This weeks Guest Spot belongs to Andy Lucas, author of the thriller, Race Amazon, and its forthcoming sequel, Skeleton Gold. If you enjoy Andy's interview check out his work here:

http://andylucasbooks.com/

1. When did you start writing and was there any particular event that drew you to the pen?

I started writing short stories, for myself, when I was about 12, encouraged by good grades achieved in story writing at school.  When I was 16, as part of the painful process of young first love, I remember penning some poetry for my girlfriend after some sort of dramatic break-up or other.  She loved the poems and they served their purpose in getting her back.  More than that, she was very encouraging about my writing and urged me to try something more serious.  This was the first time that anyone had been so enthusiastic about my writing so I decided to have a try.

2.       Do you have a favourite character from another author’s book?

My favourite author is Clive Cussler, and his Dirk Pitt adventures captivated me from the very first time I read one of his books.  Dirk Pitt would have to rank as my favourite character, however, in recent years I have really enjoyed reading Jack Higgins, especially his Sean Dillon thrillers.  The two characters are very different but both keep me glued to the page (or screen) until the final sentence.

3.       Do you pre-plan your stories or are you a take-it-as-it-comes writer?

Both.  I pre-plan the basic idea but then the stories tend to develop in ways I could not have envisaged at the start.  I start with a couple of characters and a main idea but the additional characters and sub-plots seem to quickly develop a life of their own.  Although sometimes it does feel a little chaotic, I really enjoy the writing process and threading all the different elements together without dropping any balls!

4.       Where does your inspiration comes from? What motivates you?

I am inspired both by the great writers I have read, such as: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Desmond Bagley and Hammond Innes, among others and by a desire to write the books that I have never yet been able to find.  My motivation is to be the best writer I can be.  I want to write books that will give the same level of enjoyment to readers that I enjoy every time I open a great novel.

5.       Do you have set schedule to write to or do you grab the time as it comes?

Time is always my enemy.  With two teenage boys and a three year old daughter, plus a full-time job, there is never enough time in the day to write.  I would love to be able to set aside writing time but currently I am a writer who grabs writing moments when I can.  I am sure this situation will be familiar to a lot of writers!

6.       How do you take writing interruptions?

With good humour and a wry smile…usually!  I expect interruptions and am more surprised when they don’t happen than when they do.

7.       What do you enjoy and what do you hate about writing?

I enjoy getting the movie that is playing in my head written down as clearly as possible, and of watching characters develop; to feel a story coming together.  I don’t really hate anything about writing; it is ingrained within me and it is who I am.

8.       What’s your advice as to how to handle a bad review?

It is human nature to feel wounded by a bad review.  I defy anyone to say that it does not hurt initially, even just a little.  As a reader, I have read books recommended to me that I have hated and others I have thoroughly enjoyed.  Same writer, same book, different reader.  That is how I look at reviews.  There will always be people who enjoy what I write and others who do not.  It isn’t personal, although it feels that way at times because it is a negative comment about something very precious to us authors; our work. 

The only comment I would make is that I believe it is vital for writers to be true to themselves.  Write what you want, the way you want.  By all means listen to the comments and suggestions of reviewers but I think it is a dangerous game to start changing your writing style and content to fit a reviewer’s view of what makes a great writer.  You could end up losing yourself and trying to please everyone else, which is impossible.  To develop as a writer, I prefer to read more widely, but others will hold a different view, I’m sure.

9.       What other projects do you have on the boil?

I am writing the sequel to Race Amazon at the moment, called Skeleton Gold, as well as re-writing a science fiction thriller, called Underworld.  I am also writing a script version of Race Amazon, as time permits.

10.   Do you have any advice to offer other Indie authors about self-publishing?

Be patient, don’t expect miracles overnight but most importantly, be prepared to promote your work.  If your book isn’t sitting on the shelves of W H Smiths or a similar book shop, regardless of the rise in the importance of e-books, you will remain unknown to the majority of the book-buying public unless you go out and shout about it!  Social media is a great tool for this purpose.

