Interview With A Blogpire... Starring Aimee L. Salter

G’day, everyone, and welcome to another installment of Interview With A Blogpire. Whether you’re a writer, an aspiring blogger, or that person who found my site by Googling ‘slug wedgie’, this post has loads of successful blogger tips on building an author platform, and with any luck you’ll find them as useful as I did. So read on and enjoy, (or visit my post, Writing, Wedgies and Hollywood Slugs, if that’s your thing).

Who needs Adobe Illustrator when
you've got Powerpoint and Paint?

Now, to business. My guest today is the amazing Aimee L. Salter of Seeking The Write Life. Her blog has almost 90 000 hits so far, nearly 600 followers on Google Friend Connect alone, and she’s recently joined the hugely popular YAtopia team, too. I went looking for her secret to success, and now I’m bringing the interview (in two parts for the price of one), to you…

Hi Aimee, and thanks for agreeing to my interview. First question, what would you say has been the most popular style of post/content for you?

Without a doubt, the most popular posts I write are ones that give practical tips for self-editing or improving writing technique. Anything that benefits writers who are, obviously, my audience on the blog.

There are many other blogs out there doing similar things. Any idea what makes yours stand out?

“I think a lot of bloggers offer over-arching advice or concepts for learning, but not as many give writers tips they can act on specifically and immediately.”

I think, like me, most writers want to make their books better. So anytime they find content that helps them do that, they get excited about it.

What do you do when you haven't got anything like that to post, especially if you’re trying to keep a regular blogging schedule?

I try never to blog for the sake of blogging (i.e. ‘filler’), but it has happened. If I’m really stuck, I try to find something funny or useful that someone else has v-logged or blogged about and promote their stuff instead.

There have been times that, due to Real Life Happenings I just have had the time to blog. At those times I’ve either reposted old, useful posts, or just apologized and told everyone when I’ll be back on board.

And does this combination of useful content on a regular basis mean you've got so many active blog visitors that people are always interacting with your stuff?

I definitely get traffic that I don’t “seek”. I.e. there are always one or two tweets floating around offering links to my blog, or people telling their friends. I do get some traffic from google searches (probably only about 4-5%).

“Comments are sporadic, but often when I’m posting about an “issue” (i.e. sexual content in YA fiction), we’ll get a really good and comprehensive conversation going.” 

Most of the time my comments are just people either agreeing with what was said, or adding to it. A lot of my regular commenters have been around my blog for quite a while, so they just jump in when they find something useful, or think they have something to add. It’s nice. I feel like I am getting to know these people. As writers, at least.

Last of all, (for now), you have a background in branding - so do you have any specific branding strategies to share?

Branding is a word that gets thrown around a lot, usually by people who associate branding with logos or design. However branding isn’t logos or design. Logos and design are merely tools used to help your “brand” be identified quickly. A “brand” is a set of perceptions that people associate with a person, name or business.

“As a writer you have two options. Either you “brand” your stories (i.e. write all of your books in a similar genre, using similar plot structures, etc) or you brand yourself.”

Branding yourself is virtually impossible to do until you’re already known. Branding yourself means making yourself someone people want to be around or emulate. To do it right, you have to achieve something other people admire. Then you have to manage that success with aplomb.

It’s very difficult to do well for any length of time, mainly because when people gain a fanbase (as opposed to a platform) they often start to believe their own hype and become somewhat narcissistic online.

I’ll put my hand up and say I’m working on branding myself. I want people to associate my name with honesty, useful advice, humor and integrity. I want people to see my name on a blog or a link or a book and immediately assume it will be good-quality, interesting content.

I’m just tipping into that arena now. But the big test will come when I’m actually published. If my book doesn’t live up to those impressions, all the work I’ve done building a foundation on my blog will be for naught.

Remember: a “brand” is a set of perceptions that people associate with a person, name or business. If I create the beginnings of a brand now, via my blog, then don’t live up to those perceptions in my writing career, my brand is destroyed.

But no pressure.

To be continued…

(This week!)

