The Lexical Funk!
Daniel has wanted to be a writer ever since he was in elementary school.He has published stories and articles in such magazines as Slipstream, Black Petals, Spindrift, Zygote in my Coffee, and Leading Edge Science Fiction. He has written four books: The Sage and the Scarecrow (a novel), the Lexical Funk (a short story collection), Reejecttion (short story/ essay collection), and The Ghosts of Nagasaki (a novel).
Micro-Author Interview: Jennifer Rainey (These Hellish Happenings)
This is the first in a series of posts where I'll interview Indy authors about their works and motivations. These interviews will be relatively short. If you have questions you would like me to ask, please contact me on Goodreads.
The first author is Jennifer Rainey, the author of "These Hellish Happenings." I had the pleasure of reviewing her book not too long ago.
What does being an Indy author mean to you?
To me, it means freedom--the freedom to have your own schedule and your own rules. When you're trying to get picked up by an agent or a big publisher, there are so many little rules and little quirks. You can really play by your own rules as an indie.
What’s your favorite sentence or paragraph from one of your books? What does it mean to you?
Oh golly, there are so many that mean a lot to me! It's like trying to pick a favorite child! It's not a specific line, but I have always been very happy with the descriptions of the ghosts in my last novel, The Beldam's Eye. I have always loved ghosts and ghost stories, and so I worked very hard to paint clear portraits of these spirits, whether they're supposed to sad, humorous or terrifying. Fortunately, I've had readers tell me that the scenes with the ghosts are some of their favorite parts of the book.
What advice would you give other indy authors starting out?
KEEP WRITING. It is so easy to get swept up in the promotional tidal wave that comes with indie publishing. I definitely fell victim to that myself in the beginning. I took a long break from writing and publishing, and now that I'm back at it, I kind of feel like I've gone too far in the other direction--I don't want to promote at all! But keep in mind that one of the greatest things you can do to sell more books is to write more books.
What question would you like to see in future interviews for the blog?
I love hearing about writers' habits or quirks. We're all so different. I have very specific music that I'll listen to while working on each project, and I must have a cup of tea, too.
For my current work-in-progress I've been listening to nothing but the music of Punch Brothers, Woodkid and Fleet Foxes. So it's a lot of offbeat folk music, which might seem a bit strange considering the book is a paranormal tale set in the 1890s, but it works!
A special thanks to Jennifer Rainey.
If there are any fellow indies reading this post: What are your writing quirks or habits?
