I met Penelope via e-mail when she found me after reading my book : ) And it’s only fair that after she interviewed me (so long ago it seems now *lol*) that I interview her. Enjoy!
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I am 22 years old (23 on July 22 *whoop*), British, and I’m engaged to my boyfriend of seven years. Let’s see … I am loyal, scatterbrained, I love cans of Coke, I close my eyes a lot when I talk, and I have a tendancy to become disinterested in non reading and writing tasks extremely quickly. That’s me in less than 100 words, lol.
How did you choose the genre you write in?
*wise yoda face* It chose me.
My story is a simple one. I sat down, started writing, and out came Demon Girl (funny how you can distill two years of erratic typing into one sentence). Once it was done I spent months trying to slot it into a sub-genre and ended up going with *drum rolll* Fantasy. Keeping it simple works for me.
I also write Paranormal. I have always loved the supernatural, and come across as moody and dark. I developed a fixation with the unexplained, and otherworldly occurances at a very young age. I don’t think that will ever change. Monsters fascinate me.
What do you do when you are not writing; do you have a day job as well?
I do. I am the Compliance Officer for a mobile telecommunications technology company (private), but, I have reduced down to three days a week and have agreed with my boss I am leaving in September. I work my ass off for that company, and it will be sad to leave, but I have bigger aspirations now. The whole situation has worked out wonderfully for me, but then again like I said, I am a hard worker, so I had a lot of respect from senior management to work with when It came to arranging something for the future.
Honestly, I am a bigger reader than I am writer. Books are a wonderful escape, and I love that anything is possible. So … when not writing I read a lot, wherever I am. I spend a lot of time with my family, my boyfriend, a few close friends. Outside of that I don’t have time for much else. Writing really is a rather solitary and demanding profession, which compliments my personality perfectly.
How many books have you written? Which is your favourite?
Well, I have written five, two of which (Demon Dark, Die, My Love) are unpublished, and have published three (Demon Girl, Demon Day, Lunar Light). I am on the cusp of releasing Die, My Love, so that published number will be changing by the end of July.
My favourite book? Oooh. If I must choose, I pick Rae (due to be released in Sept2011). Simply because it is the omnibus of my first series and contains the last stretch of my story arc (Demon Dark). All my characters are steamrolling into The Big Event. Everything up untill now has been driving towards this one moment, a sequence of events that will explode and decide the fates of my characters. J And yes, I realise I cheated on that question!
What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?
Hectic. All consuming. Scary. You do not want to mess with me when I am In The Zone. You’d be better off trying to storm Buckingham Palace. Nothing comes between my and my stories. My boyfriend does go Cave-Man-Style on me ever so often when I get too involved, or don’t have enough breaks. He keeps me grounded in the real world, bless him.
If you had to go back and do it all over, is there any aspect of your first novel or getting it published that you would change?
I generally tend not to go there, as there are loads of small things that if done differently would see me 100% better off right now, but the main one is that I would have started social networking much sooner, and started marketing my book three months before I published. I’m having to build meaningful relationships from the ground up and expand my reach whilst trying to do everything else. Not easy.
What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?
Due to the nature of how I write I get criticised a lot, so I can’t pin point any one situation which sticks out more than any other, as they all suck (lol). I naturally write stream-of-conciousness, and it is the single thing that gets “bashed” the most. Writing this way reflects me as a person, how I think and releate to others in everyday life (opposed to a concious descision to write in a certain way diferent to how I usually write). It does not matter if I write in past tense, present, from multiple points of view, the structure of the prose itself is always the same. It makes sense this charatcer trait of mine would be reflected in my writing, so when it is labeled as “written badly” it does make me gloomy, as it’s like people are critisizing the way I think. However, I’m generally okay with this. I am not an easy person to deal with in everyday life, I expect my books will be no different.
The best compliment has to be when readers email me, tweet me, or post on Facebook just how much they loved my book. How refreshed they are to read something that is actually different not just pretending to be different. Nothing makes me happier then when a reader contacts me just to say thank you, there is no higher compliment for a writer.
What has been the hardest part of being an Indie Author?
The frustration I sometimes get from watching the way other Independents conduct themselves. The mob like way we react as a community to people condemning self-publishing as the end of the world. I’ve seen some … shocking things. It can be so disappointing, and I don’t think people realize each time they blow their emotional loads all over the internet how much it damages the entire concept of self publishing as a whole. However, I live in hope we will move forward as a community of professionals into a bright future *jumps down from high horse*
Thank you so much for having me Nicole!
My Links
My books are available on Kindle (UK&US), iBooks and Nook.
Hope you enjoyed meeting Penelope : ) I can vouch that I recently read Lunar Light and loved it – dark, steamy and freaky!
Take care all!
Nic
Thank you for having me Nicole 🙂
My pleasure Pene 🙂
I love all 3 of your so far published books, I cannot wait for Demon Dark & Die, My love. Thank you again for writing something I can enjoy over & over again. I shall be re-reading both Demon Girl & Demon day before Demon dark is released & then I shall keep re-reading all of them as well as the other 2. ….
Nicole I love The arrival…when is book 2 out? & why can't I find you on Facebook?
I love all 3 of your so far published books, I cannot wait for Demon Dark & Die, My love. Thank you again for writing something I can enjoy over & over again. I shall be re-reading both Demon Girl & Demon day before Demon dark is released & then I shall keep re-reading all of them as well as the other 2. ….
Nicole I love The arrival…when is book 2 out?