Dee Ernst

My guest today is Dee Ernst. Welcome, Dee.

Where do you live, and how has your environment affected your writing?

I live in Northern New Jersey, which gives me access and knowledge of NYC and the Jersey shore.  Both of my current books take place in NJ, as does my Work-In-Progress.  By having familiar settings, I have less to worry about as far as the where and how of my my characters.  It’s tough enough to think about dialog, action, what they’re wearing, how they’re thinking – if I had to think about how the street looks or what the weather might be like in October, it might be too much!

How many books have you written?

The first book I wrote, called (how funny is this) Shades of Gray, never made it past countless rejections.  I have self-pubbed two novels, Better Off Without Him, in 2010, and A Different Kind of Forever in April of this year.  I’m about a third of my way through the next project.

Give a short synop of your most recently published book.

A Different Kind of Forever is a romance between a forty-something divorced mother of three and a 27 year old rock star.  It’s not just a cougar-type romance.  These two people have to work a lot of things out, including a returning old boyfriend.  It’s got some spice to it, and I’d like to think some humor as well, but I wanted it to be realistic too.

How much of yourself is hidden in the characters in the book?

In Better Off Without Him, as all my friends read it, they told me over and over again that the main character, Mona, sounded just like me.  My life is much different than hers.  I’m a struggling – not successful- author, and am happily married, but we think and react much the same.  My protagonist in A Different Kind of Forever is not me at all.  She’s much more practical and independent.  Smarter too. But we both love roses, have daughters, and dance by ourselves while cleaning the house.

Is it available in print, ebook, and Kindle formats?

Both my books are available in print and as eBooks.  Right now, I’m with a program at Amazon where the eBooks are exclusive with them, but that will be changing in September, and the eBook versions should be available for Nook. Sony, and at the iTunes store. The print versions are available at Amazon and B&N.

I’m also working to get Better Off Without Him out as an audiobook.  A wonderful voice-over artist named Gillian Vance is working on it now, and I hope that will be available mid-August.

What do you think is the greatest lesson you’ve learned about writing so far? What advice can you give other writers?

Writing, as hard as it is, is still much easier than selling.  Finding readers is hours and hours of work. I’ve been very lucky to have a few great promo opportunities on Amazon, and I’ve actually started getting an audience.  But Better Off Without Him was first published in October of 2010, and it was only this past spring that it really took off.  That meant a year and a half spent trying – and often failing – to find readers through reviews, blogs mentions and give-aways.

For other writers?  Do your homework.  If you’re going to self-publish, hang out with other self-pubbers and ask questions.  Figure out a marketing plan before you publish.  Get professional editing and cover art.  Have realistic expectations, because there’s a lot of disappointment built into being a writer.

Where do you store ideas for later use: in your head, in a notebook, or on a spreadsheet?

I have lots of paragraphs/scenes/conversations/chapterson my computer.  I have a hard time remembering what I had for breakfast these days, so if something strikes me, I try to write it out as soon as possible.  Some stuff has been here for a couple of years.  Some projects are over a hundred pages long, still sitting there unfinished.  Some of it I know I’ll never use in its original form, but may be a springboard for something else.  I’m not the kind of person who has hundreds of book ideas a week.  It takes me a while to fully form a book in my head.

We all know how important promoting our work has become. How do you get the word out both off and online?

Finding reviewers is first and foremost for me.  I spend a LOT of time looking for suitable blog sites, then I look to that blogger’s Blogroll and go to those sites,,,it’s hours on the computer. Many reviewers aren’t taking any new books, some take your copy and never write the review, most just ignore the original request because they’re so overwhelmed.  I try to do guest blogs and interviews whenever I can.  I’ve done blog tours and give-aways on Goodreads.  I’ve given away over 50,000 free copies of Better Off Without Him on Amazon as a promo.  The best thing about those Amazon freebies is that they resulted in lots of reviews and readers who emailed me about how much they liked the book.

Getting readers to write reviews is tough.

I have also donated paperback copies of both my books to local libraries.  One reader emailed me about how much she loved my book, but was sorry she couldn’t lend it to her sister because it was an eBook, so I sent her a paperback.  I don’t mind losing a sale if I can get a reader who may tell a friend or two.  With a zero promotion budget, my readers are all I’ve got.

Where can folks learn more about your books and events?

I’m getting my own website in the next few months – I actually own DeeErnst.com.  It’s kind of exciting.  But I do have a blog where you can check in to see what’s going on – I only post there about once a month, so it’s not too hard to keep up with.  http://dernst2010.wordpress.com/  

Dee, the best of success to you!

