don’t you introduce yourself to the readers before we get started?
I am a latecomer to writing, more accurately, being a published author. I have always found writing enjoyable, whether that be letters or essays from school times to short stories and factual stuff in a few textbooks I was commissioned to write when teaching. I get lost when writing and it’s a good feeling.
It was only when I requested a professional edit of my near complete novel that I felt the metaphorical slap. My manuscript was unrecognisable. Red pen underlined words and sentences, or simply slashed straight through them. ‘Don’t be disheartened’ the feedback commenced. I was. I slept and decided to battle on: and learned so much more about writing as a craft.
Those edits always are a knife to the heart, aren’t they? Tell us about your latest book. What’s it called and what was the inspiration behind it?
The Curse of Becton Manor is my first novel. I love the Tudor period but I
also love an element of the supernatural. When I was small, we visited my
grandparents on their farm in Wiltshire. The house had no electricity, not
uncommon in the 1950s. There was a tale of my grandmother seeing pokers
stabbing the embers of a fire with no person holding them. Hauntings are
fascinating but the evidence for the existence of ghosts remains elusive. My
story combined both of my interests by writing about a house that began its
life in 1593 and was derelict in 1957 but due to be renovated. Then by
presenting the traumas of two very different families I was able to weave in a
paranormal edge.
My recent project is a sequel following the evil protagonist in 1598. I then hope to write a third book concentrating on the twentieth century protagonist. So still historical and with the supernatural in mind but I hope to write using a deeper emotional style and I love a psychological twist. So we shall see. My characters take me on a journey not the other way round.
Speaking of inspiration, what inspires your writing?
What inspires me? Sometimes just reading the newspaper or magazines reveals the true feelings of people and their experiences. At other times, just listening to conversations. Reading and researching periods can also illuminate lives and stir your emotions and your imagination.
Here’s the festive question: If you could have Christmas Dinner with any fictional character, who would it be?
Oh – who would I have Christmas dinner with? I thought long and hard about this one. I think I wouldn’t down many forkfuls of food if I sat across from Sherlock Holmes. His powers of observation would intrigue me. I admire successful crime writers and wish I too could pen a psychological thriller.
Finally, what bookish plans do you have for 2022?
My plans for 2022 are writing my two remaining books, start a saga and read a variety of genre.
Thanks for talking to me, Patricia. I’ll keep an eye out for your new books.
If you’d like to find out more about Patricia and her writing, here are all the useful links you might need:
I read The Curse of Becton Manor earlier in the year, enjoyed it immensely, and left this 5* review:
The Curse of Becton Manor
“The Curse of Becton Manor packs a double historical whammy with its two period settings of the 1950s and the 1590s.
The dream of life in an Elizabethan country manor house soon turns into a mixed blessing as Tom and his friend George happen on the ghostly mystery of Becton Manor.
I loved the interplay between the two time periods and the level of historical research that made both timelines so believable.
Ghosts. Intrigue. Adventure. What a brilliant mixture.”
Today is the first day of December and my first festive author interview. There’ll be plenty more in the run-up to Christmas but let’s kick things off with Richard Ayre.
Hi Richard. Lovely to see you today. Why don’t you introduce yourself to the readers before we get started?
Hi, Fi, thank you. A real pleasure to talk to you today.
I teach History in a secondary school as a day job, but I’ve been writing fiction in my spare time for donkey’s years now. Back in the late 1980’s I started writing what would eventually become ‘Point of Contact,’ a sci-fi/horror/procedural thriller (not really sure what it is!). I sent it to a few agents but it got nowhere, which is not surprising really as it was terrible. I’ve revised it massively since going back to it and I love it now, but re-reading it after twenty odd years was possibly the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever done. First drafts etc.
