About Alexander Kelley:
Alexander Kelley is a collegiate sports administrator by trade. A native of Miami, Florida, Kelley graduated from St. Thomas University with a degree in Sports Administration.
Kelley started his sports career with the Florida Marlins (now Miami Marlins) before moving on to the University of Miami athletic department. Kelley is currently a sports administrator with Florida International University athletics.
Kelley and his wife, the former Laura Garcia, have one son, Greyson.
What inspires you to write?
My son inspires me. Being life's wonderment through his eyes is inspired me. And, this may sound corny, but a dream that one day he reads to his son the very stories I wrote about him. It's a way for me to be with him always.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
I was always a fan of Dean Koontz in my younger years. As a parent, I developed an appreciation for the elegance in children's books. Anna Dewdney's Llama Llama series is a perfect example.
Tell us about your writing process.
I'm a big believer in the mind mapping process. It starts with an overarching idea; a book location, theme or life lesson. From there you branch out with idea building blocks, characters, settings, etc. It allows you to free flow thoughts without worrying about how they all intersect. Once you have the full mind map in place, you can look at it and begin to build your story outline.
Another great element is that sometimes ideas for two or three books come to you as a part of the process. You can simply open up another mind map and place those ideas in there, to flesh out later.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
The full conversations take place in my head. It's as if I'm in the room watching these interactions.
What advice would you give other writers?
Everybody has a story inside of them, you just need to find it. Don't worry about the business of writing. Don't be overwhelmed with the publishing aspect of things. Just write. Let the words flow out; Don't worry about editing just yet. Get it all done on paper, and then begin to organize and pair it down. Once you have it where you want it to be, find yourself a great editor and let them do their job. Don't take the constructive criticism personal. Their goal is to help make you a better author.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
As a first time author, the process was a little overwhelming at first. I'm a sales and marketer by trade, so the one underlying principle in sales I was always taught is "Fish where the fish are". Knowing that Amazon is the largest retailer of print and ebooks, and having the Kindle Unlimited program, I felt that was the best place to get me started.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think the future is bright. 20 years ago, if you were an indie author, you had no real future unless you found a publisher. Imagine how many great stories never saw the light of day because the author wasn't given a chance. Now, the KDP program has an example allows your work to see the light of day with very little out of pocket expense. The main challenge, however, is getting lost in the shuffle. Book promotion is now your new biggest hurdle.
What genres do you write?: Children's Fiction
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Link To Alexander Kelley Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