(So follow the blog to stay in the loop, and if you can't wait a few days, check out my last interview with a Blogpire, starring the fabulous Brenda Drake!)

(Thanks!)

An End And An Opportunity: Wrapping Up The Follow-Swap Blog Hop

Well the Follow-Swap Blog Hop is officially over, and I am officially stoked at how it went.

See, it's on Facebook. Therefore it's official.

In the end there were forty-four blogs on the list (which is about forty-three more than I expected), hundreds of views on my three FSBH posts, and enough lovely comments to earn me a permanent, stupid grin. And for that I can’t thank you enough. :D

I wanted the FSBH to be a chance for everyone (myself included) to get a better idea of what catches blog readers and turns them into followers, so now I’m dying to know what you learnt from all your hopping about. What made you immediately look for a blog’s follow button? What sent you running for the hills? (Hopefully nothing short of a yeti bursting out of your computer screen but you never know). What was more important to you: content, voice or design? Or was it the person behind the blog which appealed more?

Being a master of thinking ‘til I’m cross-eyed I’ve already got a list of ideas, but I want to leave it open to you guys first. I’ve had loads of people who couldn’t make this blog hop ask me when it’ll happen again, so this is your chance to get in on what will hopefully be an even bigger and better event next time. I’m going to compile a post with all your feedback and links to you/your blogs, so leave a comment with your blog’s URL and we’ll see what we can whip up.

And while you’re at it (or if you just need to kick-start you thinking caps), check out these limited edition, FSBH posts: The Follow-Swap Blog Hop: Effective Content and Defective Stamp Collections and The Follow-Swap Blog Hop: Twitter Profiles That Don't Make Me Facepalm

Thanks again, everyone.

Katherine Amabel

Twitter Profiles That Don't Make Me Facepalm

I’ve been getting a fair few twitter followers lately, and considering that I was always the nerdiest kid in the school library, that’s a big deal. (Seriously, I think that guy with the skin condition had more friends than me). Anyway, the problem with this is that I feel a rant coming on. A nice, Follow-Swap Blog Hop rant.

See, for a lot of people twitter is their first contact with potential readers, and it’s being wasted. If you follow me and I see your profile says "tea drinker", I facepalm so hard I don’t wake up for an hour. I mean I’m not one to stand between a person and a warm beverage but don’t forget that that brief twitter bio is your chance to sell yourself to hundreds of people, so you want to be aiming for some sort of unique selling point, right?

While we’re on the subject, people don’t need to know where you live either. Unless they’re a) your grandma or b) a murderous stalker, they’re not going to remember a thing like that, so why waste any of your valuable 160 characters on it? Besides, writers don’t even go outside, let alone go visit total strangers. It makes no sense!

And speaking of serial killers, if your profile pic looks like a prison mug shot, I’m going to have to join those tea-drinkers and drown my sorrows in an English Breakfast. Your portrait is the face (every pun intended) of your marketing strategy, so it needs to show a little bit of you, even if that means looking as daggy as this.

Finally, make sure you've got a few interesting tweets showing on your profile page. If you’re having a lengthy conversation with someone, switch to DM’s or even that old classic, email. Either that or try and follow people when you’ve recently posted an interesting link or tweet, so that when they visit your profile you establish your reputation as a valuable source of information or a master of the ancient art of status-box comedy. That way when they’re scrolling through their twitter feeds they’ll actually stop when they see your profile picture.

I’m sorry to be making a fuss, and I'm not holding this against anyone because we're all just trying our best. So I’ll quit whining now and instead say think about the twitter profiles you remember. The ones that made you laugh, made you curious, or made you check out their blog because it looked like it could be useful to you. They’re the sort of profiles you should be aspiring to, not Joe Bloggs, the accountant from that town you’ve never heard of, who likes tepid water, chocolate, and is "loving life". I know how hard it is to write a book, build an author platform, raise three dogs and a pet husband (don’t even get me started on the pet husbands) and just want to see everyone's efforts turn out as worthwhile as possible.

