GUEST AUTHOR - JOANNE PAULSON

I'm delighted to introduce the lovely (and prolific!) author Joanne (J.C.) Paulson to the blog. She's a long-time Saskatoon journalist and has been published in newspapers including The StarPhoenix, The Western Producer, the Saskatoon Express and many other publications over more years than she cares to admit 🤣

Her unquiet brain requested a shift from fact to fiction about ten years ago, when she started madly writing mystery novels based in Saskatchewan. Five of those have been independently published: Adam’s Witness, Broken Through, Fire Lake, Griffin’s Cure and a novella, Two Hundred Bones. The final book in the mystery series, The Maddox Verdict, is about to launch (exciting!) and we'll chat about that shortly, but she's also working on a romantic thriller, a standalone novel with different main characters, but within the Adam and Grace universe.

And, as if that wasn't enough, she's also the author of a traditionally-published historical fiction/western entitled Blood and Dust, and a children’s book, Magic Mack and The Mischief-Makers - what a woman! She currently lives in a rambling bungalow in Saskatoon with her husband, goldsmith Ken Paulson, a human mine of useful plot ideas. So let's meet her!

Hi Jo, thanks so much for chatting with me and I'd love to start with your new novel, as it's just launched, so what can you tell me about it? 

'The Maddox Verdict' is the sixth book in my mystery (plus love) Adam and Grace series, and completes the arc — so the series is now, finally complete. There may well be more books in the universe, but this is it.

It took me a very long time to write this book, partly due to life challenges, but also because it was extremely important to get the title character, Virgil Maddox, as perfect and as real as possible. Virgil is a Black American military veteran who lands in my city for various reasons. He is based on two men: a dear friend, who indeed is an American Vietnam veteran and an immigrant to Canada, and a client of my father’s from years ago. My father was a lawyer who defended teachers around the province.

I am neither Black nor American, nor if it comes to it, a man. So, trying to get his personality and his voice just right was extremely important to me.

Oh wow, that does sound quite a challenge. So what's it about?

It's about a teacher falsely accused of sexually assaulting three of his female students. Virgil happens to be a university friend of my main male character, Inspector (by now) Adam Davis. It turns out that there is a cabal behind these accusations — a cabal that has also perpetrated many heinous crimes. Adam is incandescent over the trumped-up charges, but is in conflict because of his relationship with the accused. He’s also supposed to be getting married to Grace Rampling, but the timing . . .

Oh my goodness, this sounds amazing (and yet another book for my TBR pile - I really need to build an extension to house all my books, lol!). Do you have a link? 

Of course! (press here)

But let's rewind, I'm fascinated by your move from reporting news to being a novelist. What prompted the change?

The first book idea chose me. I had just gone through a very difficult time, both personally and professionally, and found myself bouncing off the walls or curled in the foetal position, drinking too much and not sleeping enough. I knew this manic phase of misery had to end, but how?

Subconscious to the rescue. After approximately three months of this, I woke up at 3 a.m. (as usual) with a story rolling through my head instead of the usual anxieties. It was inspired by a local event from years earlier, about which I wrote a nasty newspaper column (I worked at the daily at that time.) One of the two local cathedrals, which rented its sanctuary to performing groups — many churches here do this, to raise renovation funds and so on — cancelled the local gay men’s choir concert.

I was livid and said so in print. It was one of two columns I wrote over several years that received the most reaction, most of it pro-choir.

So that dark night, I suddenly had built a plot around this event, including a murder (that did not happen in real life, ha!), a red-haired and passionate reporter (my female main character), and a very handsome (I couldn’t resist) detective sergeant who takes the case, solves the crime, and falls madly in love at first sight with the journalist.

I wrote it in about a year, not having clue one what I was doing. I had basic English skills, of course, after years of being a journalist. But a novel!? I read those things. I didn’t write them. Yet there I was. 

There is usually a germ of real life underlying my mystery stories, with the exception of Griffin’s Cure which was almost entirely made up of whole cloth. But my primary passion and motivation is creating books that address social issues: homophobia, misogyny, racism.

And yes, before you ask, I have indeed been called a woke libtard and much worse. Will I stop? No.

Good for you! I'm sure I'm not the only person standing up and applauding you right now! But sorry, please carry on.

Next I veered over into historical fiction with my western, Blood and Dust, which is traditionally published. The book emerged from a nightmare of my husband’s. Within a week, I had decided to write a first chapter which naturally placed itself in 1880s Canada. I showed it to him, his jaw dropped, and off I went.

That said, again, lol, there are also social issues at play in that book! Even my wee children’s book has a social issue at its root, so I guess I do not veer far from the core passion.

I love how you're true to your passions, as I'm sure that energy will come across in your writing, but what about novel outlining - are you a plotter or pantser? 

I am largely a pantser, but the basic plot and definitely the first few chapters and the ending are clear in my head before I begin. I don’t know how people can write fiction without knowing the ending. How on earth do you get there? I outline in my head and never use any aids.

I agree about not knowing the ending, but I plan a lot - I don't know what I'd do without my trusty spreadsheet!  How about deciding on a point of view (POV)?

POV, for some reason, is an easy decision for me. It’s just what the book calls for. In the case of the western, it’s the story of this young man’s journey from eastern to western Canada and it’s written entirely from his POV. It felt right.

In the case of the mysteries, there are two dominant POVs — the reporter and the cop — but sometimes I give the character around whom the plot revolves a POV as well. I’ve been naughty and given some of the other police officers limited POVs too. This is, in part, because the plots sometimes take my detective away from the on-the-ground investigation.

I'm loving the naughty! Talking of characters, do you create full profiles before you start, or as you go along?

I don't create profiles. 

Whaaat? How do you do that?

If I can’t “see” my characters, they don’t belong in my book. If they are not in my brain or my heart or both, I can’t write them. So they just live with me. This makes their characteristics generally quite easy to write as well.

Oh, I wish I was like that! How about naming characters?

Names are a bit of a different story, particularly for tertiary characters. I google the hell out of them. I don’t want them, particularly the villains, to have the same names as local people; my books are largely based in my own home city and other parts of the province.

I blew it spectacularly once. Sgt. Joan Karpinski is one of my favourite secondary characters. She has indeed had a few POV chapters. As always, I searched the name and found nothing. It turns out that an acquaintance’s relative has, indeed, that name. Thank goodness the relative was chuffed instead of upset and occasionally calls herself “Sergeant Joan.” I love that.

Thank goodness she saw it that way! What about some of the technicalities, like picking tenses, choosing language styles, etc?

I am most comfortable in basic past tense and therefore always “write there.” I find present tense hard to read, personally, so there’s that too.

There is a fat lot of swearing in my novels, but I hope I don’t take it too far; at least, not so far that it gets either boring or too offensive. I mean, these are cops, right. And bad guys. They swear.

True, and your genre does call for realism, so it's a good choice. But what about purple prose? Is that ever a problem?

I am not a fan of a lot of description and certainly not of purple prose. It’s not (I hope and think) a big problem, because I write action-based novels with a lot of (too much?) dialogue. Scaling back the dialogue is a bigger issue for me.

I'm the same - I love writing dialogue! But as you're so experienced, do you have any tips for newbie or aspiring writers?

I have SO many tips! I do some content and line editing and I’m constantly adding tips to my list. It’s hard to know where to begin, really. Here are a few fundamentals.

If you write, you had better also read. It is amazing how much brains can glean about word usage, style, grammar and character development without the prefrontal cortex even noticing.

Be sure to read a good book on novel-writing basics. It’s stunning how many people cannot properly write and punctuate dialogue tags, for example. Also, sentence fragments. (Ha). Sometimes, they work for emphasis. Too many of them and your reader will be flinging the book across the room.

Avoid overusing words. Avoid overusing words. Just already seriously suddenly avoid overusing the same dang words.

🤣🤣 Oh, I love this! I think I'm getting the message...! 

Okay, let's switch to the publishing side of things now. You mentioned you've been both traditionally and self-published - can you tell me more?

When I wrote the first book, Adam’s Witness, I decided I was too old to be pitching a murder mystery to agents or publishers. That was almost 10 years ago, so apparently I have survived and maybe didn’t make the best decision. I did get some agent interest afterward, but it was too late for my series. I was told that it would be next to impossible finding a publisher for an already-published work.

When I wrote the western, however, I thought well, it’s now or never. So I pitched it to two publishing houses (to begin with) and one took it.

Oh wow, congratulations! That's quite some feat. 

For me, editing seems key in producing quality work, it's made such a difference to my work, but what about you? What's your process and do you use professional editors?

I wish I could answer that first question. I edit it until I feel it’s finished. I expect it’s at least a dozen full passes, with much intermittent peering at single chapters. I don’t read it out loud, but I know this works for a lot of authors.

I cannot stress this enough. Every book — EVERY SINGLE BOOK EVER — needs at least one editor. I usually have a content editor, a sensitivity editor, a legal editor (not for fear of being sued, but because there is so much law and police procedure in my books), and a proofreader. I’m lucky that my legal editor is also a genius proofreader. That doesn’t include betas. 

That's sound advice, and seeing as you've just mentioned them, tell me about your betas. And do you send out ARCs (Advance Reader Copies)?

I always have at least five beta readers. In the past, I have not employed ARCs, although that may change. I have not independently published in a few years, and in that time the universe has exploded with change. I have to say I’m not sure what to recommend now.

Previously, I have always lined up press interviews, done a book launch/signing, posted an incredible amount on social media, done the pre-order thing and at least one promo site sale, usually about three or four weeks after launch.

Aww, marketing – it's such a divisive subject within the writing world. What works well for you?

I’ve tried it all, apart from book tours and blog tours. Some things have worked once or twice; others have not; some things stop working. The one thing that will generally work is showing up in BookBub deals, if you can get them.

Social media, once upon a time, did help generate visibility and sometimes sales, but that does not seem to be the case today, at least in my experience . . . which admittedly, is not as vast as it once was. I am feeling quite burned out on social and trying to generate the energy for my next two adventures.

I did one successful advertising campaign on Twitter/X. The downside of that were the legions of horrible, homophobic, misogynist and filthy comments that ended up attached to the ad. I couldn’t bring myself to do it again, although I will probably give it another shot for The Maddox Verdict. We’ll see.

It’s a minefield. Tread very, very carefully.

Yikes, I can't believe your adverts attracted that type of hatred. That's quite saddening, but it'll be interesting to see how your new novel goes. 

Can I ask about your cover art – is that your work or do you employ others?

Oh maaaaan, this is the tough one. I have tried many cover designers, I’m afraid, and it has never worked out. One made Adam’s Witness look like a work of religious fiction (I get it, but still) and it just isn’t. One day, I will find the right person and redo all my covers. Because yes, I’ve unfortunately done them myself. 

I am testing yet another book cover production company right now. It is time to update my covers. Here’s the thing about that: times and trends change, and covers probably should also change along with them.

I'll admit, I was surprised at how much cover trends affect sales, it's a bit of a minefield! And talking of which, do you have any tips for the more technical side of writing?

I am generally unimpressed with writing software programs, none of which I will mention by name. A couple have been useful in finding repetitive words and so on, but they were not worth the effort overall, in my opinion.

I will not use AI for writing in any way ever. I don’t even use it for research. I don’t find it reliable enough.

Luckily for Canadians, our ISBNs are free! I always get my own ISBNs (not everyone does if they are exclusive to Amazon) because I want to OWN that number. Also, copyright is automatic. I declare it anyway on the title page.

Ooh, you lucky Canadians! I had to buy my ISBNs - yet another expense but, as you say, at least you own them so that's better for control. 

I'd love to end by asking your opinion on common writing mistakes – do you have any pet hates?

Due to my history, I tend to notice basic language use and grammar errors. This is not to say I am remotely perfect. At all.

I see comma splices, lack of subject-verb agreement, possessives used as plurals and poor dialogue tag use — especially when they aren’t tags at all, but physical actions. “That was so funny,” he chuckled. Or obvious bits of dialogue that should be shown, not told, adding insult to injury with a tag that means the same thing: “I was so angry,” he fumed. I got that the first time, lol.

Repetition, along with not knowing the precise meaning of a word you’re using, also makes me kind of crazy. “You’re completely devoid of humour,” for example. Devoid actually means “completely empty.”

Well, Jo, you have been an utter delight! Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me, and if you'd like to find out more about this wonderful author, please visit her website here or you can find her links below. 

Substack: https://joannepaulson.substack.com/

X: https://x.com/joanne_paulson

IG: https://www.instagram.com/paulson.joanne/

Book One of the Adam and Grace Mystery Series: mybook.to/AdamsWitness

Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/J.C.-Paulson/author/B071GVF9N4

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GUEST AUTHOR - KACEY KELLS

Today I'm delighted to share my author interview with the lovely non-fiction author, Kacey Kells. I first chatted to her on Tweetables.com, where she did a brilliant interview with me back in 2024 - click here to read it (it's amazing!).

Kacey is one of the bubbliest authors out there, which is the exact opposite of the heavy topics she covers in her books. I think most people that follow Kacey fall in love with her energy. Personally I find it mind-blowing trying to comprehend everything she's been through, but let's meet her.

So Kacey, what was it that started you writing?

My first book, "KELLCEY", is a memoir. It’ s about being victim of a sexual aggression and the consequences. 

I started writing because I was absolutely unable to speak about what had happened to me, so my counsellor, my therapist and my mom said I should try to write something, Hence, I started writing, but in my mind it was only something like a diary. 

In any case, it proved to be helpful, a way to heal. One day, my counsellor asked my permission to read what I did, and it’s her who said I should try to publish it because it could be helpful to other victims and survivors.  

Jeez. I mean, jeez 🤯 Taking the decision to publish such a personal and traumatic experience is unbelievably brave. Apart from the fact you're amazing, have you ever been contacted by readers who have shared their own experiences, including letting you know how your book has helped them?  

Yes! And that’s what makes me happy. Several women contacted and told me that reading Kellcey had been helpful... others said they once shared the same experience and were happy that I did write and publish this. Even male readers see this book positively. 

That's phenomenal! I mean, for such a terrible thing to have happened, what an amazing way to handle it and move on. I can understand why you published this first book, but you've since written another. Can you tell me about that?

My second book, "(His)Story of Women", is something I had to do: I’m a feminist (not a misandrist!) and wanted to write something to detail the history of the process of objectification of women and explain its consequences. 

It’s an academic essay based on the research I did at university. It involves a sociological, anthropological, historical, economical, and genetical analysis with the purpose to show that both genders are indeed physiologically different but equal in skills and intelligence; hence, empowering women is not a question of ethics, or justice, but a cornerstone of social resilience, stability, and progress. 

Now that's very interesting. I guess a lot of people reading the blurb might think you're just fighting back, against what happened to you, but it's a fascinating idea to say hey, are we different and investigate that academically instead.

I'm guessing you compiled a load of data and then somehow had to translate that into being a coherent book? I can't imagine how you did that! Was it a case of planning chapters and then slotting in research, or was it more organic and you split up the work as you went? 

I would answer both. I, of course, had a scheduled plan, necessary because it was driven by the several disciplines I needed to go through to develop my analysis. Sometimes, however, new findings pushed me to follow a direction I wasn’t initially aware of. 

And how about how you published them both? Did you go down the traditional route or self-publish instead?

KELLCEY was first published traditionally, but when my contract ended, I decided to self-publish it with Amazon. Since I was happy with it I decided to do the same with (His)Story of Women which I self-published on the same format. 

Excellent. Okay, my final question, what does the publishing future look like for you? Is there another book on the horizon?

Yes! My next book will be different though: it'll be my first historical novel. 

Oohh, that's exciting! Tell me more!

It's the story of a young Athenian woman (Vth century BC). The idea is to give a critical description of the lives of women in ancient Greece. 

I already read several classics, like Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Thucydides, Plutarch... plus several academic essays and analysis, mainly about the Athenian society in the age of Pericles, but I still have plenty of reading to do to have a clear idea of what daily life was in ancient Athens. 

Because of the density of the research and reading I still have to do, and knowing that there’s little information about women’s daily lives, it will certainly take another year or two! But it’s a beautiful challenge! 

Wow, it sounds amazing. You obviously love research, and I get the feeling your prose is going to be so rich with everything you've learnt, but how about the story itself? Do you think you'll follow several different women and multiple point-of-views, or will it be one? And will this straddle into men too? 

There’s only one heroine, and her name is Kalista (meaning the ‘most beautiful’ in ancient Greek). I chose this name because it starts with a K, and it’s easier to identify with her! 

There are of course many characters (some real, like Pericles or Socrates...) and some not, but she’s the main character. We follow her, from her birth and childhood, to her marriage (age 14!), and later follow her life as a married woman in ancient Athens. 

I don’t know yet, but something in my head told me that, because she belongs to a noble and educated family, she’s fond of philosophy, like Aspasia (Pericles’ concubine) and find a way to escape the gynaeceum thanks to philosophy.... 

I can't wait to read this! If you'd like to find out more about Kacey then please visit her website here where she also has a great blog and the links to her socials (please note, her X account has been hacked, so don't follow her there!). 

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GUEST AUTHOR - THADDEUS ARJUNA

This month's guest author interview is with Thaddeus Arjuna, who is a multi-genre author with two murder-mysteries, a sci-fi trilogy, a biography, spiritual odyssey and book of poetry, odes, short stories and rants! That bio alone has to whet your appetite!

He says of himself, I write almost entirely eBook novellas. I feel that an eBook is a living, breathing entity. It is a medium that allows me to make changes whenever I want, add, redact, re-edit, and breathe new life into the story! And I can honestly say that almost all of my books have evolved continuously over the last 10 years. #ReadAndReview

How interesting to see a digital version of your books in that way, it's a good point, but with such a diverse portfolio of work, how do you choose what to write when?

Initially, I had a plan to write three books. My parents had a printing press company, and they had several author friends, like Walter Farley, Yan D'Hartog, and John D MacDonald. They were at our home regularly when I was growing up, and Mr. Farley inspired me.

My first book was "Something is Wrong with Janet." She was my mother and also an institutionalized manic depressive. It was a difficult book to write because I got a lot of pushback from family members.

My 2nd book was "The Mansion at Peacock Gully." It was the first book I published. A true crime story. The first 3 books were about events or experiences I had growing up or earlier in my Restaurant career.

Gosh, that sounds tough to write a book about your own mother, particularly with such a challenging medical diagnosis, and obviously not everyone in the family approved which must have added to your pressure, I'm so sorry to hear that but well done for tackling it.

Let's talk about your writing style and preparation next. What do you do?

I usually jot down a few things I want to write about in a story, and have a mental outline of how I want it to flow. I have only written one book in the first person, although I usually use one of the characters as a first person too.

But I do have a problem with choosing names. I struggle with it. If I am writing a true story, I will use the same names, changing a letter or two. Nowadays I do searches for names, Sci-fi, Civil War, Asian Hindu names ( For Vishnu's Tears). Creating the characters is tough, too, but I enjoy the process immensely.

I love researching names too, thank goodness for the internet 🤣 What about your characters' language style - do you allow swearing?

I swear all the time, so in most of my books, the characters do too.

That's interesting, because I struggle to use swears in my prose, I've no idea why! And how about purple prose - is that an issue for you?

The only books that I can be accused of purple prose are my Poetry book, "The Beautiful Sadness," and my Romantic Fantasy, "The Siren's Red Tide Diary." And that would be debatable. I think both books are beautiful.

I think poetry makes it more allowable somehow! Now lets move onto publishing. Indie or trad?

I know how hard it is to traditionally publish. I self-publish because essentially, I am writing for myself. I retired 10 years ago, and I needed something to do. I never had any delusions of making a living from this. I just wanted it to fill a void. And maybe I would learn something about myself.

I'm indie too, but mainly because I want the control (too many years being self-employed has done that to me!), but also I'm impatient 😂 What about the editing side of things - what do you do there?

Because I write e-books exclusively, I do regular editing. I feel an e-book is a living, breathing thing. You can always make it better. I use grammarly and I just bought the pro Grammarly.

And what about your process pre-publishing, such as sending out ARCs, deciding on a cover, etc?

I frequently give away my books for free. If they write reviews they are my beta readers. If not? Oh well.

And my friend Carol Marrs Phipps has done all of my book covers but one. She has also done all of my banners.

Okay, seeing as you've mentioned reviews and the poor uptake of readers leaving some sort of feedback, can we talk about the trickier side of writing. What things do you consider your nemesis?

I am horrible at promotion, and I struggle with every single word. With writing, I know when a book is flowing well because the writing comes easy. But I can say that as I get older, that is almost never.

I also need to improve marketing, but I have really been hurt because I lost access to a much larger account on X/ Twitter (24K followers), and I don't trust marketers (because their are SO many scams on Twitter.) I just started with Cathy (Cathy's Promos) and she turned me on to you.

Well thank you to Thaddeus (and to Cathy too!) and if you'd like to find out more about Thaddeus and his work, then please click on his Amazon author page link here or his X link here. If you enjoyed this post, then press here to get all the latest updates emailed directly to you via follow.it (You can unsubscribe at any time). Thank you!

GUEST AUTHORS - AMANDA NELSON & LISA-MARIE POTTER

Amanda and Lisa-Marie are an award-winning, co-writing team of best friends, who create imaginary worlds together, including Men In Books Aren't Better (which I've read and reviewed here), Just What the Doctor Hired, and a short story, Shivers. 

I thoroughly enjoyed their first book but then had so many questions (how can people co-author - that's so impressive!), so let's get going!

How do you choose the ideas for your books?

The Plus One series was Lisa-Marie's idea. Because she loves the movies Pretty Woman and The Wedding Date, she thought a fake-dating romance would be fun to write. From there, she came up with the premise for Men in Books Aren't Better. Amanda thought it was brilliant, and the story was born. 

Aww, yes, I can see how those films could have inspired you, but it's one thing to imagine it, quite another to write it, so how do you navigate two people writing a novel together?

In each of our novels, we tell the story from a dual point of view. Typically, Lisa-Marie is the creative mind behind the female main character, while Amanda portrays the male main character.

As pantsers, we tend not to outline our plots but rather fly by the seat of our pants. Hence, Lisa-Marie will write a chapter for the woman and then send the draft to Amanda. Then, after reading what the female character is up to, Amanda will write the man’s chapter, and the story evolves through this back-and-forth, making the journey through each plot an adventure for both of them.

Oh wow, what a creative way to build the story! It must be fun when one of you writes something unexpected 😁 There must be some rules though, like do you create profiles for characters including appearance, characteristics, etc.?

We pick a guy that we're both attracted to, usually an actor or singer, and create a whole background and profile for them. From there, we pick a female character we think would suit the guy, and do the same for her. As for their names, we use baby name websites from whatever country we've chosen them to come from.

I think I'd like to be there for that initial chatting session, it sounds like fun 🤣 

Moving onto the publishing side of things, why did you decide to go the traditional route?

When we began our journey, we needed the extra validation from an agent and a publisher that our story had merit; therefore, we went the traditional publishing route. 

That's understandable, and as agents/ traditional publishers are so hard to secure, that shows the quality of your writing, so congratulations to you both! Can you tell me more about your editing process?

Once we've finished a first draft, we will review it several times and read it out loud before sending it to beta readers. Once we've received their feedback, we make the necessary changes and send it to our editor, Leanne Morgena, at The Wild Rose Press. Leanne will note any more corrections we need to make, and we will go through the manuscript several more times, back and forth, until she is happy with it. 

In our opinion, a good editor, like Leanne, is worth their weight in gold. She has taught us so much—how to look for repeated words, implied prepositional phrases, and active wording.  We would not be where we are without her. 

Editors are definitely the unsung heroes of publishing! Talking about professionals, do you get involved in your cover design?

Because we are with a small traditional press, they commission the cover artists. We are allowed some input, but ultimately, the publisher has the final decision.

That seems fair enough. Do you have any tips for aspiring writers, such as pitfalls to avoid?

Common mistakes we've seen is writers not utilising beta readers instead of friends and family, not considering feedback or taking critiques personally and being offended instead of contemplating the advice and putting it to good use. We will also stress again, that a good editor is key.

I definitely think writers need to develop a thick skin, as you put your life and soul in your books, and criticism can be hard to take. But the right words from someone who knows what they're talking about makes all the difference. 

And talking of which, you've won a ton of awards (just see the graphic!). Can you tell me about them?

Men In Books Aren't Better has received the book of the month award from Long and Short Reviews, the Gold Literary Titan Book Award, was a finalist in the NEST awards, a finalist in the International Book Awards, a finalist in the National Excellence in Romance Fiction awards, a finalist in the Independent Author Network, and won romance book of the year from the Mid-Atlantic Region Authors. 