11.   Does any particular strategy work for you to boost sales?

I haven’t found a golden strategy.  Promoting on Twitter and sites like Goodreads can work well, especially if you have a promotion to run.  Word of mouth and attracting local media coverage is also effective i.e. the local paper will often run an article on a new author and it might be read by several thousand local people.

12.   Does social networking improve your sales?

Definitely.  Just be prepared to put in a substantial amount of time to get the message out.  It is also important to understand the need to read and review other writers’ work too, when using social media.  It is all about ‘give and take’.

13.   You write both fiction and poetry. Which do you prefer?

Fiction is my passion and I consider myself to be primarily a fiction author.  With poetry, I just sometimes get the urge to pen a poem, or two, which is more about filling a creative need in me rather than wanting to write the poetry.  I just tuck them away until I have a few and then put them together, as I have done in my Baker’s Dozen…the first batch anthology.  I never plan to write poems and have no timeline for writing my next one…it will pop into my head when it is good and ready!

14. You have a sequel coming to Race Amazon. Could you tell us a bit more about it and when it might be published? Also, do you plan to make this an extended series?

Skeleton Gold is the sequel to Race Amazon and it is going to be an extended series.  It follows the continued adventures of James Pace and a group of his associates, who all work for the McEntire Corporation.  This is a legitimate, internationally successful company which also operates on behalf of the British government, working in the shadows to proactively, covertly, deal with any threat to national security.

Skeleton Gold begins with the discovery of the body of a long-dead submariner in the desert sands of Namibia, lost with his entire crew aboard a K-Class steam-powered British submarine in the early days of WW1.  In his possession is a diary that gives tantalising clues to a secret operation, a lost shipment of gold ingots and chilling hints at an experimental weapon.  Skip to the modern day and when people start to mysteriously die in the villages along the infamous Skeleton Coast, the McEntire Corporation is called upon to find the answers.

The book leads James Pace through numerous countries and on searches for the sunken submarine, an unimaginable amount of gold and through a web of deceit, espionage, murder and intrigue.  A fitting sequel to Race Amazon, and I believe it will be better than the first book by the time I’m done.

Due for publishing this year, the book is going well but a few delays have pushed publication back to the end of the year.  It will definitely be released in time for Christmas.

This weeks Guest Spot belongs to Martha Bourke, best selling author of the Jaguar Sun and New Breed novels. If you enjoy Martha's interview check out her work here:

http://www.marthabourke.com/

1. First, for avid readers, fans, and the curious out there, what's the best way to ask you a question?

 The fastest ways to find me are to go to my website, www.marthabourke.com and go under ‘contact’ to email me or to tweet me at @Martha_Bourke. I answer all correspondence from my readers. They’re just awesome.

2. Do you have a favourite character from another author’s book? 

I’m in love with so many characters from so many authors, ranging from Dickens to Laini Taylor. As both a reader and writer, it’s all about character for me. Who are these people? What’s their story? What will be their epiphanies? How do they interact with other characters and what’s their role in the story as a whole? Love it! I’m drooling right now just thinking about it.

3. Do you pre-plan your stories or are you a take-it-as-it-comes writer? 

You know, I think I’m really a pantser with planner tendencies. I say that because scenes and conversations are always coming to me at random and I put all the puzzle pieces together. I almost always know a story’s big events, including the climax, very early on. And then when everything in between those scenes needs to be filled in is where the pantser part comes in.

 4. Where does your inspiration comes from? What motivates you? 

Both of my series take place in the same world. They are connected, but can be read independently. One is Young Adult, the Jaguar Sun Trilogy and the other is Adult, the New Breed Novels. I love Paranormal Romance of any kind, but my world focuses on shapeshifters with a Maya twist. I love foreign language, culture, and mythology. I’m a geek about it all, really. The books are all pretty light reading - most readers don’t want a paragraph written in Maya. But those fine touches help bring an originality to the series – at least, I hope they do! (laughs)    

5. Do you have set schedule to write to or do you grab the time as it comes?

 I am a full time writer, so I write almost every day. Sometimes I’ll skip a day if I’m waiting for a character(s) to let me know where I should be heading. On those days, I handle the business end of things. Interviews, working with my cover artist, updates to my website, beta reading for friends - whatever needs to get done. The things I basically totally ignore if I’m deep into writing a book.