After all, that’s what the follow-swap blog hop is all about, and I’d really appreciate it if you helped your fellow writers out, and spread the word with me. And if you like seeing my head nearly explode, here’s  one of my most popular rants  for you. 

Effective Content and Defective Stamp Collections

Greetings, bloggers and penguin enthusiasts, the Follow-Swap Blog Hop is live & gaining entries! It's your chance to showcase your blog, so today's accompanying post is all about effective content. I won’t rant (yeah right, my last post turned out to be about sea-birds and I’m not even sure how it happened), but I’ll try and at least be helpful.
 

1. First you have to decide what you want to write. I know that sounds obvious, but remember your followers don’t necessarily want to read a series on the week you spent at the community center learning how to arrange stamp collections. Don’t feel that just because it’s your usual blogging day you have to churn out any old thing to keep up the schedule. Wait another day or two and post something amazing, because even if you’re not ensuring that you only ever post your best stuff, someone else will be taking that precaution with their blog.

2. Next, think about your blog’s target audience, and what they want and have come to expect from you. That doesn’t have to dictate what you’re going to write but at least let it set the tone, and don’t forget to keep up your writer’s voice, too. Whether it be funny, whimsical, thought-provoking or heartfelt, building loyal followers is all about consistency.

3. Got it worked out? Then write the thing! Try and include links to other relevant posts too, either by working links into your article or having a list of similar links at the end. It’s all about having a captive audience, and that means never letting them view one thing without tantalizing them with another. Grab an image or two to break up the text, being wary of having so many that your page takes ten minutes to load and gives everybody a migraine, and you’re done.

4. Finally, when you go to publish your blog post, take a long, hard think about the title. I know, I know, that seems rich from someone with such ridiculous and frequently irrelevant titles as On Cover Design, DIY Marketing and The Personification of Butt Cheeks…or Better than Bingo at a Knitting Club Tea-party: A Review, but hear me out. Your title will only be accompanied by your actual article for as long as it takes to fill your blog’s home page with posts. After that it’ll be nothing more than a link in an archive, so you had better make it stand out, and given that there won’t always be room in your sidebar to display the full title, you’ve got to hook us on the first words. (P.S. How’s that for walking the walk from step 3?) Plus, the more interesting your titles are, the more interesting your tweets about them should be, and the more traffic you’ll get.

So try it out now. You could even blog about your adventures in the Follow-Swap Blog Hop, because when your followers see what you’re up to and join in, and their followers see what they’re up to and join in too, then that’s just more potential followers for everyone.

It’s like a pyramid scheme, only legal.

And there's my accompanying picture. See, no pyramids here.

Penguins & Blog Followers: Come Showcase Your Work!

Blog followers are like penguins… aka, totally awesome. On the other hand, follow-for-a-follow-back systems can be a different story. See the trouble is if a potential follower happens to land on a page where the most recent post is “Why I love plain toast: an essay”, there’s no reason for them to keep reading. They’ll complete the obligatory follow and then move on to other blogs without properly exploring the one they’ve landed on. They may even form a mental note – subconsciously or otherwise – that the blog itself isn’t worth reading, and so when they do start receiving the emailed posts they’re highly likely to delete without even looking. And if the next post was, for example, “The Life and Habitat of Penguins”, then everybody misses out.

  

To make things worse, let’s say they stumble upon an interesting post from that blog in the future, maybe via twitter and so on. They might read it, even enjoy it, but it could still be perceived as an unusually interesting post from ‘that boring blog’. In other words, it won’t necessarily be enough to change that delete-without-reading habit.

So how do we, as bloggers, fix such a thing? Content! It seems obvious, but I’m sure we’ve all seen some ridiculously boring posts out there. What we need to ensure is that no one lands on our blogs without being entertained – informed – mystified – whatever, about our content. And in light of that, I’ve got an idea.

Everyone, get your best posts ready for... The Follow-Swap Blog Hop!

Grab the badge! (Link below).

The aim is simple: you can link to whatever page of your blog you like, but be sure to make it your best content so we can‘t resist following you. This is your chance to show off; to teach your potential new followers that when you email them a post, they sure as anything better open it up. And while you’re here, check out the other blogs, follow the ones you like, and even post them a comment to let them know what they’re doing right.

