Why I am in love with Draft2Digital

(Image taken from: www.jadekerrion.com)

Okay, Draft2Digital is amazing. What is Draft2Digital (Or D2D as all the cool, sunglasses wearing kids call it)? Well, it's a way to get your indie books out there that's EZ. I've used KDP before, which is Amazon's Kindle service, and that's easy, too. But here's the difference. Actually, here are a couple differences.

One, D2D allows you to put your work on all of the other platforms, such as Kobo, Nook, iTunes, and a whole bunch of other outlets I've never heard of before. Why is this amazing? Well, it's amazing because in the past, I had to use outside services like Bookbaby since I was afraid of formatting my books. Formatting was not my friend. But D2D seriously makes it as easy as pie (Apple pie. None of that difficult to make Key Lime Pie). Everything is laid out for even the greatest technophobe. I actually found out about it because of Nick Stephenson, who is another indie author who found lots of success with it. So kudos to him!

Another reason it's different and amazing is because the technical support really stands in your corner. I'm not saying KDP doesn't, since they do. But only on Amazon. One of my short stories, "Q: Are We Not Human? A: We Are Corpses!" is for some reason having a difficult time getting on the Nook platform.

But instead of this being a problem, the customer service at D2D has kept me up to date on the status, even though I'd kind of forgotten about it. What I'm trying to say is that they care more about my work than I do, which might just say more about me than them, but who's to say? :) The fact is, they fight for your work, even when it's some cheapie free book that may or may not get a lot of clicks and downloads on Barnes and Noble's website, and for that, they're awesome.

I haven't used Smashwords, but I can tell from my experience with D2D that I don't have to. So, uh, yeah! If you're an indie author, use it!I'm certainly happy with it.

Interview with Author, J. Thomas Powell

Today, I interview the incredibly talented, J. Thomas Powell. If you would like to read some of my other author interviews, click here.

















Your book, Vermont Voodoo, features both zombies AND voodoo. What was the reasoning behind combining such distinct supernatural concepts and creatures?

I knew I wanted to write about zombies from the beginning, but with all the TV and movie versions out there I knew I'd have to do something unique. The idea of the zombie originates from stories about voodoo in the New World, and early cinema used this trope often. Since George Romero we really haven't seen much of the voodoo zombie, and it was a lot if fun bringing that monster back to life (heh heh). The problem was that most portrayals of voodoo are laced with racist stereotype, and it was a challenge to work against the stereotypes while keeping a light, campy tone.

Cool. Now let's talk about location. The story takes place in Vermont. Why Vermont? Is there any specific reason why you chose that specific location to tell your story?

I set the story in Vermont for two reasons. First, it was thematically important to s set the story in a dying industrial city, and you see a lot of that in New England. Second, I thought it would be a lot of fun making my heroes flee from the undead in a snowstorm.

Indeed. That does sound pretty fun (and scary). Next question, and it also pertains to location. According to your website, you were born in Upstate New York and studied at Syracuse for a film degree, but now you live in Texas. What's wrong? Were you trying to escape the terrible snow storms here on the east coast?

I'm so happy that I'm living in Texas these days, and yes, a big part of that has to do with the weather. That being said, I've always enjoyed moving around and seeing different parts of the country. I spent every summer as a kid traveling up and down the East Coast, and living in Texas had made it easy to explore the South, especially places like New Orleans. I get a ton of inspiration by travel. This year I had an opportunity to go hiking in Nepal, which, let me tell you, was a trip and a half. Hopefully there will be lots more international travel in my future.

It's interesting that you got a film degree. Do you also dabble in film?

dabble. I worked at a production company in NYC straight out of college where my job was to read and evaluate screenplay submissions. After doing that I got into writing screenplays, and then writing novels. I still do some video editing on the side, and my screenplays are being submitted to festivals, so who knows? Maybe you'll see some of my work on the big screen. My dream job would be to write and produce independent movies, but whatever happens I hope to stay balanced between my film life and my literary life.

Nice. Now, back to your book. Where did you get the inspiration for it?

Vermont Voodoo is the first book I've ever written, and going into it I knew my biggest challenge would be finding the material and the stamina to write something that long. That's why I choose zombies; there's lots of material to explore and I could keep myself entertained with my monsters the whole way through. The fictional city of Frostbite is very similar to Syracuse, where I grew up. But my biggest inspiration may have come from my friend Daniel Cailler and his novel, Waking. Also set in a gritty industrial city, Waking is about a group of vampires and a hunter on a quest for revenge; I had the pleasure of writing a screen adaptation of Dan's book, and Vermont Voodoo has plenty of winks and nudges aimed at Dan. We work pretty well together, and if you like my book you should check his out, too.

Groovy. Now, can you tell us about National Novel Writing Month and how you're connected to it?

National Novel Writing Month, which is more commonly referred to as NaNoWriMo, is organized by the nonprofit Office of Letters and Light. Basically it's a challenge issued every November to write 50,000 words in one month or less, which is a short novel. You log your word count into their web site each day and if you reach the 50k goal by the end of the month you win... Bragging rights! And a novel. Which you wrote. It's wildly popular for writers and writing enthusiasts and a great educational tool, as well as a support system for getting that first draft on the page, as I did with Vermont Voodoo. I love NaNo.

Sounds legit. Okay, two part question. If you could have any super power, what would it be, and with said power, would you be a hero or a villain?

My superpower would be to invent doughnuts without any calories. Wait, that's not a superpower. Okay, my superpower would be hyper intelligence, and I would use that power to invent doughnuts and possibly funnel cake without any calories. That also cures diabetes. The hero part should go without saying.

Best. Power. Ever! Okay, is there anything else you would like to talk about or plug? Another project?

Of course you can buy my book, Vermont Voodoo, on Amazon in paperback or kindle format. But you should also follow me on Twitter @knid44 for updates, giveaways, promos, and general musings. I am working on a new sci-fi novel titled The Geneticist's Son, which should be out next year.

Excellent! Okay, thanks for the interview.

My pleasure. Thank you. 

Interview With Author, T.J. Loveless

 Here's my interview with the author, T.J. Loveless. If you would like to see some of my previous interviews, click here and here.

Please tell us about The Fortune Cookie Diaries and how you got the idea for them.

The Fortune Cookie Diaries is a series of six novellas, located in New Orleans, and a look at how we would react if something were to put myth into our modern world. Add in a duck that gets out of a padlocked enclosure, various holidays, and let the chaotic hijinks ensue!
I got the idea over a few months. I’d been talking to a hybrid author who self-published all of her novellas. She talked about the way commuters liked the shorter read time, enabling them to get from point A to point B (in real life and in a book) quickly.

My daughter, Teen Extraordinaire, asked when I was going to write about myth coming into our reality. She thought it would be funny to have a pet unicorn.

The idea really formed when a friend, married to a SWAT officer and she’s in a high stress position in the medical field, asked when authors were going to put humor in Urban Fantasy – her favorite genre. Then we proceeded to talk about our, uh, exploits in NOLA during Mardi Gras.
The Fortune Cookie Diaries was formed.

Pretty cool. :) Your blog is called "Writing From the Padded Room” (Nice blog name, by the way). Why did you decide to call it that? And while you're at it, could you tell us about your blog?

My grandmother, Stella, was a huge influence in my life, along with her older sister, Judy. The two women used to say life was like a huge padded room, and the only way to keep your sanity was to be insane. It was their favorite saying when crazy things happened. Considering the size of our family, it happened quite often.

Before my grandmother died, she made me promise to pursue a dream from when I was little, to be a published author. Made me promise to be myself, to quit worrying how others saw me, and doubting my abilities. She said, “Find your padded room, and write. For heaven’s sake, child, write.” My blog is a salute to them both.

For the most part, a lot of my blog has been aimed at other writers, with the odd blog about something off the normal path. But as I’ve grown, and now with fans of Lucky Number Six, I’m pushing more towards readers. I also like spotlighting self-published authors, as I see so many great books that should be read for various reasons.

