What is hardest – getting published, writing or marketing?
I would say…the hardest bit is doing any one of them when you’d like to be doing one of the other two. I have days that I just want to write, days when I’m all business-minded and into marketing, and occasional days when I’m so irritable the only thing I’m good for is precision work like editing, proofreading and formatting for publication. The writing days are the most fun, though the marketing ones can be, too, when I’m writing blog posts, photographing penguins or puzzling out answers to interview questions. Publishing is great for when you want to achieve something – ticking an edit, proofread or published book off your to-do list is an amazing feeling.
What marketing works for you?
I would have to say the best marketing in the world is a positive review on someone’s website, blog or Facebook – or even on Amazon or Goodreads. Just saying, “This book is amazing – you have to read it,” or, “I never thought I’d read a book about mermaids, but I actually liked this one…” is an endorsement money can’t buy, as it’s an honest opinion.
Do you find it hard to share your work?
I did initially, because I honestly didn’t think anyone would be interested. I didn’t want to waste their time. Yet the first polite friend who requested Ocean’s Gift read the whole book the same day and raved about it afterwards. I was so shocked that I decided I had to publish it – after editing, of course!
The other occasion I was nervous about sharing my work was when I first released a little of Nightmares of Caitlin Lockyer, my suspense thriller, on Wattpad, a Canadian writing website. I thought the book was too disturbing, but someone who’d read Ocean’s Gift asked to see it, so I posted the first few chapters. Within a few weeks, more than ten thousand people had read those chapters…and I had another book I’d decided to publish, though I still had to finish writing it.
Is your family supportive? Do your friends support you?
At first, they were very supportive, humouring me in my new hobby, because that’s all it was. Now…with the success my books have seen in my first year, they’re even more supportive than before – something I hadn’t believed possible. I owe them all a big thank you for putting up with my talk of mermaids, fishermen, dragons, raspberries and other strange things.
Do you plan to publish more books?
Absolutely. Ocean’s Gift was my first, but it’s been followed by four more in the space of a year – including two more books in the Ocean’s Gift series. So far, the series looks like it includes at least seven books, plus another prequel novella.
What other jobs have you had in your life?
Oh…quite a few. I’ve worked as a breakfast waitress, a children’s party host, a temporary tattoo artist, a special effects makeup artist, a university lecturer, an underwear model, a cook…and that was all before I got my university degree. Now I have more steady office jobs, where I can’t get away with having blue hair or covering myself in glitter.
If you could study any subject at university what would you pick?
Aside from what I’ve already studied, I’d say either theoretical physics, astronomy or archaeology. All three things fascinate me, but I can’t see myself working in any of those areas.
If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
Here. I live in Western Australia because I want to. I love visiting other places and I wouldn’t mind living and working in them for a year or two – but this is and will always be home. Seriously, have you seen the colour of the ocean here? We have some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, native wildlife that invades my small, suburban garden and a Mediterranean climate. Think California or Tuscany…but Aussie.
How do you write – lap top, pen, paper, in bed, at a desk?
Ocean’s Gift and the rest of the series are written on a desktop computer at a spacious desk in my study. Occasionally, I write a little of it on my netbook when I’m travelling, but I’m most comfortable at my desk.
In contrast, Nightmares was originally penned in a collection of notebooks, typed on a mechanical and then an electric typewriter, then word-processed on one of the original Pentium PCs. The result of working on a story for nineteen years as technology changed.
How much sleep do you need to be your best?
Eight hours during darkness, usually between 10pm and 7am. I wish it happened more often than it does, though.
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Genre - Australian sea adventure,contemporary urban fantasy,paranormal romance
Rating – PG 13
More details about the author and the book
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