Andra Wakins is a
native of Tennessee but calls Charleston, South Carolina, her home for the last
23 years. She is the author of
To Live Forever: An Afterlife Journey of Meriwether
Lewis, a mishmash of historical fiction, paranormal
fiction and suspense that follows Meriwether Lewis (of Lewis & Clark fame)
after his mysterious death on the Natchez Trace in 1809.
You can visit her
website at www.andrawatkins.com or
follow her on Google+,Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest and Goodreads.
Thanks for letting us
Sheer idiocy.
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?
There’s nothing like hearing voices in one’s head and transcribing them every day. They’re demanding. And perky.
Which route did you take – traditional or self-published – and can you give us the nitty gritty low down on what’s that like?
Word Hermit Press, a small press, published my novel. It’s EXACTLY what I wanted my book to be. I don’t know many authors who can say that about their books when they’re released.
What’s the snarkiest thing you can say about the publishing industry (e.g. rejections, the long wait, etc.)
In more than two decades in professional positions, where I dealt with numerous small business owners, I never, ever ran across the level of unprofessional behavior that i did in the publishing industry. The. Most. Unprofessional. People. Anywhere. (I’m generalizing. About a tenth of didn’t fit that description.)
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 husband was the most supportive person in my life. Without him, To Live Forever would never have been published. He’s completely supportive of the time it takes to get a book right.
What was the craziest or insane thing that happened to you in the book publishing process?
An agent told me she couldn’t see Meriwether Lewis as a guardian angel for a little girl, but she was excited to point out that she represented the book that turned Abraham Lincoln into a vampire slayer.
How about the social networks? Which ones do you believe help and which ones do you wish you could avoid?
They’re all necessary. They do different things for an author if they’re employed correctly.
Book sales. Don’t you just love them (or lack of?)? How are you making the sales happen for you?
To launch my novel, I’m the first living person to walk the 444-mile long Natchez Trace as the pioneers did. Fifteen miles a day. Six days a week. I will finish in Nashville (entirely uphill trek) in 34 total days of walking. I started March 1 and finish April 3.
An event like this gives me all kinds of opportunities to talk about the book without saying, “Buy my book.”
What is one thing you’d like to jump on the rooftop and scream about?
How much my feet hurt right now. Ha.
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?
I love interacting with readers. Meeting readers. Hearing stories from readers. I write first for me, but I hope I craft worthy stories for readers. I never tire of hearing from them.
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