The blog hop will run all week, so you’ve got plenty of time to continually polish your posts and build a wow-worthy website. And with new blogs signing up as we go along, don’t forget to check back whenever you can to find more potential followers to interact with. 
Sound good?

NO.

It sounds like penguins.

UPDATE: Now check out The Follow Swap Blog Hop: Effective Content and Defective Stamp Collections, and The Follow-Swap Blog Hop: Twitter Profiles That Don't Make Me Facepalm - a special FSBH post just for FSBH-ers!






P.S. To add the badge to your blog, go through your blog's design options to add a gadget, select the HTML/Javascript option, and paste in this code:

<div align="left">

<a href="http://beyondthehourglassbridge.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/penguins-and-blog-followers-study.html" title="Beyond The Hourglass Bridge" target="_blank"><img src=" http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o528/katherineamabel/Follow-SwapBlogHopLogo_zps2e182e09.png" alt="Beyond The Hourglass Bridge" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

And The Dodgy Spy With The Awesome Prize Is...

If yuo can raed this cdoe it maens yuore an ecxlelent spy…

Either that or its fine, and I’ve just lost my glasses.

Anyway while you’re all milling around looking inconspicuous, it’s time to announce the dodgy spy with the awesome prize. And the winner, in no particular order (except backwards for extra secrecy), is…

F .ardnassaK

Congratulations! I’ll get in touch with you to arrange your prize!

Dodgy Spies With An Awesome Prize: A 25 Page, Author Critique!

Today I'm hosting the final stop in Kelley York's HOLLOWED blog tour, and to say I'm ridiculously excited would be like saying— well, something equally accurate. Why? Because myself, Kelley and the fabulous Nyrae Dawn (author of five books, with more on the way and an interview coming up on this blog), are giving away a massive prize! And the best part is, it's interactive...

See, as you'll all know from the blog tour, Hollowed is not just an awesome New Adult novel. It's also a mystery, and so for this prize you'll need to do some sleuthing. First, get yourself a Sherlock Holmes hat and pipe (or if, like many writers, you're afraid of the outside world, simply imagine yourself in one).

OK so it's technically not a Sherlock Hat,
and the old man I stole it from didn't have a pipe,
but when your mystery-solving pose looks this good...

Next, check out the video interview I did with Kelley and answer the four super mysterious questions in the rafflecopter widget below (you'll earn five entries for each one you answer). To be extra sneaky and secretive we made sure the video can only be viewed here, so you better put on sunglasses before you watch it so no-one sees you.

Once you've got your answers, it's time to duck behind a newspaper and do some stalking. Follow us on twitter for one entry per twerson (yes, it's a word) and on our blogs for ten entries per blog.

And what do you get?


A 25 page critique from Kelley.
A signed ARC of Hushed. (It's her last one. Ever. I'd say that pretty much makes it an antiquity).
A signed Hushed bookmark. (Not that you'll need it, since you won't be able to stop reading).
An e-copy of Hollowed from Kelley.
An e-copy of Measuring Up from Nyrae.
And since I wanted to join in the spirit of giving, I'll throw in a good deed for you too. I'm no professional writer but I've been studying the publishing/writing industry for 3 years now to perfect my own work so I'd be happy to offer a beta read for you, or you could do a guest post on my blog to gain some potentially new viewers, or if you've got work coming out I can chip in to your publicity efforts. Whatever you like, I'd love to work something out. :)

The contest ends at the very mysterious and in no way suggested by rafflecopter time of 12:01 am, September 7. Happy sleuthing, and thank you so much to Kelley and Nyrae for giving me this opportunity, and to everyone for participating! (I mean, no-one. You were never here, right?)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Query Workshop - Win A Seat!

Forgive me, I lied, you don't actually win a real seat. For one thing, literary agents rarely consider seat-ownership as a benchmark for requestable material. For another, my taste in home wares is appalling. However what I can offer you is the chance to win one of three query critiques from the fabulous Brenda Drake of Brenda Drake Writes… under the influence of coffee. And for those who've already perfected their query or are already promoting their work, there's lots of fun and learning too.

