Author Bio:
After a career in which her writing largely consisted of training manuals and memos, in which clarity was the holy grail, Carole is thrilled to be writing fiction and memoir. She lives in the beautiful and rural Hudson Valley of New York with her husband, and with her daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren just down the road apiece.
Carole gets around, having been to about 50 countries (so far), including eighteen months spent in Senegal, West Africa. She has also been in other “territories” with their own language customs, government, hierarchy, and sub-groups, namely amateur orchestras and corporate America.
What inspires you to write?
I’ve been around, both geographically and chronologically. It’s not exactly that I think I have “wisdom” to share, but I do think I have a unique perspective.
Tell us about your writing process.
I usually have a pretty good idea of where my story will start. (Sometimes in the revision process, however, I do realize I need to start the story somewhere else.) And I know where it will end. In the case of my mystery, I knew who would get murdered. Interestingly — to me, anyway — I didn’t know who the murderer was right away. I also think I have a pretty good idea about the protagonist.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I don’t exactly interact with them, but I do “hear” them when they’re speaking. And sometimes they say things I didn’t know they’d say. It surprises me every time.
What advice would you give other writers?
I think it’s important to turn off your inner critic for the first draft and just write. Then, equally important, revise. Sometimes I revise for just one thing at a time, like point of view. But sometimes I do a “general” revision. But there’s always more than one revision. I have been lucky enough to be part of a writers’ group for about ten years and we give each other honest but supportive feedback. See if you can find or form one of those.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I tried to find an agent for my first book. I resisted the idea of self-publishing because I wanted the validation/prestige of someone else publishing it. I could only knock my head against the wall for so long, though, so eventually self-published. About a year after publication, though, a local micro-publisher asked to assume my book into her list, which I happily did. With my second book, I was lucky enough to find a small press pretty quickly. For my WIP, I think I’ll go directly to small presses, with whom you don’t need an agent. Of course, now that I have two books published, I might have a better shot at finding an agent. Right now, though, I’m just concentrating on writing it!
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I believe people will always want stories. Whether they’re in digital format or paper, they’ll always be around.
What do you use?
Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?
Women’s fiction, mystery, travel memoir.
What formats are your books in?
Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Carole Howard Home Page Link
Link To Carole Howard Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on other site
Your Social Media Links
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/505676.Carole_Howard
