Tell us about your marketing campaign. You cannot just write books and hope people will find them and buy them. Marketing your work, as well as offering quality content on writing (articles/tips/book reviews etc.) is vital to spreading the word. Be useful to other people and don’t bore them to death with self-promotion.
If you have something to offer, then people naturally want to know more about you and your work. I do everything I can to get people interested in my book/s. I have a blog, where I review a variety of books; I Tweet about writing related material, and also update followers about book awards I have won or blog tour stops. I have a Facebook Fan page; and I have a Pinterest profile.
I find blog tours, and blog hops are the best way to get access to a wide variety of people interested in this genre – middle grade adventure. My buyers are the moms who still choose for their kids. They need to know what my books are about, and approve of the subject matter. Something to note is that people do not like being bombarded with “buy my book” messages.
Getting people interested in what I do also involves creating material that they find interesting for themselves. In this respect, writing about a subject that interests many moms, such as getting kids interested in books and reading, is the best way to gain followers and fans.
How do you relax when you are not writing? Need I say reading? I started my academic career in the arts, theater, and drama. When I studied in London and Paris, I was immersed in the atmosphere of two cities brimming with culture. I love shows, music, reading, movies, travel (museums) and then walking my two eager dogs while I mull over plot points in my latest book.
Are you a city slicker or a country lover? I am sort of both. I love travelling to beautiful, historic cities and wandering around monuments, museums, and ancient landmarks. I love being in the countryside, away from the hustle and bustle of traffic, shopping malls, and crowds. Yet, it’s lovely to go to the latest show, or browse a wonderful bookshop. A taste of both suits me fine.
What is your favourite quality about yourself? Even when I want to give up, I don’t. I am persistent to the point of fanatical. Many days I read about other successes and wonder (Boo Hoo!) why isn’t it my name in lights? I also often contemplate giving up writing. But I don’t. I just can’t give up on any project without giving it my best shot.
What movie do you love to watch? Let me cheat a bit here: the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I have read the book many times. I have watched the trilogy many times. It has everything: charm and small, sensitive Hobbit stories; it has grand, sweeping Middle Earth epics; it has battles and heroism; it has love and magicality. It has Viggo Mortensen …
How do you feel about self-publishing? Ahem … the word is “indie” author, not self-published author. I am an indie author and I used to feel the scorn directed at us poor, unwanted second-class writers. That’s all changed. The DIY and POD revolution, sweeping in the brave new world of e-publishing, has opened many doors for great, but ignored writers.
Of course, it has also swept in a lot of eminently forgettable flotsam and jetsam of the writing world. However, traditionally published authors are also jumping over the great divide and choosing to self-publish some of their earlier books, or retaining e-rights to current books. It’s no longer a stigma to be self-published.
Who would you invite to your dinner party? Terry Pratchett and Stephen Fry. Terry Pratchett is the British author of the zany Discworld series. I find his books hilarious, but so pertinent to life. He exposes the foibles and weaknesses of humans, and strips almost everything bare: from politics to philosophy to relationships. I could chat to him for hours. Stephen Fry is a British actor and author. I first saw him play Jeeves, the butler, in the televised version of P.G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves & Wooster series. He is hilariously funny, and highly intelligent. He now writes and has his own television series. I could listen to him for hours.
What’s your next project? My first book started out as a short story for my nephews, turned into a book – The Secret of the Sacred Scarab – and then into a book series. I am getting the second book – The Search for the Stone of Excalibur – ready for publication so I am swamped with cover, interior graphics, website text and images, and planning the next launch. As well as that, I am finishing off Book Three – The Temple of the Crystal Timekeeper.
A 5000-year-old mystery comes to life when a scruffy peddler gives Adam and Justin Sinclair an old Egyptian scarab on their very first day in Egypt. Only when the evil Dr. Faisal Khalid shows a particular interest in the cousins and their scarab, do the boys realise they are in terrible danger. Dr. Khalid wants the relic at all costs.
Justin and Adam embark upon the adventure of a lifetime, taking them down the Nile and across the harsh desert in their search for the legendary tomb of the Scarab King, an ancient Egyptian ruler. They are plunged into a whirlpool of hazardous and mysterious events when Dr. Khalid kidnaps them. They survive terrifying dangers in a hostile environment (such as a giant cobra and sinking sand), pursued by enemies in their quest to solve the secret of the sacred scarab. They must translate the hieroglyphic clues on the underside of the scarab, as well as rescue the missing archaeologist James Kinnaird, and their friend, the Egyptologist Ebrahim Faza, before time runs out. They must also learn more about the ancient Seven Stones of Power and the mysterious Shemsu-Hor.
With just their wits, courage, and each other, the boys manage to survive … only to find that the end of one journey is the beginning of another!
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Genre – Juvenile Fiction
Rating – G
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