First and foremost, please tell us a little bit about
yourself. Well, I like
chocolate and long walks on the beach, though I have already found my soul
mate. My husband and I have a little boy that keeps us running like crazy. He's
adorable and when I'm not writing, I'm hanging with him. I know he has us
wrapped around his little finger because all we watch is Sesame Street- to the
point where my husband and I debate the character motivations of the monsters.
You tend to write various types of genres. What's your
favorite to write and why? What are you most comfortable to write and
why? I started out short stories focusing
more on erotic romance. As I wrote more, I found myself falling in love with
longer romantic plots. It took a little bit for me to find my favorite genre,
and to discover that I liked writing longer.
Are you a plotter or a pantser? I'm a plotter. I started out as a pantser, but with the
longer stuff that I wanted to tie together, plotting makes my life so much
easier.
What is your writing routine? Get up with the kiddo, write as much as I can during his
nap, play some more, and then write furiously after he goes to bed.
Where do you find your inspiration? Sesame Street. (Just kidding). I get a lot of it from my
friends and family, and then I love to read other writers and then expand on
the ideas I like from there.
Do you write the steamy scenes in your Ancient Loves
stories the same way you would write the same scenes in your contemporary stories? The Ancient Loves stories were some of my first works, and
they are a little more erotic than what I now put in my contemporary novels.
The novels are able to get more character depth, so I focus more on the
relationships than the sex.
What made you want to write Megan as a plus-size
woman? I think it's amazing because even in today's society, heroines are
usually stick-thin and gorgeous, whereas Megan is just plain gorgeous in every
way. Did the concept come to you as a separate entity (you had Megan and
you thought, 'Hey, I should make her plus-size') or was she always plus size? She was always plus size. The character was really me
writing about one of my best friends, and how I would love her love story to
look. I wanted to write something that would give her the happy ending she
deserves.
How was it writing short stories and novellas and then
writing your first novel-length book? Do you have a length
preference? Why or why not? I
started out with the shorter stories, just because I was getting a feel for
writing again. My first full length novel was kind of an experiment just to see
if I could write something that long. I found I loved the process. I got to
focus more on the characters and bigger plots. I still write short stories
every once in a while just because they are fun, but I definitely enjoy the
novel length works best.
What type of relationship is your favorite to explore and
develop? I love writing about
friendships and "love from across the room". It's probably because
that is what I am most familiar with in my own life, but it is fun to explore
and dive into.
What type of person is your ideal heroine when you're
both reading and writing? What type of person is your ideal
hero when you're both reading and writing? Are they the same?
Why or why not? I love having a
heroine with a little bit of fight to her, and definitely someone with brains.
I hate it when the solution to a problem is super obvious and the heroine
misses it, or when the entire problem could be fixed with a simple adult
conversation, so I try not to do that too much in my own works. As far as
heroes, I enjoy writing the alpha males, though in my reading I tend to fall
for the comical sidekick. There is a lot of overlap though, so whenever I read
something that I really enjoyed about a character, I do try to put it into my
own heroes/heroines.
Why did you decide to self-publish? Starting out with short stories, there just aren't a lot of
options for traditional publishers. I found an amazing community of
self-published people, and I've never looked back.
How did you earn your success in the self-publishing
industry? Do you have any advice for aspiring novelists? A lot of it is looking at successful books and then making
it your own. I collaborate a lot with other indie authors. My advice to
aspiring novelists is to find other successful people. Join writing forums and
follow successful authors. Make friends with them. Go over your ideas with
someone else and then have beta readers. I bounce my covers, my blurbs, and plot
points against other successful people and then use their feedback.
Would you recommend advertisements or did you market your
books through a different venue?
I loved using facebook. There are groups devoted to getting the word out, so I
looked those up and then made a sale price to start with.
How involved are you in terms of editing/book cover/release
date/marketing process? Since I am
self-published, I get to do it all and have complete control. I make a lot of
my own covers. I am learning photoshop, so they keep getting better, but when I
get stuck I do hire professionals. For my novels, I hire an editor
who works with me to make them better. I am amazed at the stuff she finds! Even
if you can't afford to hire an editor, at least get someone else to read over
it!
Are you working on anything now? I am working on the next installment of my Billionaire Love
Story books, Champagne Kisses
Any upcoming releases? I don't have anything available for
pre-order yet, but I'll hopefully have Champagne Kisses ready for publication
by the end of September.
email: Krista.Lakes@gmail.com
newsletter: http://eepurl.com/xG17P
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