What genre(s) do you write in and why? Do you write flash fiction,
short stories, novellas and/or novels?
Graphic novels, anime or comics? If you do multiple genres and/or
lengths, which do you prefer? Have
you ever written any poetry?
The
genres I typically write in are: Sci Fi, Urban Fantasy, and
Paranormal, these are the stories I love to read, so these are the
stories I enjoy writing. I love starting with a ‘what if’ and
going from there, it’s a lot of fun. All my novels and stories
contain strong LGBTQIA+ characters, which may set some people off,
but I write my stories for everyone and to date most of my books have
been very well received, representation is important and I think
people understand that. Also, I like playing with what we think we
know, our world is huge as is our universe, we don’t even know what
we don’t know yet and to get to play with all that is great.
I
have written two short stories; The Reunion and A Dragon
for Christmas. My first novella is T.A.D.-The Angel of Death.
Mostly, I write novel length books like: The Calling, Contact,
and Conviction, I find I can be a bit wordy so I like the
flexibility of having plenty of room to play with and not have to
worry about word count… well not much.
When
I comes to poetry I do write some, in fact I have some on my website
https://www.mdneu.com/poetry
for people to read. I don’t get to write as much I would like, but
I enjoy it and I like to share it, when I feel it’s good enough.
What
are the hardest kinds of scenes for you to write? Romantic? Sex? The
death of a character? Fight scenes?
Others?
When
it comes to the most difficult kinds of scenes for me to write, it’s
a toss up between sex scenes and fight scenes. There are so many
aspects to both of those scenes that they can easily cross the line
from good, to cheesy, to unreadable. It’s tough to find the right
balance. When it comes to both of these scenes I tend to go for the
‘emotion’ more so then the actions or the mechanics. We all know
how sex works so, for me, I don’t need to give the details. Why?
It’s not the audience I’m going for. It’s the same with a fight
scene, we all know what a gun fight looks like or a fist fight, but
what we don’t always know are the emotions behind it, which I find
much more interesting to write. Plus, like I said above, I want my
stories to be read by the masses, so especially with a sex scene I
try and limit them or leave them out completely.
If
you had unlimited funds, how would you advertise your work?
Unlimited
funds (ah it’s nice to dream) I would hire the best PR/Marketing
firm in the world and let them go to work. They are the experts so I
would pay them and get out of their way. If I were left up to my own
devises I know I would blow it, so that is why I would use the money
to bring in the pros. For me, it just makes sense. Although, I
wouldn’t mind seeing some TV spots or billboards. That would be
cool too.
What
are you working on now?
Currently,
I have a few drafts I’m working on. I have the sequel for The
Calling that has been written and is now being read through and
edited. The sequel, at this time, is titled, The Called and it
will pick up right where the last book left us. I’m hoping it’s
as fun as the first one. I’m quite proud of the story and the new
characters I bring in. I’ve also finished the editing and have
book three of my A New World series ready to send to the publisher.
Book three is called Conspiracy and this new installment picks
up a year after the end of Conviction. Other than that I’ve
been working more on the business and marketing aspect of the book
industry, which takes a lot of time and effort.
As
far as new writing I have a couple of new ideas floating around in my
mind but nothing has jumped out at me yet, but who knows these ideas
may start getting fleshed out a lot more and we’ll see where it
takes me.
Have
you sold your work at book fairs or conventions? What kind of
experience did you have?
I
love book fairs, signings, conventions and other engagements. They
are great fun. This year I’ve started to do more of that (it’s
part of what I’ve been working on in the back ground). I’ll be
honest I get nervous and feel like a bit of an imposter, but once I’m
in it, I have a good time. Overall my experiences have been positive.
As an unknown author with a small back log of books, I’m not a big
draw, yet, but with the more works I publish and the more events I
do, I believe it will start to pay off. I have an events section on
my website (
https://www.mdneu.com/events)
people can check out as well to see where I’m going to be. They can
also follow me Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as I post to these
regularly.
For
the overall experience, I have been lucky, at each of the events I’ve
done I’ve managed to sell books and get my name out there, which is
all good stuff. It really surprises the people who are reading the
books. I get everything from hardcore SciFi and Fantasy fans to the
casual readers who pick up the book, read the blurb, like it, and buy
it.
What
do you like to do when you’re not writing? Tell us about yourself.
When
I’m not writing my husband and I love to travel and spend time with
friends. We both love Disney so we try and get down to Disneyland
once or twice a year if we can. We’ve been lucky to be able to
travel to places both in the United States, North America, Central
America and the tip of South America. We’ve also made our way
(separately) over to Europe and Asia, but we hope to go there
together at some point.
More
locally, we both enjoy movies, cooking, and baking.
Also,
I do enjoy photography, but I’m not very adept at it, but every so
often I get a good photo that I’ll share around, especially on
Instagram.
What
kind of support do you get from your family and friends?
I
have the best family and the most wonderful friends around. They are
so supportive of me and my writing. I couldn’t do any of this
without them. My husband has been awesome, he goes with me to all my
events and he helps me out so much, even if it is something as simple
as getting me a glass of water and helping me pack up and tear down.
The rest of my family are just as amazing I have a feeling I wouldn’t
have sold nearly as many books without them.
My
friends are also some of my biggest supporters and they keep after me
about when my next book is coming out, which is fun, but it’s
always a little scary, because they are so invested that I don’t
want to disappoint them.
Where
can readers follow you to find out more about your work?
Readers
can find me at all the following:
