The name Zoe Winters will be familiar to many in the Indie book circles. Zoe writes paranormal romance and returns after a brief sabbatical from internet life to give us this exclusive interview in which she threatens my life, tells me about her book, writing methods, and her take on Indie Publishing.
“I write for myself first and my audience second. So basically an ideal reader is someone who likes the stuff I like… I tell the stories I have to tell and hope that there are enough readers out there who enjoy them” – Zoe Winters ~ 1 Nov 2010
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About the book:
What is the book about?
Blood Lust is a compilation of three novellas: Kept, Claimed, and Mated and is an introduction into a larger paranormal series. The best way to explain the book is to just give the back cover copy. Otherwise, we’ll be here all day. 😛
KEPT
As a cat therian (shifter), Greta’s blood is already sought after to enhance spells and potions, but due to a quirk of her birth, her blood is potent enough to kill for. When her tribe plans to sacrifice her, Greta must ally herself with Dayne, the dangerous local sorcerer, and the only person strong enough to protect her.
CLAIMED
For a vampire, Anthony isn’t a picky eater, but he’s drawn to Charlee’s blood more than any other. Like a fine wine saved for a special occasion, he’s denied himself this pleasure. But one night, high from the potent magical blood of another, he claims his prize and loses control. Ashamed of almost killing the one woman who means anything to him, he wipes her memory of the event. When Charlee awakens with complete amnesia, Anthony is the only one who can clean up the mess he’s made.
MATED
Because of the vampiric blood that has run through her veins since birth, Jane has been a target for vampires who resent a human being “kindred.” She’s forced to disguise herself as a vampire groupie to appease them and safeguard her life. When she’s abruptly given to Cole, the leader of the werewolf pack, to satisfy a gambling debt, she discovers the blood running through her veins has a far greater impact on her destiny than she ever imagined.
When did you start writing the book?
Since they are novellas, there were different starting points for each one. I started writing Kept in 2007. It was originally meant as a contest entry for an Epress that was doing an anthology on werecats. But the book wasn’t ready/polished in time. After that, I was waffling over self-publishing for awhile. I released Kept as a digital book independently in November 2008. Then at a later time (and I really am not sure the exact dates), I wrote Claimed and Mated, so I could have three as a series and create a print anthology. When writing Mated, I figured out how I could tie it in with another novel I’d written, Save My Soul (due out by Christmas this year), to create a larger series.
How long did it take you to write it?
Each of the novellas took about a month to write, but that’s just rough draft. It took a lot longer to edit them because my rough drafts start out pretty rough. They are getting cleaner, but definitely these three started out more rough.
Where did you get the idea from?
Kept was prompted by a contest. Then I got the idea of what if the witch’s familiar wasn’t a cat, but a werecat and they had magic blood used for spells? Then Claimed came about from a couple of minor characters introduced in Kept. Mated was inspired by wanting to explore Jane’s character (introduced in Claimed) a little more deeply.
Jane threw me for a loop. She was supposed to be an extra with a small speaking part. She was just there to basically help the amnesiac Charlee find her friend’s bookstore. But then she was interesting, and Charlee and I wanted to follow her back into the building. She became a secondary character in Mated. Then she kept throwing me these curve balls where everything wasn’t as it appeared with her, so she ended up getting her own novella and will play a larger future role in the series.
Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?
I try to block all that out. 😛
What came easily?
Mated came pretty easily because by that point I had a stronger sense of the world I was writing about and the characters. I think that confidence comes through because Mated is the strongest of the three. Kept is the weakest, and it was the hardest. So slaving over it more doesn’t necessarily make for better work.
Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?
I think all characters in fiction are entirely fictitious, but at the same time I think all characters are in some way inspired by people the author knows (whether the author admits to this or not, and a lot of times it’s subconscious). I am not mystically possessed when I write. It comes out of my brain and my understanding of the world around me. Writing is self-expression, and a lot of people act like you’re supposed to be ashamed of that and act like characters are totally mystically appearing beings that have nothing to do with the author’s brain or experiences or people they’ve met. And I think that’s utter crap. Yes, after awhile your characters become their own people, but they start out in one way or another inspired by something. I only have my own brain to use when I write. As far as I’m aware, this is how it works for other writers as well. 🙂
We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?
