Author Interview: Louise Wise

 

What’s your story? How did you get into writing?
Like most authors I’ve been writing stories since I was small, but I never thought I’d become a writer. I certainly was never encouraged by teachers or family. I wrote my first book when I was twelve, and handmade the cover with felt-tip pens. I called it Charlie’s School Girls. Sounds pornish, but at the time, Charlie’s Angels was on the TV (I fancied myself as Cheryl Ladd’s character) and I was mad about them.

That’s when I knew I had a passion for writing, I wasn’t very good at it, but loved it.

Growing up I carried on writing but didn’t know anything about agents or publishing houses. Back then, with no Internet I was very much on my own. Then I wrote a letter to an agony aunt (the late Claire Rayner for those in the UK) spilling my woes and she wrote a lovely hand-written letter back and directed me to the Writers’ Handbook. From that, I took on-board all the advice it offered and subbed out my work until, in my late twenties, an agent from Darley Anderson took an interest in my latest-at-the-time-novel, Eden. It made it to a senior agent’s desk!

Sadly, they couldn’t place it with a publisher and I was back on my own. But it gave me a boost. Someone had taken me seriously, and someone had seen the writer me. I put Eden to one-side and began writing more, concentrating on the M&B market until someone there told me my writing was too ‘gritty’ for their house style. Then the eBook revolution too off and I dusted off Eden, gave it a fresh edit and sparkling cover and let Amazon publish it.

What advice do you have for aspiring authors?
Don’t publish your first book. Nobody wants to read ‘Charlie’s School Girls’ (see above). Trust me, it’s awful.

What are you working on now?
Even though Eden was a stand-alone novel, I had such a good response that I wrote book 2, and I’m editing it at the moment. It’s untitled and I’m asking people to help me come up with a title (or the inspiration for one), and those I use I will add their name and book in the acknowledgments once it’s published. All they have to do is leave their name, email and, of course, the title, in the comments section of my Eden blog.

What has been the most challenging part of publishing or marketing your book?
All of it! The work one has to do just to keep on the raft in a sea of indie writers is SO challenging. I regularly fall off, but climb right back on. I think I spend more time promoting than writing and it’s something I need to change.
What has been your favorite part?

It’s got to be having your shiny new book in your hands and seeing it for the first time. It’s also cyber meeting other writers and knowing they understand exactly what I am going through. Mention BBA or sock puppet to anyone outside the writer world and you’ll be met with a blank state, mention it to a writer and you’ll be chatting for hours!

Who are your favorite authors?
My indie favourites are Patrick Fox and Brea Brown. The traditional authors I enjoy are Sophie Kinsella for a light read and Dean Koontz for when I want something darker.

What gave you the idea for your current work?
I’m sort of writing two books (Eden 2 and a paranormal chick lit). I had the idea for Eden 2 last year while on holiday in Spain, and wrote it in two months once I was home. The paranormal chick lit I began writing two years ago, and seeing how fast I wrote Eden (using the Nanowrimo technique) I stopped faffing about and have now finished writing it.

If you could be any character in the book, which one would you be?
In Eden 2 there aren’t many characters (Jenny is an astronaut and has been abandoned on a planet she was exploring). I couldn’t be her. I like my home comforts too much. In my paranormal chick lit my character has gone back in time to relive her past but not as herself. She’s in the body of people that were important to her as a child. So she would be a good character to become, it’d be interesting to see how others see you.

What other books have you written and/or are working on for the future?
I have two chick lit novels: A Proper Charlie is a light-hearted novel written for the beach (pick up, put down. The Fall of the Misanthrope is a little darker, and although there are laughs galore, it has the undercurrent theme of the taboo issue of mental health problems.

For the future, I’m thinking of a series based on my Eden books. It’ll have nothing to do with the main characters. The books will have their own characters and be separate from Eden 1 and 2, and based on Earth not another fictional planet.

What’s your favorite quote?
I don’t think I have one. I see a lot pop up on Facebook and the one that made me smile recently was: regular naps prevent old age, especially if you take them while driving.

What’s your favorite supernatural creature?
The Unicorn because of their beauty.

About Eden

Somewhere with no way of getting home

Imagine being stranded

No telephone, no computer, no shelter

No food

Now imagine the place you’re stranded in another planet

And then you realise you’re not alone after all . . .

Beauty and the Beast for grownups

The fairy tale you never grown out of.

About Louise

Bio: Louise Wise is a blogger as well as a writer of romance. Her blog WWBB (Wise Words Book Blogger) regularly features authors of differing genres and she’s developing a library of indie writers on Pinterest called Book Junkies: http://pinterest.com/BookJunkies/

Her ‘real’ job is a pharmacist technician where she dispenses medicine to the masses. She has four titles published: Eden – a sci-fi romance. A Proper Charlie – a chick lit. The Fall of the Misanthrope: I bitch, therefore I am – a dark chick lit. So you Want an Author Platform is a non-fiction novella.

UK: Misanthrope: http://amzn.to/U2J4bW

Com: Misanthrope: http://amzn.to/Syt3Di

Blog: http://www.louisewise.com