Please give a warm welcome to Monica D. Pitts-Lack, author of Chance & Crossroads.
Tell us a bit about yourself and what you’re currently working on or promoting.
My name is Monica D. Pitts-Lack. I live in Laurel, MS with my husband and two daughters. I currently am working on the C4 Series. Book one, Chance, was published in November 2012 and Crossroads was released this past April. There will be four books to this series and the third, Courage, is due for release sometime in Sept/October 2013.
What genre is your book? Do you write in other genres as well?
Fiction/Romance/Suspense
Do you have an agent and/or publisher or are you self-published? If self-published, do you use a professional editor? If traditionally published, who is your publisher?
I am self-published. My editor is Melissa Ringsted with There For You Editing Services and she is fantastic!
Do you use test readers? If so, how many?
When Melissa edits my manuscripts she has at least two beta readers “test read” my material once it’s finished. I also have a few friends that I work with that also beta read for me as I write.
What advice do you have for writer’s just starting out?
I am still new to all of this myself. My first book has only been published for 8 months. My biggest advice would be… Make sure that you have fun while you’re writing. Don’t ever think of it as a job. Writing is the easy part. What you don’t know or, unfortunately, don’t get told is the hard part is marketing. Getting your book out there. Hitting publish on Amazon was easy. Finding true author friends and staying connected in the literary world is the hardest part. Make friends with people that have “been there, done that”. We authors stick together, so find bloggers, reviewers, and other authors who don’t mind you picking their brain because I bet you at one point or another; they have been exactly where you are and are willing to help you.
Do you outline your stories or just go with the flow?
I do an overall outline. Where I want the book to go and how I would like it to end. But as far as getting there… totally with the flow.
Do you have any writing rituals or interesting writing quirks?
I have a few ((giggle)) I have to CONSTANTLY read while I’m writing. I can read 2-3 books a week. I find that it helps me with writers block. I pay attention to the grammar and vocabulary an author uses so I don’t get too repetitive in my own manuscript. I also listen to music. I find a song that I like to set the tone and will repeat, repeat, and repeat until that thought is finished or until I need a new song or I see the mood is changing in the book.
What are your three favorite books including the authors?
• This Man Series by Jodi Ellen Malpas
• Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
• Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James
What project are you currently working on?
Right now, I’m working on, Courage. It’s the third installment of the C4 Series.
What book are you currently reading?
Saving Dallas by Kim Jones
How much time a day do you spend on social media?
Literally every break I have. I know that seems like a lot, but I work a full-time job at our local hospital, so when I get a break or I’m at lunch I get on Facebook or Twitter and shamelessly self-promote. At first, I wrinkled my nose at self-promotion, but I need the confidence to be my biggest fan because if not I get discouraged easily.
Do you read your reviews and if so, how do you cope with a bad one?
I do read my reviews and honestly, I freak out! I tend to be a perfectionist, so in the beginning I wanted to go back and rework my manuscript every time I got a negative review. But, once I started looking at them as only opinions, that people will have different taste in books and it’s okay if they didn’t like it, I realized that my reaction to those negative comments were a bigger reflection on myself as an author than what they had to say.
I have found the writer’s community to be very supportive and welcoming. Please share three writers that you recommend for us to check out.
- Saving Dallas by Kim Jones
- Redemption Series, Acropolis Series, and The Scribes of Medeisia Series by R. K. Ryals
- Where The Four Winds Collide by Hildie McQueen
Please be sure to like Monica’s Facebook page, follow her on Twitter and check out her blog!
Click on the covers below to buy her books:
Coming soon:
