Interview with Michelle Lowe author of The Legacy Underground

Today I'd like to welcome author Michelle Lowe. Thanks for taking time the time to share with us today. Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m a Georgia born native who has spent most my life near the Atlanta area before pulling up stakes and moving clear across the country with my husband, Ben, and our two daughters. History piques my interests, especially European history. I’m a big nerd at heart. I love reading science-fiction and fantasy stories, and I enjoy old B horror films. I also get a kick out of playing classic Atari video games.

I’m a daydreamer and animal lover. I have two young kitties, Nico and Max, and one demanding guinea pig. I took up writing as a serious career choice twenty years ago, learning a lot and sharpening my skills along the way. 

My works include several published novels such as The Warning, Cherished Thief, Atlantic Pyramid, and Children’s books, Poe’s Haunted House Tour, and The Hex Hunt series. My latest published escapade is the third installment to my steampunk/fantasy series, titled Legacy-The Underground, released on the 20^th of September.  Legacy and Legacy-The Reunion, are the first two out of this six-part series.

A six part series. That's too ambitious for me. I think that's so amazing. Michelle will you share a short excerpt from your new novel with us?

The morning fog was heavy and moist. When Pierce opened his eyes, he found he had to wipe dew off his face with his coat sleeve. The campsite was empty.

“Taisia?”

He rose and scanned the area. The mist prevented him from seeing much.

“I’m over here,” she called from within the fog

He followed the direction of her voice and soon, poles appeared. They were tall timber posts jutting up nearly as high as Stonehenge just over yonder. They weren’t perfectly shaped poles. Most of them stuck up like thick fingers pointing crookedly toward the sky.  

But the beams hadn’t been there before, right?

A small gathering of men, women, and children, stood inside the circle. They were dressed in robes and holding crackling torches. The firelight blended into the dull, misty morning. Some of these people wore masks made of leaves, while others had tattoos on their faces. Their hair was lengthy, matted, and braided. They appeared not as ghosts, but more like echoes of a population long gone. They were worshipers of nature who praised the gifts that the earth had provided them. Gifts that modern men and women took for granted.

They watched Pierce as he approached the place of his birth. No one uttered a word as he walked by. He had no fear of them, but they forced him to wonder, Why have they come?

Taisia stood in the center of the circle.

“Taisia,” he said. “What’s going on?”

As he drew near, he noticed gunshot wounds in her, and the blood that poured from them.

“Don’t believe it, Pierce,” she told him.

Throughout your writing career, have you been given any helpful advice?

I had a writing mentor years ago who had founded an online writer’s workshop called Wolf Pirate Projects. It’s no longer around, but while I participated in this program I learned so much about writing and character development that I otherwise may have never learned on my own. I owe the people at Wolf Pirate a great deal of gratitude. Also, I’m not sure if this qualifies as advice and it wasn’t said to me personally, but there’s this lovely quote by Toni Morrison, “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”

I like this quote a lot because if an author writes what he or she wants to read, the story will be more enriched by the care and devotion the writer is willing to put into it.

I think that's great advice. Michelle, if you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go and why?

For years I’ve been wanting to go to England. As I mentioned before, I have a fondness for European history, and naturally, England has loads of it. I’d like to travel around the island and visit various locations, including (because I’m a nerd for the Robin Hood story) Nottingham and then go for a long stroll through Sherwood Forest. Also, I wrote one nonfictional book, Cherished Thief, about legendary highwayman, Claude Du Vall, and I’d like to go to some of the places and hotels he frequently visited such as The Holt Hotel in Oxfordshire where it’s said that he haunts Room 3.

I loved Robin Hood, I would enjoy visiting those places too, but you'd be on your own for The Holt Hotel. I am a big chicken. Nothing scary for me. Currently, what are you working on?

I’ve finished with Legacy, i.e, I have written all the books and they are ready for editing once I have the money up to do so. Now I’m working on the next series, The Age of the Machine. It will be more steampunk than Legacy, and I aim for it to be four books, but we’ll see. 😉

Michelle, tell us a little bit about your main characters.

First off, I have to say that Pierce Landcross is downright my favorite character I’ve ever created. He has made all these stories I’ve written so much fun and readers have taken a shine to him. Pierce was born into a family of rovers in England, 1817. He and his older brother, Joaquin, were separated from their troupe at Abney Park in London and spent years searching for them. Along the way, they became common criminals, thieving to stay alive. Pierce is highly intelligent, charming, crafty, and despite being a thief, he’s very loyal to his good friends and loved ones. Trouble always finds him at every turn, which keeps his life a continuous adventure.

Taisia Kuzentsov is a remarkable woman who is also Pierce’s love interest. She is very brave and kind-hearted, who will do whatever it takes to protect the ones she loves. Taisia had grown up, performing as an acrobat in a Russian circus, but her heart yearned for more, and so she left to find her own way. She is as bright as she is beautiful, and her captivating personality has a way to draw people to her. 

Sometimes her passion runs away with her, and she can, at times, jump to conclusions in an instant. All in all, Taisia is a strong-willed, compassionate woman who takes no flak from anyone.   

Pierce and Joaquin became estranged when Joaquin tried killing him by slitting his throat. Pierce later finds out it was a witch named Freya who cursed Joaquin by tricking him into drinking demon’s blood that prompted him to attack his little brother.

Freya Bates has very big plans which involve the Landcross family and with the assistance of a Trickster god, she’s getting closer and closer to achievement.    

Promoting books is one of the challenges most authors struggle with. How do you promote your books? Any tips you can share?

I’ve tried a lot of things, mainly asking for reviews. It’s hard work and takes up a lot of time, which sadly most is wasted due to the fact that you can send out 400 review requests, received maybe 50 responses offering to read your work and only get a handful of reviews—if you’re lucky. And therein lies the kicker because gathering reviews and having a lot of them IS the greatest asset in terms for selling books. I’m pleased to say that most reviews for my novels have been positive ones, and readers are enjoying my stories and style of writing, but I haven’t yet accumulated enough attention to get more readers buying my books on a regular basis. I do book signings at shows, such as Gaslight Steampunk Expo in San Diego and WonderCon in Anaheim, California, with plans to attend more shows in the future. It’s a great way to meet actual people and build relationships with readers. My tip is to send out as many review requests as possible and work to build your fan base, get a mailing list going and keep those on that list informed about your work(s). Set up book signings so to meet people face to face. 

Is this a stand-alone novel or part of a series?

I do have a standalone story for Legacy and it’s also written out and ready for editing when the time comes. It’s a dieselpunk tale, titled Boom Time. I don’t wanna dish out any real details about the it because it’ll ruin the surprise for readers as they read on through the Legacy series. I will say this, I’m very pleased with this story and can’t wait to share it to the world!

That sounds so exciting. With all your novels what has been is the easiest part of the writing process?  What is the hardest?

The most fun is coming up with all these new ideas and getting them down on paper. The most challenging part is coming up with all these new ideas and getting them down on paper. Some days the story will just swim blissfully out of your head, and before you know it, you’ve got thousands of words written. Most days, though, the ideas don’t swim but rather drift lazily in a pool, not really doing much else. You find yourself staring blankly at your monitor screen or notebook pad, struggling to get one damn sentence down. It’s tough pulling an entire story out of thin air, but when storytellers do so, it’s truly magical. 

Do you have people read your drafts before you publish?  How do you select beta readers?

Asking people on Goodreads and even Facebook is a good way to find betas, but it’s also a lot like trying to get those precious reviews. More often than not, you’ll get people offering to read over your work and then hear back from them no more. It’s frustrating because you, the author, are waiting for their input only to receive radio silence. It drives writers mad, which is why so many of us, (among other reasons that come with being a writer) we become alcoholics. Lol. I’ve decided to cut all that noise out, for I’m fortunate enough to have a friend who has been beta reading my work before I have my books professionally edited, and then she proofreads it before publication. And she hasn’t let me down yet! It is important to have your work looked over by someone other than you, and if you find a good and trustworthy beta reader, even if you pay for one, you’re a very lucky person.