Can you tell us why you decided to self-publish your work? I did as well, and was just interested to know what led you to the decision.

I wasn’t sure at first, I won’t lie. It’s scary, no matter the route you take towards publication – traditional, indie avenues, self-pubbing.

I have one book, Going Thru Hell, out on query. But The Fortune Cookie Diaries is another monster all together. I knew they weren’t going to be full length novels, making them extremely hard to have published traditionally, or even by small pub houses. Not to mention, Humorous Urban Fantasy is unheard of.

But I wanted people to laugh. Good grief, we’ve forgotten how to laugh with everything happening and it seems like we are getting hit right, left and center all at once. Since that is the point of TFCD – to make people laugh – I really wanted to get it out there. My only option? Self-publishing. Could I take on everything? Was I willing to? Did I really believe in the option?

Yes. I had several friends who’d already ventured into the arena, and were more than willing to talk and answer some of the dumbest questions ever. I researched, researched and researched. Read articles, looked up the numbers, created a game plan. And jumped in.

What's it like being a mother, a wife, and a writer?

In one word: crazy. It helps the family is always willing to help with brainstorming, talk about plot holes, and put up with rapidly procreating dust bunnies. They don’t even look twice when I yell at a character on the computer screen. My daughter thinks it’s funny. Hubby says I’m just plain happier when I have a story brewing. Both are used to me saying, “Oh, I so could turn that into a storyline …” We could be walking through the grocery store … although I recently found out they bet on how long we can be in a new place before I’m tapping a note in my Razr Maxx about a possible story/plotline. Daughter is up $122.

I have to force myself sometimes to put aside the writing. It’s so easy to get lost in other worlds. But my family does come first, as it does for all of us, I think. The juggling act can be pretty hard, whether you’re a mother, father, single, with or without kids. The days of a writer huddling over a keyboard, pulling a Hemingway never really were. Most of us have lives outside of writing. I have one friend who travels the world, several still in school, more with second and third jobs – all while tapping out the stories in their heads. I have great respect for all of them.

Can you please tell us what you do at Cliffhanger Editing?

I’m co-owner with Robin Alexander. I worked for a small publishing house as a copy/content editor, and learned a lot about what publishers want their books to look like. As I began the journey to jump into the self-published arena, I realized, there are a lot of editors with no real world experience, but are dang good at finding plot holes. At the same time, they miss quite a bit, and the author gets hit in reviews. Robin and I are line editors and proofreaders, we are specifically trained to find the overuse of pronouns, redundancies (the BIGGEST issue I’ve seen), grammar, punctuation, rules of writing, etc. We decided to take our knowledge and experience outside of the publishing house.

One of the things we decided to do was partials. I’d volunteered my services for a few auctions, to do the first fifty pages. The feedback I received told us a lot of authors would love a service of just seeing how to start their own editing and revising.
[End Self Plugging Commercial Here]

Two part question. If you could have any super power, what would it be, and with this power, would you be a hero or a villain?

Oh a superpower? Oooh. Only one? Fly? No, I’d likely run into a building. Superstrength? Bad idea being the klutz I am. See the future? Ack no! Take all the fun out of life. Oh, I know –talk to animals. Especially spiders. I could tell them – “Please don’t spook me anymore. It’s just not funny when I run headfirst into a door trying to get away.”

And I’d definitely end up a mischievous hero with villainous tendencies. I think I just scared my family with that thought.

Nice. I'd likely be a villain, too. Is there anything else you would like to talk about or plug?

First - if you need help with navigating your way through self-publishing, I have friends at Black Firefly who can help – with everything. Most are from various publishing houses, and know just how to help. Even Courtney –marketing guru for a popular, mid-sized publishing house - is part of the crew.

Second – don’t give up. Please. So many do. Writing is hard, and that’s the honest truth. But in the end, it’s worth it. To see your book on virtual/real shelves. To see people pick up your words, read them, sometimes nodding in agreement, or thinking in a whole new way. The writing community, for the most part, is more than willing to help you keep going, to reach your next goal. Don’t be afraid of failing. Be more afraid of never trying.