UnBiased Book Reviews: Meet the Author

Have you started another book yet? I started Shattered almost immediately after I finished Intoxicated. It picks up right where the cliffhanger leaves off, and I was on a roll. There is a preview of book two at the end of Intoxicated. I have obviously had to bounce back and forth between publishing and marketing my current book and writing number two, but it’s coming along. I have all intentions of getting it out by the end of this year. To track the progress, you can go to my website and look under the heading “Still Writing…”.

Where do you see yourself in five years? In short, still writing! I always imagine myself as a self-published kind of girl; I am anal-retentive, so the aspect of being in total control is very appealing to me. Plus, the reality of the matter is that very few authors get book deals. I’m happy where I am in life right now; I’ve got a great family, a great career, and I get to do what I love on the side. I just hope that in five years, self publishing doesn’t have the same stigma attached.

What are your current writing projects now? I am devoting my writing time to Shattered. I want to finish telling the story of these characters prior to delving into anything else. Besides, those that have already read Intoxicated have told me in no uncertain terms that I need to finish the next book like yesterday. I also post regularly on my blog; I find it to be therapeutic to write about my own self-publishing journey. It’s sort of like a diary where I can share my successes, failures, and advice. I also want it to become a place where readers can connect with me or others about my books. Eventually, I am planning on posting some bonus content over there. Right now I feel pretty limited in the scope of things that I can offer because I simply don’t want to spoil things for those who haven’t discovered it for themselves. I have done character studies for the main five characters – a sort of way to meet them, if you will. In the future, I’d love to add scenes from the perspective of other characters or to include scenes that you couldn’t find in the book because Lauren wasn’t there to witness them.

Are you reading any interesting books at the moment? I read remarkably fast, especially if it is something that really peaks my interest. For example, I pretty much devoured Tiffany Snow’s latest book, Turning Point, in about a day. This was while I was finalizing the self-publishing of my own book. At the moment, I’m sort of in between books. I’m reading quite a bit of blog posts right now related to self-publishing and building your author brand for obvious reasons.

What are some of the best tools available today for writers, especially those just starting out? I am a big believer in the power of Twitter. Before I really got involved with it, I thought it was basically just a place to go to follow your favorite celebrities. There is a wealth of information there for anyone who is considering writing and/or self-publishing. If you really take a look around and explore, you can find discussions and links to just about every topic you can imagine. I also find it extremely encouraging that the author community as a whole embraces one another and tries to help out as much as possible. There are also a bunch of ebooks available about self-publishing, blogging, social media, formatting and marketing.

What contributes to making a writer successful? A great support system. In my case, that starts at home. My husband has been remarkably supportive of this decision to write and self-publish. Without his encouragement, I would have gotten frustrated several times over and my book would have gotten deleted, or at a minimum, would never have gotten published. Once your book is out, you are relying on the kindness of others to read it and tell others about it. You really need all of the help that you can get. This help usually starts out from family and friends, but will hopefully spread to others that stumble upon it – however that happens. Word of mouth is key. Obviously, this all assumes that you have the best product you can possibly have.

Do you have any advice for writers? Write like nobody will read it. Obviously you are hoping that people will, so you still need to have all the elements of a professional product (a good plot, grammatically correct, well formatted, etc.). But realize that most people are most creative when they are not worrying about what others will think of them or their work. Put out a product that you are proud of. Write the book you want to write. There will always be people that are critical of you no matter what. There is an audience for just about anything – the key is finding them and being proud enough of what you have created to promote that.

Do you have any specific last thoughts that you want to say to your readers? I am consistently flattered by the amount of interest that I have already seen in my work. I told myself that I would be happy if five people saw my book and read it. I actually sent it out to more beta readers than that, so I figured that everything else was just icing on the cake. There is a oft-quoted statistic that out of all the books that are published, 80% never get more than 100 sales. I have already achieved that in my first month and it’s beyond my wildest dreams. That being said, I want to connect with my readers and hear their thoughts and opinions. So please reach out to me and let’s start talking!

What do you do to unwind and relax? I read other people’s books! I also like to watch the occasional TV show – the only show I watch religiously is True Blood. I’m a closet gamer – my husband and I play online (or I follow him around while he keeps me alive in game). I listen to a lot of music. I write; which may sound like work, but it’s actually therapeutic for me. My girls and I like to shop and go to movies together, and I probably know way more about Nickelodeon shows than I should.

What dreams have been realized as a result of your writing? I never thought that I would see my name on a real book cover, ebook or otherwise. To be able to Google myself and see my book and my blog dominate the first few pages of results is surreal. To go online at Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble or iTunes and see something I created there is one of the biggest accomplishments I think I will ever achieve. I still have spent more at Barnes and Noble than I’ve made there, but part of me wants to run through the physical store when I’m there and tell people I’m an author and pull up my book on their Nook. I’m just kidding. It was only a passing thought, really.

Do you have any upcoming appearances that you would like to share with us? I am doing a month long blog tour. The itinerary is posted at my website: aliciareneekline.com. I’ll be sharing more question and answer sessions like this, some more serious type blog posts, some bonus content and a character interview with Gracie. I will also be doing Twitter interviews as well during this time. I am really looking forward to it; it should be a lot of fun!

If you could leave your readers with one bit of wisdom, what would you want it to be? I think Blake said it best: life is too short to have regrets.

When you wish to end your career, stop writing, and look back on your life, what thoughts would you like to have? I would like to be proud of the mark that I have left behind. Books, especially of the ebook variety, are around forever. I want to have provided people with enjoyment. I want to have provided people with characters that seemed like they were real people; that they laughed with, cried with, got mad at, were happy for. I want to have no regrets.