Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hello i’m Wayne Ellis and I live in Cairns. A beautiful tropical haven in northern Australia. I’ve loved to write all my life and this is the story of my writing trials and tribulations.
I began by writing short stories in the late 80’s and early 90’s, one of which got into an anthology. By the the 00’s, the internet had started to become a potential platform for writing. I became involved in Star Trek role playing through ‘Google groups’ and learnt a lot about writing through that, especially characterisation. But my writing got buried in all those posts and I knew inevitably this wasn’t the way forward.
So, I created a posting story of my own called ‘Starfrontier’ This was actually turning out Ok, the story was flowing well, the characters were strong. I’d promoted this site through ‘Webring’, which was my first attempt at web promotion. Eventually, I saw no way forward here either…
After this, I went into a seven year writers lapse. In fact, I was sure i’d never have the desire to write ever again! But luckily it came up in conversation with some new friends I met in 2010. They were talented in sketching, painting and sculpting and said I should get back to writing.
I decided to get back into writing, this time more seriously. I began writing a short story with the space ideas from Starfrontier in mind. But I wanted this story to have a overlying spiritual theme. A story that involved spiritual transformation on a galactic scale. So, I wrote two stories ‘The Dark Shadow on the Moon’ and the ‘Temple of Mars’. They didn’t do that well on the internet. Undeterred I wrote, ‘Beyond the Great Juncture’ which was novella size and started doing very well on Obooko. Then I wrote the novella, ‘The Will of the Three’ and it did very well, it got hundreds of downloads! I was onto something here…
I decided to novelise the original short stories which I renamed to ‘Oracle Moon’ and the ‘Essence of Mars’. These novelas were also were downloaded in the hundreds on Obooko and Free-ebooks.net
OK, so I was writing a series that may be of interest. So, i began writing a story which I originally was going to call ‘The Quest for Ralgaban’…but ended up being called just Ralgaban. This story was very different to the first four and I was adamant it was to be the fifth instalment of the Transformation Chronicles. But, it wasn’t to be. My editor, who’s a good friend of mine, rejected it. She couldn’t understand where I was going with this story.
I had to either re-write it…or break it away from the series. So, I decided to create a new series. It made sense as there was afterall, no space theme in this new book. There weren’t many changes so it didn’t turn out to be too bad.
And…this was the point where I not only changed my writing style, but the way I promoted books also. I put Ralgaban on Obooko and Free-ebook.net, the same as I did with the others (it got many downloads also) but this time some very smart individual thought he would try and sell it on Amazon himself?!
Can you believe it? It may have taken a while to find it and a bit of a saga to get it removed through Amazon. To this day I’m still annoyed that many people out there may have paid $11.99 from that crook, when I’m only selling it now for .99c
Nonetheless there was lesson in this and I knew it was time to start selling my books on the major players. I put Ralgaban on Amazon soon after the rogue version of my ebook and paperback were removed. With a bit of searching I found a good publishing company called Draf2digital and put Ralgaban and the first 4 books in a collection and published them to all the major bookstores.
Anyway, regardless of the trials and tribulation, you keep on writing because that is what you love…
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Ralgaban, the first book in ‘The Age of the Wizards’ trilogy. My previous work in the Transformation Chronicles inspired it, but I wanted to move away from the Space Opera ideas and pursue a more Tolkien-Rowling type universe.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
No, not really. I write much better on days off, rather than trying to write late at night after a hard days work.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Authors that influenced my latest series are J.R.Tolkien, J.K Rowling and Jason Tesar. But, I’ve been largely influenced from movies also, like Starwars, Startrek, Marvel and DC.
What are you working on now?
The Age of the Wizards – Book 2. At the time of writing, i’m nearing completion.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
The most successful for me so far has been through Obooko and Free Ebooks.net. Obooko for the members that downloaded many of my books and rated them appropriately. Free Ebook.net for the editors there, that thought I wrote well enough for every book to be placed on their weekly picks – this resulted in many downloads. At present, the major bookstores are proving to be quite a challenge, so i’m still continuing to promote in any which way I can.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Get into a regular writing routine and stick to it.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Is that the less thoughts you have racing around your mind, the better the ideas flow through you…
What are you reading now?
‘Sweet Unrest’ by Lisa Maxwell but i’m really looking forward to Jason Tesar’s seventh instalment in his ‘The Awakened’ series.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Complete the Age of the Wizards Trilogy, then to finish off The Transformation Chronicles; also with a Trilogy.
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?
In that case i wouldn’t read fiction. Any books written for Sahaja Yoga.
Author Websites and Profiles
Wayne Ellis Website
Wayne Ellis Amazon Profile
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