About Athene Z. Adam:
Athene self-published her debut novel, Imperious Realm. By day, Athene works in the corporate world. By night and on weekends, she's tinkering around with new ideas for her writing projects. When she's not writing, Athene is baking confections for her friends and family, and obsessing over comic book, action, and fantasy/science fiction movies.
What inspires you to write?
I've always had this creative energy that I needed to get out. I've tried different art forms over the years, but I value writing as my most creative form of expression. I also love character-driven plots and enjoy developing intricate and complex characters.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
I don't know if I have a favourite author. I read a variety of novels. In fact, self-publishing has given me an appreciation for Indie authors, and I've committed to reading more of these books. When I was younger, I used to read R.L. Stine, Mary Higgins Clark, and various science fiction novels.
Tell us about your writing process.
As complex as my debut novel's fictional world is, literally all of it was written based on gut instinct except where my editor made specific suggestions to amend or clarify. I am a "pantser". All I need is a blank Word document for my imagination to run loose. This approach is great for me because I can tap into my subconscious, but it also makes self-editing a total nightmare.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I talk to my characters all the time and sometimes pretend to be them, of course with my door closed so my family doesn't think something is wrong with me. It helps me get into the heads of my characters and create consistency. I really enjoy writing dialogue.
What advice would you give other writers?
Write for yourself, first. I think a lot of authors do this, anyway. I'm glad I pursued this venture but it was and continues to be a difficult road. I am happy with my overall story and while there were times I was overwhelmed and questioning why I was pursuing publishing, I can still pick up my books and enjoy reading passages at random.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I did look into traditional publishing a bit but there were a few things that sealed the deal for me to self-publish. Ultimately, I value the creative control, and I don't think I would have gotten that through traditional publishing. I also had my own publishing goal of releasing my debut novel before the end of 2022.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I'm not sure that I'm an expert to be able to speak on this topic. I also don't hold any judgment on which route an author chooses to pursue. Personally, I think that more authors are pursuing self-publishing because of the competition in the industry. I don't think traditional publishing will become obsolete because people value the touch-feel experience and because self-publishing is challenging and expensive. But I think the traditional route is going to lose out on more authors as time progresses. At some point, they are going to have employ strategies to catch up and attract more people to their industry. We're already starting to see this through TikTok collaborations.
What genres do you write?: Science Fiction
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Athene Z. Adam Home Page Link
Link To Athene Z. Adam Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
YouTube
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.
