Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have written two books that have been independently published through Amazon. They are both for the same series titled Becoming Heroes: The Story of the New Guardian. I am a mother of two, wife, veteran, and I work for the FBOP. I grew up in New Jersey and always enjoyed writing. As I got older life seemingly got in the way of writing often. Now that my kids are about to be teenagers though it was time to brush off the old creative brain.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Becoming Heroes: Growing is my newest edition to the Becoming Heroes series. I have always been inspired by nature and believed everyone is somehow connected to it. In this series I like to use the idea of animal spirits fusing with our souls to grant the heroes special abilities. The world is in such a choatic spin lately that I felt everyone could use a good pick me up story. I hope you all enjoy it.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to write in my kitchen sitting at my kitchen island. Or looking out my big window in my living room. Watching the trees and birds flying in the yard and the squirrel that bothers my poor dog (lol) gives me a sense of peace. I also listen to music while I am writing. Normally it’s Imagine Dragon’s radio on Pandora, played on my Google home mini or Alexa devices.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Oh wow… there are so many. Growing up my favorite poet was Edgar Allen Poe. Favorite poem by far is The Raven. Fun story at work my office is in our front lobby and being in the mountains we have a lot of animals around us. The one day two ravens sat in front of the doors pulling apart this bag of trash that they pulled from the dumpsters. Probably should have stopped them long before they ripped it open but me and my partner were so fascinated by it we couldn’t stop watching.
What are you working on now?
I am currently working on book 3 of the Becoming Heroes storyline and its going to be a doozy. I won’t give any hints or spoilers but let’s just say a lot of things from books 1 and 2 are about to come full circle. It will certainly be a story you won’t want to miss reading. I am also working on a spin off series of one of the sideline characters who I felt could use his own story.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have used a few places to promote my book. My biggest are Amazon, kindle, and social media with the exception of FB because I just havn’t created a page for it yet.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just keep writing and improving your writing. Also hire a good editor. My editor is amazing and I wouldn’t be able to create my books without him.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t ever let your ego ruin your story. This goes back to the previous question. Always strive to improve, improve your writing, improve yourself, improve your attitude and never think you are better then everyone else out there. Stay humble and keep moving forward.
What are you reading now?
Currently I am reading some fan fiction books and focusing on my two upcoming books. Mostly right now I am trying to focus on book 3. I want it to be a great story arch and really show the characters improvements so there has been a lot of editing and revising with this one.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Well finishing book 3 in the next year will be my main focus. However, I would really like to see more people enjoying this series and I am hoping it will pick up some longevity in distribution. After that who knows, I am a let the wind carry you type of person.
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?
Ha, irony at best! Myself and some of my coworkers just had this conversation recently. So I would take as odd as it sounds a dictionary (cause I am always looking something up), a survival guide book, and probably one of my books. Oh or a Stephen King book cause who doesn’t like a good Stephen King story.