That's right, fun and learning. As if a seat has anything on that.

To get involved, check out our chat on building an author platform by creating a successful blog, AKA Interview With A Blog-pire, and leave a comment. Brenda will pick three winners and announce them on her blog on August 22, so don't forget to drop by again in a couple of days. And stay tuned for more interviews too - I'm planning to irritate a whole series of successful bloggers about how they built such effective online presences, so there'll be fun and learning and hopefully more giveaways to come.

Interview With A Blog-pire

First things first, I accept that blog-pire isn't a word. Second things first, I want to start today’s post with an oath: I never sit at my computer hitting refresh on my blog stats tracker, hoping that a thousand new hits will magically appear in the time it takes my page to reload.

I swear.

Anyway, while I was at my computer a few days ago, working away on my synopsis and definitely not even looking at my stats dashboard, I had an idea. Why not interview successful bloggers on how they’ve built up their platform so well? Brilliant? My mum thinks so. And so without further ado, I present an interview with Brenda Drake, creator of Brenda Drake Writes… under the influence of coffee.

Recognise it? You should, because it's a wealth of inspiration for any aspiring blogger. Her latest contest, posted only hours ago, already has nearly 200 entries. She has 986 followers on Google Friend Connect and Networked Blogs. And her page-views are sitting at a tidy one-hundred-and-sixty-four-thousand, four-hundred-and-seven! I can’t even say that number aloud without needing to stop for a breather. So how does she do it? Brenda, you tell us…

—Thanks Kat. I hadn't a clue what to do when I first started blogging. That first year, I think I only posted nine times. But during that time, I read and commented on other blogs -- followed and gained followers. I happened upon blogfests and participated in some and held some of mine own. I hosted a contest to generate more followers, and found I enjoyed them. I loved the excitement and how the community came together to help each other with their work. That's when I decided to dedicate my efforts to holding contests and workshops.

Running contests are a lot of work, but the rewards are amazing. I remember how nervous I was to show anyone my work when I first came out of my writing cave, but I had entered contests and each time I made it into them, I felt that maybe my writing really didn't suck that bad. When you enter a contest, you don't have to tell anyone you joined, especially if you don't make the cut. But when you make the cut, you feel your work is finally good enough.

I do give away books sometimes in between contests and workshops for writers who've asked. I think caring and being genuine helps to get followers coming back. Offering things your followers can use or learn from is the key. Most importantly, posting frequently is important. I've skipped over blogs and never gone back to them because they hadn't posted in months. I follow back. You reap what you sow.

People always ask how I got agents to participate in contests. It's really simple, I ask. I use a catchy (non-spammer type) email to pique their interests, and they really are kind and will usually answer. Also, it helps when the contest has a fun concept and if you generate buzz for the contest. Once they join in, I brag and praise them on Twitter and my blog.

Awesome – I bet my four followers are rushing out to try it now! Anyway in that first year, did you gain many followers from just commenting on other blogs? Or did you have to interact with people and let them know you'd followed them and find that some followed you back?

—I did, but it was slow moving. I never told anyone I followed them. I would just follow and comment on their recent post. Most times, they followed back. I'm less likely to follow a blog if I have to do it by email. My email gets clogged. I prefer having a linky to sign up on. That way I can go through my Blogger feed or my Networked Blogs feed, skim the titles, and read the posts that interest me. Making it convenient for your readers is key. 

Did you have many followers when you started running your own blogfests? If not, how did you get people involved?

—I first participated in others' blogfests. I'd follow everyone in the blogfest and comment on their entry. When I felt I had enough followers, I ran my own blogfest. It was during my blogfests that I noticed a spike of participants when I had them enter something from their manuscripts. Writers love to get help with their writing, I do, anyway. I soon offered prizes and my follower list grew.

Did you learn any specific tricks about what makes a good contest? 

