About Tiana Warner:
Tiana Warner is the best selling author of the Mermaids of Eriana Kwai trilogy. Her books have been recognized by Writer’s Digest, Foreword’s Top 10 Indie YA Books of 2014, and the Dante Rossetti Awards. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of British Columbia. She enjoys riding her horse, Bailey, and is an active supporter of animal welfare.
What inspires you to write?
I get my ideas by thinking about what kind of story I would like to read. From there, it’s fun to delve into that concept and build a world around it, with characters who have hopes and dreams and inner demons. And then the obsession kicks in, and I can’t stop writing.
Tell us about your writing process.
I start by outlining like a crazy person. That is, I write down all the scenes and tape them all over my walls. I can’t have guests over when I’m in the outlining phase. I follow a set story structure (some combination of Blake Snyder and Syd Field) and use this to shape my story. Then I start writing. The first draft is free-writing word vomit. Then it gets better. My books go through about 5-7 revisions before they’re published.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I don’t have actual conversations with my characters, but after spending an entire book with them, I do feel like they’re real people (/mermaids). The characters in my Mermaids of Eriana Kwai trilogy feel like friends, and I genuinely miss them if I haven’t written about them for a while.
What advice would you give other writers?
If you start losing hair over getting published and getting reviews and making money and finding an agent and making a best seller and … Back up. Remember why you started writing in the first place. Write because you love it. If you’re not having fun, you’re not doing this thing properly.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
Do not be afraid to self-publish! I’m so grateful I did. Someday I hope to get picked up by a major publishing house and become a hybrid author, but for now, being indie has been working out magnificently. Here – I wrote a blog post about my decision: http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2014/08/tiana-warner/
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
The method of publication won’t matter so much as the quality of the book. Good reviews and word-of-mouth recommendations are the important thing. ebooks will stay strong, but print books aren’t going anywhere. Audibooks are becoming more important.
What do you use?: Professional Editor, Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?: Fantasy, Young Adult, LGBT
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Tiana Warner Home Page Link
Link To Tiana Warner Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on other site
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn
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.