6. How do you take writing interruptions? 

Small interruptions at the house are fine. Lunch with my husband in the kitchen (he works from home a lot), the pets, a phone call. Appointments can totally mess me up, especially if it’s midday. Then I usually turn the rest of the day into a business day. That’s what happened today, in fact!

7. What do you enjoy and what do you hate about writing?

 Love everything there is about writing. Love, love, love. What I don’t like is everything that goes with it. Editing, proofreading, rewrites, formatting, covers. They’re the worst.

8. Mostly for our other authors out there, what’s your advice as to how to handle a bad review? 

One bad review doesn’t bother me too much. For one thing, a review is a review. Very few people bother to do it, so you take what you can get. Strings of bad reviews where an author is being targeted for no apparent reason drive me nuts. Writers work so hard at what they do. What takes someone one or two days to read took someone weeks and weeks to write. Often times, the multiple bad reviews are written by people who haven’t even read the book. Almost everyone I know has had this happen. My advice? Don’t bother trying to have it removed. It’s next to impossible. Make your peace with it any way you can – talk to writer friends, write, whatever – and then move on. No one likes it. Sometimes we feel like our book pages on bookselling sites are more like graffiti walls than anything else. But this too shall pass.

9. What other projects do you have on the boil? 

Next out is the second book of the New Breed Novels (as yet untitled), out about August 20^th – just a month away! Time goes so fast. After that I will write the third and last novel of the Jaguar Sun Trilogy, Jaguar Hunter, which should be out early next year 2014.

10.  Do you have any advice to offer other Indie authors about self-publishing? 

Yes. Get an editor. Editing is not the same as writing. It’s an entirely separate skill. Most of us are too close to our own work to edit for ourselves anyway. Then have your manuscript proofed. There’s nothing worse than having someone love your story in a review, but then give it two stars because of all the typos. Not fun. Also, hook up with other Indies. They will guide you through the process of getting on social media, finding editors, blogging, you name it. They’ll listen when you get that bad review. Then, you, in turn, will do all this and more for newbies that come along after you. It’s what being Indie is all about.

11. Does any particular strategy work for you to boost sales? 

The most important thing you can do as a writer is build your backlist. Write, write, and write. That’s number one. If you write stand-alones, write more of them. If you write a series, put book one into Amazon KDPS, so that you can use free days to promote and get new readers hooked. You can even back that up with a service, such as BookBub. But the reality is, the more books you have out there, the better your chances that any form of promotion will work to your advantage.

12. Does social networking improve your sales? 

Initially, I think it did help some. Now, I don’t think it makes much difference. What I love about it most is keeping in touch with readers and author friends. I think you’d get a different answer to this question from every writer you ask. Should you be on Twitter? Yes. Should you be on Facebook? Absolutely. If nothing else they will help you network and you’ll find amazing writing friends in the Indie community – like you, Dave! (He did not pay me to say that.)

13. What was Maya doing on December 21, 2012?

 Oh, you’re sneaky. You have to read Jaguar Sun, the first book in the YA series to find that one out. Trying to get me to give that away. Shame on you, Dave!   J   

15. What was Martha doing on December 21, 2012? 

Martha was writing on the day the Maya calendar ended. There’s a shock. Quick! This man over here needs CPR! I was working on the first book in the adult series and happily awaiting my second favorite time of the year with my family. What’s the first? I write paranormal romance. It’s Halloween, of course!

Thank you, Martha! You are awesome, as always!

