About Connie L. Smith:
Connie L. Smith spends a decent amount of time with her mind wandering in fictional places. She reads too much, likes to bake, and might forever be sad that she doesn’t have fairy wings. And that she can’t swing dance. Much of her preferred music is severely outdated, and as an adult she’s kind of obsessed with Power Rangers. She has her BA from Northern Kentucky University in Speech Communication and History (she doesn’t totally get the connection either), and her MA in English and Creative Writing.
What inspires you to write?
A number of things have inspired me to write books, including a Fanfiction idea that took on a life of its own, a song that I loved, and (currently) a book title idea that I just can’t seem to shake. I love the notion of being creative, and it’s pretty awesome to create an entire story from the pieces of information that swirl around in my head. And writing books leads to book covers. I looove getting new book covers in my email!
Tell us about your writing process.
Like I said, inspiration can come from different sources, but it leads into writing and eventually that horrific editing stage. I’ve found that I do better if I’ve planned things out instead of just making it up as I go. I don’t have to plan out the whole book before I start, but having a chapter or five (give or take) with a general outline definitely comes in handy! Beyond outlining, research has also been an early step for writing – like deep caves in the world or dance moves – and I’ve even been known to draw out the layout for the interior of a building so I could keep the setup consistent. These details can be tedious and time-consuming, but they really can help in creating a world that’s believable and credible.
Once the outline, research, and pre-writing details are in place and time allows, I can turn on my fan (weird?) to drown out noise and get to writing!
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Is it weird that I don’t really have an answer for this? I don’t necessarily do either. I just make them do what I want, like an evil puppet master 🙂
The only exception that I can think of is if a character’s personality is a certain way, and that personality requires me to think about how he or she would react to make it a believable reaction. I guess then, I *consider* my characters, but I’m not sure it constitutes dialogue! I have, however, been known to be jealous of the love life of one of my characters…
What advice would you give other writers?
Don’t expect to break the bank immediately, and really consider your budget when you create and market your book. If you don’t keep those things in mind, you might not break even, and that can be a downer for your career!
How did you decide how to publish your books?
Initially, I went the self-published route. It’s intriguing, I suppose, because you get to keep so much of the control yourself. But in the end, I found that I don’t work best as a self-published author. I tend to want to keep fixing up my books, and sooo much of it rides on the author that way. With a publisher, I get the cover art and an editor, and I can’t tell you how helpful those details can be! I still have a couple of self-published works on the market, and there’s a possibility that another one will surface within the next year or two. Still, between the two, using a publisher seems to work better for me.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
Maybe one day, Amazon could make it so that people can’t return your book after having enough time to read it. That would be nice! Other than that, who knows? I hope paperbacks don’t go away though! I like having bookshelves!
What do you use?: Professional Editor, Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Children’s Literature, Contemporary Romance, Fantasy
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Connie L. Smith Home Page Link
Link To Connie L. Smith Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on other site
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.
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