Blakely’s Friday Interview with Ann B. Harrison

Please give a warm welcome to Ann B. Harrison, author of Outback Gold.

054A3757_pp_1Tell us a bit about yourself and what you’re currently working on or promoting.
I live in the beautiful Hunter Valley wine region of Australia. It’s hard but someone has to live here and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Currently I’m working on another rural romance which I should have available in a few weeks. In the meantime, Outback Gold is my latest rural book.

What genre is your book? Do you write in other genres as well?
I mainly write rural romance because that is what I know. Growing up on farms instilled a great love of the outback in me and it remains my favorite genre. I also write YA as Ari Harper and have another release on Halloween called Changling.

Who or what inspires you?
It can be a song, something I see when I’m walking (that is where my head seems to go into ideas mode the most) or a song I hear.

Has a dream every inspired any of your stories?
Yes definitely. I had a dream last year and quickly wrote it down, something I normally forget to do thinking I will remember, and I’m working on that book now. Its another YA called The Book Exchange.

Do you have an agent and/or publisher or are you self-published? If self-published, do you use a professional editor? If traditionally published, who is your publisher?
With my first few books I went the publisher route, mainly to prove to myself that I was good enough to snaffle a contract or two. Now I like to self publish my rural romances and I always use an editor for that. Its amazing how often you can look at your work and not see the mistakes.

Do you use test readers? If so, how many?
I have a couple of CP’s who give me great feedback before I do my last draft and then once its all edited I send out to my street team.

What advice do you have for writer’s just starting out?
If it is the stuff your dreams are made of, don’t give up, ever! Learn your craft and don’t be too precious to take criticism. We all did the hard yards and took a heap of rejections before we were ready. Its like anything worth having in life, you have to practice and then practice some more.

Do you outline your stories or just go with the flow?
I just go with the flow. I’ve tried to plot and plan and it doesn’t work for me as I don’t know what is going to happen until it does. My readers get as surprised as I do.

What does your writing space look like?
An absolute mess. My desk is tiny at the moment because we aren’t in our forever house yet. I have a lovely antique desk in storage a friend gave me that is the size of a large dining table and that is great. It has room for my two computers and all my bits of research and photos. Until I move into my next house I have to work in a small space but I manage.

What project are you currently working on?
I’m working on my latest rural romance From the Outback and a YA The Book Exchange.

Is being an author your dream job? If so, how long have you been chasing the dream? If not, what would be your dream job?
Most definitely it is. I started writing seriously about six years ago and now I write full time. I couldn’t think of anything I would rather do.

What has been your best moment as a writer?
Getting my first contract. That is such a buzz and something you don’t forget in a hurry.

I have found the writer’s community to be very supportive and welcoming.  Please share three writers that you recommend for us to check out.

  1. Téa Cooper, author of Matilda’s Freedom
  2. Annie Seaton, author of Italian Affair: An Affair Series Book 
  3. Susanne Bellamy, author of White Ginger

You can find Ann on Facebook, her website and Amazon.

Click on the cover below to buy Outback Gold:

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Blakely’s Friday Interview with Lynne Stringer

Lynne1-editedPlease give a warm welcome to Lynne Stringer, author of The Heir.

Tell us a bit about yourself and what you’re currently working on or promoting.
My name is Lynne Stringer and I live in Australia with my family. I’ve been interested in writing for most of my life. My father’s a writer, although he favours non-fiction books and I gravitate more towards fiction. I have worked as a journalist for a small magazine, which I also edited for seven years. However, I have always loved making up stories, so it was only a matter of time before I turned my attention to novels. My first novel, The Heir, is out on 1st June. It’s the first book in the Verindon trilogy.
What genre is your book? Do you write in other genres as well?
The Heir is a young adult, science fiction romance. I would be open to writing in just about any genre if I had the inspiration for a story, but I do like both sci-fi and romance. I think anything I wrote would have to have a love story in it somewhere.
Do you have an agent and/or publisher or are you self-published? If self-published, do you use a professional editor? If traditionally published, who is your publisher?
I don’t have an agent, although I did try to get one. Getting an agent is definitely harder than getting published! My publisher, Wombat Books, is a traditional publisher, which I’m happy with, especially since it meant that my book received much needed attention before it was published. It went through six different editors before we were happy with the end result. I would recommend editing for every author. There are always things you miss when looking at your own work, and if you’re self-publishing you’re not going to have a publisher to do if for you. Having your book professionally edited is a must. I’ve seen too many books with an appalling number of mistakes in them simply because they haven’t had a proper edit.
Do you outline your stories or just go with the flow?
I tend to go with the flow. I find that my stories sometimes alter once the characters start speaking, so it seems pointless to map something out when I might have to change it anyway.
What project are you currently working on?
I’m currently working on the sequel to The Heir. The Crown should be released either at the end of this year or the beginning of the next.
Is being an author your dream job? If so, how long have you been chasing the dream? If not, what would be your dream job?
Yes, it is my dream job. My hope is that I will make enough money to live off it (unlikely, I know!). I can’t think of anything better than being paid to make up stories. I’ve always done it for fun, it would be wonderful to earn a living that way.
How much time a day do you spend on social media?
A lot. I live in Australia, but part of my book is set in America, so I have been trying to reach out to that audience through social media. I am active on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and Pinterest.
Is there a message in your book(s) that you want readers to grasp?
I’m trying to drive home the message that we should not judge people by standards like success and wealth. In the story, Sarah, my protagonist, is ostracised at the school she attends because she’s not wealthy or from a successful family. However, she is definitely a person worth knowing. Basing our view of people on such shallow standards is not a good idea, although it’s an easy trap to fall into.

Please be sure to friend Lynne Stringer on FacebookTwitter and check out her Pinterest and Goodreads!

Click below to buy The Heir.