Meet Tom Blubaugh

Tom Blubaugh was raised in a small town in southeast KS. He began writing poetry at age fourteen. Tom has written nonfiction writer most of his adult life. He self-published his first book Behind the Scenes of the Bus Ministry in 1974.  Tom wrote articles for denominational and business magazines  from 1975 through 1995. He co-wrote The Great Adventure for Barbour Publishing Co. in 2009. Bound by Faith Publishers published his first fiction Night of the Cossack in April, 2011. Tom is married to Barbara. They have six children and fourteen grandchildren. Both are retired. Tom has been public speaker for 40 years. He was a self-employed entrepreneur  from1973 to 1995. Tom retired in 2004 and has devoted most of his time to writing and volunteer work.

Welcome, Tom!

Describe your writing in three words.

Hard, interesting and rewarding.

Where do you live, and how has your environment affected your writing?

I live in southwest Missouri. I’ve lived here since 1976 and I’ve met a great many interesting people. Branson is an hour south and that’s a whole different world of entertainment. There’s never any lack of things to write about.

How many books have you written?

Two of my own and two that I co-wrote with other authors.

Give a short synop of your most recently published book.

Night of the Cossack is a compelling adventure by Tom Blubaugh about a teenager who is forced to grow up quickly. The main character, Nathan Hertzfield faces many life or death situations during his saga.

How much of yourself is hidden in the characters in the book?

Quite a bit in Night of the Cossack. I basically created my grandfather since I never got to meet him. He died before I was born.

Do your characters take on a life of their own? If so, which is your favorite?

They do. I read this in an article when I started writing. I thought there’s no way that can happen—but it does.

Is it available in print, ebook, and Kindle formats?

Yes. On Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

What challenges did you face while writing this book?

The research was very demanding. There was so much going on in Russia at the time of my grandfather lived there.

What do you think is the greatest lesson you’ve learned about writing so far? What advice can you give other writers?

That I will no longer enter a library or book store and take the books for granted. Each one of them has a huge amount of work behind them and they didn’t just jump on the shelf.

Where do you store ideas for later use: in your head, in a notebook, or on a spreadsheet?

I have written hundreds of articles for my website over the years. Each one of them has the making of a book or a novella. I also use a program named Snowflake.

We all know how important promoting our work has become. How do you get the word out both off and online?

The platform is the hardest work in selling a book. I am very involved in social networking, blogging and speaking. In some ways, the Internet is an easy way to get my name out into the world and at the same time, it’s very hard because there is so much competition.

Can you tell us your writing goals/projects for 2012 or beyond?

One goal is to make Night of the Cossack a best seller; another is to finish the sequel—but time is flying by; a third is to set up online classes or webinars about building a platform; and setting up a section of my website/blog for doing audio interviews or authors and other interesting people.

Where can folks learn more about your books and events?

Here are all of my links:

Night of the Cossack historical fiction ebooks available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble

Night of the Cossack historical fiction signed paperback at Night of the Cossack  FREE shipping to address in USA.

Night of the Cossack historical fiction pdf file will be available soon.

Facebook fan page

The Write Trail Scribbling from the sometimes creative/sometimes scattered mind of Tom Blubaugh

Twitter @tomblubaugh

Goodreads

Authors Den

Info-line for writers promotion

Linkedin to join my network

Genesis Project my ministry site

Follow me on Pinterest

Thanks for letting me interview you, Thomas. Continued success!

Pat Bertram's Light Bringer

Pat Bertram is a native of Colorado and except for a brief stay in the north woods of Wisconsin and California, she’s lived there all her life. When the traditional publishers stopped publishing her favorite type of book — character and story driven novels that can’t easily be slotted into a genre — she decided to write her own.

Pat, welcome to the blog.

Thank you, Susan.

How many books have you written?

I’ve written five books. Light Bringer is my fourth novel to be published by Second Wind Publishing, LLC. Also available are three other novels,  More Deaths Than One , A Spark of Heavenly Fire, and Daughter Am I, and one work of non-fiction, Grief: The Great Yearning,.

Tell us about Light Bringer, your most recent novel.

Thirty-seven years after being abandoned on the doorstep of a remote cabin in Colorado, Becka Johnson returns to try to discover her identity, but she only finds more questions. Who has been looking for her all those years? And why are those same people after fellow newcomer Philip Hansen? The book is a tale of a conspiracy that can be traced back for thousands of years, and Becka and Philip are right in the center of it.