I have had similar struggles with sending manuscripts to interested readers only never to hear back. Gratefully I have a few go to readers I can count on. Who designed the artwork for your cover?  Or did you design it yourself?

With Legacy, my publisher designed the cover for volume one. I broke away from them, however, and so created my own covers for Legacy two, three, and four (which I aim to have released sometime this year.) As long as I can make them eye-catching and not cheesy, I’ll continue designing my own covers.

What was your writing process like?

Once I have enough snippets of a story to write out an outline—as I mentioned before—I try to put as much detail into the framework as possible. With characters, I’m too lazy to pan out their personalities, hobbies, or appearance. Instead, I let them tell me themselves as I continue to write about them. Once my outline is solid enough, I take out my notebook and pen. Yip, I write all my first drafts in longhand. The reason is that I don’t enjoy sitting in front of a computer screen trying to figure out where the story needs to go next, and also, I can bring a notebook anywhere and write, write, write! I wrote out a whole chapter once while camping. And when I do type it all in, the second draft is so much better because basically, I’m writing the story out all over again. It does take a lot longer to complete a full manuscript this way, but for me, it’s well worth it.  

I have done that a few chapters at a time. It can be hard to find time to write and I don't always have my computer on me. But a whole manuscript handwritten, wow, that is a lot of work. It's great though to find what works for you. What are your hobbies aside from writing, if any?

I like to oil paint and sometimes I enjoy doing arts & crafts, especially when I make a new steampunk hat or anything that has to do with Halloween!

Any last words you'd like to share with us, Michelle?

I’d like to reach out to the aspiring writers out there. I once read that you can make anything by writing. And it’s true! Writing opens minds, introduces new perspectives and brings people into worlds they’d never knew existed before. Writing is an art form that is beautiful, tragic, complex, stunning and horrifying. My best advice is to develop a thick skin, learn from constructive criticism and read! Read! Read! Read! Because when a writer is reading, it’s different from non-writers. We’re not just reading, we’re studying. We’re finding out new ways to describe things, broadening our vocabulary, and learning how these other authors thread their stories together. Whatever genre you write, reading will help significantly when you put your own pen to paper. And write what you want to write about no matter what the market says because writing is also supposed to be enjoyable. 😊

Thanks for sharing with us. Be sure to check out all of Michelle's books. Happy Reading!!

Links:

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Twitter: @michellelowe_7

Website: www.michellelowe.net 

Author Amazon page: http://amzn.to/2bNh8WQ

Author Goodreads page: http://bit.ly/2nJZae7

Interview with Raven Howell Author of My Community

Today let's welcome Author Raven Howell to the blog.

Hi Sarah, and thanks for having me!

My name is Raven Howell. I’m a children’s author and poet. My sixth and brand new picture book titled My Community celebrates diversity within our communities, and I’m excited to share it. Besides writing kids’ books, I also write poetry for various children’s magazines such as Ladybug, Highlights for Children and Jack and Jill.

I enjoy presenting poetry writing workshops in elementary schools and libraries, and am the Creative and Publishing Advisor with Red Clover Reader.

I’m a mom to two grown sons, a lover of dawn and everything whimsical, and enjoy nothing more than warm sunshine and the seashore.

Raven, what brought about the idea for your new book?

I wanted to write a book that was not just an abstract idea of acceptance and lessons of tolerance to young kids, but to format it into the picture book with the type of real life characters of everyone in our communities – from the crossing guard to the town pizza maker and policeman. I also wanted to showcase various ethnic backgrounds and gender, shapes and sizes of all of us who make up our world in a loving, positive light of hope.

What a neat idea, can you tell us a little bit about the main character in the book?

The main character is a young girl, waking up in the morning and beginning her day, moving in synch with community members in the environment of her town. With gratitude she notices the sound of the distant trash trucks doing their job, happily peers at her pile of pancakes mom has stacked for her before she skips to the bus, meeting mailman Juan and the helpful crossing guard on her way. And so the day begins!

