About Jacie Floyd:
From the time I read my first Nancy Drew mystery, I’ve been an avid reader and writer in a variety of genres. Although raised in the Midwest, I’ve always believed I was an island girl in a past life.
After many years as a wife and mother with a nine-to-five job, the desire to create my own stories and to live somewhere without snow became primary goals. While polishing my craft as an unpublished author, I was honored to be named a six-time Golden Heart Finalist and two-time Golden Heart winner by the Romance Writers of America.
I finally abandoned my day job and snow shovel, moved to Florida, and self-published the kind of stories I like to read and write. I currently enjoy the view from my Southwest Florida lanai and would like nothing more than to continue to put my heart into my stories enjoy the sunshine. I love to travel, cook, and connect with readers through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.
What inspires you to write?
I never know what will spark an idea and the curiosity about “What if?” I love the human psyche and heart. What makes people do what they do? Why do they react to certain stimulus differently than someone else would? What makes them brave in some situations and timid in others? Was it their childhood, their environment, or personal experiences that impacted them the most? When I’m writing a story, I get to dig deep and decide all of those things for my characters. That’s a powerful motivator.
Tell us about your writing process.
I’m a semi-outliner and a quasi-pantster. I decide on the characters first, then write a brief outline of what I think the plot will be and fill in some general scenes for each chapter. Then I put it away and don’t look at it again unless I get stuck. Which does sometimes happen, especially if I’ve veered off of the plan. I know at the start who and how I want the hero and heroine to be, their basic strengths and weaknesses. I don’t do character interviews unless I get stuck and need to dig deeper. I don’t use any software programs, or whiteboards, or sticky notes. I just have a couple of document files that I refer to from time to time for each book. Thinks like research information, family details, characteristics and descriptions, names of secondary characters, text that I’ve written and deleted. I get antxy if I think of trying to organize it any other way.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I don’t talk to them as much as I let them talk to one another. They have pretty lively discussions in my head. If I leave them alone, they seem to know what they want to say and how they want to say it.
What advice would you give other writers?
No matter how much you like to write, publication is a different ball of wax. It’s hard and it’s a lot of work and very time-consuming. But you can do it if that is what you really want. Never. Give. Up. The sense of self-satisfaction and accomplishment is immense when I look at my list of books on Amazon and say to myself, “I did that. I made that happen.”
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I always wanted to be traditionally published, but that was the environment I grew up. It was the only option when I began writing. It took me a long time to realize the dream could come true for me in a different way. My daughter encouraged me to self-publish my books. I’m not sure I would have done it without her encouragement. I couldn’t have done it without her technical expertise, and it has ended up being one of the best decisions of my life.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
Everyone is always saying that the end of publishing physical books is near, or that the ebook trend is tapering off, but I don’t think either one of those is true. There will always be a need for real books, but many readers like the convenience of the ebook platform. It’s all good.
What do you use?: Professional Editor, Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?: Contemporary Romance
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Jacie Floyd Home Page Link
Link To Jacie Floyd Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
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.
