For a while I wrote about the writer’s life, noting its ups and downs and the lessons learned along the way. You can read about them in the Essays menu but some of the most popular are: My Real Writing Life and The Real, REAL Writer’s Life and Final Thoughts on a Writer’s Life. During my time away from blogging I continued to learn writing’s tough lessons, ultimately surviving what I now refer to as the Writer’s Black Hole.

image from youthvoices.net

In the posts mentioned above, I was very honest about my struggles. I had thrown myself into writing, trying to learn the craft and the business aspect at the same time. Like most, I sacrificed a lot--money, family time, energy and sanity to move the mountains necessary to succeed at this thing. The more I pushed to ‘make it’, running around like a possessed chicken without its head, two things were happening: 1) I was burning out, and 2) I was beginning to accept that success doesn’t happen overnight, no matter how hard I wished it to. Notice I said accept. See, I’d already realized that truth on a brain level but not at an emotional one, and the latter is where the magic happened this time around. Both points were excruciating to swallow.

Canadian writer Dyane Forde has always had a love for writing and decided to get serious about it around three years ago. Striking out to achieve her goal of publishing a book led her down many interesting and wonderful roads, learning many valuable lessons along the way. Dyane also has a blog dedicated to writing with the goals of both creating a place for readers to discover her work and to also serve as a writing resource. Her articles are often geared to inspire and encourage others from what lessons she has learned, as well as to provide practical writing support and tips.

Dyane's love of writing began with an early interest in reading and of words in general leading to a life-long desire to write all types of things, from short stories, novels, flash fiction, poetry, etc. 

"I enjoy delving into genres and forms of writing that are different from what I’m used to in order to stretch myself. Every story or book represents new challenges. I write to communicate, meaning that writing becomes a means through which I seek to connect with people on a level deeper than intellect."

So today, Dyane has come here to share some information and answer questions I have for her.  We are both excited that the timing of this interview is coinciding with her book The Purple Morrow just coming out, which is the first in her trilogy Rise of the Papilion.


How long have you considered yourself a writer?

I loved writing since I was a kid and dreamed of being a writer when I grew up but life took a different route. About 3-4 years ago I decided to take writing seriously and set to writing books and stories and what not, so I suppose I would consider myself a writer from that point on.



What inspires and motivates you to write?

I love words. I love seeing what they can do when mixed and matched in various ways, how they can be used to create a mood or a feeling, to stimulate the senses or to move people’s emotions. In a world dominated by visual stimulation, there’s something special about being able to stir the heart and imagination with the written word.

What inspired the name of your blog “Dropped Pebbles?”

The idea behind the name was in regards to the ripple effect that occurs after one drops a pebble in a pond. When I started the blog, I hoped that each story, article, interview etc. would reverberate like that, connecting with and affecting readers, and over time, one day make its own place within the writing community.

Marcy Luikart of Santa Barbara, California is primarily a writer, however, she also exercises her creativity by painting and playing the fiddle. She approached me with the idea of discussing in her interview how the different art forms infuse the writing. For example how does a writer "paint" a picture with words; is it similar to the process of putting color on canvas?  

Luikart's current novel is River Braids which tells us stories spanning 100 years.  In this interview she will be talking about the novel in terms of the visual process involved in addition to sharing from her personal experiences as a writer. Her short stories have appeared in The Iconoclast, Bellowing Ark, Pangolin Papers, Beginnings, QWF, and the Connecticut Review.

How long have you been writing in your current genre?

I've been writing my whole life.  This is my first historical fiction novel, but in reality writing historical fiction was more of an accident for me.  I started out writing a short story and while researching my story I found myself back at the 1904 World’s Fair. And then I found myself with a big “what if?” And the next thing I knew I was writing a novel.  Prior to this I was primarily a short story writer.  And I've got a couple of unfinished mysteries floating around on my hard drive.  I don’t have a genre. Each story is a new story and it tells me where it wants to go. What genre it wants to be. I know that’s not the trend. Writers are supposed to fit into a neat marketing box, but for me it’s all about the story.  I read all kinds of stories, mysteries, sci-fi, fantasy, literary. I love all stories, and I like to write all stories.

What inspires and motivates you to write?

People motivate me.  I write to discover people.  And ultimately I discover myself.  There is something very exciting about putting people in imaginary circumstances and watching where they go. Sometimes it begins with a place and I imagine the people who live in that place.  Sometimes it’s a picture and I find myself wanting to know the story hidden in the picture.

Jennifer J. Chow is a Chinese-American married into the Taiwanese culture. Her fiction has appeared in several literary magazines.  Her Taiwanese-American novel, The 228 Legacy, made it to the second round of the 2013 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest and was published by Martin Sisters Publishing in July 2013.

Book Cover for The 228 Legacy

The 228 Legacy was inspired by the family stories she heard after viewing photos of a two-million-person human chain commemorating 228. She has traveled multiple times to Taiwan and visited places dedicated to the incident. Her experience with the elderly comes from a gerontology specialization at Cornell University and her geriatric social work experience. Visit Jennifer online at her site  www.jenniferjchow.com to learn more about her work. 

What is your genre? 

My tagline is “Asian American fiction with a geriatric twist.” My recently released novel, The 228 Legacy, is categorized as multicultural women’s fiction.


Would you consider The 228 Legacy to be historical fiction?

You could reference my book as historical fiction since it explores the effects of a historical event which occurred in 1947.  However, it is officially categorized under "multicultural" and "women's fiction." I think this is because the novel is set in the 1980's which is sometimes too close to be considered historical. 

How did you get started writing? 