With gentle interaction, there’s a sense of thankfulness for the various roles, careers and jobs that provide a piece of the community’s whole, in addition to the community members themselves. I wrote a specific diversity themed surprise for the ending, and the message is one of peace, kindness, acceptance and love.

That's great, I think we need more of that in the world and what a better way to bring it about than teaching our children when they are young. How did the illustrations by Yeng Yang come about?

My publisher suggested several other illustrators but as soon as I saw Yeng’s work, I knew her art would be a perfect fit for this book. I desired a more modern approach, a more digital feel, while presenting simple images that provided positive reinforcement and reflected hope.

It’s interesting how Yeng’s main character morphed from a more traditional, conservative looking girl, to a fun and funky, bright red-haired elementary student -how she ended up!

What’s your favorite scene or page from the book?

The page before the very last one is beautiful, with a strong impact on the page-turner. It’s a full page illustration of both mom and dad and our main character, a multi-racial family.

Raven, what kind of research do you do before you start a book?

I usually research my own poetry files and see which poems are stand out, and which ones are tuck away-s for more revision, and which poems are best suited for magazine submissions. Often I find a clear large group of verse befitting of a single theme for a whole book of poetry. Then I research to see if there are books on the subject or poetry form I’m considering, how many, when they were published, how they sold, etc. to see if my own work could end up on a bookstore shelf next to those, if any.

What has been the most difficult thing you have struggled with in your writing career?

It’s definitely being patient and forgiving when you end up waiting for a response from an e-mail, a letter or correspondence of some type. There are times you never end up receiving just an affirmation of receipt. I would love it if when inquiring or reaching out for any reason to someone it would result in a response of some type within a few days. For instance, it would only take seconds to write back: “Sorry I don’t have time to respond properly now. I’m too busy. I’ll be in touch next month!” That would be great. But sometimes you just don’t hear anything at all –and it can be disheartening.

I know the feeling, and I completely agree. Raven, how do you handle criticism?

I enjoy reading criticism when it comes from someone who is clearly familiar with the exact line of work my book is stoked in. For instance, I was recently criticized for “always good rhyme, most of the time good rhythm”. Ok. That’s certainly not terrible criticism, but it’s someone who is unfamiliar with poetry writing the critique of my book. The same week, the infamous poetry anthologist Lee Bennett Hopkins emails me and says – “Raven, stop right now and please remember your use of the word ‘the’ throughout this verse. You can pick it up a notch!” That criticism I enjoy examining and working on. Plus, I’m learning something by being open minded to someone who is experienced and familiar with poetry (in this case).

I agree, I enjoy getting helpful criticism. Anything that I can learn something from is great. Writing a book is a lot of work. How many times do you think you read your book before going to print?

That’s a good question! With poetry and rhyme, it’s important to read it out loud, whether just a stanza or a line, or the entire thing. It gives a musicality and dance you need to know is in tune or not. Having said that, I’d say I read my manuscripts easily about one hundred times before giving a final approval. I’m a stickler for edits!

That's a few more times than I do. Lol. Raven, where do you see yourself in five years?

I see more of my books in libraries and schools. It’s also where I present my poetry & writing workshops and enjoy making a special educational as well as entertaining contribution. I’m on a path toward traditional publishing, but will still be working with smaller, independent publishers as well I hope. In five years. Plus I will have found success with an a-typical genre: non-fiction for young children!

What are you working on now?

Besides getting out and about on my book tour for My Community, this year is about working closely with several illustrators who I’m collaborating with. In 2019 I have four new picture books scheduled for release! It’s a “fun busy” time!

 Congratulations on your newest book Raven! Be Sure to check out My Community and all of Raven's Books. Happy Reading!!

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Interview with author TL Clark

Today I'd like to welcome author T. L. Clark, tell us a little about yourself.

I’m a British author writing heart-racing, tear-inducing tales of love.

My aim is to explore different kinds of love in the hopes I’ll discover some answers to its mysteries.

