About Brendan and Lori O'Gara:
Hello! We are so thrilled to be here sharing our story with you. We are the O'Garas, Brendan and Lori.
Family and writing are what our life revolves around. Our philosophy for creating this life is simple. We are advocates of human decency, honesty and respect, who believe that magic is real if you take the time to look for it.
We reside a few miles from where we grew up together on Perdido Key on the Florida Gulf Coast. When not at the beach, writing or reading, we can be found wandering the stacks in a library, perusing antique stores and thrift shops, playing tabletop role playing games, or spending time with our large blended family that consists of six children, seven grandchildren and one dog named Harley Quinn.
To make this interview easy for you, dear reader, Lori will be answering the questions.
What inspires you to write?
The short answer is everything. We have published pieces together and individually. In all our work, whether it is a novel, blog post, or article you will find common themes. Honesty, magic, truth, friendship, and respect. We get inspiration from every person we meet, things we see, and stories we hear. It really depends what genre that we are working on. If we are working on fiction it can be from a conversation, being out in nature at the beach, or something that catches our curiosity. If I am working on a nonfiction project, I is a research librarian, so I will research an idea apart to find inspiration. In our fiction, we have created characters based loosely on people we know or a composite of traits from several people. The old adage is true, it is easy to write from what you know. That changes depending where you are in your own life story though.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
Asking a mother, librarian writer like me that question is like asking me to pick my favorite child! Ok, let me see if I can narrow it down. Neil Giaman, John Steinbeck, Tolkien, CS Lewis, Judy Blum and I could go on. I also like narrative memoirs by everyday people. Brendan is a self confessed big fantasy nerd. He likes Giaman, Greig Beck, Robert, Aspirin, and Robert Jordan.
Tell us about your writing process.
We have completely different writing styles that like magic come together for coauthored projects. I am a plotter though I don't use an outline. We both use a plot diagram that we create together. I tend to write the beginning, the end, and then the middle. Brendan writes each scene as the inspiration hits him and in that aspect he is very writing by the seat of his pants.
Even if it is an individual project, we tend to work together. We have a shared writing bubble in a home office that we call "The Study". It is not unusual to hear nothing but the tapping of keys for hours then one of us says, "Hey can you double check this fact?" Usually me! I tease Brendan and call him my research assistant, but really we both have our hands in every step of a project. Also, it helps that we now have an amazing editor.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Absolutely! We try not to talk to our character friends out loud when we are out of our writing bubble, but that has been known to happen. We both have conversations with our characters. It doesn't matter if the character is one Brendan has written, I will talk to them as if they are a real person. He does the same for my "friends". Often we will each take a character on and impersonate them like actors doing a scene together. Brendan is great with voices. I think he could have been a voice actor. It helps to hear the words spoken. A line of text might look great in black and white but sound weird coming out of the mouth of that character.
What advice would you give other writers?
We love this question! I wrote an entire blog article about this first one, because it is huge…First, do not listen to people who say you can't write, for whatever reason. Write for yourself first. If you want to write it, WRITE IT! So many writers say "I wish I had started sooner, but my (insert person here, spouse, parent, whoever) told me I should get a real job." Ignore that person and write anyway. The next thing is keep everything you have ever written. Yes, every scrap of paper, every document and keep them in several formats. We even scan sticky notes. Remember that inspiration comes for everywhere. Plus once you write words, they are covered by copyright laws. Your words, your story is important and priceless. The last piece of advice goes against what most writers will tell you…do not read reviews. Just don't. Your work is not for everyone, not every reader will understand it, and you have to be ok with that. Your readers, your tribe will find you. When it doubt, see the first bit of advice above. Let your editor, marketing person, mother, or best friend read reviews. Trust us on this one. Nothing will kill a writer's motivation quicker than for you to read a craptastic review from a reader who missed the entire point of your book.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
From the beginning, our focus has been getting our words in the hands of readers. If a book sells, great, however, we have other income, so it has never been about sales for us.
We have been writing individually for years. Publishing articles in various publications. In 2017, after several traditional publishers rejected my contemporary fiction series, The Perdido Key Novels, Brendan encouraged me to self publish. Brendan self published a fantasy themed cookbook before themed cookbooks tied to fiction were cool called "Gadlin O'Hale's Fantastic Recipes: From the Seven Kingdoms taken from the greatest Pubs, Taverns, and Inns". After a hundred readers said, "The recipes are great but what happen to the characters?" he asked me if I wanted to write a fantasy novel series with him. I agreed and that is where our fantasy books started. I have also have a passion for what I call No B.S. Christianity. I self published three books and have an online publication about finding the truth in religion.
In self publishing, you have all the control and all the work unless you hire help. We learned so much during the process of self-publishing. It is running your own small business including marketing. Beware of the scammers out there who prey on the inexperienced. It took time but we hired a professional editor, cover artist, and marketing firm. Self publishing is an investment in yourself. There are ways to cut corners, but never hire an inexperienced editor to save money.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
We are of the opinion that publishing will continue to be competitive as more writers choose self publishing. Readers have access to more authors but also it is often difficult to find quality work. The market is saturated with authors in all genres. It is easy for good writers to get lost in the crowd.
What genres do you write?: Contemporary Fiction, Steampunk Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Nonfiction that includes Religion, Spirituality
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Brendan and Lori O'Gara Home Page Link
Link To Brendan and Lori O'Gara Page On Amazon
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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.
