Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have an M.A. in modern European history and I enjoy teaching world history as well as writing. Like most writers, I’m also an avid reader, and I enjoy a variety of genres such as paranormal, urban fantasy, science fiction, dystopian, and young adult. My novels are infused with the same humorous sarcasm that I frequently use in the classroom – or just in life, really.
As a native of Louisiana, I set many of my scenes here, and like Dietrich in Resurrected, I am also convinced Louisiana has been cursed with mosquitoes much like Biblical Egypt with its locusts.
I’ve written many books over the years, but the Resurrected trilogy are my first published books.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Resurrected Series (Resurrected, Insurrection and Final Sacrifice) focuses on the resurrection of one young woman, Lottie, by an extra-terrestrial life force. In some respects, it builds on familiar tropes of space travel using wormholes, but these aliens can only survive on Earth by reviving dead human bodies. But for Lottie, something went wrong. She isn’t supposed to have her human memories or personality, and yet, she is resurrected. Her resurrection begins her struggle for survival against the men who run the company transporting people from their planet to Earth, because who wants to wake up as both yourself and someone else? Seriously, that’s just not good for business.
The inspiration for the trilogy was this idea I had of what it must be like to wake up as both myself and someone else. I then had to develop a mechanism for how that would occur, and Lottie’s resurrection and all of the drama and intrigue that come along with it stem from this original idea.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t have any unusual writing habits. I do all of my writing at home, so I just try to find the quietest room in the house!
What authors, or books have influenced you?
My writing idol is Ernest Hemingway, as I’ve always admired his fluid, beautiful prose. But I take inspiration from every good book I read. Every author who writes well and tells a good story has something to offer me as I grow and develop as an author myself.
What are you working on now?
I’ve started writing a new urban fantasy series, The Immortals. This series provides a twist on the supernatural trope of Heaven v. Hell.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
There are a lot of great promotional sites out there for indie authors. It can take a long time to build up a following on social media, so taking advantage of all of those promotional sites is important for new writers.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing. If possible, find a local writing group to get feedback on your work in progress. You should enjoy what you’re writing. If not, set it aside for a while. It may not be the story you want to tell, or you may just need some time and a fresh perspective on it, but if you try to force the prose, it will read that way. Love the process.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Pay attention to the market and what’s selling well. If you want to be a successful author, knowing trends in the genre you write is essential.
What are you reading now?
The Sleepwalkers: How Europe went to War in 1914 by Christopher Clark and Expendable by James Alan Gardner.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Finish the Immortals series!
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?
I would have to bring those rare books that I could read over and over again and never tire of. My top picks would be Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith, and The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien.
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S. M. Schmitz Website
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