I live in the south of the UK with my hubby and spoiled cat.

And go through life as if it were a gauntlet of catastrophes, using coffee as my fuel to get me through.

What brought about the idea for this book?

Self Love is actually inspired by (but not based on) my own weight loss journey.

I lost 2.5 stone (35lbs) and realised I was working in the inside as much as the outside of me.

As a holistic therapist, I am very good at encouraging others, but terrible at self-love. But it’s so important to take care of and respect ourselves.

Like Molly in my book, I need to silence my inner critic.

I think that's something a lot of us have problems with. It's a lot easier to love others than to love yourselves. T.L, where do you see yourself in five years?

My dream is to own a farmhouse. The aim is to rescue horses, who in turn, will help heal frazzled souls who come to my holistic retreat. I also plan on running writing retreats too, knowing how important it is to have calm surroundings to apply one’s craft sometimes.

Currently, what are you working on?

In my ongoing quest to explore love from different angles, I am currently writing a Regency romance. Despite being British and a huge fan of Jane Austen, this task is still proving challenging.

A lot of my time is being taken up with researching whether a particular word or phrase was used in 1814. I’m writing it with a modern spin though, whilst being true to the period i.e. trying to keep the flowery language to a minimum so it’s easier to understand. 

It's amazing how much time can be spent on research. What has been the best compliment you have received?

I’ve been blessed with so many lovely comments. Love Bites was just awarded a bronze medal in the Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards, which was awesome.

But the one which really made my heart sing and tears spring forth was the reviewer who said that Love Bites reminded her why she fell in love with reading <3

That's so nice! How do you promote your books? Any tips you can share?

I’ve tried so many things in my five years of being an indie author. It’s really challenging, and as soon as you get the hang of one thing, the goalposts change and you have to learn another.

But so far, the most effective things I’ve found are AMS (Amazon Marketing Services) and Facebook ads (the paid ones from the dropdown, NOT boosted posts which are different). 

And there’s a fab company called ItsyBitsyBookPromotions who help spread the word on social media. There’s a small fee attached, but they are superb, and help save me a lot of time: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ItsyBitsyAuthorServicesandpromotions/

Who designed the artwork for your cover?  Or did you design it yourself?

This honour goes to my marvelous book designer Robin of https://www.gobookcoverdesign.com/

She has the patience of a saint! I can often start off very vague and unsure what the cover should look like, but she always helps to guide me until we agree the final version.

How do you handle criticism when it comes to your writing?

Many authors will tell you not to read reviews. But I’m always eager to see what people think about my books; whether they love them or if there’s anything I can improve on. Life is a learning journey, and therefore so is my writing career. I learn new things all the time, and fashions change.

I’m not going to lie, sometimes people are plain spiteful and rip you apart. When there seems to be no justified reason for this (e.g. trolls) this is really upsetting and frustrating. I think people often forget how much time and effort goes into books, and that there’s a human author at the helm. I have feelings!

In the main, I try to shrug off the bad stuff. As long as most of my readers are happy then I’m happy.

You can never please everyone. I think that's a good philosophy. Which do you find more challenging inventing the hero or the villain?  Why?

My dark elf in Love Bites Hard (2nd part of the Darkness & Light Duology) was my most challenging character to date. The nasty little devil lead me a merry dance, I can tell you! He ran me right into a dead end at one point, and I had to fight him to write myself out of it. Git!

But generally, they’re all as easy and hard as each other. Have you heard others refer to their characters as imaginary friends? It’s true. Mine talk to me, and I am a mere conduit for their tale. They often take twists and turns I had not planned, but I dutifully follow and it usually leads to a fabulous plot line.

Any last words?

Thanks so much for having me here. Please do check out my full range of books. There’s contemporary, inspirational, paranormal and humorous romances.

And give me a follow on social media. I’m most active on Instagram at the moment, where you’ll find random stuff, recipe ideas, inspirational quotes and pics of Pusskin (my cat).

Thanks for Sharing with us Today. Check out more of TL at the links below:) Happy Reading!!

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