Archive for the ‘Author Interviews’ Category

My guest today is Alice Duncan. One of the very best things about having published with Dorchester Publishing was meeting a passel of fellow authors on the “Lollie” loop (Lollie being a take on Ladies of Leisure, Leisure being one of Dorchester’s imprints. I was actually pubbed by the Love Spell imprint, but I think I’m still a Lollie…). Anyhoo, seven of us seemed to have a lot in common, so we wandered off and created a little sub-community of our own. Alice is an integral member of that community. She’s also a birthday sister (we’re both Sagittarians, born on November 29), a fellow dog-lover, and a helluva writer. Welcome, Alice.

ALICE: Thanks, Norah! Happy to be here. And (ahem) believe it or not, it was I who suggested we call ourselves the Lollies. Not that I want any credit or anything <g>. Anyhow, it was another Alice (Alice Gaines/Chambers) who started the loop in the first place.

NORAH:  We also have another unusual connection, don’t we, Alice?

ALICE: We certainly do! I live in Roswell, New Mexico, home of the aliens from the 1947 flying saucer crash. You, on the other hand, live in Fredericton, NB, home to Dr. Stanton Friedman, Nuclear Physicist and UFOologist, the original civilian investigator of the Roswell Incident (I didn’t know that until Norah told me, by the way). Not that I have any interest in UFOs or aliens, but living in Roswell is cheaper than living in Pasadena, California, where I’m from. Roswell’s also ugly and boring, but you can’t have everything.

NORAH:  Alice is my hero in so many ways. She is such a champion of animal rights. And she backs it up. Alice fosters Dachshunds. That’s right, wiener dogs. She belongs to the New Mexico Dachshund Rescue League, and at any given time, has as many as seven of the little beasties in her care and control.

 ALICE: Aw, thanks, Norah. Yes, it’s true. I attract dachshunds kind of like a magnet attracts steel shavings. It’s a curse. Or a gift. I haven’t decided which. Let me tell you, walking three or four dogs at a time can be really tricky, too, although the dogs need the exercise, so I do it. Slave to duty, that’s me. But truly, some of the stories of the dogs we get are truly horrifying (I’m fostering a wiener who came to us because of a murder/suicide, for instance). But we at NMDR get all our dogs shot and spayed or neutered and try to find them wonderful homes. I’m talking rabies shots, by the way. Heck, the last dog I fostered went to such a nice home, I was tempted to ask his adopter to adopt me, but I restrained myself. At the moment I’m caring for six wiener dogs and a ringer (part Chihuahua, part miniature pinscher). Sigh.

NORAH:  Okay, enough with the love-in. I’ve asked Alice here today because I want to bring to your attention the fact that she has a freakin’ amazing backlist of terrific romance and mystery titles. They were a steal at $2.99, but Alice has some breaking news.

ALICE: Yes, I do! During the entire month of June, I’m selling every single one of my e-books for 99 cents each! These are full-length novels, folks (well, except for one short story I wrote specifically for Kindle when I got sick of the book I was writing). They’re all historical novels, some mysteries and some romances. 32 of them! Heck, you can get all 32 of them for less than $32! Here’s the Kindle link: http://aliceduncan.net/page5.html and here’s the Smashwords link: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/aduncanzianet . If you have an e-reading device other than Kindle, use the Smashwords link. Smashwords provides books for NOOK, Sony, Apple, and every other e-reader known to man. Or woman.

NORAH: Did you get that? Every one of her backlist titles for 99 cents! Having read a bunch of Alice’s books, I can assure you this is one of the best deals you’ll ever find. I mean, 32 books for less than $32! I’ve spent more than that on one or two books. If you’re thinking that’s too much to bite off, try one for $0.99 and see what you think. No, these books weren’t written yesterday, but here’s the thing – Alice knows where all the volts are packed. It may be a more leisurely journey than you’re accustomed to with your off-the-rack purchase, but she makes it soooo worth it.

ALICE: Thank you, Norah. It’s not actually my entire backlist. There are two books that have yet to be scanned (a tedious task performed by Norah, bless her heart) and then re-formatted (a tedious task performed by me, who needs all the blessings I can get). Then there are my two “Trailsman” books, written as Jon Sharpe. I don’t own the copyrights to those. And there are also three novellas I might get around to putting in e-book format. Someday. Maybe. And my current books aren’t up there and won’t be until at least a year after their first printing. Still, there are THIRTY-TWO books to choose from! Heck, get ‘em all! Whatta deal!

NORAH: For all my fellow Indie writers and aspiring writers out there, I’ll ask you, Alice, to tell us about your freelance editing/book doctoring service (a service I plan to avail myself of before going to press with my next Dix Dodd Mystery).

