About Allyson Lindt:
Allyson Lindt is a full-time geek and a fuller-time contemporary romance author. She prefers that her geeky heroes come with the alpha expansion pack and adores a heroine who can hold her own in a boardroom. She loves a sexy happily-ever-after and helping deserving cubicle dwellers find their futures together.
What inspires you to write?
I’ve always loved reading, and telling stories. When I write, I get to explore new worlds and live new lives outside of my own experience. It’s like meeting new people and learning amazing new things with each story.
Tell us about your writing process.
I can’t write without a loose outline. An idea of what happens first, in the middle of the story, and at the end. I usually start with a sentence or two about the key plot points in each chapter. I also like to have a rough idea of who my characters are, what drives them, what stands in their way, why, before I start. They usually reveal more to me as the story goes on, though.
As I write, things I’ve plotted down the line tend to change. It’s a fluid process, so I’m always moving ahead a few chapters to change my notes then coming back, sketching out a scene, and writing.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I absolutely listen to my characters. They don’t tend to talk back, but they share snippets of their life with me. Scenes that have happened to them that may or may not be a part of the final story. What school was like for them, why they feel the way they do about love, what makes them go to work in the morning.
What advice would you give other writers?
Find what works for you. There are five bazillion ways to write, more than there are people in the world, and each writer’s method will be different, possibly even from story to story.
Listen to what others do, but don’t be frustrated if it’s not your path or it doesn’t work for you. Set your own pace, develop the way you want, and do this for your own reasons.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
When I first started out seriously writing, I searched for an agent. I submitted hundreds (literally) of query letters, with very little result. It was at that point I had to step back and re-evaluate what I was doing. Why I wanted to be published. What I hoped to accomplish.
I realized what I want is to write the stories I love, and hopefully find readers who enjoy the same type of tale. I decided a small press would help me achieve this. Self publishing as a big, daunting beast with too many bells and whistles for me to manage, and at the time I didn’t feel I needed that level of control.
I submitted to a few small presses, I found a few brilliant ones to work with, and they helped me put my books out there. I’m so very grateful for the stories they accepted and the things I learned along the way.
However, I reached a point where control became far more important than I’d ever expected. I’d met enough people in the industry that I knew where to go for things like professional editing, cover art, etc. And I decided to self publish. Just a single book at first. And the first one sank like a stone. But I learned from my mistakes, listened to what my handful of readers were saying, and dove back in.
But I truly think each author needs to find the approach that works for them. There are so many advantages to every route.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think there will continue to be a surge of self-published books, that will dominate the market until publishers–both big and small–figure out how to shift their way of thinking to compete. I think readers will continue to see books that push the limits of what’s been done before and others that just follow the trends, and that their votes for what they prefer will be cast with their spending habits, and that will drive the direction of publishing.
What do you use?: Co-writer, Professional Editor, Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?: Contemporary romance, erotic romance, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, dystopian science fiction
What formats are your books in?: eBook, Print, Both eBook and Print, Audiobook
Website(s)
Allyson Lindt Home Page Link
Link To Allyson Lindt Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
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.
