Author Interview – Louise Wise

1) Do you write books as a career, or are you currently still juggling your author time with a full or part time job?
I work part time as a pharmacist technician, which means I’m the person who reads your prescription from the doctor and makes up your medicine. I’m also a mum of four boys so my time is a juggle at times. I tend to write in the school hours and/or late at night.

2) Have you always wanted to be an author, or did some time or event in your life set you on the path?
I’ve always wanted to write but never, in one moment, believed it possible. My MSS were rejected countless times until one day an agent rang me up saying how much she loved Eden. This was in the early 2000 and just before the eBook storm, of course, I never realised this and was ready to throw in the towel when she then confessed she couldn’t find a publisher for Eden and wouldn’t, therefore, sign me as a client after all.

But YouWriteOn.com came along and offered to publish the first 5,000 books (what a hoo-ha that caused!), I didn’t listen to the negativity surrounding it and paid my money (£29.00 I think) and published a badly edited book. I’ve about forty books in my loft! ? That was the turning point though. Seeing my beloved Eden in print made me realise I needed to do this probably if I wanted to succeed.

I pulled it from Amazon and the YWO site (some of the copies are still floating about though), and revised the MS, then I hired an editor and then a proofreader. It was as this time that Kindle hit the scene and I joined in with all the pessimism regarding the device: ‘It’ll never catch on.’ ‘You can’t beat the smell/feel of a new book/in your hands.’ I uploaded Eden, though, but didn’t give it much thought on its success, and in the first year nothing happened.

Instead of worrying about the lack of sales, I immersed myself into my blog (I’d heard I needed an author platform and so made a blog) and discovered other authors in the same precarious boat as I. I decided if I made a blog that would pull authors together then that would benefit us all. I called it Wise Words Book Blogger or WWBB. (http://www.louisewise.com) Along with my blog, I started to use Twitter and Facebook, then Triberr and Pinterest.

Eden began selling. And selling. I wasn’t making a fortune but enough to drop a few hours at the pharmacy. Also, by then I’d written a contemporary romance called A Proper Charlie and a non-fiction book called So You want an Author Platform?

3) Do you always write in the same genre, or do you sometimes like a change of theme? If you haven’t already, is there another genre you would like to write?
Eden is a sci-fi romance, and I love that genre because you can make up worlds, but I was always told I was ‘a joker’ ‘a comic’ ‘kooky’ and I loved the books of Sophie Kinsella, Wendy Holden and Melissa Nathan and (at the time) Eden wasn’t selling so I turned my hand to A Proper Charlie, which is a romantic comedy. I have now also written another rom com called The Fall of the Misanthrope: I bitch therefore I am.

I’ve written Eden’s sequel and it’s with my beta reader at present. I’m hoping it’ll be ready for publication late in the autumn. Might be pushing it a bit though.

4) As a writer, what is the best thing that has happened to you, and what is that most exciting thing that could happen to you?
Connecting with other authors who know how I feel has been lovely. The eBook snowball has been the most exciting, but the best things are the emails I get from happy readers who have read Eden and really enjoyed the story. Their words ‘it stays with you’ have been the most satisfying!

5) How do you view the promotion, book signings etc. Is it something you enjoy, or do you prefer the writing stage?
I did one book signing with A Proper Charlie at Waterstones, and hated every minute of it. I’m just not very good in the limelight; safe behind my computer I’m fine, and can talk forever about my writing but in real life . . . argh! I do like ‘meeting’ other bloggers or writers by penning guest posts or doing interviews. I’m also absolutely hooked on Twitter and Pinterest.

6) Could you tell us something about your published books, and let us know what they are about?
Eden: This is a sci-fi/romance and my first published novel. Jenny is an astronaut and becomes stranded on a planet she is exploring, but finds she isn’t alone. It’s a story of love and acceptance. It has been labelled as erotic but I prefer ‘sensual’. Jenny is modern woman but finds she has to ‘go back to the beginning of time’ and live like someone from the prehistoric times.

A Proper Charlie: Is a light chick lit story of two different classes coming together: the office girl and the posh-boy, only my ‘posh boy’ is a geek and the office girl is a social butterfly. They have different stories to tell and their story-lines run alongside one another’s until they are brought crashing together. It was fun to write.

The Fall of the Misanthrope: I bitch, therefore I am: This, after A Proper Charlie, will seem very dark. Valerie, the main character, has had a traumatic childhood and the result is that she is afraid of getting close to another person. I based it on Cinderella. Valerie’s emotions are her ugly sisters, and an interfering busy-body is her fairy godmother. A playboy client is her Prince Charming and the glass slipper is a kitten.

It all comes together very nicely, but with a quirky little twist at the end.

Scruffy Trainers: Is a collection of light-hearted short stories and suitable for ages fifteen and up.

So You Want an Author Platform? Is a non-fiction eBook and gives basic guidelines on beginning an author platform. It gives a how-NOT-to-do lessons as well as how-to-do-it.

Eden 2: We’re back to my sensual story, and it was so nice to take up where I left off with my characters. I’m looking for a title with this new book though, and have a competition running until August. The title that I use, or inspires me, will win a mention in the acknowledgements. Head to this link for more details.