Marie
Lavender an established self-published Indie author with 16 published
books to her name (including pen names) recently went the route of
traditional publishing when she released Upon Your Return. Learn all
about her experience in this intimate one-on-one interview.
Marie Lavender ~ Author of Upon Your Return
- What is your name and where do you call home? My name is Marie Lavender and I am a small town girl from Indiana.
- What is the name of your most recent book and if you had to sum it up in 20 or fewer words, what would you say? Upon Your Return is my latest release. It came out in February through Solstice Publishing. Upon Your Return is a historical romance about a girl who dreams big and gets into a lot of trouble for it.
- Is the above book part of a series?Yes, it is the first book in the Heiresses in Love series.
- What or who inspired you to start writing? And how long have you been writing? I’ve always been an avid reader ever since I was a kid. I suppose that was part of the onset of my writing obsession. But, mainly, it was that I had these scenes go through my head of characters and dialogue and I had no choice but to write them down.
- How did you come up with the cover? Who designed the cover of your book(s)? I had a few ideas for it, but the credit goes to Kayden McLeod, the cover designer, and Jimmy Thomas, one of the cover models.
- Did you listen to any particular songs while writing your book(s)? Yes, sometimes I listen to different artists. Sometimes, if I am writing historical stories, it helps to listen to Celtic music or love songs. It really depends on the book I’m working on. I like a lot of different music. Some of my favorite artists are Owl City, Paramore, Fireflight, OneRepublic, Switchfoot and Sarah MacLachlan. I have others, but there are really too many to count.
- How did you come up with the title for your book(s)? It came from part of the dialogue in the book. It is something the heroine says to the man she later falls for.
- Do you prefer e-books, paperbacks, hard-covers or audio-books? In some ways, I am traditional. I still love to have a paperback or hard copy in my hands.
- Are you a self-published/Indie author? Yes. I have self-published fifteen books. Upon Your Return is the first one that is traditionally published.
- If you’re a self-published/Indie author what made you go that route instead of the traditional publishing route? I had a lot of works I wanted people to see. And it was fun to self-publish!
- Have you ever read a book more than once? And if so what was it? I’ve definitely read some of Catherine Coulter’s books over again. And I’ve read J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood more than once.
- What is your opinion of novellas? There is nothing wrong with a novella. It is a short read, but it still tells a good story.
- Have you ever read a book just based on its cover? The cover is appealing a lot of the time, but mostly I have read a book because of the blurb or because I already follow that author’s work.
- What is your favorite film based on a book? Jurassic Park is a great movie based on a book. I have read the book and even though it is entirely different from the movie, both were equally appealing.
- What is your favorite book genre at the moment? I am really into paranormal romance right now.
- What books have made it onto your wish list recently? And why? Word of mouth is a great marketing tool. Someone recommended Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series to me recently. And I had to add another series because I kept seeing tweets about it on Twitter. I added Ally Shield’s Guardian Witch series to the list. I have also made a lot of author friends on Facebook and through my writer’s blog Writing in the Modern Age. So, I added Linda Lee Williiam’s Elsewhere and C.J. Heck’s Anatomy of a Poet to my wish list on Amazon.
- What book are you reading at the moment? And in what format? Truthfully, it is silly but I am reading Upon Your Return for the first time in paperback. It was sitting around so I thought…what the heck?
- If you could invite any four (4) celebrities (alive or dead) to your dinner party, who would you invite and why? Ooh…can I invite Gerard Butler? God, I love that man’s accent! Oh, and Jimmy Thomas, the man who blessed my cover with his beautiful…um, face! I would also like to bring Catherine Coulter to the table simply because she was the woman who woke me up to the historical romance genre. And J.R. Ward…simply because I can’t get enough of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. The brothers rule!
- What’s the best advice that you have been given when it comes to writing? Never give up. Never, ever, ever give up no matter what. Perseverance is the key to making it in this industry. If you don’t have that, you can’t weather the storm to get noticed.
- Do you have any hobbies that aren’t related to reading & writing? Shopping! Is that related? Well, I guess it is somewhat related because I can’t ever buy enough books! But, I love shopping of any kind. I really need someone to take my credit cards away. My fiancé knows what a problem I have with that, but that’s a discussion for another day.
Where can your readers follow you?
- Blog: http://marielavenderbooks.blogspot.com/ and http://marielavender.blogspot.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarieAnnLavender
- Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6938764.Marie_Lavender
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/marielavender1
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92992474&locale=en_US&trk=tyah
- Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Marie-Lavender/e/B00C10Q94I/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
- Other: http://marielavender.webs.com/
I
want to thank Marie Lavender for taking the time to participate in this
interview and for allowing us a glimpse into her wonderful world of
writing.
As
a writer myself I always learn something new from every writer I meet
and I hope that all of my readers are able to enjoy and learn from
Marie’s experiences.
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