Give a short synopsis of your most recently published book.

My latest release is a non-fiction book Grief: The Great Yearning, a compilation of letters, blog posts, and journal entries I wrote while struggling to survive my first year of grief after the death of my life mate/soul mate. I wanted my fellow bereft to know that whatever crazy things they do to bring themselves comfort, others have done. And as hard as it is to believe, they will survive.

How much of yourself is hidden in the characters of your books?

Freud thought every role in a dream was played by the dreamer, and in a way, that’s the way my books are. The emotions the characters feel are mine since I can only write what I feel, and their personal problems are ones I’ve grappled with. In the writing, though, the characters become more than I ever was as they develop in response to the needs of the story.

As for my nonfiction work, nothing of me is hidden in Grief: The Great Yearning. I tell it all --- my heart ache, my tears, the physical effects of grief, my bewilderment, the great yearning, the strange and mystical thoughts that went through my mind. The whole experience stunned me. I had no idea the scope of grief one went through after losing the most significant person in your life, and I wrote it all down. At the time, I had no intention of sharing the writings, so they are very candid.

How long had the idea of Light Bringer been developing before you began to write the story?

Light Bringer stewed in my brain pan for several years before I actually started to write it. It was the first book I conceived, but I couldn’t figure out who my alien characters were, where they were from, why they were here, so when other stories captured my imagination, I went with them. In between finishing my various novels, I worked on Light Bringer, trying to develop the idea and research the specifics. If you include my research, which I’d been doing for decades before the story ever entered my mind, you could say the idea for the book had been developing for about thirty years.

What do you think is the greatest lesson you’ve learned about writing so far? What advice can you give other writers?

The greatest lesson I learned was not to listen to advice. People say that to be a writer, you always have to write, but that isn’t true. Sometimes you simply have to live, to experience life, otherwise, what do you have to write about?

Can you tell us your writing goals/projects for 2012 or beyond?

Mostly I’m blogging, writing articles, posting interviews with other authors, contributing short stories to Second Wind’s anthologies, and I have a work-in-pause --- a whimsically ironic apocalyptic fantasy --- that is waiting for me whenever I get the inclination to write again.

Where can folks learn more about you and your books?

I have a website -- http://patbertram.com -- where I post important information, including the first chapters of each of my books, but the best way to keep up with me, my writing, and my life on a daily basis is by way of Bertram’s Blog. http://ptbertram.wordpress.com 

All my books are available both in print and in ebook format. You can get them online at Second Wind Publishing, Amazon, B&N and Smashwords. Smashwords is great! The books are available in all ebook formats, including palm reading devices, and you can download the first 20-30% free!

Pat, it's been a pleasure. Best wishes to you in all future endeavors!

Keywords

How do you guys determine the best keywords to get traffic to your site(s)? Free copy of Just North of Luck to one lucky commenter.

Promoting

 Several years ago I ordered promotional hand fans for two of my Logan Hunter mysteries. Since it was summer and I attended baseball games nearly every day in temps up to 100+ degrees, I gave out hand fans to those other spectators melting alongside. The fans had the Just North of Luck cover and others the Hell Swamp cover. They went fast, with my web site and short excerpt on the back. Folks have already asked me this year if I have fans. As a matter of fact, I ordered Genesis Beach fans and Slightly Cracked ones also, although I'm holding those back until the book releases.

Does everyone zip over to buy a book? No, but many do, and it's a fun way to promote and keep cool. I do save enough to take to books signings and conferences so that I can give a fan to those who purchase that particular book.

What do you do for promotion?

Attracting An Agent

I've decided to query agents for my first women's fiction, Slightly Cracked. I've done my research and know which agents are looking for that genre. It's amazing how different their guidelines are, anything from a query only to as much as 50 pages in the body of an email!

Most agents I've found in today's market want email queries and that's just fine with me. Maybe it will speed up the process. Only one on my list wants snail mail, query only.

I'd be interested to know if you have an agent and what kind of success you've had ...  with or without one.

John Steinbeck offers advice

If a scene or a section gets the better of you and you still think you want it—bypass it and go on. When you have finished the whole you can come back to it and then you may find that the reason it gave trouble is because it didn’t belong there~ John Steinbeck

I can't tell you how many times I've stalled on a paragraph, scene, chapter and stopped writing completely for a few days while trying to make it work in my head. Steinbeck offers great advice. I've finally learned to move on. Eventually the section that troubled me found its placement or got deleted.

Have you had this experience? How did you solve the problem?