After that, I thought I would have a go at writing horror. I
was, and still am, a huge fan of James Herbert; I love the gritty Britishness
of his works, and I was also really into New Wave Heavy Metal. I thought I’d
combine these two loves into a novel and so ‘Minstrel’s Bargain’ was created. I
set this in Newcastle and tried to add a little humour into the tale, as well
as a lot of very gratuitous violence. Again, this got nowhere, and by this time
my eldest daughter had been born. Writing did not really have a place in my
heart anymore so the scripts for both Minstrel’s Bargain and Point of Contact
went and lived in the loft for nearly twenty-five years as I got on with life.
Fast forward to 2015 and I dragged them out and had a look
at them again. By this time there was a slew of indie publishers around, so I
sent MB off to one of them and to my surprise they took it on! Unfortunately,
that didn’t work and the publisher and myself eventually parted ways, but that
small success prompted me to begin writing again. I heavily revised Point of
Contact and this was taken on by another indie publisher (but once again I
found that there was limited interest from them re; advertising etc, so I
parted with them too and decided to self-publish.) After that I decided that I
missed Minstrel, the demon from Minstrel’s Bargain, so I wrote a sequel
entitled Minstrel’s Renaissance, and then a third novel in what has become a
trilogy; Minstrel’s Requiem. All of these were self-published.
In and amongst this, I was scribbling down short stories, as
this helped me through a bit of writer’s block on Minstrel’s Renaissance, and
they have become two anthologies called ‘A Hatful of Shadows’ and ‘Nightmares
and Daydreams’ respectively.
I then started on a story I called ‘Passing it Along’ which was very different to what I had written before. It was the story of a man mortally wounded in World War One who, for a convoluted reason, becomes immortal. The story follows the protagonist’s life journey; from 1918 all the way to the 21st Century. When this was finished, I once again touted it to agents for over a year, but, inevitably, none of them wanted it. I eventually came across Burning Chair who took the novel on, edited the hell out of it and turned it into ‘A Life Eternal.’ They then took on Point of Contact too, so it has eventually found a home.
Tell us about your latest book. What’s it called and what was the inspiration behind it?
My latest book, again published by Burning Chair, is a historical thriller called ‘Shadow of the Knife.’ It came about after a conversation about Point of Contact between myself and Pete and Si at Burning Chair. They said I should write a police procedural. I said no because I actually don’t really like those kinds of books; they all seem a bit ‘samey’ to me, but I had been thinking of writing a story set in the 19th Century; a time-travel novel set in that period. I mulled on it for a while, took out the time travel aspect and turned it into a historical thriller. Shadow of the Knife was born, and Pete and Si took it on.
The story is, in essence, a crime thriller, set in the East End in 1890; two years after the Ripper killings. When more women begin to be murdered in the same fashion as the Ripper killings, Detective Jonas Handy of Leman Street Station is put on the case. He calls on the help of surgeon Dr Carter ‘Jigsaw’ Jarman, a celebrated criminologist, and the two men are drawn into the murky world of prostitution and murder. Their investigations take them from the filthy streets of Whitechapel to the plush sitting rooms of the Victorian gentry. It’s my first novel that does not contain any supernatural elements, so we’ll have to see how it all goes!
Speaking of inspiration, what inspires your writing?
I have to be honest; my inspiration comes in peaks and troughs. If I have an idea, I can rattle out a 300-page novel in pretty quick time, (both A Life Eternal and Shadow of the Knife took about three months each for the first drafts) but I tend to go for long periods without writing a thing. We are always told to write every day, but I don’t do that. When I’m working on a novel, I put every spare minute of the day into it, but when I’m finished, I tend to just leave writing alone for a while. Weird, but true.
Here’s the festive question: If you could have Christmas Dinner with any fictional character, who would it be?
Which fictional character would I have Christmas dinner with?
What an incredible question. There are far too many!
If I had to plump for one, (and not one I’ve created, which would be the hero of the Minstrel books, Phil Sturgess) I think I would have dinner with Fluke, the protagonist of James Herbert’s novel of the same name. If you have not read this, the story is about a dog who slowly discovers that he is the reincarnation of a man who believes he was murdered and sets out to discover about his past life as a human. I think Fluke would get on with Harvey, my own dog, and it means I could sit on the settee after dinner and have two dogs to stroke instead of just one. I wouldn’t have to engage in much conversation with them either. That would be a great Christmas!
