Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a Seattle native who went through many jobs before becoming an author. Marketing, web design, fundraising, contracts and insurance, freelance writing and design, editing, so many things. I came late to the writing game, always having thought I’d write books one day but always putting off that day due to one thing or another. But, about five and a half years ago, I jumped in, and I’m beyond glad that I did!
I’ve written eight books so far:
The Balky Point Adventure series (YA sci-fi adventure)
The Universes Inside the Lighthouse
The Wishing Rock series (contemporary women’s fiction)
Letters from Wishing Rock (a novel with recipes)
The Wishing Rock Theory of Life (a novel with recipes)
The Tides of Wishing Rock (a novel with recipes)
One recipe book, a compilation of the recipes from the Wishing Rock books
From the Wishing Rock Kitchens (recipes from the series)
The Pam on the Map series (travelogues)
Pam on the Map: Iceland
Pam on the Map: Ireland (retrospective)
Pam on the Map: Switzerland (retrospective)
In my spare time I … wait, spare time? You realize I’m an indie author, right? Well, in what spare time I have, I like to spend as much time as possible connecting with friends, in whatever form that takes. Give me some great friends, some great conversation, and perhaps a great glass of wine, and that’s about as happy as I can be.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The latest book is The Universes Inside the Lighthouse, a young adult sci-fi adventure. It’s actually the first book I ever started writing, about eleven years ago, so at this point I can’t really remember what inspired it. If I were to guess, I’d say the idea came from my general, never-ending fascination with the idea of alien life, parallel universes, and so on. I mean, clearly we’re not the only intelligent life out there. There’s an equation, the Drake equation, that’s more of a “guesstimate” than anything else, but using various factors this equation speculates there could be 100 to 200 BILLION other planets out there with intelligent life. I mean, come on! How can a person not wonder what those other beings and their worlds might be like? And if we were to meet them, how would that happen? It kills me that I’ll probably never know. So I did what writers do: I made it up. I created my own answer. The Universes Inside the Lighthouse is just the beginning of that answer. I’m working on the next book in the series now, taking the characters to even more places. I’m having so much fun!
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My chair and desk are glued to my ceiling, so I write upside-down …. No, not really. Nothing too unusual, I don’t think! I can’t listen to anything while I’m writing—nothing more than white noise. I often listen to sounds of nature CDs while I write. I do my creating with pen and paper, then switch to the computer to actually write. I plot out the general outline of the story before writing; that way I know what’s coming up and can slip in some foreshadowing. So I’m a “plotter” more than a “pantser.” But unfortunately, no, nothing too unusual!
What authors, or books have influenced you?
See my “stranded on a desert island” answer below for some insight on this. Any author who manages to write in such a way that I’m transported to the world they’ve built, that’s someone I want to emulate. JK Rowling, obviously (as I’m working on answering these questions, she was just answering some tweets on twitter, and I got a little giddy just seeing her name there!), as well as Philip Pullman, are among my favorites. People like Jodi Picoult and Barbara Kingsolver as well. They bring you into your story so completely that when you stop reading you have to remind yourself you’re back in the real world, that what you were reading is just fiction.
Since for me writing is not just about the books but also about stories and connection, I also look to writers who are engaging and real, with a true sense of authenticity, integrity, and self. Those writers would include Brené Brown, Elizabeth Gilbert, Cheryl Strayed, and for travel, Rick Steves.
In the future, I may write a book of essays of some sort, so I’ve been reading Nora Ephron, Erma Bombeck, and a few others to get a sense of how that sort of writing is done.
What are you working on now?
I’m doing a ton of work to get the word out about The Universes Inside the Lighthouse—trying to find the people who I know will love it. I love this book so, so much. It’s my favorite of all my books so far. I know it’s supposedly for young adult audiences, but when I wrote it, I just wrote a story I loved and wanted to read. So I’m working to find the people in the Balky Point Tribe—people who will love this adventure series as much as I do. (If you’re in that group, please come find me online and say hi!!) At the same time, I’m working on the next book in the series. It’s so much fun. Writing these books is the most fun I’ve ever had writing. Everything is possible, so I get to just let my imagination run wild!
