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Angie: How long have you been writing and when did you decide to
indie publish? What was the biggest hurdle in going it alone?
Sera: I only started writing last year. See Through Me is my first
novel ever. It was quite a steep learning curve, but I put time aside each day
to work on my craft and just kept going. The biggest hurdle, though, was the
constant self-doubt. Am I wasting my time? Is anyone going to want to read
this? Etc. But it’s something you have to push aside and try to ignore. (I
know, easier said than done.)
Angie: You published See Through Me in early May. Can you explain
the idea behind the book? Where did the inspiration come from?
Sera: I was inspired by watching TV shows with all these
interesting anti-heroes and villains, and began thinking about what would it be
like if your parents were those characters? How would you view the world and
relationships? What kind of disasters would happen in your life because of
their choices? A story developed in my head about two kids growing up in that
dysfunction and I ran with it.
Angie: See Through Me is the first of two books in the Lose My
Senses series. When book two will be released?
Sera: Only Your Touch will be released in early August.
Angie: Katie is the heroine in See Through Me. What can you share with us about the character?
Angie: Katie is the heroine in See Through Me. What can you share with us about the character?
Sera: Katie returns to her hometown after taking the year off from
college. She doesn’t want to be there. In fact, she doesn’t know what she wants
at all out of life. She’s pretty lost as a character. Her one anchor was
the boy next door, Ash. They had a brief relationship last summer, and he’s
back in town looking for her.
Angie: Ash is the hero of the book and described as “tall, dark,
and demanding answers.” What more can you tell us about his character?
Sera: Ash is sweet but intense. He’s struggling with his own
issues. Katie was also his anchor to keep him grounded. But unlike her, he’s
absolutely certain about what he wants out of life. He wants to be an artist and
he wants Katie.
Angie: What drew you to romance as a genre? Do you plan to branch
out to other genres as your career progresses?
Sera: Romance was a natural fit because I’ve always read romance.
I snuck my mom’s bodice rippers as a kid. I like the push and pull of the
relationships. The character growth that has to come before they can get their
happily ever after. How they have to earn the ‘I love you’ to make it
believable to a reader. And, of course, the sexual tension. I don’t exactly
believe in fade to black. Lol.
I do want to branch out, though. I can see NA going in exciting directions with fantasy and paranormal, and I’m eager to try some different projects out that I’m plotting.
Angie: How do you come up with the names for your characters?
Sera: *laughs* I was writing and realized I had to name these people and pulled their names out of thin air, assuming I could change it later. When later came, I realized that it was impossible to change their names since in my head they had developed as real people and those were now their names.
I do want to branch out, though. I can see NA going in exciting directions with fantasy and paranormal, and I’m eager to try some different projects out that I’m plotting.
Angie: How do you come up with the names for your characters?
Sera: *laughs* I was writing and realized I had to name these people and pulled their names out of thin air, assuming I could change it later. When later came, I realized that it was impossible to change their names since in my head they had developed as real people and those were now their names.
Angie: Chicken or the egg question. Do you create a character and
build around him/her? Or do you imagine a concept and create characters which
fit the idea?
Sera: What I did was just write and let the characters, just to see what would happen. Then I would have to go back and think about the ‘why’ that was behind what they were doing and how it related to their character. It was an enlightening process, but also time consuming. I don’t know if I’ll do it that way again, to be honest.
Angie: How do you avoid writing a Mary Sue or Marty Stu when most writers can’t help falling desperately in love with their creations?
Sera: My main characters are deeply flawed, both because of their past and personality traits. For instance, Katie lies constantly. I am more drawn to those type of characters than anything else. A story wouldn’t be any fun if everyone made all the right decisions.
But, on the other hand, I may have fallen a little too in love with them because I can’t shake the feeling I held back in See Through Me. I didn’t truly let enough awful things happen to them. I’m working through that right now as I finish Only Your Touch. Sad to say, bad things are going to happen in the sequel because what that’s what the story demands.
Angie: Do you use anything to inspire you while you’re writing like music or visual aids? Also have you found ideas come to you more freely in particular places or at certain times of the day?
Sera: Ideas just sort of appear in my head and I scribble it on the nearest piece of paper. My husband knows not to throw any pieces of scrap paper out at this point. I do listen to music as I write, and go through different phases. Right now it’s the Divergent movie score.
Angie: When an idea hits you, do you start writing immediately or plot it out first?
Sera: Write immediately, figure out where it goes and why later
Angie: When you read less than fawning reviews, how do you know when to use the critique to improve your future writing and when do you chalk up the criticism as different strokes for different folks?
Sera: I recently dealt with this issue. On my early reviews, almost half of the readers expressed frustration about too many unresolved questions at the end. I do listen and appreciate all reviews, so I went ahead and added the next scene in the storyline before publishing. It did create a cliffhanger, but the response has been very positive about the changes.
Angie: I’ve read criticism from particular bloggers (Fangs for the Fantasy being one) about the lack of people of color and different sexual orientations in fiction. Do you take this lack of diversity into consideration when creating plots and characters?
