Originally posted on USA Today’s Happily Ever After blog…

IndieReader contributor Loren Kleinman interviews indie-published author Tammara Webber:

“Indie authors have a HUGE amount of freedom, but we can’t throw the baby out with the publisher,” says Tammara Webber, author of Easy, a new contemporary stand-alone novel.

Webber is also the author of the Between the Lines (BTL) series, including Between the Lines (BTL #1), Where You Are (BTL #2), and Good for You (BTL #3).

IndieReader stepped into the “cave” with Webber as she talked about the rules of her Writing Cave and her take on romance, fiction and the indie market.

Loren Kleinman: Talk about being a hopeful romantic, and how it influences your writing.

Tammara Webber: While I don’t believe anyone needs a relationship to be happy, I do write fictional stories about romantic relationships. In a balanced relationship, there’s need and fulfillment on both sides. Conflict must occur – for the story’s sake, whether outside or inside the relationship (or both): That conflict upsets that balance or hinders it from occurring. The hopeful romantic in me believes love can conquer anything and makes me look for a way to rebalance the relationship.

LK: Before you wrote fiction, you wrote poetry. How do you think your affinity for poetry has contributed to your romantic sensitivity when writing adult fiction?

TW: Most of the poetry I wrote, I wrote when I was depressed. It was never clinical depression, so therapy and a lot of introspection helped. The introspection brought on the poetry, and through that, I made connections from how I felt to how others might feel in similar emotional circumstances.

LK: How do you define “new adult fiction”? How is it different and/or like “mature young adult” fiction?

TW: They’re no different, in my opinion. There’s no such thing as either, so we can call it what we like and define it as we like at the moment. “Young adult” now encompasses 13+. Using YA-M or NA would let readers (and parents) know that the story is set at the upper end of the scale – college age and/or just beyond – and covers more mature themes.

LK: The theme of parallelism is strewn throughout your books. Each of your characters seems to fall in love with a partner, who in a way is the opposite of what they are missing. How does parallelism contribute to a sort of elevated romance?

TW: That’s purposefully done – not necessarily that the two are opposite, but that they each have a need the other either fills or helps to fill. In an ideal relationship, people find understanding and acceptance within it, and they provide those things to their partner. These things make for a safe, loving environment.

LK: Would you consider your female characters on a journey to find comfort in their own sexuality?

TW: All of my characters are on that journey. With most of them, I delve less into their individual sexuality and more into sexual relationship questions – which is a whole different thing. I think trust between partners is key. When someone lacks the ability to trust, relationships take on a more impossible or frightening aspect. Add the pressure of being old enough to be sexually active – whether that’s an internal or external expectation, or both – and it’s time to confront it, one way or another.

LK: Your books also suggest realistic pressures of young adulthood: sex, love, relationships, academia, and dating. How do you incorporate fiction and realism so there is a healthy balance for readers?

TW: For me, a fictional romance needs to be realistic, more even in the actions and feelings of the characters than the storyline. I’d rather have aliens land and take a character hostage than have that character do something he or she would never do. (I’m not actually planning any aliens, btw.)

LK: Talk about the rules of the Writing Cave. As writers, why should we care about the Writing Cave?

TW: Ha! I based that post on the Fight Club Rules because only those who do it really get it. That said, allowing ourselves the right to say, “This is my Important Thing, and I’m going to go do it now” and retreating into our respective “caves” is good for our loved ones. Even if they don’t get what we’re doing or why or how, they can respect the time and place when we use that phrase.

LK: Talk about the first adult/young adult fiction story you ever wrote.

TW: Oh, I’d rather not. That’s shelf novel #3. We don’t talk about shelf novels. They’re shelved for a reason.

LK: Do you agree with this statement: Sex is complicated; love is easy.

TW: No. Both are complicated.

LK: Why did you decide to publish indie?

TW: The reason behind that decision is pretty simple. I kept hearing, “No, thanks,” (or crickets) from agents, and I grew tired of waiting.

LK: Why should we care about indie writers?

TW: If by “we” you mean the general public, “you” shouldn’t. Indie writers shouldn’t be coddled or get special excuses or favors. But we should be allowed to make our work available to the public (i.e. the real – “gatekeepers”) along with traditional authors. Some people enjoy being on the ground floor – listening to a band before the world knows who they are, discovering an author when they’re unknown. Those people will care, will weed through music and books they don’t like, and will tell everyone they know when they find something they do.

LK: What does indie allow you to do that traditional mainstream publishing does not?

TW: A lot – but with every freedom comes a responsibility. No one tells me what cover to use = I have to make one myself, or pay someone to make it. I can write whatever I want = Everyone might hate it. No deadlines = No one encouraging you to go into the cave and write. Indie authors have a HUGE amount of freedom, but we can’t throw the baby out with the publisher. If you self-publish, every single minute nitpicky detail is now on YOU. And there are doors still closed to you, like the magical “bookstore shelves” (though that’s changing, slowly).

LK: How has social media helped you build your author platform?

TW: This is where what I do differs from many articles, speakers, and books on what to do to promote yourself and your work. I started blogging before I wrote shelf novel #3. I blogged under my first name only, in a semi-anonymous way. The first thing I did was move the blog to a URL with my name in it. I made a Facebook page. I signed up for Twitter. And then I just let people find me. When they did, I talked to them. I still do that. If I publish a new book, I say so. If I put a book out in a new format (paperback), I say so. But I do not flood people’s walls with posts and tweets about my stuff. If they want me, they know where to find me. I DO promote books I enjoyed reading, whether I know the authors or not. I will NOT promote books I haven’t read or didn’t like, even if I’m friends with the author. This has lost me a few friends, and I’m sorry for that, but I guess they weren’t very good friends. I’ve never asked anyone to promote for me, and I won’t ever start.

LK: What are the misconceptions about indie?

TW: That we’re lazy, untalented, and/or unable to take rejection. All of that is pure BS. I’m sure some of that applies to a percentage of all authors (all people, really – let’s be realistic). The authors I know work hard. Some are very talented, and plenty are just as good or better than folks with books sanctioned by traditional publishing and sitting on the bookstore shelves. And unable to take rejection? We not only take it, but we keep writing in its face. And ALL authors face the ultimate rejection – the reading public.

LK: What would you recommend to readers who haven’t read an indie book?

TW: SAMPLE. Samples are free on all e-reader platforms that I know of, and readers should absolutely use them – for ALL book purchases. Spend a little time and hunt through the indie books in your preferred genre/category. Send yourself samples of anything that looks interesting. When you find something you like, look through the also-boughts.