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Well, obviously, awesomegang.com is tops! Promoting is so hard. People call it “shameless self-promotion,” but I refer to it as “fearless self-promotion,” because there’s no shame in it, but there’s a ton of fear. Walking that fine line between letting people know about your book, but not being pushy and obnoxious. I have a ginormous number of websites I’m working through—bloggers, reviewers, promotion sites, etc.—but to be honest I haven’t found The One that has made me take off just yet. I am very hopeful, and I persevere. It’s hard. But I love my books, I believe in them 100%, and I know they have audiences out there just waiting to be found. It’s just up to me to find them!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
I have seen a lot of people go out, write one book, and then become discouraged when they’re not instant bestsellers. That does happen, but it doesn’t happen a lot. Set your hopes high, your expectations low, and work hard. Keep working. Make sure you’re putting out a quality product. Listen to what people tell you, and sort through it all to find the nuggets that will help you improve. Keep writing. Keep working. Keep persevering. You’ll get discouraged a lot, believe me! Take a deep breath and remind yourself why you’re in the game. Look to the long-term plan. Have a plan for how many books you want to have written in how many years, and work toward it. Read a lot—other people’s books, as well as articles about the industry. Find people who are having success, and watch what they’re doing, see how you can apply it to your own work. Be prepared to do a lot of marketing. Keep spreadsheets of everything because there’s way too much to keep track of without them. Don’t be afraid to try new ideas. Get help when and where you need it and can afford it. Don’t give up.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
It’s not advice so much as an idea. Brené Brown did a TED Talk about vulnerability. In it, she says about children: “They’re hard wired for struggle when they get here. When you hold those perfect little babies in your hand, our job is not to say, ‘Look at her, she’s perfect. My job is to keep her perfect, make sure she makes the tennis team by fifth grade and Yale by seventh grade.’ That’s not our job. Our job is to look and say, ‘You know what, you’re imperfect, and you’re wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.’ That’s our job.”
I watched that TED Talk just weeks before uploading my very first book, and it had a huge impact on me. My book was my baby, and I knew it wasn’t perfect. But I believed (and still believe) in its worthiness. Hearing what Brené had to say made me think about my book from a new perspective: Even if it wasn’t perfect, it was nonetheless good enough, and it was worthy of love and belonging.
We get really worried in our society about perfection, about whether we’re “good enough,” and that stops us from following a lot of our dreams. Definitely you want to be concerned about putting out a quality product, getting good editing, etc., but if you wait until you are a perfect writer and your novel is beyond criticism, you’ll be waiting forever. You can learn as you go along. Give your book a chance. Believe in yourself. You and your book are worthy.
What are you reading now?
I’m reading Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, for my book group. I have to say, it’s a little gory for my taste. I know Neil is widely revered, but there are parts where I have to let my eyes skip over the text because it’s a little too much for me. It’s an interesting tale and concept, but maybe just not my style.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Well, World Domination is always on the list, but I’m not sure if that’s 2015 or 2016. We’ll see. In the meantime, as noted above, I’m working on the next book in the Balky Point Adventure series. I sat down the other day and worked out my writing goals: I have eight books out now, and the goal is to have 15 out by 2020. Some will be Balky Point Adventure books, one might be a sort of humor essay book, who knows. Ideas come all the time!
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?
Oh, that’s just cruel! There are way too many good books out there, and I love them for many different reasons. And some of my all-time favorite books are not books I’d want to read over and over endlessly. But, here are some all-time favorites I’d probably choose from:
The Harry Potter series / JK Rowling
The Poisonwood Bible / Barbara Kingsolver
The Power of One / Bryce Courtenay
Second Glance / Jodi Picoult
The Wrinkle in Time series / Madeleine L’Engle
His Dark Materials trilogy / Philip Pullman
Bel Canto / Ann Patchett
Falling Off the Map / Pico Iyer
Waltzing the Cat / Pam Houston
East of Eden / John Steinbeck
Although, come to think of it, if I were going to be stranded on a desert island, I’d probably bring things like:
The Ultimate Survival Manual—333 Skills That Will Get You Out Alive
Wilderness Survival For Dummies
Because, you know. Then I could get off the island and back to a bookstore!
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