I started out as a young kid scribbling on scraps of paper and stealing my dad’s typewriter to bang away on its keys. As I got older, I joined school clubs like yearbook, newspaper, and the literary magazine. I also wrote poetry on the side. When I graduated from college, I focused on fiction. I have short stories published in several literary magazines. I also wrote and shelved three manuscripts before landing a contract for my debut novel. 

What is the publishing process like? 

Nowadays, the publishing process is more fluid. It used to be harder: You needed to secure a literary agent to get the attention of an acquisitions editor to present the manuscript to the publisher’s committee meeting for a vote. Writers today have more avenues to see their name in print, whether it’s through a big publishing company, a small independent press, or by self-publishing. 

What’s your typical writing session and environment like? 

I tend to write in solid chunks of time. Since I have two young children, I used to write exclusively when they went down for bed. I still like the nighttime to write. It works well for me because I require absolute quiet to craft my sentences. 

What are your favorite writing tools?

By Joseph C Kunz, Jr 

Introduction

Image Source (CC0)

There are two main ways of marketing your books: "passive marketing" and "active marketing". Basically, all marketing efforts fall into one of these two categories. Passive marketing generally includes all the seemingly small, static, subtle ways that we attract readers. This involves marketing efforts that reach people whether they know it or not. Active marketing generally includes all the larger, splashier, and more expensive ways that we attract readers. This involves marketing efforts that are much more obvious, and people know right away that they are being marketed to.

Here is a quick discussion of some very powerful no-cost passive marketing ideas that will help you prolong your books sales.

1. Updating Your Online Content

Any online documents that you sell or offer for free, must be kept up-to-date and free of errors. Also make sure that your bio information and book information inside these documents is kept up to date.

2. Updating/Adding To Your Blog

You can never stop adding relevant content to your blog. Keeping your blog updated with new information will help your blog move up in the search engine rankings. Also make sure that you keep re-reading your older blog content, always looking to improve or fix them.

3. Email Signature

An email signature should be inserted at the end of every email that you send out. In it you can include a short bio about yourself. You can also include links to your blog, your book's website, your LinkedIn profile, and your Amazon profile, etc. You can also include your photo, and a picture of your books, etc.

4. Account/Profile Settings

At any website that lets you include a personal profile, make sure that you mention your blog and your book. Offer a free download or sample chapter as an inducement to get the reader to check-out your blog and book.

5. Update/Improve/Change Book Cover

A new and updated cover can very quickly give your book a new life. If you are creative, and have a good eye, you can do this by yourself for free. But if you have a few hundred bucks, you should hire someone to do it for you.


6. Re-Edit Book Content

You must never stop improving the content of your book. Keep searching for grammar mistakes, spelling mistakes, and factual mistakes. Mistakes of any kind can hurt your reputation, your brand, and your credibility, in the eyes of your readers.

7. Get More/Better Book Blurbs And Quotes

Get as many blurbs and quotes that you can get. Never stop asking for them from your readers and other industry insiders. Make sure that you display the best ones on your blog and inside your book.

8. Get More Book Reviews

Generally, you should not pay for book reviews. But, with some effort, you should be able to get your readers, and industry insiders, to review your book.

9. Add An Advertisement For Your Other Publications

This simply means that you should mention your blogs and publications inside everything that you publish. If you give away, or sell, individual short stories, make sure that you mention your other short stories, or your book of short stories, or novel, at the end of each and every individual short story that you sell.

Conclusion

Although all of these tips are simple and no-cost, they are highly effective. This is because they can be seen over and over again all over the internet. Repetition is the key here. Every time someone sees your name on the internet, along with your blog's name, and your book's title, your brand builds a little bit more momentum and credibility. This will certainly keep your book sales moving, even in times when your active marketing efforts slow down.

Article Source: Passive Marketing: 9 Powerful No-Cost Ways To Help Boost Book Sales

Learn how to Write, Design and Promote your Book. Become a Bestseller and Create a Passive Income for a Lifetime.

Masha du Toit is an artist and writer living in Cape Town, South Africa. She illustrates stories that don’t exist yet, and writes about unexpected magic in everyday situations. She’s inspired by folk- and fairy tales, puppetry, and spur-of-the-moment bedtime stories.

Masha writes in the genre of Contemporary Fantasy/Urban Fantasy. Because she is a visual artist, her books are illustrated as well as written by her.  "They are not graphic novels, and the stories are text-driven, but I like to find ways to expand on the story with my drawings."

What motivates your writing?

I write the kind of book that I'd love to discover in a library or second-hand bookshop and be immersed in, something that reminds me that although I'm no longer a child, magic is all around me every day.

Tell me about influences.

I'm influenced by writers like Diana Wynne-Jones, Charles de Lint, and Garth Nix, among the many!  I also grew up reading folk and fairy tales and am always looking for ways to weave those into my stories.

I'm also inspired by my environment. I keep meeting people who are so odd, or interesting, or irritating that I can't wait to place them in a story.  And living in Cape Town I'm constantly surrounded by things that just cry out to be written about, whether it is the way people speak, the city itself, or way that the natural world survives in and around the harsher urban spaces.

all images © Masha du Toit

Do you have any regrets pertaining to your writing?

I regret that I only started writing after my mother died.  She was a great inspiration to me, with her love of stories and curiosity about just about everything.  In some ways, I'm always writing about my mother, and how much I still miss her.


What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

To be aware of what motivates you. It's easy to lose sight of your own goals when you are surrounded by people with different aspirations. Some of us need the validation of getting a contract with a publisher, or making lots of sales. Others simply want readers, or even just the experience of writing itself.  Don't let anyone tell you that you are not a "real" writer, for whatever reason.  Figure out what motivates YOU and don't lose sight of that.

Discover more about Masha online…

• Website/ Blog
• Google Plus Profile
• Book Site
• New Release Mailing List 

Available on Amazon: