Greetings!
Good evening everyone! I have decided to get things going with what I will call "Friday's Finale!" where you read questions and answers from some of my fellow Solstice authors. Tonight's guest author is Debbie De Louise. She is a fellow author with Solstice Publishing. It's authors like Debbie that have been around the author/publishing circuit for awhile that I look to for advice and critique! Please read read below as Debbie has been kind enough to answer my interview questions:
1) When there are so many things in this world that could draw you in, what draws you in to writing?
For me, it’s the creative aspect and the therapeutic benefits. As I write, I learn a lot about myself and rediscover aspects of my life and those who have touched it. My experiences often turn up in my writing sometimes without my consciously being aware of it, and people I’ve known show up as characters they are roughly based on. I also feel a great sense of pride and accomplishment knowing that people, those I know as well as strangers around the world, are reading my words and being affected by them. I love the idea of seeing my books in print and realizing a part of me will be around forever, if not in print, then in a digital file.
2) How long have you been writing for and when was your first publication?
Gosh, that’s tough. I’ve been writing since I was a child. I published many feature articles when I was an editor on my college paper at Long Island University/C.W. Post in my twenties, but my first paid publication was an article for a cat magazine that was published when I was in my thirties. That was followed by a short mystery story, Stitches in Time, in an anthology called Cat Crimes Through Time. Later, I self-published a paranormal romance, Cloudy Rainbow, in 2008 and then the first book of my Cobble Cove mystery series, A Stone’s Throw, was picked up by Limitless Publishing, a small publisher in 2015, and I’ve been writing and publishing novels, articles, and short stories since then. I have a comedy romance, jewel heist novella, When Jack Trumps Ace, coming out on Valentine’s Day with Solstice Publishing. It’s a bit of a departure from my Cobble Cove cozy mysteries, but I enjoy writing as well as reading various genres. Solstice will also be reprinting A Stone’s Throw with an added chapter as well as my third Cobble Cove mystery, Written in Stone, this spring. The second book, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, was published October 2016.
3) How important is technology to you and what you do and write?
I’m a librarian, so I’ve had to come to terms with learning computer programs and adapting from doing most of my searching through books to mastering Internet and database searching. For my writing, online research is valuable and saves time, but I also use books. I type all my manuscripts into Microsoft Word. I had to adapt to that, as well, because I still have tons of handwritten and typed material from before computers were used so readily. Emailing queries and working online with editors across the country and also participating in social media offers many advantages to writers today. I found my current publisher, Solstice, through a #pit2pub event on Twitter.
4) Does technology interfere with your writing ability?
No, it actually helps as I stated above. At first, it was difficult to write in front of the computer screen, but I’ve trained myself to do that and find it has a lot of advantages. I’m a fast typist, so I don’t have any trouble thinking as I type, although I usually don’t edit until I finish getting my thoughts down. Using a computer is also helpful with editing and research.
5) Do you have a favorite author(s)? I like to read a variety of authors from well-known ones like Nora Roberts and Mary Higgins Clark to lesser known authors and debut authors. I also enjoy reading a variety of genres, but my favorites are mysteries and romantic suspense.
6) What advice would you give to up and coming authors? Don’t give up. There’s a lot of competition today but also a lot of opportunities. It can get discouraging when you’re a new author because it’s difficult to promote your book, and it takes time away from writing. However, if you stick with it, things will fall into place. You’ll begin to gain a fan base and have your work recognized. It can take years, but nothing worth doing is ever easy.
7) Have you ever self-published? Not in the sense that many people do today. I went through Booklocker.com who published my first novel, Cloudy Rainbow. It’s still available but only in paperback. I think I might reprint it again one day also in eBook, but I’m working on too many things right now.
8) On average, from start to finish, how long does it take your book to hit the "shelves"? It can take me between 6 and 12 weeks to write a book with an average of two months and then about the same time to edit. Publishing after this is pretty quick, so I can usually release a book every six months.
9) For you, what is the hardest part about writing and developing a story? Finding the time for it. I get up early and devote an hour a day to writing when I’m working on a project, but keeping up my blogs, promoting my books, and editing take up a lot of time. I also work full-time, so it’s very hard to juggle so much although I enjoy it.
10) Have you ever done any book signings or attended book fairs? Yes. I attended a book signing last June at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut which was rather fun but not very lucrative. I also signed books and spoke at my local Barnes and Noble store but had a low attendance except for friends and co-workers. I’ve also spoken at several libraries and attended a library book fair, but most of the people who I meet there prefer to borrow my book instead of buy it. It’s still fun to meet readers and interact with them.
For more information about me and my books and stories including my Cobble Cove mystery series, connect with me through the following links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/debbie.delouise.author/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Deblibrarian Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/aut…/show/2750133.Debbie_De_Louise Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/2bIHdaQ Website/Blog/Newsletter Sign-Up: https://debbiedelouise.com Cobble Cove Character Chat (Facebook page where you can interact with the characters from my mysteries): https://www.facebook.com/groups/748912598599469/
I will be hosting an author hour on Monday, February 20 from 3-4 pm EST during Mystery Thriller week