Guest Author Spot - Clive Johnson

This weeks Guest spot belongs to Clive Johnson, author of the Dica series. If you enjoy Clive's interview please check out his work here

http://www.flyingferrets.eclipse.co.uk/index.htm

1. When did you start writing and was there any particular event that drew you to the pen?

Believe it or not, I started writing ’Leiyatel's Embrace’ around 1978. There was nothing in particular that sparked it off.  I'd always had a bit of an interest in writing - purely for my own interest and enjoyment, you understand.  It was called ’The Winds of Change’ until the idea of actually publishing became a serious prospect.

This might sound a bit weird, but the writing was only to satisfy a strange need to fix a place I'd long had in my head.  I suppose Dica was an amalgam of all the books I'd read, films I'd seen, even people I'd met and places I'd been.  You see, Dica had been a real place to me for quite some time before I even started writing about it.

I'd tried to capture it in drawings and paintings at first, but realised just how limited that medium was, and so how damned long it would have taken to capture such a complete, intricate and rich world.  It wasn’t so much an event as a place and story that pushed me to the pen, a place and story that most definitely had an independent life of its own.

2. Do you have a favourite character from another author’s book? 

Hmm! I don't really have favourites, not as such.  There are characters I've liked for various reasons; Gandalf for one, but in all honesty there’s not a vast number. Many of Dickens’s own, of course - spoilt for choice there!

I've always enjoyed the more complex, deeper characters, ones with the kind of contradictions and uncertainties you find in real people.  I think it's too easy to come up with archetypes, which is what you often find.  The real challenge is in presenting characters who hold the full gamut of human foibles, failings and feelings as much as idiosyncrasies, strengths and beliefs.  The kind of things you find in the people who thread their way through your own daily life.

My greatest passion in my younger days was traditional fantasy, science fiction and what was not yet then dubbed speculative fiction.  Unfortunately, those genres haven’t been particularly strong on character development, falling back more often than not on the archetype I mentioned earlier.

Why I have a particular knack at character development I don't know.  Perhaps it's come from my later reading; historical fiction, King’s early horror work, and more of the classics - like Dickens, Bronte, Peake and the like.  Now I think about it, certainly Richmal Crompton with her ’Just William’ series.  Ostensibly children's books, they were secretly quite adult in their own way, with excellently developed and nuanced characters.

3. Do you pre-plan your stories or are you a take-it-as-it-comes writer?

I learnt long ago that whatever arrogance plans, life quickly trips up.  I have a rough idea where the story’s headed, but I'm relaxed enough not to want to fight its own inclinations.  Stories have their own lives; they breathe of their own volition, know better than I what is right and wrong, and where they want to end up.  My task’s simply to help them along, and make their voice as enjoyable as possible to the reader’s ear.

In a way, a book’s story should be like real life - largely unknown by those it carries along, until it’s far too late.  Maybe that's why all my books are mysteries, despite having science fiction foundations and the appearance of fantasy.

I've always wanted to be intrigued by a book’s tale, and have it slowly reveal its true nature as I tread its path.  I've never seen the enjoyment in setting out knowing exactly where you're going to end up.

4. Where does your inspiration comes from? What motivates you? 

I don't honestly know. It's probably that I’m an alien, or I was born at the wrong time, and so find most things about this planet thought-provoking.  Perhaps if I fitted in somewhere, then, who knows. 

This question keeps coming up, and I think it's because a lot of authors suffer from block at some time or other, but I never have.  I've currently got two books waiting in the old grey-matter, and I'm sure when I write those they'll create a further four. 

I have a theory! Actually, it is quite a serious theory - so just bear with me being po-faced for a moment - normal service will be resumed shortly:  I reckon I have an unusually high interconnectivity between the two lobes of my brain, so making me more prone to lateral thinking. 

My logical and creative areas mess with each other more than is usual.  It means that a thought triggers off umpteen other avenues, often of only rather oblique relevance.  So, one story thread easily creates loads more.  All I then have to do is choose between them.  It also means I'm left with a warehouse full of filtered-out ideas, somewhere to wander around when I'm having one of my long, contemplative baths. See, I said normal service would soon be resumed!