Finally, what bookish plans do you have for 2022?
Plans for the future. I really don’t know. I’m at a point where I’m in a bit of a trough at the minute as far as writing is concerned. I will definitely write a sequel to Shadow of the Knife at some point, but when that will be I don’t know. I’m always having ideas for new stories, and I’ve started at least 3 that I can think of, but the hunger is not really there at the moment. Real life always gets in the way of just being able to sit and write and my job always has to take priority as this is the thing that actually pays the bills, which writing certainly does not. So, we’ll see how Shadow of the Knife does. I suppose this novel is a bit of a watershed; do I continue or not? I’m sure I will and I’m sure I will start again soon, but, as I say, we’ll just have to see when that will be.
Thanks for the chat, Richard. Shadow of the Knife is on my to-be-read shelf (note I said shelf and not pile – this book buying habit really is turning into a problem).
*
If you’d like to find out more about Richard and his books, here are all the useful links you might need:
And if that isn’t enough, I’ve reviewed a couple of his books too.
A Life Eternal
“I enjoyed this novel immensely. It was one of those books that made me forget I was reading – it was so well crafted and involving.
The development of Rob Deakin from broken ex soldier to adventurer, doomed man, loving husband and finally, wise soul is cleverly and convincingly written.
Looking forward to Richard’s next book.”
Point of Contact
“Point of Contact by Richard Ayre has a brilliant cast of characters and although the point of view changes rapidly and frequently, there is never any doubt whose eyes you are seeing the story through.
I enjoyed the way we got to know the villain – slowly, deeply, and menacingly – without any idea who they were until the big reveal near the end of the novel.
The switch back and forth between time periods was done well, serving the story and happening at just the right places.
The end was excruciatingly exciting and brutal. This author obviously enjoys making their characters suffer. I did begin to wonder just how much more injury and misery Fenwick, Goddard, and Ellie could take.
All in all, a brilliant page-turner of a novel. Awesome.”
The nights are drawing in and the trees are looking golden.
Halloween and Bonfire Night are over and the shops are filled with festive
cheer. It must be November and time to look back over the past year.
After the pandemic-ridden 2020, I had high hopes for 2021. By spring, we were out of lockdown and returning to normal, or at least a new version of normal. There was hope on the horizon in the form of a vaccine. College was opening back up for my teens. I could even walk into McDonalds again, albeit masked up to my eyes.
So what has 2021 thrown at me as an author?
Book 2 of the Haven Chronicles
I had high hopes for seeing book 2 spring to life in 2021. Unfortunately, the editing process and my publisher’s rapidly expanding stable of authors (that’s the number of authors expanding, not the authors themselves) means that book 2 won’t reach the hands of readers until 2022.
Still, this year has seen it revamped and polished to within
an inch of its literary life. Steve, Hartley, Blessing, and the darkling are
back but there’s a new villain to contend with. There are also new friends, new
puzzles, and plenty of new places to visit.
Social Media for Authors
An idea began in 2020 of a way to marry both my copywriting and authoring skills to help other authors handle their social media presence. I even asked Burning Chair if they were interested (they were).
In 2021, I emailed off the first draft off to them and shortly afterwards they offered me a publishing contract. Over the summer, I polished off the edits they asked for and now it’s back in their hands for the next stage. I’ll let you know more, when I know more myself.
Guest blogging
As usual, the writing community have continued to be a joy
and as supportive as always in 2021. I’ve appeared on six bookish blogs this
year:
It’s been an odd but productive eleven months. The new normal
is still taking a little getting used to, and constantly evolving too. I have two
books in the works with Burning Chair and my fingers are firmly crossed for
both book releases in 2022.
We’re on the glittery, slippery slope to Christmas and we’re only weeks away from the new year too. In December, there’ll be plenty for you to read here in the run up to the big day with a slew of author interviews.
Books may well be the only true magic – Alice Hoffman
In the Phillips household, Halloween preparations are underway. We have a bowl of sweets ready for the estate kids when they come trick or treating and plans for a family night on the couch with my husband and teens watching a horror flick with a takeaway.
I’ve spent the month spreading the Halloween mood online with scary books to read and films to watch. I love the costumes and scary celebrations of the season as much as anyone but if I’m honest, that isn’t what Halloween is about for me.
As someone who lives for magic and storytelling, Halloween marks a sentimental opportunity to think about loved ones who have passed and find a way to connect with them. It won’t surprise you that my way to connect is through the books they loved.
I have a shelf of old, mainly leather-bound books that belonged to my parents. Some were passed down to them from their parents. There’s a stout copy of Robinson Crusoe, a slim copy of the Elusive Pimpernel, and two hefty tomes of Shakespearean plays, to name but a few. My mother loved to read drama and adventure. My father was a theatre fan, hence the immense number of play-scripts he accumulated.
Each Halloween I’ll read a couple of chapters from a novel, a number of poems, or a few scenes from a play from my ancestral collection. While I do, besides enjoying the story itself, I’ll remember that my parents touched these pages and experienced these words just as I am now.
However you spend the day, I wish you all the best for a mellow, heart-felt Halloween.
It’s that month again, when the shops are filled with
trick-or-treat sweeties and scary costumes, and for once it’s perfectly
acceptable not to sweep away the cobwebs. With Halloween on the way, this is
the perfect time to share what five things fair put the witchy wind up authors
and reduce us to quivering wretches.
Not being read
Whether we’re at the stage of sending off our darling
manuscripts to literary agents and publishers or our books have made it to
Amazon and the local bookstore, authors around the globe are hounded by the
fear that nobody will read our books. We will be ignored, abandoned, and even
ridiculed.
We worry that all our time, hard work and imaginative
scribblings have been for nothing. Nobody wants to read our book. Nobody wants
to take us seriously. Nobody is bothered.
Being read
The flip-side of the first fear is that people actually will read
our book. Oh no!
What will they think? Will they hate it? Will they think it’s
atrociously written? Will they scoff at our plotting and character-development?
Will they even like our characters?
Maybe they’ll start reading our book and give up half-way
through, tossing our literary darling in the bin.
Worse still, what if they read the whole thing, hate it, and
tell the whole world how they feel? One star reviews all over the online
universe. What could be more terrible than that?
Putting our faces out there
Oh yes, this could be more terrible. Admittedly, some authors
enjoy the limelight but for many of us, the thought of our face on the back of
our book, our website, social media profiles, Amazon, in the press, our
publisher’s website, or wherever it appears is likely to make us cringe.
We worry that we won’t look professional enough, or literary
enough, or just not… enough. How can readers possibly take us seriously once they’ve
seen what we look like?
Annoying our readers
We believe in the value of our books, but we don’t want to
annoy our readers by asking them to buy our books, or leave us book reviews, read
our blog posts, or sign up to our mailing list.
We spend our lives on a constant pendulum swing between ‘please
dear reader’ and ‘of course that’s too much bother – I totally understand’.
Disappointing our readers
Once we have an audience of readers who have read at least one of our books, we don’t want to disappoint them with our next book, and our next. We want to create something that they’ll love just as much as the first book of ours that they laid their eyes on.
We work hard to maintain the quality of our work so that our
readers will keep on singing our praises, sharing kind words, and buying our
books.
*
It’s a scary business being an author. But do you know what? We wouldn’t have it any other way.
I saw my mother-in-law at the weekend. She’s not happy with me. Why? She wants to read the follow-up novel to Haven Wakes right now. Why isn’t it ready? How long does it take to write a book, for goodness’s sake?
Don’t get me wrong. My mother-in-law is lovely and very supportive of me. She’s just keen to see what Steve Haven does next. Me too.
The (fingers crossed) almost-final version of book two is with my publisher, Burning Chair. I’m waiting for the next round of edits from the lovely Si, eager to get on with the polishing process.
This challenge was all about giving Steve enough reason to leave
the safety of school and return to the world of magic. In Haven Wakes, Steve
was pushed into that world. This time round, I wanted him to willingly jump.
In book two, Steve desperately wants to be somewhere other than the mundane world he’s always known. His time in Darkacre has changed his view on life and he’s got new, magical friends in his life that he cares about. It’s a no-brainer for him to return.
Challenge met? Yes
Keeping the balance between science and fantasy
Magic and robots. You’ll find me use that phrase a lot as way to explain the world of Haven Wakes. I wanted to keep that mix in book two, but I knew that Steve would be delving further into the magical world so keeping a balance could prove difficult.
I think I’ve managed that challenge well, with a deep dive into the magical world (not just Darkacre) and a bigger picture of the workaday (scientific) world too. There are also more examples of the interplay between the two cultures.
Challenge met? Yes
Steve’s world is getting bigger
For this challenge, I wanted to take Steve far beyond the
city limits of Caercester. The initial destination I intended to use ended up
being a non-starter. It was too restrictive for the adventure I wanted to take
Steve on, and the same purpose could be served closer to home.
One of Steve’s main bugbears with his parents is that they never take him with them on their travels. In book two, Steve experiences his own travel adventures.
Challenge met? Yes
New research
Research for book two was extensive, to say the least, both on scientific, magical, and other topics. Want to see the list (or at least part of it)?
solar power
oil platforms
(more) robots
legal systems
architecture
origami
henges
Greek and Roman mythology
ancient Greek puddings
tram and train systems
space stations
artificial gravity
spies
EMPs
I didn’t use all my findings in book two. Some may turn up later
in the series, or in other series after I’ve finished writing the Haven
Chronicles.
Challenge met? Yes
Publisher and research expectation
This was probably the scariest challenge of the lot; creating
a book that equalled Haven Wakes in quality, maintained the momentum, and pleased
both my publisher and my readers. Phew!
Well, I seem to have succeeded with creating a novel that my
publishers like (with a few tweaks). The verdict on whether my readers will
like it is still to be reached. Personally, I love where I’ve taken Steve –
even if I’ve made him suffer on that journey – and I hope you’ll love it too.
Challenge met? Yet to see.
The Result
Overall, I’ve succeeded in meeting the challenges of writing the follow-up novel to Haven Wakes and I’m keen to see what you all think of it. There’s still work to be done and sometime soon I’ll be asking for beta readers to have a look at book two. In the meantime, all I can ask is that you – and my mother-in-law – hang on for a little bit longer.
This summer seemed to go on forever but with autumn waiting at the door, I thought I’d share what I’ve been reading over the last few months.
With two of my books with my publisher Burning Chair and no edits to keep me busy, I avoided the dreaded thumb-twiddling by diving into my to-be-read list. Here are all the lovely book covers and the reviews I left on Amazon and Goodreads.
I am dust. She haunts me. Two phrases from this supernatural novel that encapsulate so much of its heart.
This beautiful ghost story is so much more than that. There’s romance, friendship – both the real kind of like-souls and the ‘just because you’re around’ kind of the teen years – and a multi-layered story that unwinds and reveals at just the right pace.
I loved the switch back and forth between the present and the past, which was done so well, and the growing suspense. The ending wasn’t predictable; neither was the identity of Morgan Miller’s murderer. I so wanted a happy ending for the main character, Chloe. Despite her demons, she grew on me as someone who deserved the best in the world.
The Curse of Becton Manor packs a double historical whammy with its two period settings of the 1950s and the 1590s.
The dream of life in an Elizabethan country manor house soon turns into a mixed blessing as Tom and his friend George happen on the ghostly mystery of Becton Manor.
I loved the interplay between the two time periods and the level of historical research that made both timelines so believable.
Ghosts. Intrigue. Adventure. What a brilliant mixture.
