Today I have another author to introduce to you. I met her at a local library signing in December 2014, and, boy, was I excited to find out she lived more in my immediate area, which makes her a "local, LOCAL" author to me! In fact, she originally came from the town I was born in (and still live near). Totally, awesome. You just don't understand how cool it is to have another author living so close to you, until the day that you wish one or two did. (Living out in the wild, wild west has its neat moments, but when it takes you thirty minutes to get to the grocery store, much less to a friend's house...) So, without further ado, I introduce (with much enthusiasm), Author Lottie Wright! *Round off applause* Thank you SO much for joining me today, Mrs. Wright. Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from? Do you have pets? Family? Imaginary unicorn friend? Lottie Wright - My name is Lottie Wright. I live in Forgan, Oklahoma. We have 3 dogs. We also feed 2 cats at the moment, but that changes regularly. (Sometimes more, sometimes less.) I am married to Mark Wright, we have 2 sons together, and a step-son. My step-son is my age, and he has given us 10 grandchildren (Some of which are adopted.) I don’t remember any imaginary friends, but I talk out loud a lot. 10 Grandchildren!? Wow! That is so awesome! You guys must have a blast-and-a-half when y’all get together. So, tell us a little about your writing. When did you start writing, and why? Lottie Wright - I have always been interested in writing. I wrote a lot of short stories and poems throughout my life. Writing is easy, the editing it is the hard part. I wrote “The Gifted Sight” in 10 days, but it took me several months to edit it. Even after having someone help edit, I am now working on re-editing it, and almost have it ready to print the second edition. Ugh. Editing IS the worst. I wish I could bottle an editor’s skills. Then I’d make a fortune selling it to people like me. Tee-hee… Well, anyway, do you write for a particular genre, or do you cross genres? If so, what is your favorite genre to write for? Lottie Wright - Most of my story ideas come to me while I am asleep. So, I write about whatever I happen to dream about. Dreams make the best stories! So, on that note, are you a planner or a “pantser” – do you plan out your books meticulously or do you write by the seat of your pants? Lottie Wright - I never know what is going to happen in the story I am writing. I get the idea and start it. Sometimes I am surprised by what happens. I hear ya. Sometimes the surprise is really cool and other times it is wretched! What do you write, and why? What do you enjoy about what you write? Lottie Wright - I mostly write fiction, however most authors write about things they know. True events have showed up, with a little tweaking to make it a better story. True stories make the world go round, even if they are just a little “fictionized”. Though, horror stories based on a true story is just a little much for me… *wigs myself out* Okay, moving on. So, where do you find inspiration? Lottie Wright - My imagination. I have a very good imagination & two boys that help me use my imagination daily. Also, like I said before, my dreams are so crazy sometimes and I think how good a book it would be. So I write about them. Thank God for building us with an imagination! What is the most difficult part of writing for you and what is the easiest part? Lottie Wright - Finding the time to write is difficult, but once I get started it just pours out. I have a hard time keeping my hand caught up to my brain. Again, I hear ya. My brain outruns my hands… and my mouth… but sometimes they like to switch places, just to get me confused. Do you listen to music or watch TV whilst you write? Do you do anything unusual while your write? Lottie Wright - I listen to all kinds of music. More than anything it blocks out sounds that may disturb my writing. If it is too crazy in my house while I am writing, I go to my “office” aka the bathroom and shut the door to write. Haha! The bathroom would be the worst place in my house. Everyone is always needing to use it (of course, it is the only bathroom, and there are 8 people in my house). Is there a message conveyed within your writing? Lottie Wright - Some of my stories have messages, however the one I published -not so much. Most authors like to read, what have you recently finished reading? Lottie Wright - I have read all of the “Immortal Instruments” series, Cassandra Clare. The “Nightshade” series, Andrea Creamer. The “Maximum Ride” series, James Patterson. These are some of my favorites that I have read lately. The "Immortal Instruments" has caught my interest, but I've not read them yet. I am glad to know it is in your “favorites” list! Can you name your favorite traditionally published author? Lottie Wright - I read a lot of James Patterson & Steven King books. And your favorite indie/self-published author? Lottie Wright - I believe Cassandra Clare is self-published. Very cool! So, research can be important in world-building, how much do you need to do for your books? Lottie Wright - For “The Gifted Sight” I didn’t really do much research. But, the book I am working on now I have researched a bit, and still need to do more. Now here is a question that makes most authors cringe: Do you self-edit? If so why is that the case? Lottie Wright - I did, but I didn’t trust myself. I had someone else edit for me. I changed a lot due to the editors suggestion that I am changing back to how I had it originally. (She is an old time writer and used the old time rules to edit by.) It seems like the editing rules are always changing! I’ve found it helps me to keep up with current editing is to read fresh, new books and make note of their techniques. So, do you believe a book suffers without being professionally edited? Lottie Wright - This time, being my first I should have used a professional when I doubted myself. But, I think I did a pretty good job with my editing. Of course, there are a few misspelled words, but even the best of authors with professional editors still will have an error that they missed. “To error is human.” Exactly. Besides, in my opinion, you need some errors to make the perfectionist reader fume. (Of course, I am a bit of a pot stirrer...) What was your experience with getting your book published? How did you start out? Did you have help? Lottie Wright - I sent out a few Quarry letters to agents, because all of the publishing companies say you have to have an agent before they will look at your manuscript. All of the agents refused to read my manuscript because I have not had any work published. So I decided why mess with them anymore when I can self-publish and not have