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What inspired you to start writing?
I think I've always had a vivid imagination and keeping it all inside was just too overwhelming.
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Can you tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is a historical fiction novel set in Colorado in the 1880s during the silver boom, which led to a railroad boom, so to speak. It's about the restlessness of youth. Leaving what is comfortable and confining for something exciting and liberating. What usually happens is that as we feel the force of the "exciting and liberating" world, we begin to long for that which is comfortable and confining. You'll have to read the book to see how that plays out.
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How do you create your characters?
Some are different manifestations of my own personality, some are based on various people I've known throughout my life, and some are just pure imagination.
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What does your typical writing day look like?
Up at 5 am to make coffee, because that's writer fuel. While the coffee is brewing, I boot up, do a quick run through emails. By the time I'm finishing my first cup of coffee, I'm already writing. I take a break for breakfast, another for lunch, and start wrapping up around 2 or 3. After that, I respond to emails and do marketing.
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What has been the most rewarding part of being an indie author?
People flocking to my door with large barrels full of cash. No, wait, that was a dream I had last night. Probably the flexibility to learn and grow, and to publish on multiple platforms.
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What’s one challenge you’ve faced in your writing journey?
Marketing is the one enormous challenge I've faced. After that, I would have to say, marketing.
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Do you have any favorite writing tools or apps?
Fresh brewed Colombia coffee that I buy off of my roof and roast exactly the way I want it. I combine the best of two worlds, I write online to take advantage of the autosave feature and paste it into Libre Writer using a template.
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What advice would you give to new or aspiring indie authors?
You're not an author because you started a book, you're an author because you finished one. Writer's block is just a different way of saying that you're procrastinating. Put your butt in the chair and write, most of the time, it will pass. What you write may not be your best, but I've discovered that some of my best stuff came when I was forcing myself to write.
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How do you handle book promotion as an indie author?
I don't think I handle it, I think it handles me. I try to use lots of creative approaches, including book trailers and excerpts to try to capture attention.
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What’s next for you? Are you working on a new book?
I'm working on about three books in various stages. After Where Rivers Run West, I'll be working on the third book in the MacLean Brothers series, which is laid out and ready to start, and I'm plotting and outlining a ghostwritten book for a client.
