AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR MANDY WHITE: 1. The first question is, are you tired of answering the same old questions in interviews? Absolutely! 2. Have you always wanted to be a writer, or did you just kind of fall into it? I have wanted to be a writer ever since I was old enough to write. 3. What’s your process? Do you have a set writing schedule, or do you wing it? I don’t do well with schedules, so I mostly just wing it. I write when I have time, but my most productive time is early in the morning when my brain is fresh and the rest of the household is asleep. 4. What is your favorite genre to read? To write? I’m an avid horror fan, and I prefer to write the types of books I’d like to read. 5. What was the first book you wrote, and how successful was it? My very first was a short nonfiction book called The Jealousy Game. It is based on my own experiences with domestic abuse combined with those of many other women who shared their stories with me. I wrote it for my daughter when she became involved with one of those men. I was afraid that he would isolate her from me and writing a book that I knew she would read was the only way I could think of to get through to her. I didn’t think anyone else would ever read it but it’s been very well received. I haven’t sold a huge number of copies but the positive feedback from readers has been amazing. That book helped me get my feet wet, so to speak and I went on to write my first novel after that. 6. How do you spend your time when you are not writing? Do you have any interesting hobbies? I love gardening and anything to do with the outdoors. My idea of a hot date is a fishing trip followed by an afternoon at the gun range with my husband. In the fall, we hike through the woods picking wild mushrooms. Here on Vancouver Island we have many varieties of gourmet mushrooms but the Chanterelles are by far the most abundant. 7. Does your family support your writing dreams/career/goals? At first, I got the equivalent of a pat on the head for pursuing my little ‘hobby’, as my friends and family saw it. My husband was happy to see how much enjoyment I was getting out of writing but warned me not to get my hopes up. He changed his attitude the first time he saw an Amazon check for over a thousand dollars. Now he’s my biggest supporter. My kids think it’s pretty cool to have a mom who’s an author. 8. How many books have you written, and which one is your absolute favorite? In addition to my one nonfiction book, I’ve published two full-length novels, three novelettes and a collection of short stories. I’d have to say my favorite is my most recent novel, The Feeder. Second would be Dysfictional – the anthology. I love writing short stories and that book contains some of my favorites. 9. Do you read reviews of your books? How do they affect you, whether positive or negative? When I see a new review on one of my books, I sort of peek at it with one eye closed, afraid of what I might see, but negative ones don’t bother me much anymore. I guess I’m developing that thick skin everyone keeps talking about. I learn a lot about my work from reading reviews and I’m grateful for all feedback, good or bad. 10. You know the last question always is: Do you have any advice for aspiring authors? So yeah, answer that, but then tell us (whether you write in the genre or not) your plan for riding out the zombie apocalypse. My advice for aspiring authors would include the usual things: Seek out other authors, not to sell to them but to learn from them. Don’t act like a know-it-all – all that does is demonstrate how little you actually know. LISTEN to what experienced authors have to say. They have already accomplished the things you want to do. Don’t stumble blindly into publishing or you’re likely to fall victim to a vanity press scam. Research and ask questions of people who know the business. Do not assume that you can effectively do your own editing. A good editor is worth his/her weight in gold and it’s your reputation as an author that’s at stake if you publish unpolished work. Readers can and will judge a book by its cover, so hire a good cover artist to ensure your cover is the best it can be. There is a distinct difference between marketing and spamming. Intelligent marketing sells books. Spamming friends, strangers and Facebook groups with incessant ‘buy my book’ messages will not sell books. All it does is piss people off and many will unfriend or unfollow you because of it. And finally: My plan for surviving the zombie apocalypse is a pretty simple one. I already live in a fairly remote area so I have a leg up on the city dwellers. We have a lake full of fish and plenty of food in the forest. My household is already well stocked with guns and we are equipped to reload our own ammo, so we’re ready for some good old-fashioned zombie target practice. Of course, I might accidentally mistake some of my inlaws for zombies and blow their heads off but hey, that’s an honest mistake, right? Oopsie!
Posted on: Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:27:40 +0000
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