5. Do you have set schedule to write to or do you grab the time as it comes? 

I've never had a very regular life, really. Once we had a horse, and anyone who’s kept one of those knows they eat time like there's no tomorrow - as well as your money.  The past ten years I've worked strange shifts, and now I'm working from home. No, I've never been one for too much routine - I'm pretty sure it’d bore me. 

I fit writing in when I can, although I know it has an unreasonably high priority.  So lots of other things tend to fall by the wayside in its wake.  The problem is, I could actually write solidly all my waking hours ... In fact I think I often have! Hmm!

6. How do you take writing interruptions?

Yes, I'm sure it is, my Dear.

7. What do you enjoy and what do you hate about writing? 

I enjoy everything about writing, except when my laptop starts to run slow.  I’ve even learnt to enjoy my own editing. I know I should nowadays include the promo side in this question, but I still don't reckon it belongs here - so I'll ignore it again.

8. Mostly for our other authors out there, what’s your advice as to how to handle a bad review? 

Be honest with yourself and take the criticisms on board.  Everything for a writer is a learning opportunity - so learn from it.  You have to be clinical and objective about it.  Few reviews are dishonest or spiteful.  Understand what it was about the book that they disliked, then decide if there's a case for you to change anything about your writing. 

If they’ve criticised your word craft then I'd suggest you dig into the accusation and find out if they're right, and if so then do something about it.  On the other hand, if they just didn't like the way you wrote, or the nature of the story, or any other subjective things about it, then it's their opinion and your call.  They've a right to say whatever they like about your book - remember, you published it to a public domain in the fist place. 

You've got to be realistic.  Not everyone’s going to like your book, but you do need to keep a sense of perspective.  If you’ve had lots of reviews and everybody hates it, then it's likely that you're not yet quite up to scratch as a writer, and maybe you shouldn't have published so early. 

One thing that's worth checking out, though, is your marketing. Maybe you’re targeting your book at the wrong readership?

9. What other projects do you have on the boil? Are there any more books in the Dica series to come? 

I've already said that I've at least a couple of further books in mind.  They'll be set within the Realm of Dica, but I'm keen to make each new volume different in some significant way.  Cold Angel Days for example - my latest - has a new protagonist, a rather feisty woman, and a romance element.  The love content is unusual, though.  It's the story of how a woman helps resolve her beloved older sister’s failing relationship. 

What I would never countenance doing is just cranking out the same old story, only with a few minor changes to details - like you often see in the later books of many series.  Unless the story’s completely fresh I simply won't bother. 

I'm pretty sure that the two I have in mind will fit the bill, though, so my readers will get the old familiar feel but beneath a wholly new and surprising story.  My latest lead character from Cold Angel Days, Prescinda, has gone down very well.  As I thoroughly enjoyed helping her come alive, I'm keen myself to have her involved in my next book.  More than that, though, I'm not yet prepared to say!

Guest Author Spot - Alan McDermott

This week's Author Spot belongs to the bestselling author of the Tom Gray series, Alan McDermott. If you enjoy Alan's interview please check out his work and his blog here

http://jambalian.blogspot.co.uk/

1. First, for avid readers, fans, and the curious out there, what's the best way to ask you a question?

 I check my Twitter feed every day, so mentioning @Jambalian would be a good start.  At the end of Gray Redemption and the Tom Gray trilogy I have put my email address in case any readers want to get in touch.  I’ve had a few hundred emails from that, and though I can’t always reply instantly, I try to get back to everyone within 24 hours.

 2. Do you have a favourite character from another author’s book?

 A few weeks ago I would have said the lead character from Russell Blake’s Jet series, but I am now reading his King Of Swords books and El Rey is something else.  Both characters are assassins, both are masters of their trade, but El Rey just edges it for me.  Having said that, there are over 200 indie books on my kindle and any one of them could be a gem.  It’s just finding the time to read them all.

 3. Do you pre-plan your stories or are you a take-it-as-it-comes writer?

 I usually start with the opening scene and let it take me where it wants to go.  I might have three or four chapters lined up in my head, but as I write the first one, something else suddenly makes more appeal.  I guess the fun part is, I don’t know how the book is going to end, even when I’m halfway through!

 4. Where does your inspiration comes from? What motivates you?

 My children are my biggest motivation.  I’m writing so that I can leave them a legacy and hopefully inspire them to take on the challenge themselves one day.  When I was growing up in the 70s and 80s, my family – like most others at the time – couldn’t afford most of life’s luxuries.  I want my girls to be able to afford the nicer things in life, which is why I took up writing in the first place.  I’m not talking about a new smartphone every 6 months, but things like after-school classes, or the occasional family holiday. 

 5. Do you have set schedule to write to or do you grab the time as it comes?

 I have a set schedule and it’s blown out of the water every morning.  The plan was to wake up just as the girls were going to school, have a shower and write until it’s time to pick them up again.  It never really seems to work out that way, so yes, I just grab whatever moments I can. 

 6. How do you take writing interruptions?

 I’m so used to them now.  I tend to walk away from the laptop to think of the next sentence, so I can be writing even when I’m strolling in the garden, or washing the dishes.  All I need to do is wait for that rare moment when no-one is watching, and I can rush back in and get it down on virtual paper.  Given the option, I’d be home alone writing for eight hours every day, but with a young family you can imagine how rare that is.

 7. What do you enjoy and what do you hate about writing?

 When I meet someone truly obnoxious I can put them in a book and kill them!  Joking aside, I like the fact that I can think up the next chapter wherever I am and write it down later.  Train and bus journeys are great for running battle scenes through my head.  I like to play them out a few times before committing to them as it saves on re-writes.  The bad part?  I guess I’ve had to sacrifice the simpler things in life.  I can’t remember the last film I watched all the way through, and even on my recent holiday I spent 3 days on the laptop.  Hopefully, one day, I’ll get the balance right.

 8. Mostly for our other authors out there, what’s your advice as to how to handle a bad review?

 I think John Locke said it best:  he likes bourbon, but his wife prefers wine, and his two children hate the smell of it.  So only one in four in his household likes bourbon.  Does that make it bad?  No, it just means others prefer something different.  Some people like my books, some don’t.  I’d be silly to expect everyone to love them.  50 Shades got its fair share of 1-star reviews, as does Stephen King.  Some love his work, others hate it.  I just shrug them off.  For every 1-star review I’ve had, 30 people have signed up to be notified about book 4, so I’ll take that ratio any day.

 9. What other projects do you have on the boil?

 I’m currently working on the fourth Tom Gray book.  I had planned to move onto another standalone book, but so many request came in to continue with the character that I decided to give him at least one more run-out.  I’m sure we’ll see him again in the future, but he’s going to need a rest after this one!

 10.  Do you have any advice to offer other Indie authors about self-publishing?

 Patience!  Don’t expect to publish your book on Monday and be hunting for the mansion on Friday.  In the first 6 months after publishing Gray Justice I had a whopping 83 sales!  The following year (2012) was much better, and after a couple of successful promos I ended up with nearly 7000 sales.  This year things have really taken off, and thankfully I’m earning enough from the books to see me through this current period of unemployment.

 11. Does any particular strategy work for you to boost sales?

 Having the first book in a series free has worked wonders for me.  I’ve tried paying for promotion with various sites, but the majority have been a complete waste of money, with no improvement in sales. 

 12. Does social networking improve your sales?

 Yes, I think it does.  The most important thing about being an author is getting your work into the hands of readers.  If you publish and sit back expecting the sales to come flooding in, you’re going to be waiting a long time.  Building up a network is vital if you want to spread the word.

 13. Which authors give you inspiration? Do you have a favourite read amongst them?

 Again, Russell Blake.  He’s written over 20 books in the time it has taken me to write three and a half, and they are so well written.  I can’t understand why the publishers and agents aren’t hounding him daily for a book deal.  I’m allowing myself an afternoon a week to read his work and see how he crafts such wonderful tales.

 14. You are finally getting the recognition you deserve. Was the recent success of the Gray novels a surprise to you or part of some clever plan?