ALICE: Indeed, I do have a freelance editing service. I’m also a professional editor and have been for the past six years. However, if you’re interested, you can read all about my service here: http://aliceduncan.net/page2.html. I charge a cent per word, and I must say (although it’s immodest to do so) that I’m pretty good at this editing thing. After all, I’ve had nearly 50 books published, all of which had to be edited, too. Not only that, but I’ve received two (count ‘em) letters from copy editors complimenting me on my books! Mind you, I’ve also had copy editors who tried to change my footpads to foot paths and my pole beans into bean poles. But I won’t do that to anybody. Promise. And I’m also (almost) always happy to negotiate.

NORAH: Holy crow! A cent a word? You’re hired for my paranormal romances too! Can we talk about a birthday sister discount?

ALICE: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Actually, I’ll do pretty much anything for you, Norah. You’ve performed so many kindnesses for me. Honestly, guys, Norah is one of the world’s best people. It’s true.

NORAH:  Aw, thank you, Alice! <Blushing> And thank you, too, for being here and enlivening my blog. Sags rock!

ALICE: How do you pronounce that???? Well, never mind. I know I sag, so that’s not a revelation <g>. Thanks for having me, Norah!

Today I’m visited by Maureen A. Miller, a talented romantic suspense author who is currently killing it as one of the top 50 highest rated Indie authors on Amazon.com.

Maureen, you and I reconnected this year when we both went Indie, but we’d met before. Would you care to tell our readers how we met?

I ‘met’ the beautiful and talented Norah Wilson when we co-finaled in RWA’s Golden Heart awards many years ago. One thing about being a Golden Heart finalist that not many people know about is the camaraderie that goes on amongst the group.

Tell me what finaling in the Golden Heart meant for you.

It was a status to get your foot in the door.  Silhouette’s Intimate Moments line was courting my book, but it was too long of a word count at the time.

WIDOW’S TALE, your first book, helped you land that awesome rating on Amazon. Do you think there’s a resurgence of interest in contemporary Gothics?

That’s an interesting question. I believe today people associate the Gothic romance as more of a “Twilight”, or vampire-series premise. To me the traditional Gothic was anything with a dark, desperate setting.  If there is resurgence, I surely would like to pioneer it!

Tell me a little bit about your decision to go Indie. What factors influenced your decision? And did you ever dream your books would be so successful?

When WIDOW’S TALE made its rounds of word-chopping to meet the requirements of different publishing lines, it was reduced to about the size of a two-word novella.  I felt that the romance was one that I wanted to share in its entirety so I released the original length on Amazon. To my amazement it started climbing up the ranking ladder and has hovered in and out of the top 100 Romantic Suspense list on Amazon for almost two years now.  I never dreamed it would be successful.  I think I might have first published it so that I had a Christmas present ready for my grandmother. 🙂

I see you are also writing for Carina, the epress imprint of romance giant Harlequin. How has that experience compared with your indie publishing efforts?

You can now officially call me a ‘mutt’ because I am both self and traditionally published.  There is a fraternity of self-published authors, where the support system is unlike anything you have experienced. But I was pleasantly surprised to experience the support and enthusiasm of my fellow Carina Press authors as well. One thing I have learned in this industry is that there is a lot of misconception going on. Self-publishing does not mean selfish. It means selfless. Traditional publishing does not mean aristocratic, it means heartening.

Well said, Maureen! Okay, for any fellow-writers in the audience, have you done anything special to get your books (especially the self-published ones) noticed?

I carry around a sign that says, “Will wash your car if you read my book.”

LOL! That should do it! Okay, being serious for a moment, as Indie authors, it’s easy for our books to get lost in the veritable ocean of self-published offerings. Is there another Indie author (or three) you’d like to give a shout-out to, whose books are worth searching for?

That is tough as there are so many talented Indie authors I know and have had the pleasure of reading their books…yourself included!

I enjoy the Red Cross of Gold series from Brendan Carroll.

I am currently reading the suspense novels of Vicky Tyley.

Maria E. Schneider’s mysteries are fun and Debra L. Martin’s science fiction is exciting.

But again, I could go on…

Thank you for being my guest today, Maureen. You’re every bit as charming in cyber-space as you are in … well, I guess I’ve only known you in cyber-space! Maybe we can remedy that in New York next month, at the RWA convention. In the meantime, happy writing!

Thank you, Miss Norah, for having me. You are a gracious hostess!

You can find Maureen on the web at www.maureenamiller.com. Go visit her. And buy her books. They rock.