to pay an agent. Amen sista! The book market has gotten so circular, it is practically pointless to try and publish traditionally anymore. Did you find marketing difficult? What strategy do you use, if any? Lottie Wright - I am a newly published and haven’t done a lot of marketing. But, I have done pretty well with selling to friends and family. (And their friends and family.) I have sold more than I thought I would in just two months. Hopefully it will pick up and I will make more sales over the next few months, once I do more marketing. I wish you the best of luck! I hope you find it easy, rather than a challenge (and, if you do find it easy, then I shall have to interview you again and wring out all your secrets! *wink*). So, would you sort these into order of importance for us?: Great characters; great world-building; solid plot; technically perfect. Can you explain why you chose this order? Lottie Wright - This is a very hard question. I think they are all about as equally important. Maybe characters and plot are just a bit more important than the rest. If you have more than one published work, which book or series was your favorite to create? Lottie Wright - I only have one published at the moment. However, I am working on another story. If you could change anything in an existing book, or series, of yours, what would it be? Lottie Wright - The editing changes I made in my first book. Do you have any forthcoming books? Is there any project you started and are just completely stuck on? Lottie Wright - I have started a story, but I have an 11 month old that gets jealous of everything that doesn’t have to do with him. So, it will take some time before I will be able to finish it. Aw, well, didn’t you know the world should revolve around the lil fella? *wink, wink* Tell us a little about the world of your latest or favorite book or series. Lottie Wright - “The Gifted Sight” is about a 17 year old girl. She thinks she is crazy and her mom tells her that she is. She connects with people in trouble (or even some that have passed) and is able to help them. She meets a boy and falls in love with him. She learns her boyfriend also has the gift. They go through a lot together and help each other throughout their lives. Very cool! Would you introduce us to some of your characters? What do you like about them? Lottie Wright - Oakley is the main character. She is 17 and very smart, but gullible. Once she learns about her gift and how to use it, she grows out of being gullible and becomes a very great resource to law enforcement officers and helps them with lots of cases. Cale is the other main character, he helps teach Oakley that she has a gift and is not crazy, like her mother has told her. Cale has the gift as well, but his gift is not as strong as Oakley’s. Cale falls in love with Oakley and wants to protect her, however he learns there are some things he cannot protect her from. Aw! I love them both already! Do you have a favorite character? Why? Lottie Wright - I love both of my main characters. Together they help make the story feel more real. While reading, you can feel yourself “becoming” the characters and feel what they are feeling throughout the story. I love stories and characters like that. So, do you have a character you hate/dislike? Why? Lottie Wright - I loved Oakley’s mom in the beginning, but when she turned into the bad guy, I decided I didn’t like her anymore. (I know that sounds funny, that I didn’t know she was going to be the bad guy, but I just wrote as it came to me.) Characters like that are so funny! And they can be heart wrenching too like Morgana on the BBC series, "Merlin". Yeah... stab my heart… pour some salt on it… Back onto topic: are your characters ever based on real people? Lottie Wright - Authors write about what they know. My characters do have a bit of some people I know, but they are not based on just one person in particular. Have you ever used a person you don’t/didn’t like as a character then killed them off? Lottie Wright - Not yet. Hee-hee… I love that “yet” word. What formats is your book available in (E-book, print, large print, audio)? Are you intending to expand these and if not, what is the reason? Lottie Wright - At the moment my book is available in print and E-book. It is available on Amazon.com and Amazon Kindle. The E-book version is also available at Createspace. At the moment I am still under contract so I cannot expand until the contract is up. Would you like to give a fun/silly fact that you’d like your readers to know about you or your book? Lottie Wright - I don’t know, I am very modest and have a hard time talking about myself. I can talk about someone else easier than myself. I am still a kid at heart. I can draw. My favorite thing to draw is using a name, I draw an object for each letter in the name. For my son I drew his name with an amusement park theme. So each letter is something you would find at an amusement park. (Does that make sense?) I use fun themes for each person. AWESOME! I want my name turned into an amusement park! Ooh! Or a bunch of dragons would be cool… but, I’ll save that for another time. Is there any advice you would pass on to those authors who are still just starting out? Do's and don'ts? Lottie Wright - Set your book up before you start typing it. Pick your book size, font size, spacing, and so on before you do anything else. Don’t trust someone else’s judgment over your own. If you are doubtful about what they have suggested, then don’t do what they suggested. Very good advice. Take the suggestions of others into consideration, but if your gut tells you otherwise, you’d better go with your gut (use the Force, Luke…). Thank you so very much for joining me today, Mrs. Wright! I had a blast, and I am sure our audience did too! Speaking of the audience: I suggest y’all check out Lottie Wright’s cool book on Amazon, then friend her on Facebook and keep an eye out for her forthcoming book! And, as always, if you liked this, I would love to see a comment saying as much. And, like before, there will be a polite, huge, smiling dragon at every exit who will ask if you left a comment or visited Lottie on Facebook... E-Mail: [email protected] Facebook: Send Lottie Wright a Facebook friend request! Lottie Wright's Book: “The Gifted Sight” on Amazon |
Kathryn FoglemanAuthor of the fantasy series, Tales of the Wovlen, Kathryn spends a great deal of time in the world of her imagination, having tea with fire breathing dragons, writing books on flying space ships, and practicing her mad scientist laugh with gusto. However, on occasion,she returns to this world just to play with her dog and blog about her fun. My BookGrab a Button!Archives
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