 A total surprise!  I was hoping that by the time I’d written 7 or 8 books I’d be earning about £1000 a month, but I’m already doing a little better than that now and hopefully book 7 will see me earning a living wage.

 15.  Tom Gray is a tortured soul, a great character. Do you have any other major characters in development for future books?

 As I mentioned earlier, Tom Gray was the seed of an idea who just grew and grew as the story progressed.  Whoever I create next will no doubt grow in the same way.  I can’t see myself ever creating a gung-ho, kill-’em-all, win-every-battle superhero, but I like the idea of growing the Andrew Harvey character and letting him have a few stories of his own.  I’m sure Tom will pop in them now and again, though.

Cheers, Dave!

Thanks Alan, best of luck with the next book!

Guest Author Spot - Charity Parkerson.

This weeks Guest Author spot belongs to award winning Erotica Author Charity Parkerson. If you enjoy her interview check out her books at  http://www.charityparkerson.com/



1. First, for avid readers, fans, and the curious out there, what's the best way to ask you a question?

I check my Facebook fanpage several times a day. I can always be reached there. http://www.facebook.com/authorCharityParkerson

2. Do you have a favourite character from another author’s book?

 I have a new favorite every time I finish a new book, lol. 

3. Do you pre-plan your stories or are you a take-it-as-it-comes writer?

 I do an outline first, but once my characters take on a life of their own they end up taking over the story.

4. Where does your inspiration comes from? What motivates you?

 Every where and every thing. Sometimes I'll have a dream, hear a song, or since I'm a people-watcher, I'll see something on the street that will cause an idea to fire to life.

5. Do you have set schedule to write to or do you grab the time as it comes?

 I do have a schedule. Of course if an idea strikes, then I will write right then, if I can, but otherwise I keep bankers hours during the day so that I stay on track. 

6. How do you take writing interruptions?

 Not well, unfortunately. If it's my kids or husband, then they come first, but if it's something like having an appointment or running an errand, I hate the world.

7. What do you enjoy and what do you hate about writing?

 I love losing myself to this new world that I have created and being able to live a thousand lives in one lifetime. I hate not sleeping because my mind won't stop creating for a few so I can rest.

8. Mostly for our other authors out there, what’s your advice as to how to handle a bad review?

With grace, please? I know it's hard and you should have some place that you can go for a sympathetic ear, but be professional and stay quiet. If someone has spent their hard-earned money to buy your book and you paid a bill with that money then they should be able to say they hated it. That's their right.

9. What other projects do you have on the boil?

I'm working on the next book in my new series, the "Sexy Witches" This book is "The Wizard & The Wanton" I'm very excited about it and haven't wanted to do anything else.

10.  Do you have any advice to offer other Indie authors about self-publishing?

Indie books are more scrutinized than any of the others, so you have to be even better. Use a professional editor, cover designer, and formats. There are people out there who will do these thing for cheaper than you realize.

11. Does any particular strategy work for you to boost sales?

 Paid advertising. I know, that stinks. When I first started out, I was able to use social media to boost sales but the longer my books are out there they need professional advertising help. I read somewhere that most books have a shelf life of two months so the only way to keep pushing yourself past that point is to look for places to help.

12. Does social networking improve your sales?

It can. I don't know all the tricks of the trade, but I didn't sell anything at all before I started on Twitter.

13. Which authors give you inspiration? Do you have a favourite read amongst them?

All authors inspire me. It takes a lot of bravery to show your soul to the world and then watch silently as they judge you loudly.

14. Being an Erotica Author I imagine you get your fair share of questionable emails. Can you tell us about one that made you laugh?

I had one that very adamantly wanted to braid my hair.  

15. Have you ever been recognised as an Author on the street?

I have! Unfortunately, it was when I was $1.85 short at the grocery store and I was counting out my change to see if I had enough to cover it. The cashier said, "Hey, I know who you are. You wrote The Society of Sinners" 

Thanks for being my guest Charity! Good luck with all your future books.