About Gibby Campbell:
I am a stay-at-home wife and mother to a fur baby. I have been happily married for 16 years to a strong alpha male, and I do mean strong.
Before that, I was single for many years and dated some interesting men. So much so, my friends want me to write a book about my dating experiences. Um, no.
In my spare time I like to hike, attend the theatre, and read. I live in the Cleveland, Ohio area, which means I am also a deeply despondent sports fan. Go Browns!
What inspires you to write?
I find my inspiration from people. I notice little quirks and mannerisms, and I pay attention to the details when someone is telling a story. All of this can end up in my writing.
For example, I was out with friends having wine at a bar. One of them, a nurse practitioner, was complaining about a surgeon she had to work with. She described what a PITA he was with his instructions and control issues. Then in the next breath, she admitted he was a good doctor. She told us how he had spent the night in a critical patient's room, because he was worried about them.
My first reaction was, holy moses! Doctors actually do that? Then I thought about what a great Dominant he would make, and just like that Dr. Turov was born.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
Jane Austen will always be my favorite writer.
Jill Shalvis is my favorite contemporary romance author. Her stories are sweet with a bit of good sex, and she always makes me laugh.
I recently discovered Golden Angel. If you like erotica with BDSM, you'll love her. She writes some intense sex scenes and plots that are hard to put down.
Janet Evanovich is my favorite mystery go-to, and I sometimes laugh so hard with her writing that I pee. Not kidding.
For more serious fiction, I think Mark Zusak has an incredible voice.
Tell us about your writing process.
I usually start with a yellow legal pad and hash out my main characters. I write down how I want them to look and behave, and then I scribble out their first encounter. The meet cute is my favorite part of any book. There's so much potential there and so much chemistry. I try hard to get it right.
Then I work on the names. These are important to me as well and also a lot of fun. I never had kids, so experienced the fun of naming babies. Writing makes up for that.
Once the characters are down, I usually switch over to my computer and try to decipher all of my scribbles. When inspirations hits, it's usually fast, which makes for messy handwriting.
On the computer I use Word for my software, and I have a bad habit of not saving as I go. You know how sometimes you hit the wrong key, and a lot of what you wrote suddenly disappears? Yep. Happens to me more than I care to admit.
Anyhoo…I use a loose outline to keep me on the right track, but my plot and characters usually veer off in unexpected directions. That's the seat of the pants part, and I've learned not to fight it.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Oh my goodness, yes! I am a very auditory person, and I hear the character conversations inside my head. I have to write or type furiously so I don't miss anything. Sometimes they even yell at me when I have left them in a precarious situation and not written in a few days.
What advice would you give other writers?
Two things.
First, treat it like an important part of your day. Plan it like you would plan taking a shower, going to work, and cooking meals. Make it a part of who you are and what you do.
Second, learn how to handle criticism. People are not going to like your work, and they're not going to be afraid to tell you. Deal with it. The good news is, there are plenty of others who will love what you do and tell you. These folks make your day.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
It was an easy choice. I am an unknown writer, and finding an agent seemed like such a daunting task. I decided to go with a publisher willing to take on writers without an agent. The Writer's Market helped me to find who they were.
I have three books published, and two went this route. With the third I chose to self-publish. It was easy to do, but the book isn't selling. I would likely try to self-publish again, but only on books I wrote and couldn't sell to a publisher.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think print publishing will eventually go away as we continue to focus on the environment. I think we'll still have publishers, and the good ones will work to market books and develop an author's presence.
There will also continue to be a rise in self-publishing. Hopefully at some point Amazon will start pulling the ones in this category that just aren't selling. It would certainly help make the market less saturated.
What genres do you write?: Erotic Romance, Women's Health NonFiction, Contemporary Romance, Amish Romance
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Gibby Campbell Home Page Link
Link To Gibby Campbell Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
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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.