Just What the Doctor Hired won second place in The BookFest Awards' 2025 competition, first place in the 2025 International Impact Book Awards in Romance, and is a current running semi-finalist for the Chanticleer International Book Awards.

Wow! I mean, wow, what an achievement! So you're riding on a high, great at what you do and being recognised for it, but what about marketing? It seems to be the least-favourite part of the process for many authors, so what do you find works best for you?

First, a Goodreads giveaway - we gave away 5 paperbacks for the $100 fee, and had over 4k people enter in return. This puts our book on their "to be read" lists and was great exposure. 

Second, a Cravebooks email pull. Cravebooks puts together email pulls with giveaways by genre. It's affordable and works well.

Thank you, that's so generous of you to share! And for people who haven't read your work yet, please can you give me a quick summary of them both?

Tagline for Men in Books Aren't Better:  

In the city of high stakes. Love isn’t just a gamble. It’s the ultimate jackpot! 

However you read—print, eBook, or audiobook—Men in Books Aren’t Better 

Book 1 in the Plus One series, brings sizzling chemistry, witty banter, and a swoony book boyfriend. All the heat without the spice!   See more here

Tagline for Just What the Doctor Hired: 

One rule- no men. One problem- him! She swore off love. He swore off scandal. Fate prescribed otherwise. 

Available in eBook, paperback, and audiobook coming soon!  See more here 

To find out more, please visit their website at www.NelsonPotter.com

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GUEST AUTHOR - JESS FRANKEL

I'm delighted to welcome the amazingly prolific author J.S. Frankel, who I first met on my sister blog, Tweetables. Jess gave me such an amazing interview in 2022 (read it here) that I had to chat to him again!

It's so lovely catching up! I'd love to start by asking about your inspiration for your many books. Do you follow market trends or do you just please yourself?

I never look at market trends. I write what I like. If I get an idea, then I run with it. 

As for the ideas, sometimes I get them from a throwaway line I read on the Internet, but usually they come from my own little brain and my weird imagination. I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, and my late sister was far more intelligent, but she admitted that she never had my imagination, and that’s saved me more often than not.

Aww, I know you're underselling yourself - and I can say that with confidence - because I've read your work and it's brilliant 👏  But as I've now written a novel myself, the mechanics of writing fascinates me, so are you a plotter or pantster? 

I’m both. I plan out my chapters, just the basics, who does what, what happens, some of the dialogue, and then tweak things along the way. There is no single way that is superior to the other. Everything works if you do.

Good point. So how do you decide which point of view to use, and if you have multiple POVs, how do you manage them?

I started out by writing from a first-person POV, mainly because I felt some of the stories were deeply personal. It wasn’t like I inserted myself into every story; more like I could relate in some ways to the characters I created. I wanted to write the MCs as everyman/everywoman people in order to make them more relatable to the readers. I think it worked.

However, with my Catnip series, I decided to try a third-person limited POV. Other writers discouraged me from doing that, saying it was passe. Well, Harry Potter is mainly third-person POV, and I’d say those novels sold quite well!

In short, something in my head told me which POV to use. I can’t explain why, really. I just knew that first or third-person POV was right for that story.

That goes to prove you're an instinctive writer, which is such an asset! When you create characters, do you create profiles before you start writing, and how do you pick names? 

I don’t do character profiles. I prefer to build them as I go along. For names, I stick to generic names for the men—Bill, Harry, John—but for the women, I tend to use names that end with -la or -ra, such as Shayala, Minarra, Angella, Angela, etc. It sounds more poetic to my ears that way. There are exceptions, of course, but I like going with those names.

How do you pick which tense to use?

I write in past tense. That’s the most traditional way to write, and it serves me well. Present tense can work, of course, as it’s somewhat more immediate, but it seems too pretentious to me. Not many writers can pull it off successfully.

And what about the language styles for your characters? Do you have to write to your audience, like reduce or soften the swear words you use?

I very rarely swear in my novels. They’re YA Fantasies, so swearing is kept to a bare minimum, mainly in a dramatic scene. But that’s about it. 

As you're writing for teens, that seems very sensible! And can I ask about purple prose - is it an issue for you?

Purple prose is, to me, overdone. I’m more of an Elmore Leonard person, writing in a very minimalist style. He said—and I’m paraphrasing—trim the fat and leave the meat, and that resonated with me. I do that, and let the action and dialogue take over, keeping the narrative simple and direct. That’s just my way; everyone else will have their own way, and that’s a good thing. 

I love this! So, as a newbie author myself, do you have any tips for aspiring writers?

I’ll just say to write what’s in your heart. Write what inspires and moves you. Don’t write for the market, as it constantly changes, and don’t try to be too pithy. I can usually kick the pith out of everyone, so there it is. 😉 

😂 So naughty, but so nice! Okay, let's get onto the publishing bit now. Which route did you take?

I’ve always gone the traditional publishing route. Nothing wrong with self-pubbing, but with traditional publishing, the cover and editing are taken care of for me, not to mention proper formatting, uploading the book to Amazon and other sites, etc.

I must admit, there are days when I wish I'd tried that route too, as there seems so many decisions to make just now! But tell me about your editing process

I have an editor—Laura McNellis—who is simply wonderful. She picks apart all my dumb mistakes, and she knows how I write, so we work well together.

As for self-editing, I go over my manuscript a LOT before submitting it—and there are still mistakes, which is where Laura enters the picture. Reading it aloud helps, but I tend to ‘read’ it in my mind, if that makes any sense. Professional editors are fine, but they’re hard to find and they’re often very expensive. 

One thing I must mention, and that’s the people who shill their wares on FB and Twitter. Many times they’re just out for a quick buck and they do a poor job. These are just the stories I hear. If you want a quality editor, you have to pay. Period. That’s why I recommend Laura, as she is very good at what she does.

A recommendation is like gold dust, so thank you for that. I did a lot of research and was lucky to find the perfect editor for me too. She's agreed to be be interviewed on here, so it'll be interesting to learn about her side of things!

How about your pre-publication procedure – do you use betas, ARCs, etc?

I’ve only used beta readers on my gender-bender novels or my lesfic novels. As a straight white dude, I’m very conscious that what I write might inadvertently offend someone in the LGBTQIA community, which is the LAST thing I want. 

Therefore, for those novels, I have asked some members of the LGBTQIA community to check things out and tell me what they find wrong. That’s just my way of doing it. For my ‘straight’ novels, I rely on my own sense of what’s right and what’s inappropriate. 

You've already mentioned your publisher deals with your cover art, but do you get any input? 

I trust my cover editor, Martine Jardin. She and I collaborate, and we usually agree on what to do. 

You certainly have some stunners. During my writing journey, I've found a crazy overuse of the word 'so' - it drives me crazy! Sooooo, (completely different word lol!) do you have any?

In the past, I’ve used ‘that’ way too many times to count, so I have consciously cut down on doing so. I’ve often read works from authors who used ‘defiantly’ instead of ‘definitely’ and I think to myself, “What were they thinking?”

Also, overusing exclamation marks or abusing commas and semicolons and colons. Proper punctuation is, to me, a must. (And, yes, I’ve made mistakes in that area, too!).

Exclamation marks?!!! Are you kidding me!!! Yep, a big problem for me too!

Okay, let's talk about marketing – are you any good at PR?

I wish that I was better at it. If I had the cash, I’d hire a PR assistant to do all the legwork for me, but sadly, my funds are limited. I simply put up my links for my Amazon profile and for Goodreads and Twitter, and hope that word-of-mouth will do the trick.

My final question is about how fast you write, because it astounds me. You recently put up a post about writing 50k words in 3 weeks. That blows my mind, because my 85k has taken over 3 years (okay, I struggle to find the time, but your speed is incomprehensible to me). What's your secret?

I spend around three hours a day writing. On a good day, I can get around five thousand words down. Of course, not all of that is quality, which is why I do a lot of editing. As you said, it takes around three weeks to get the best copy ready before I submit it.

Amazing! Just amazing. Well thank you so much, Jess, and if you'd like to find out more about this lovely author, you can find his Amazon page here, his Goodreads page here and you can follow him on X here (please note, don't go to his old account of @JessSFrankel because if has been hacked - nearly 40k followers too, heart-breaking!)

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