This collection of free-verse poetry is vivid and heart-felt. At times it seemed like a book of affirmations; at others a meditation on life. Even more poems reminded me of magic spells, sending love and good wishes out into the world. I enjoyed reading the explanations that many of the poems carried too.
All in all, Words of Alchemy by Camilla Downs is a magical read.
After I was only a few chapters into The Crow Folk, I began to get the impression that this novel was a mixture of Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Worzel Gummidge. By the end of it, I’d found that it went far beyond both of those stories.
The melding of scarecrows come to life, witches both young and more mature, a sense of community, and the limitations of English village life during the early years of WW2 created a wonderful adventure that had me reaching for The Crow Folk every night.
The humour is just right and the dialogue is written so deftly that I could picture each conversation.
I can’t wait for the next instalment in the Witches of Woodville series.
*
Next up is Point of Contact by Richard Ayre. Watch out for my book review on my Instagram account (as well as Amazon and Goodreads).
Or at least it is if you don’t have to write a blog post when you’ve nothing much to say. You see, while I wait for my publisher to get back to me on Book 2 of the Haven Chronicles, life is just normal and un-writerly. Well, kind of. Let me explain.
Writing something else
Okay, the summer life of Fi isn’t totally un-writerly because
I am working on another book, a non fiction offering that brings together my
author and copywriter hats. Having said that, it’s almost finished and will be
flying off into the inbox of my publisher by the end of July.
I’m desperately behind with my TBR list so I’m tackling that over the summer. Expect lots of book reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and on my social media too. My current read is the chilling, ghostly, and very theatrical I Am Dust by Louise Beech.
Thinking about the next book to write
While my publisher has the second book in the Haven
Chronicles series, I’m planning out where I will take Steve next, who will
accompany him, and how much more danger I can throw at the poor lad. It’s
looking good so far.
Walking the hound and making memories
My morning walks with Bailey are a brilliant way to gently wake up my brain before the day’s work begins. Early evening dog-walks mark clocking-off time.
The summer weather and my teens being off over the holidays
gives me the perfect excuse to drag us all out for a trek or two. Yesterday I
took them to the zoo. We saw alpacas, and snakes, and an owl called Bovril.
*
So there you go, the summer life of Fi. What about you? What
are you doing over the holidays?
Let’s be honest. As readers, we pay most attention to authors
when they’ve recently released a new book.
Ooh, shiny new reading material with
a pretty cover. How exciting!
And that’s perfectly understandable because even if we scour
their monthly newsletters, look them up on social media, and gush over photographs
of their dog/cat/boa constrictor, what we’re really interested in is getting
our hands on their latest literary offspring.
But what do authors do in between books?
Wait
Last weekend, I submitted the latest draft of book two of the Haven Chronicles to my publisher, Burning Chair. The wait is now on for their response and the next round of edits.
Authors do a lot of waiting. We wait for:
inspiration to write the next book
news from our editors/publishers/literary agents, usually involving a round of edits to our work in progress
feedback from beta and ARC readers
book reviews to roll in
royalty payments
Plan
So much planning. We plan:
our
next writing project
our
social media and blog posts
the
next book launch
which
bloggers and book reviewers we’ll contact and what we’ll say
our
marketing strategy
how
we’re going to spend those royalty payments
Talk
We keep talking to our readers and audience. I mean, it would
be rude to just call everybody up when we have a book to release. So we keep
the conversation going just to let everyone know that we’re still here, toiling
away to keep our readers happy.
This can be one of the hardest things to do for an author because short of selling the books we’ve already got out or announcing the release of the next book, it can be tricky to think up topics that our readers would be interested in. So along with the talking, we listen to what you’d like to hear from us.
We keep up the conversation by:
building our mailing lists and sending out newsletters
staying active on social media, including interacting with our readers
writing blog posts around the topic or world of our books
So yeah, I’m doing a whole lot of all of the above, plus working on a non-fiction book and living life in general. I think it’s going to be a busy summer.
