Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi there! My name is Elle. I love writing books even more than I love reading them, and that’s a lot. I live with my husband and our five young kids near Lake Michigan and the Indiana Dunes, which is where I set my stories. I spend my days wiping snotty noses, picking up dirty socks, and daydreaming about drinking fancy drinks on a tropical island alone with my husband. Oh, and sometimes I write. I try to write as often as possible.
For fun I love to get comfy rocking fuzzy socks and binge watching my favorite shows. I like my coffee hot, my avocados salty and my wine red. I am owned by several pets: one doggo, two cats, and two guinea pigs. I go through lysol wipes and febreeze like nobody’s business. Clearly I’m living the glamorous life of an indie author!
I’ve written two books. Illusions is the first in the Ravens of Darkness series. Reflections, book two in the series, will be released in November 2019. I am currently writing book three, Deceptions, you know, when I’m not picking up socks and daydreaming…
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Reflections is my latest completed project. It is the second book in the Ravens of Darkness series and will be released soon. I was inspired to write a sequel to the first book, Illusions, because I felt the characters had so much more to tell us. The storyline for the series actually came to me years ago, in a high school economics class, (it has nothing to do with economics, I was just bored and looking for an escape). I started writing it out and then stuff happened and life got busy: college, a real job, marriage, kids. One day, I decided to continue where I’d left off so many years ago and started writing what is now Illusions: Ravens of Darkness.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write most of my books in email drafts on my phone while I’m waiting for my kids at their various activities. When I like what I’ve written, I send myself the email and then copy and paste it into an actual document.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Oh boy…this is a hard question — like asking what’s my favorite Beatle’s song or favorite Disney movie. How do you choose? I feel like everything I’ve ever read/heard/watched has influenced me in some way for good or for bad. Music, movies and tv have had an influence on me as a writer just as much as books have. I certainly consider song lyrics to be a huge source of inspiration.
I love classic literature and especially Shakespeare, so definitely he’s an influence. I like how he played with the audience’s expectations and how identity is always a very fluid thing.
In no particular order, I really enjoy the works of the following writers: James Michener, Philippa Gregory, Anita Shrive, Jodi Picoult, Robin Cook, Tom Wolf, Richard Bach, Tom Clancy, Edgar Allen Poe, Jane Austen, Earnest Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald,, John Steinbeck, Gene Roddenberry, Robert Hunter, Roger Waters, Lennon/MacCartney, Simon/Garfunkel. I’m probably forgetting so many.
Influence is everywhere.
What are you working on now?
Right now, I’m working on insightful and delightfully entertaining answers to this author interview. Haha.
No seriously, I’m currently working on Deceptions, book three in the Ravens of Darkness series.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I like Instagram.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Writing is the easy part because you’re burning to tell the story that’s within you. Marketing and selling your books…well…that’s the hard part. It’s easy to get discouraged when book sales are low, but you have to ask yourself if it’s the sale that’s important or the telling of the story? For me, sure, I’d love to sell tons of books, but guess what? I’ll write them anyway because I can’t stop myself. I love the process and my characters too much to quit. SO… the lesson here is don’t write solely for money, write because you can’t not write and be happy with that. If your stuff is popular and it sells, yay! Bonus!
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Writing advice: Read your stuff out loud to yourself. It really helps reveal the rhythm or lack thereof.
General advice: Always Be kind: You never know what someone else is going through.
What are you reading now?
The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester because I have to read the book before I see the movie, and I really want to see the movie.
What’s next for you as a writer?
My immediate plan: Finish drafting Deceptions.
Long term: Write a couple more books in the Ravens of Darkness series. Then maybe I’d like to launch a new series, perhaps a spin-off of Ravens of Darkness, with new characters and a different vibe to it.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. A Dictionary. A big fat notebook (and a pen).
Author Websites and Profiles
Elle Preston Website
Elle Preston Amazon Profile
Elle Preston’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
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