For this week’s blog post, I thought I would interview myself, an always instructive exercise. Only six questions. 🙂

How long have you been writing fiction?

Longer than I would like to admit. My first book, The Connection, never published, was written over about a five year period. My goal was to just write a novel, complete one. I did it, my daughter printed it for me, and it sat on my shelf in my office. Another idea hit me, and I was off on The Redemption, my first self-published novel, which took nearly ten years BTW. So short answer is about sixteen years, though I didn’t write the whole time.

Where do you get your ideas?

Everywhere. I watch people every day and wonder about their life stories. And those are real people. Easy to make up stories about fictional characters. My first book idea came to me while standing in front of a small radio station in a little town in West Texas as I gave out an award for taking weather observations. My idea for The Redemption came to me spontaneously–what would happen if a husband switched his child with another? The whole twisty, turny plot unfolded as I wrote the book. For The Switch, I can’t really give up the central theme because you don’t know it until your well into the story. But the basic premise, switching places with someone has been done many times. I think my treatment is unique. I have story number four lined up as well–a surprise, and for this one, it involves my day job — weather.

Why self-publish?

Self-publishing allows me to be independent, set my own priorities and schedules. I did try a few queries and submitted a few short stories, but like most other writers, I was politely rejected. Since my goal was to write and grow a dedicated audience, however small, I chose the self-publishing route. The odds of a traditional publishing contract are remote for any author. Involves much more than having a great story. You need time, luck, and perseverance. And did I mention luck. Since I have a day job, don’t need the money, and the self-publishing industry is much more dynamic and more respected, I chose to get my books out there NOW rather than hope they might be published some day.

I hear you do virtually everything yourself. What challenges does that bring?

One goal is to spend all my profits to grow my audience by advertising. With The Redemption, I spent almost exactly what I earned on advertising. That said, I don’t want to spend thousands of dollars for editors, designers, marketers, ebook preparers, etc. I want that money to go toward my audience. The challenge is that I had to spend a lot of time understanding ebook formats, marketing, and grammar. I’m certain more professional help could produce better novels if I were willing to spend thousands upfront; it’s a question of payoff. If my audience grows enough, I’ll get more professional help. I do have several readers who help me with both composition and editing, and thanks to the Theory Brand Agency, I received a complementary book cover design for The Redemption (thanks Jolene!).

What is your biggest challenge with fiction writing?

It’s not coming up with story ideas. In any one week, I conjure up a half a dozen ideas for a story. It’s certainly not writer’s block. I’ve never stared at a blank screen, wondering what to write next. It’s either simple confidence or building an audience. I know all writers, even the best, suffer from the former. Every once in a while, you look at what you wrote and say, “This is crap!” Yet, you come back two days later and say, “Not bad.” Most of the time, I feel fairly confident that I’m delivering a good product. And I hope I’m getting better at it. Building an audience, the other challenge, is not something I have much experience doing. I’m not a person who is used to being intrusive. Marketing walks the fine line between intrusiveness and gathering interest in your product.

Considering your writing, what is success to you?

Entertainment. Plain and simple. If someone likes my book, it holds their interest, maybe gets them to think about it a bit, then I’ve done what I wanted to do. Even better. Get someone to read who doesn’t read much. The Holy Grail.