A while ago, I asked my subscribers and followers to submit questions to me about, well, anything! Some questions I’ll be saving for longer blog posts, (and some of them I’ve already answered, like how to write a book review, or how to write a negative book review) but these are the short ones that are pretty straight forward. So, let’s get this party rolling!
1) Do you really give your dog a piece of cheese every time someone leaves you a review? What’s her favorite type?
For anyone who doesn’t know, there’s an author’s excerpt in the back of my books that reminds readers my dog gets a piece of cheese every time I receive a new review. Reviews are so difficult for us “not so popular” authors to get, so I decided to entice readers with some cute puppy action. Yes, I do give her a piece of cheese! (Check out my TikTok for video proof.) Want to support Princess TonTon? Tag me with your review on social and I’ll make a “cheesy” video just for you! Her preference is Cabot cheddar (the 10 year aged variety) but let’s face it, I’m pretty sure she doesn’t actually chew it and she’ll eat just about anything.
2) Other authors list their release schedules on their websites. Why don’t you?
The short answer here is that, at this point, I only write part time. I have a full time job, an Etsy shop, and other personal stuff I need to attend to. I’ve also run into issues in the past where my editor didn’t have an open slot to finalize my book, so I had to push my initial deadline anyway (and I hate doing that to readers!) There are times the words just flow out of me, and other times where my initial direction no longer makes sense and I have to delete everything and start over. I wish I could write faster and commit to a timeline, but the bottom line is that I don’t make nearly enough writing books to be able to focus on it full time.
3) Who is your favorite character from your books and why?
I love Zulli from the NightFly series because I wrote her keeping in mind to do the exact opposite of the “super powerful, super sexy” female you typically see in most urban fantasy novels. But I’m gonna be honest here. I think my favorite character is turning out to be Rezith from the Black Sheep series. He’s been kind of a mystery so far, doing some good things and some not so good things. The final book in the series hasn’t been released yet, but readers will get to see a side of him that going to completely change your mind about how you feel about him and his actions.
4) What do you like to do in your spare time?
Spare time? What’s that? I work full time as a marketing director during the week, and on evenings and weekends I work on my writing or Etsy shop. There’s little time in my life for anything else, but if I do find some time, I usually spend it gardening, cooking, or dreaming up some other big house project I’ll never be able to finish.
How did you know you wanted to write a book?
I always had the creative brains in the family. I did a lot of painting, a lot of arts and crafts stuff growing up. I wrote a few short stories (like this alarmingly dark story written by a 10 year old me about “the Mermaid King”), but surprisingly, though, I didn’t do a lot of reading. I always have to occupy myself by physically doing something. I’d be reading and thinking I could be learning how to crochet or sew instead. That said… I blame my grandma. I was so creative, that I’d have an excuse for everything every time I got into trouble. She once told me, “You should write a book of excuses.” Well, I did write a book! Several, actually, although not quite the same direction she was thinking.
Have a question for me? You can submit the Google form here!
