Straight From the Mouth of 'The Sixth Power' by Carol Nicolas

Carol Nicolas lives in northern Utah (USA) with her husband. A native of Canada, she attended BYU-Idaho (formerly Ricks College) and obtained a bachelor’s degree in education from Brigham Young University (Provo, Utah USA). A teacher, mother of five, wearer of silly socks, and fan of sci-fi/fantasy books and films, she enjoys growing herbs and vegetables, painting, and researching her family history. She likes rock, pop, Celtic and classical music. She has traveled throughout Europe; her favorite city there is Paris, though the romance of Venice is a close second. She speaks American English (with a Canadian accent after she has been talking with her Canadian family on the telephone for just a few minutes), as well a basic modern Greek, which she studied for 4 years to be able to communicate with her husband’s family on their bi-annual trips to Greece. Her deepest secret: she hides chocolate in her desk for emergencies!
Her latest book is the YA paranormal, The Sixth Power.

You can visit Carol’s blog site at http://carolnicolas.wordpress.com

Thanks for letting us interrogate interview you!  Can you give us a go-for-the-gut answer as to why you wanted to be an author?

I come from a long line of storytellers, so it seemed natural to want to write down some of the stories rattling around in my head and share them with others.

Tell us (we won’t tell promise!) is it all it’s cracked up to be?  I mean what are the perks and what are the demands?

The best part about writing is creating the story.  It is so much fun to create characters and to have the scenes flow from my imagination to the page.  The rewriting process is not as much fun, but I have learned a lot from it.  Biggest lesson:  writing well takes a lot of time and hard work.

Which route did you take – traditional or self-published – and can you give us the nitty gritty low down on what’s that like?

I am self-published.  My wonderful husband has handled most of the work for this, and I really appreciate all his hard work and time, because that side of it is definitely not easy for me.  People have different talents, you know?

Tell us for real what your family feels about you spending so much time getting your book written, polished, edited, formatted, published, what have you?

My family was excited when I decided to write a book.  One of my daughters used to say, Mom, go write.  When you write, we can get away with anything!  But when they had to put up with the laundry piling up, housework not getting done, and the chicken drying out in the oven, they weren’t quite so enthusiastic. 

This is for pet lovers.  If you don’t own a pet, skip this question, but do your pets actually get their food on time or do they have to wait until you type just one more word?

My poor dog died last April (of old age, not neglect! Honest, she was 15.), but she did get fed regularly up until that time.  I sure miss her!

This is for plant lovers.  If you don’t own a plant, skip this question, but if you do, are they actually still alive?

Yes, my many plants are all alive, probably because I got in the habit of watering them every Monday.

In writing your book, how did you deal with the phone ringing, your family needing dinner or your boss calling you saying you’re late?

Believe me, it’s very frustrating.  Sometimes I get to the end of the day and realize that I’ve been so busy I haven’t had time to write.  It helps to schedule writing time for when everyone else in the family is either away or doing something else.

What was the craziest or insane thing that happened to you in the book publishing process?

It was so cool when I downloaded my own book onto my Nook, and I realized that I’d actually published a book.  Wow!

How about the social networks?  Which ones do you believe help and which ones do you wish you could avoid?

I’m quite shy, so really I wish I could avoid all networking, but that wouldn’t get my book out there.  I think Facebook as well as Twitter have been a big help.  I’ve made a lot of friends on Goodreads.  And I appreciate the different bloggers for spotlighting or reviewing my book.  I know when I want a good book to read, I go to my favorite book review websites and see what’s available. 

Book sales.  Don’t you just love them (or lack of?)?  How are you making the sales happen for you?

Mostly I’ve used a lot of marketing on social networks, as well as being hosted on blogs.  It’s been a real learning experience.

What is one thing you’d like to jump on the rooftop and scream about?

I PUBLISHED A BOOK!  YEAH!

Okay, too much sugar for you today!  Here’s a nice cup of Chamomile tea and come on over and sit under the cabana and watch the waves roll in.  Now…can you tell us what you love about being a published author and how all those things above doesn’t matter because it’s all part of the whole scheme of things and you wouldn’t have it any other way?

Yeah, it’s all great!  I am so happy that I was able to publish The Sixth Power this year, and I’m busy working on my next book.