As promised I have another interview and giveaway for you. I would like to introduce everyone to Zoe Winters. Everyone wave and please make Zoe feel welcome.
Thank you Zoe so much for sitting down and taking time out of your very busy schedule to answer my questions. I am looking forward to learning more about you and sharing you with my followers. I hope that they love you just as much as I do! ♥ ♥ ♥
For the Love of Books: Please tell us a little about yourself Zoe
Zoe Winters: That’s such a broad question. And actually I’m pretty boring because I spend about 70% of my time in imaginary worlds. As my BFF says: “This is not your primary reality” LOL. Probably the most interesting thing about me is the books themselves. (I hope!)
FLB: Can you tell us what it means to be an Indie author for those of us who may not know?
ZW: Being an indie author is much like being an indie musician or filmmaker. It means you take all the financial risk to create and distribute your work, but you also have all the creative control. A lot of readers aren’t aware that your average published author has NO say in their cover art or even the title of their book. So if the cover sucks or doesn’t match the branding image the author wants to create? Tough cookies. Same with the title. There are also situations in which typos and problems slip into a work and they can be extensive. The author sometimes finds them before publication but the publisher says: “No, sorry, we can’t fix that now. It’s got to go out as is. We’re on a schedule.”
And I’m a control freak. I can’t even imagine how bad it would go if I had a traditional publisher. Unless they were paying me LOT of money and giving me total creative control (which I don’t expect to ever happen), I just can’t see that scenario playing out.
I have released work with typos (there are a few in Save My Soul that are annoying the crap out of me that I just discovered). But I get to FIX them. And I will be. I want my books to be the best quality they can possibly be for readers. I want the covers to be awesome, and I want the title to be what *I* chose. I neither need nor want someone else’s marketing department coming in and trying to take over and change the flavor of any aspect of my work or its packaging.
So that’s what being an indie means. Sure, a lot of self-published books suck, but I think you can tell pretty quickly how seriously someone takes their craft and the quality of the work they’re putting out. And indie authorship has gained a lot of support for readers. So thanks!
FLB: Thank you for this insight Zoe, I am sure many readers are not aware of this; I know I was not aware of this!
FLB: Can you tell us a little about Bloodlust, which is made up of three novellas: Kept, Claimed, & Mated. Which I totally loved by the way!!!!
(Cover Art by Robin Ludwig)
ZW: Blood Lust is an anthology of 3 novellas that all happen in the same world, what I’ve started calling the “Pretverse” (for: The Preternaturals Series) One of the reasons I chose to start with novellas is to expand the world more quickly because this is very much a “everything’s connected but not all the same characters are in every book” type of series. I’ve got therians (politically-correct term for Were-creatures), vampires, demons, magic users, and a human world that mainly doesn’t know about this stuff. There are various political alliances and struggles and romances that feature snarky, yet vulnerable heroines and growly alpha badass heroes.
In Kept, Greta is a werecat that is slated for sacrifice by her tribe. So she goes to Dayne, a local sorcerer with a bad reputation and the only one strong enough to protect her.
In Claimed, Anthony is a vampire who accidentally almost kills the human woman he loves while he’s high on therian blood. She didn’t know before that point that he was a vampire. And she hadn’t been afraid of him before. He’s so ashamed, he accidentally wipes too much of her memory and gives her amnesia.
In Mated, Jane is a human who can sense vampires because she has vampire blood running through her veins, due to the fact that her mother was a vampire’s pet being fed vampire blood when she got pregnant. Jane senses them, without having any of their powers, so she’s a target. They can get into her head to read her but they can’t enthrall or control her. So she’s pretty much at the mercy of the vamps and one of them gives her to Cole, the leader of the werewolf pack as payment for a gambling debt.
FLB: Tell us about your new release Save My Soul (SMS). This book follows Bloodlust, but is a standalone book. Correct? (Again, ♥ ♥ this story)
(Cover Art by Robin Ludwig)
ZW: Save my Soul is part of the ongoing series, with one recurring character, Cain, who is introduced as a minor character in Mated and is the villain of SMS. But it can be read as a standalone. Someone can read SMS first and not be lost. Book three will start tying things in Blood Lust and SMS more tightly together.
Save My Soul is about an incubus who has been trapped in a house by a 50-yr-old curse. Anna buys the house and Luc decides he wants her soul. Plus he’s all hot and stuff, so that’s actually a hard choice. LOL Anna has loved the house since she was a kid and so she refuses to leave. Instead she involves a priest, ghost hunters, gypsies, and witches to try to help her get rid of him. At the same time, she’s trying not to fall for him because if she does, she could die. And that would be the best-case scenario.
FLB: I have to say that Luc is just to hot for his own good…☺ I hope to see more of him, now that my emotions are back in place after reading…
FLB: Can you tell us what you are currently working on?
ZW: Right now I’m finishing up a short story (editing stage) about Dayne and Greta from Kept. Its part of a short story anthology I’m doing with some other paranormal indie authors. Proceeds from the anthology will go to charity. (The exact charity is still being worked out, so that information will be forthcoming, at least by release, which should be around the first of March) And I’m also working on book 3 of the Preternaturals series (Blood Lust, Save My Soul, and Insert Book Three Here).
FLB: When Zoe has the information on the charity I will post the link on the blog and may even have a challenge and reward offer for my followers.
FLB: I am sure you are asked this a lot, but I will ask anyways. What are your writing rituals?
ZW: I actually don’t have any. I mean, I work with an outline, but I don’t consider that a ritual so much as part of my process. I know a lot of writers play music or light candles or incense or sit in a special chair or under a tree or something. But I just start typing. Not sexy, I know. But there it is. Maybe I should come up with something awesome to say for when I’m asked this question: “I sit behind a waterfall a few miles from my home and listen to the birds chirp and write my rough draft on napkins”. That’s much more interesting than the truth!
FLB: Z, you crack me up!!!
(Zoe, writting space, but tell her I shared this with you. It is a secret place.)
FLB: What advice would you give someone who is thinking about trying to get into writing?
ZW: Write a lot and read a lot. There is a standard saying that you have to have written about a million words before you get to something that’s high enough quality to be published. And that’s very true. There are some who are just mega-awesome-talented who don’t have to write that many before they find success, but for most of us normal mortals, yes. If you can’t stand the idea of writing a million words that you might not publish, you may want to “say you’re a writer” more than actually “be a writer”. And with self-publishing, the danger now is that a lot of people are going to publish not only their rough drafts, but the first thing they ever wrote. I’d advise against that, honestly. Put in the time and learn your craft.
FLB: Good tips thank you, I will keep that in mind when I am looking at my 63 words that I have written for my story… 1 million minus 63…. Crap I have a long way to go….
FLB: Is there anything else you would like to share with us or think that you we should know about you other then the fact that you are FREAKIN AWESOME for sitting down and doing the Q & A with me and being willing to giveaway one of your books?
ZW: Well, I’m pretty much pimping the Save My Soul book trailer everywhere, so I would like to share that if you’re okay with it! 🙂
<iframe src=”http://player.vimeo.com/video/19083065” width=”400″ height=”300″ frameborder=”0″></iframe><p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/19083065%22%3EBook Trailer: Save My Soul by: Zoe Winters</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/user5816245%22%3EZoe Winters</a> on <a href=”http://vimeo.com%22%3evimeo%3c/a%3E.%3C/p>
FLB: What to learn more about Zoe, please visit her website at:
http://zoewinters.wordpress.com/
FLB: Thank you again Zoe for doing this Q & A for me. I look forward to pimping you out as much as I can.
ZW: And I look forward to being pimped!
LET THE PIMPING BEGIN!!!!!
Zoe has been so generous as to give the winner the option of her first book Blood Lust, which is comprised of three novellas: Kept, Claimed & Mated. Or her newest book Save My Soul, which is a full length novel. You can read Save My Soul without reading Blood Lust first if you want to. Zoe is willing to send 1 eBook to a winner in where the WORLD or to a US winner a choice of paper or an eBook. BUT you MUST follow the RULES!!!
RULES!!!
YES RULES AND YOU MUST FOLLOW!!!!!
+MUST leave a comment of question for Zoe (or me if you want)
+MUST leave email address. But please use AT not @ and DOT not (.) Stupid spammers!!!
+MUST tell me where you are in the world.
+MUST tell me if you are in the US if you want an eBook or paper and if you would like Blood Lust (Bk#1) or Save My Soul (Bk#2)
+MUST if you are outside the US do you want Blood Lust (Bk#1) or Save My Soul (Bk#2)
Contest will end February 25th.
Winner will be announced on February 28th
As always thank you for stopping by my blog.
*Books & Kisses*
Did you make sure you followed all the rules? Cause if you didn’t you won’t be entered!!! Better double check!!!
Ok, let me see if I can follow these rules! I'm assuming we comment here… First of all this is a GREAT interview and I am really excited to read all these stories. They will definitely be put in my "Read Soon" pile, they sound great! I knew nothing of Indie Authors and I really liked hearing that perspective, that's awesome!
Email – natashahouse13ATyahooDOTcom
I am in Puyallup/Olympia, WA (moving/working)
If I were to win…(crossing every body part possible) I would like a paper copy of Blood Lust!!
Ok…think I followed all the rules! Yaaay again Kelly!!!