I do read when I can, but I don’t think any particular authors have influenced how I write. Joss Whedon influenced how I tell a story. The use of character arc and morally gray characters and villains becoming heroes and heroes becoming villains in Buffy, Firefly, Angel, Dollhouse, etc all helped influence how I create a character and tell a story. As the books go forward there will be heroes who turn into villains (at least from some characters’ perspectives) without messing up their romance HEA, and there will be villains that turn into heroes and get their own stories. Cain, is a minor character in Mated, the villain of Save My Soul, then later he’ll get his own book where he’s the hero.
Do you have a target reader?
I write for myself first and my audience second. So basically an ideal reader is someone who likes the stuff I like. I just don’t go out of my way to write for anybody else because I think that comes off fake. I tell the stories I have to tell and hope that there are enough readers out there who enjoy them.
About Writing:
Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?
I start with research and an outline. I write the rough draft as quickly as I can. If I deviate from the outline, I rewrite the outline to make sure I can still get to my ending and keep the pacing where I want it. Then I let the book cool for a few weeks.
When I re-read it I make a list of what I actually wrote vs what I need to add or take away… what I feel I “should” have. Then I go through it as many times as necessary to fix it. When it’s as perfect as I can make it and as clean as I can make it, I send it to my critique partners for their feedback. Then after I fix any issues, I send it to my editor. Then it’s formatting and sale time. 🙂
Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just Chapter headings and a couple of sentences?
When I outline I just write enough to give me a road map so when I sit down to write every day I know where I’m going and don’t have to stare at my screen for an hour. Cause that would be bad.
Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?
When I sit down to write I reread what I wrote the day before to get me back in the groove. If a sentence really jumps out at me as wrong, I’ll fix it, but I don’t stop to really edit until after I finish. I try to keep the internal editor busy drinking pina coladas or something while I write.
Did you hire a professional editor?
Yes.
About Publishing:
Did you submit your work to Agents?
I did one book, one time, yes. LOL.
What made you decide to go Indie? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?
I wanted to self-publish four years before I did it. I just had to work up the nerve to fight the stigma. I’ve always just wanted creative control and to do my own thing and not have to get mixed up in everybody else’s drama, which corporate publishing seems to have in spades. Ironically I ended up getting enmeshed in drama regarding publishing anyway because I couldn’t stop arguing with people. But I’m starting to dial back on that, too and go back to why I chose to do this in the first place: to do my own thing, work at my own pace, and ignore everything else. I didn’t mean to become a big ‘indie loud mouth’, but I did. That ended up causing me to start feeling like I had to “live up to that” and be everywhere all the time. It took away a lot from my time and creative energy.
Did you get your book cover professionally done or did it you do it yourself?
The Blood Lust cover was professionally designed by Robin Ludwig of Robin Ludwig Design Inc. http://www.rldprint.com I heart my cover artist. She’s awesomesauce and I highly recommend her to anyone looking for a cover artist.
Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?
I have a plan, but if I told you, I’d have to kill you. 🙂
Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?
Don’t get distracted by positive or negative opinions about you or your work. As soon as you start releasing stuff into the world everyone will have an opinion and will just assume that you want to hear it. Ignore. Don’t give people with negative opinions about your work (or you, because that will happen too, if you’re vocal), your mental real estate. People who have positive opinions about your work or you, that’s great… but don’t buy your own press. Be gracious to your fans/readers, but don’t buy into the praise too much. Nobody likes an egomaniac. Oh, and even if you aren’t one, someone WILL say you’re an egomaniac. Just ignore those people. If they have nothing better to do with their lives than psychoanalyze you all day, they must not have much in their lives worth doing.
Zoe Winters writes quirky, sometimes dark paranormal romance. Her favorite colors are rainbow and clear. You can find her at the following places:
Author Site: http://www.zoewinters.org
Author Blog: http://zoewinters.wordpress.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/zoewinters
Zoe’s books can be purchased at: Amazon, Smashwords.com, and Barnesandnoble.com, . Blood Lust is available in both print and ebook.