About Angel Leya:
Angel Leya’s a quirky girl who enjoys strange facts and putting love and magical fantastical things in all her fiction. On the serious side of things, she loves helping others. She has been writing most of her life, but only realized her passion within the past 5 years or so.
Leya is a wife, and mother of two beautiful children. She’s a transplant from rural New York, currently living in sunny South Carolina. Feel free to drop her a line anytime!
What inspires you to write?
I’m inspired by all sorts of things. My latest book, Skye’s Lure, was inspired by the Discover Channel program “Mermaid: The Body Found”. After I found out it was a mockumentary, not a documentary, I started thinking – What if mermaids really did exist?
My most common ideas come from dreams, though. Like the one I had about giant, magical mushrooms and a maze that I was trying to get to the other end of.
Tell us about your writing process.
My writing process is ever evolving. I started out a pantser (Outline? What’s an outline?), but have added some outlining tactics to the process over the years. Of course, the outline is a general framework. and as the story changes so does the outline (at least in a perfect world).
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Nope. Can’t say I do, though I’ve had the privilege of listening in on their conversations with one another.
What advice would you give other writers?
Keep writing, keep learning, keep reading. It’s not usually an easy or short-term process. It takes a lot to get noticed. And draw from the wisdom of other writers. You’ll never know how bad your writing is until you get feedback from someone more seasoned than you are. Or at least, that’s been me. Your writing is probably perfect the way it is. 🙂
How did you decide how to publish your books?
Well, the first time around, I didn’t much consider the difference. Finding a publisher seemed impossible because of the content of my book, and I had no idea there were agents to help you do it. When my husband found Create Space, I got super excited and published immediately. It was a mistake in so many ways, but one I’ve learned a lot from. My latest novel I started looking for an agent, and have gotten some interest, but no offer. Going through that process actually taught me a lot, but I think I may just fix the problems I discovered and self-publish again.
There’s a lot of advantages to self-publishing, but it’s not all a bed of roses. Know what you’re considering before making a decision. You are everything when you self-publish (writer, publisher, marketer), and hiring out costs money. Traditional publishing provides a lot of hand-holding, though not as much as it used to, and there’s a lot of waiting around for something or another to happen. Both routes have their advantages, but you need to know yourself.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
It’s wide open. I think there’s room for both traditional and self-published books, but I think traditional publishing needs to change with the times. From everything I’ve read, it doesn’t reflect the world we live in now. Indie publishers can reach the market in ways that traditional publishing can’t. On the other hand, there is still so much stigma that indie publishers have to overcome to be taken serious, which I understand. Just look at my first indie-published book (don’t really, I’m fixing it as we speak. :D).
What do you use?: Professional Editor, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?: fantasy, sci-fi, poetry, memoir
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Angel Leya Home Page Link
Link To Angel Leya 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.
