When did you first decide to become an author?

I grew up dreaming of being an author or a veterinarian, reflecting my two loves: books and animals. However, I never studied to be a vet, and my author journey came about later in life. It wasn’t until I was travelling nearly every week that I decided I needed to write the stories that I wanted to read. I was flying all the time, so I had plenty of time to read. I was struggling to find anything that either I hadn’t already read or that interested me, and so I wrote the type of story that I enjoyed when I was younger (and still do today). 

My flight time, trapped with hundreds of other travelers, became my dedicated writing time. My first book (still in the editing phase) was completely handwritten over thousands of air miles. Now I don’t travel, and I use my laptop, so it goes much quicker.

What else have you written?

The Edge of Oblivion (Book 1 of The Lesitha Veil Tales)

The Eververse Chronicles (Books 1 &2) – still in editing and may someday escape

What do you do for work when you’re not writing?

I think about new characters and stories, and help companies manage their people, processes, and systems. Most recently, I’ve been supporting a global manufacturing company after they merged, to integrate their cybersecurity teams. Which is probably where the metal and gears idea came to me for the Facet world in Dark Side of the Veil.

What does your writing process look like?

I’m a hybrid ‘plantser’, meaning I lightly plot out the story, then let my imagination loose, then check against the plan. I have a spreadsheet (that’s the geek in me) with multiple tabs to track the story: Index of chapters; character details; places and things; translations for the special languages.

I stick to a strict writing schedule, with an hour dedicated every morning. On weekends, I lock myself in my office, put on my headphones (i.e. EDM), and clack away for about three to four hours. When I’m in the flow, I barely take a break, and my desk is a sit / stand, so I get up and dance when I write a particularly good piece or nail a tough scene.

Once I have the first draft done, I let it sit for a few weeks and percolate. Then comes the second draft. During the second draft, I contact my editor to get on her calendar (and give myself a deadline). While she’s working her magic, I sketch out the cover and contact my cover artist to get on his calendar.

When the draft comes back from my editor, I work through it and return it to her within a few weeks.

While waiting for the next round of edits to return, I start thinking about marketing…that’s usually as far as I get with that one.

My next round of editing includes reading the manuscript aloud and playing it aloud (through MS Word). Once I’ve done that, then I print every page and go through it again with a red pen and give a copy to my husband to read (he always catches things I don’t see).

Depending on how it’s going, I may or may not send it to my editor for a final copyedit or proofread. 

Then it’s a matter of formatting, typesetting and uploading.

And then back to that marketing.

What does being an indie author mean to you?

Creative freedom. I love the entire process of writing, editing, and typesetting, and working with other professionals for the other stuff, like book cover design and editing. I have a great team that is very talented and whom I trust with my work. 

What do you wish you’d known before you published?

More about marketing and that it starts way before the book is published.

What’s a great piece of advice you can share with fellow indie authors?

Get your first draft done BEFORE you edit; otherwise, you may never let the story escape into the world. And hire professionals to do the things you don’t do as well, like editing and designing the book cover. Be open to feedback from your editor. Ultimately, it’s your choice what to include or change, but often they’re right. Most of all, believe in yourself and your story. It doesn’t matter if it’s a similar story to someone else’s; it’s your voice, your words, your heart that goes into it.

What are you reading right now?

A book that I picked up as a blind date with sci-fi: The Medusa Chronicles. It’s old-school sci-fi and I’m loving it.

What’s next for you?

I’m finishing the editing of Book 1 of my space opera, The Eververse Chronicle, which I wrote in 2019/2020, getting set up for audiobooks through ACX, and outlining Book 3 of The Lesitha Veil Tales.