Sera: *groans* I struggle with this. I want to be more diverse with my characters, but I don’t want to make it their whole identity, either. I personally dislike books that use someone’s disability or sexual orientation as their main defining feature. As a new writer, one of my goals is to work on developing more complex characterization that allows for sensitive, realistic portrayal of diverse characters.
Angie: Do word counts mean anything to you? Do you find your books top out at around the same lengths?
Sera: See Through Me is my first official completed novel at 76K words, so I don’t have a large sample to draw from. I do know the sequel is likely going to be 50% longer, around 100-120K words.
Angie: How big a deal is writer’s block for you and what do you do to shake it off?
Sera: I use Write or Die and force myself to write something, anything. It may be awful but at least there are words on the page
And I’m really more in my element when I’m revising. I actually like that part! I like expanding on ideas, mulling over word choice and phrases But none of that can happen until there are words on the page, so I do fast drafts of almost all my scenes using Write or Die.
Angie: What books did you enjoy most in 2013?
Sera: Broken by Megan Hart. Captive in the Dark by CJ Roberts. Strings by Kendall Grey. Life After Death by Damien Echols.
Angie: What trends do you hope die in 2014? Are there any you hope take off?
Sera: Less dystopian, werewolves, and vampires. More unique takes on paranormal and fantasy, especially in the New Adult category. And interesting sci-fi!
Angie: What are you plans for 2014 as an indie writer?
Sera: Getting Only Your Touch ready for release is my immediate goal right now. But I have a stand-alone NA contemporary romance, a fantasy NA romance, and an erotic urban fantasy serial all plotted out and outlined. (Those scraps of paper come in handy!) I work on different projects when I need to recharge a bit.
Sera: What I did was just write and let the characters, just to see what would happen. Then I would have to go back and think about the ‘why’ that was behind what they were doing and how it related to their character. It was an enlightening process, but also time consuming. I don’t know if I’ll do it that way again, to be honest.
Angie: How do you avoid writing a Mary Sue or Marty Stu when most writers can’t help falling desperately in love with their creations?
Sera: My main characters are deeply flawed, both because of their past and personality traits. For instance, Katie lies constantly. I am more drawn to those type of characters than anything else. A story wouldn’t be any fun if everyone made all the right decisions.
But, on the other hand, I may have fallen a little too in love with them because I can’t shake the feeling I held back in See Through Me. I didn’t truly let enough awful things happen to them. I’m working through that right now as I finish Only Your Touch. Sad to say, bad things are going to happen in the sequel because what that’s what the story demands.
Angie: Do you use anything to inspire you while you’re writing like music or visual aids? Also have you found ideas come to you more freely in particular places or at certain times of the day?
Sera: Ideas just sort of appear in my head and I scribble it on the nearest piece of paper. My husband knows not to throw any pieces of scrap paper out at this point. I do listen to music as I write, and go through different phases. Right now it’s the Divergent movie score.
Angie: When an idea hits you, do you start writing immediately or plot it out first?
Sera: Write immediately, figure out where it goes and why later
Angie: When you read less than fawning reviews, how do you know when to use the critique to improve your future writing and when do you chalk up the criticism as different strokes for different folks?
Sera: I recently dealt with this issue. On my early reviews, almost half of the readers expressed frustration about too many unresolved questions at the end. I do listen and appreciate all reviews, so I went ahead and added the next scene in the storyline before publishing. It did create a cliffhanger, but the response has been very positive about the changes.
Angie: I’ve read criticism from particular bloggers (Fangs for the Fantasy being one) about the lack of people of color and different sexual orientations in fiction. Do you take this lack of diversity into consideration when creating plots and characters?
Sera: *groans* I struggle with this. I want to be more diverse with my characters, but I don’t want to make it their whole identity, either. I personally dislike books that use someone’s disability or sexual orientation as their main defining feature. As a new writer, one of my goals is to work on developing more complex characterization that allows for sensitive, realistic portrayal of diverse characters.
Angie: Do word counts mean anything to you? Do you find your books top out at around the same lengths?
Sera: See Through Me is my first official completed novel at 76K words, so I don’t have a large sample to draw from. I do know the sequel is likely going to be 50% longer, around 100-120K words.
Angie: How big a deal is writer’s block for you and what do you do to shake it off?
Sera: I use Write or Die and force myself to write something, anything. It may be awful but at least there are words on the page
And I’m really more in my element when I’m revising. I actually like that part! I like expanding on ideas, mulling over word choice and phrases But none of that can happen until there are words on the page, so I do fast drafts of almost all my scenes using Write or Die.
Angie: What books did you enjoy most in 2013?
Sera: Broken by Megan Hart. Captive in the Dark by CJ Roberts. Strings by Kendall Grey. Life After Death by Damien Echols.
Angie: What trends do you hope die in 2014? Are there any you hope take off?
Sera: Less dystopian, werewolves, and vampires. More unique takes on paranormal and fantasy, especially in the New Adult category. And interesting sci-fi!
Angie: What are you plans for 2014 as an indie writer?
Sera: Getting Only Your Touch ready for release is my immediate goal right now. But I have a stand-alone NA contemporary romance, a fantasy NA romance, and an erotic urban fantasy serial all plotted out and outlined. (Those scraps of paper come in handy!) I work on different projects when I need to recharge a bit.
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