Top Ten Tuesday : Questions I Get Asked (and my answers)

10. How do you come up with ideas?

I like to think the ideas come to me rather than I make them up. Sometimes it's a dream that sparks an idea, sometimes it's a twist on something I hear on TV or the radio. Sometimes I'm inspired by real life stories I hear from friends and clients. Ideas just shoot up in my brain and I tend to run with them.

9. How much did it cost you to get published?

$0.00. A lot of people assume I self-published because most people know that getting published can be very difficult. The fact is I sent emails to agents and small presses for a while and then I stumbled upon Rebel Ink Press via a good friend who is also an author with RIP and I submitted to them like I had the others. Rebel wanted to publish my work and sent me a contract.

8. Would you quit hairstyling to write?

The short answer is yes. But, where's the fun in short answers?! I keep saying, "When they pay as much to write books as my clients pay me to do hair, I'll quit." And that is essentially true. I have a plan but even the best laid plans don't always work out. My hope is that in a few years (10 or less) I can establish a decent writing career and be able to leave the salon. I love doing hair and I adore my clients but becoming an author is a dream come true and I only want to go higher and higher. I'll have to make the jump eventually.

7. Is Kevin (from The Low Notes) based on your husband?

No. Kevin isn't completely 'based' on any one person. Vague enough for ya?

6. Are you writing a sequel to The Low Notes?

No. Well, not traditionally. There will not be a continuation of Kevin and Nina's love story or life stories. I do, however, have a WIP (work in progress) that centers around James, Nina's best friend. In that eventual novel readers will get tiny glimpses into Nina's (and possibly Kevin's) life in the future.

5. Do you have an English degree?

Nope. I always excelled at English in high school and for my few years in college but I do not have an English or Writing degree. My declared major was photography but I eventually left college to attend cosmetology school.

4. Why did you write a book?

Standard answer : because I had to get it out of my head. A lot of people don't understand the concept of being overcome by the need to create art but that's exactly what writing is to me.

3. Are you writing another book?

Yes, yes, yes! I mentioned last week that I have 8 projects started. I'm trying to focus on two at the moment. One is a beach romance about summer love and love revisited. The other is a young adult romance about innocence lost.

2. How do you get paid for your book?

This question always gives me pause. It's totally understandable to be curious and to many people it's a very foreign concept (getting paid for a bunch of words rather than a service or 9 to 5 job). The thing I always like to say is this (and it's the truth), "When I wrote The Low Notes I never expected it to be anything other than a Word doc on my laptop. I didn't write it to make money so the fact that I might make some is beyond awesome."

1. Did you have a relationship with a teacher/ is The Low Notes a true story?

No. No. No. And did I mention, no? Not true, didn't happen to me or anyone I know. Do you think people ask J.K. Rowling if she got a wizarding school admittance letter from an owl when she was a kid? It's fiction y'all.