Imaginary Lit

A day late, my apologies! Slipped my mind yesterday. Here is the sixth question and answer from my interview with Lincoln Cole, author of Raven's Peak : What does literary success look like to you? No idea. I approach writing the same way I do everything and I like to try new things and constantly evolve my career. Each time I approach what I think success would look like, I simply set the goal a little bit farther out and work towards it. I think success is different for everyone, and really it is more about just being happy with what you do. If you feel like you're doing the best you can, then that is good enough. There's just a few days left in the Kindle Scout anniversary sale , so be sure to check it out and pick up anything that catches your eye!

Time for yet another question and answer from Lincoln Cole, author of Raven's Peak : How do you select the names of your characters? It is based on whatever feels right, and only rarely do I change character names from what I originally choose. Sometimes I look up common names and just keep scrolling until one catches my eye, but usually I get a feel for the character and the name evolves. Check back Thursday for the next question and answer, and be sure to check out the Kindle Scout anniversary sale if you haven't already!

Happy Sunday, all! Here's the fourth question and answer from my interview with Lincoln Cole, author of Raven's Peak : What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book? I do a little bit of research here and there, but in general I'm more interested in the characters and the story and I let the world build up around them. That way I can try to bring the readers into the world and let them develop the rest in their own imaginations. Check back Tuesday for the next question and answer, and as always, don't forget to check out the Kindle Scout anniversary sale !

A bit late, it's been a long day, but here's the third question and answer from Lincoln Cole, author of Raven's Peak : Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want? Sometimes I try to deliver what people want, but it never really works. I like to tell stories my own way, which means that even if I tried to make something in a specific style, I almost always fail and it ends up being wholly unique. I also like to write across genres, which means that stories I write can get even crazier. Come back Sunday for the next in the series, and don't forget to check out the Kindle Scout anniversary sale !

Happy Wednesday, everybody! It's time for the second question and answer from my interview with Lincoln Cole, author of Raven's Peak : Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones? I try to avoid them. Good ones can make my day, but bad ones can wreck my week. In general, everyone is better at recognizing their headwinds instead of their tailwinds, so whenever I get bad reviews I try to focus on the positive aspects of my career and life and push it to the side. One trick about it is that the more reviews you get, the less each one matters, and I would say the best advice I can give is just keep trying to get people to read your book. You put blood, sweat, and tears into it and hopefully people can respect the effort if they don't like the content. Check back on Friday for the next question and answer, and don't forget to check out the Kindle Scout anniversary sale !

It's Monday, and the first day of the Kindle Scout 99 cent promotion on Amazon. There's something for everyone there, so be sure to check it out ! Today also brings my first question and answer from my interview with Lincoln Cole, author of Raven's Peak : Does a big ego help or hurt writers? A little of both: just like with most other things in life, having confidence means a lot toward developing a writing career, but having an ego can do serious damage to your reputation. Confident, but humble, is the better attitude. Of course, that's true with life in general. Check back on Wednesday for another question and answer!

Starting tomorrow, Kindle Press will be running a promotion of all Kindle Scout selected books, in honor of the second anniversary of the program. Amazon promises to put its full marketing power behind this campaign, but we authors are also putting some of our own promoting power behind it. I had the honor of interviewing Lincoln Cole, author of Raven's Peak , and will be posting the first question and answer tomorrow; the rest will follow throughout the duration of the campaign. I'll also be promoting several of the books written by my fellow authors, so be sure to check back for new books to buy!

When I was 4 or 5 years old, I was obsessed with the miniseries version of Stephen King’s  It . We had a videotape recording of it, presumably as a result of my mom being a big Stephen King fan, and it received just as much heavy rotation in the VCR as my video of  The Little Mermaid . I was a big fan of that miniseries for a great many years, constantly rewatching that old recorded VHS until it either got worn out or lost, I don’t remember which. I can’t explain what it was about that miniseries, why my young-child brain was so fixated on it, but it was. It didn’t give me nightmares, at least not that I recall; I don’t remember being inordinately frightened by it (though I do have one memory of a doll with bright red or orange hair getting caught between my bed and the wall, and all I could see was its hair, and I remember one heart-stopping moment of fear, imagining that it was Pennywise, before I was able to pluck up my courage and pull it out). I was just fascinated by it. I d

I’ve been meaning to make this post for a couple weeks now, but… well, yeah. But now that my book is finally out ( yay! ) I figured it was a good time. I discovered Kindle Scout back in January 2016, while checking the stats of my first published novel ( The Only One ). It was just a little blip at the bottom of the screen that said, “Be considered for a publishing contract in 45 days or less.” Intrigued, I clicked “read more”, and discovered  Kindle Scout .