Natasha you are good at following the rules… Extra point to you!!! 🙂
I had no idea that was what an indie author was. I've seen sites with books for sale from indie authors and I had no idea. I'm not going to say what I actually though…lol. As for the rules…my question is do you ever plan on going to a publisher or do you plan on always staying an indie author? It sounds so much harder this way than if someone else helps out with everything.
Thanks for the post =)
Tanyaw1224(at)yahoo(dot)
US
If I win I'll take Blood Lust ebook for my kindle.
Thanks again
Dang rules!!! Ok first – so copying Natasha! Great Q&A Kelly! Looking forward to many many more=) And I'm not great at following rules.. So I have 3 questions..
For Zoe – What made you get into writing books? Also, how did you do it? Crap… Thought of another one…. Did you think you would be successful?
For Kelly – how do you think of your questions?
I live in Berthoud, CO… I want a paper copy of Blood Lust.
Rennel(dot)Lyon(at)gmail(dot)com
Zoe, loved the book trailer for Save My Soul! Beautifully done.
My email is cheryl(at)cherylcorbin(dot)com.
I'm in Ankeny, Iowa.
I'd love an ebook version of Save My Soul for my Kindle.
Cheryl
Don't imaginary worlds rock… I had no idea that authors couldn't pick their own art work or book title :(…..
SusperiaathotmailDotcom( Kelly thanks for this had no idea I've been getting junk emails like crazy cause I was leaving my email address MUUAHH you rock)
Toronto Ontario Canada
Which book now that's hard let's go with the 1st one blood lust…
Thank you so much Kelly, & yes I'am with you had no idea what an indie author was, & no you both have made me just a little more knowledgable, great interview ! !
I would like to know how you come up with & decide on character names, are they just names you have heard of or read in a story or do you search them out for their meaning's etc ???
starquiltingATbigpondDOTcom
Sydney – NSW – Australia 🙂
I would be more than happy with either book, iether way I'll be purchasing them.
Great Job <3 <3
Ok I just had to, bought both the books from amazon for my kindle, I just get excited when they say available to me, still love pb's better, but the kindle has come in handy, thanx again Kelly & Zoe 🙂
Thank You Kelly for such a great interview you always get me so excited to read these new books.
monicabrown285ATcomcastDOTnet
USA
I would love a paper copy of either book. Thank You
I'm in Corvallis Or
Great interview Kelly & Zoe! Looking forward to reading theses books, they are now on my TBR list!!
kdperettiATmsnDOTcom
Corvallis Oregon USA
I would love, love, loooovvvve to win a paper copy of book 1, Blood lust. Hope you can pull some strings for me Sis, 😉 JK!!
Wow, all these comments. Okay, I'm going to try to catch up here…
Thanks, Natasha!
Tanya, yes, I plan to always stay indie. I believe the money is better over the long haul this way and I like being in control of my work and how it's packaged and distributed. I just don't really see a situation in which I would want to sell rights to a publisher. Yes, it is a lot of hard work, but I like doing it.
Hey Rennel,
I started writing so far back I don't remember when I started, but I wrote my first novel (which will never see the light of day, lol) when I was in junior high school. And how did I do it? The writing part? I just sat down and started typing. I think writing is largely a self-taught art. You can learn from books and conferences, but mostly you learn by reading a lot and writing a lot.
Re: success, this will sound vain, but I always believed I could/would be successful if I could get my work out there.
Thanks, Cheryl! It was fun to do. 🙂
Micaela, yes and sometimes books, especially series books, get stuck with stupid titles that all sound the same. I didn't want that to happen to my work. The titles I pick, I pick for a reason. 🙂
Kathy,
A lot of times I go to baby name websites. I try to think of names that seem to "fit" the characters but I also look at name meanings to see what works. For my third book which I'm working on now, I asked my Twitter followers for help. They helped me come up with the names: Fiona Patrone and Zane Trent (But we're calling him Z since I have WAY too many character names that rhyme: Zane, Jane, Cain, Dayne. I need an intervention!)
And thanks for buying!! Hope you enjoy them. 🙂
Thanks for commenting, Monica!
Thanks for commenting and adding the books to your TBR pile, Katie! 🙂
*Waves hi to Zoe* Great interview. I have seen Zoe's books all over the twitterverse but didn't know much about her writing. I will be sure to pick it up now.
Yes, there have been a few duds in the indie publishing world but I have also found some fantastic books and authors!
Good luck with everything Zoe.
fwiw(dot)kea(at)gmail(dot)com
Ocla, FL US
Paper or ebook is fine of Bloodlust
Eek – I hope I followed all the rules – so much pressure….lol
Thank you for the contest Kelly
Thanks, Karen!