About Carrigan Fox:
Carrigan Fox began developing her passion for writing during her gruesome middle school years, where the prospect of escaping into a world of her own making was infinitely more satisfying than that of the petty pre-teen dramas that baffled her. When she was nineteen, someone had the audacity to suggest that she consider writing romance.
Instead, her writing took a backseat to her budding teaching career, where she has spent fifteen years struggling to comprehend how someone couldn’t love Dickens, Twain, and Wilde. But with the rise of the self-publishing industry, she realized she now had no excuse to avoid pursuing her dream.
She continues to balance her teaching and writing careers while also keeping busy with her family. Her next goal is to try her hand at gardening, but past experience has taught her that her husband’s thumb is greener than hers. She has also been toying with landscape design, and she finds that she does well with the concrete blocks. She can’t kill them, which works well for the blocks.
And nineteen years after she snorted at the preposterous suggestion of writing romance, she decided to do exactly that! Fortunately for all involved, the survival of her protagonists is dependent only on her imagination rather than her ability to avoid over-watering them.
What inspires you to write?
I often find inspiration in music. Often it’s just a single line in lyrics that strike a chord and give me an idea. I’m also a very visual person. So I’ll be driving down the road and will see a park or something and think, “I want that setting in my next book.” And typically, a story will build itself around that setting.
Tell us about your writing process.
In my family, we are big fans of J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter. One of the greatest aspects of that series is how everything comes together in the end. I’m also a pretty serious Type A personality. So outlining works for me. Granted, as I write, I will often modify the outline, but I prefer to have a clear sketch of the plot line from beginning to end. It’s also a great quick reference as I write.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I often brainstorm scenes and dialog while I’m driving or in the shower. Sometimes, I’ll actually start speaking aloud. My daughter is constantly asking, “Who are you talking to?” This isn’t to say that I envision my characters in my passenger seat beside me. I can lose myself in my writing, but I like to think that I don’t completely lose my mind. 🙂
What advice would you give other writers?
Always make time for writing. And take advantage of the rise of independent publishing.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I’ve wanted to write since I was twelve. When I was thirteen, I sent letters to various publishing houses (using the addresses listed on the copyright pages of my favorite books). I even received responses from a few of them, indicating that they didn’t accept “unsolicited manuscripts.” I had no idea what that meant at the time, and the internet was not a household necessity at the time. I eventually learned that this meant I needed an agent to represent me. The process of traditional publishing is tedious and often heartbreaking. And when I learned about Kindle Direct Publishing and learned that I could release my own books and sell them on Amazon, I was ecstatic. I will never forget the thrill of logging in and seeing that I’d sold my first book. It was life changing!
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I have mixed feelings, depending on the day. On one hand, I know that anyone can release a book riddled with grammatical errors, which is unfortunate for readers who mistakenly spend their hard-earned money on something that is not of great quality. In that respect, traditional publishers can be a huge benefit. On the other hand, there are so many great writers out there, and it seems that the business of publishing is primarily interested in moving with the money. It’s risky business to take a chance on a no-name writer with no built-in brand. And in the interest of profits, even traditional publishers are guilty of putting trash on the shelves for no reason other than the fact that it will sell. So I think that as independent publishing continues to grow, it will give more writers an opportunity to build a brand for themselves. I do, however, hope that indie authors will be diligent in their editing, even if it means hiring a professional editor. Otherwise, we may risk flooding the market with poorly edited literature that will undermine the entire indie movement.
What do you use?: Professional Cover Designer
What genres do you write?: Romance (contemporary, historical, paranormal, suspense)
What formats are your books in?: eBook
Website(s)
Carrigan Fox Home Page Link
Link To Carrigan Fox Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
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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.