—I think the buzz. You have to get the buzz going on Twitter and any social media where you have friends/followers. I tweet about my contests during prime times and thank whoever retweets. Except lately, some of my contests generate so many retweets I can't possibly thank everyone or I'll bug my followers. So I'll do a blanket 'thank you'. I try to be gracious and humble. And, if I have time and know the answer, I'll help writers out.

And finally, you tell me you’ve got your own book coming out in 2014. Care to give us a quick blurb?

—Sure. LIBRARY JUMPERS is about sixteen-year-old, Gia Kearns, who discovers that with a simple flip of a page she can transport into any library of her choosing, thus thrusting her into a Mystik world, hidden behind the bookcases of the greatest libraries in the world, where evil abounds, secrets unfold, and mortals are running out of time.

Wow, wow, wow. Can I just say I already want to live in that book? Best of luck, and thank you for your wise words today. To anyone reading this, feel free to post any questions and I’ll chase up the answers. I'm also planning a series of interviews with other successful bloggers, so stay tuned for more. And if you can help me spread the word, I'll love you all to the end of days!

Kat

Insert-Dramatic-Music-And-Epic-Drumroll-For... The Official, HOLLOWED, Cover Reveal!

Ahem... Ta da!

I present to you the cover for Kelley York's upcoming New Adult novel, HOLLOWED. Great, isn't it? And what's all the more impressive is that Kelley designed the cover herself. It's enough to make any wannabe author go green-eyed with envy. (Ba-dum Ch! See what I did there folks? I'm here all week).

Anyway, putting hilarious, bordering-on-dad-jokes aside, I can't wait to read this. Feast your eyes on the blurb below and you'll see why. 

***

Blurb:

All 18-year-old Briar Greyson wanted was to figure out this whole living-away-from-your-parents thing. Apartment, steady job, cool roommate? Check. Noah, her adorable (albeit elusive) boyfriend? Check. Everything in the life of Briar was pretty good.

Then she and her roommate are attacked on their way home one night. Briar wasn't supposed to survive.

Instead, according to the two guys who saved her, she's turning into the things that attacked her: a vampire. Totally crazy and Not Okay. Now Noah's secrets are coming to light, and he wants Briar dead. Then there are the vampires who attacked Briar to lure out her sister.

Her sister...who died years ago. 

(Didn't she?)

The city's body count is rising, and Briar wants to help put a stop to it. But first, she has to figure out who the real enemy is: the vampires, the boy she loves, or the sister she thought she'd lost.

***

Well, what do you think? I get the sense that there's something really unique hidden away in this story and I'm twitching to find it. If you're as keen on some pre-release stalking as I am, you can check out Kelley's website (featuring her own  cover reveal) and her Goodreads page, or follow her on twitter @elixing. Keep an eye out here too because I've got an interview lined up as part of the book tour, and with any luck there just might be a large giveaway involved. ;)

HOLLOWED will be officially released on the 15th August. Counting down the days!

On Cover Design, DIY Marketing & the Personification of Butt Cheeks... Plus Giveaway!

Nothing could compare to the agony of riding bareback in skinny jeans... my buttocks were threatening to disengage themselves from my body and run to a far off corner of the wood, where they would no doubt weep at the misfortune of being mine. - Donna Hosie, Searching For Arthur.

As many of you know (because I’m always banging on about it), I want this blog to really focus on writing, book promotion and experimenting with ways authors can generate publicity and build their author platform. So it is with a stupid amount of excitement that I’m trying something new – a blog interview. And my first guinea pig off the ranks is none other than Donna Hosie, author of the fabulous YA fantasy "Searching for Arthur", which I reviewed here last week.

Hi Donna, and thanks for agreeing to be my experiment! Your book has only recently hit the e-shelves, so you’re just beginning your promotional journey. Can you share your master plans?

-- I decided on a very strategic way of doing things. The first was to engage a professional designer for the cover - which is gorgeous! - and then market the book in stages. Stage one was obviously friends and family, stage two was family and friends of family and friends, and stage three is where I am now which is giving some free copies away to bloggers/reviewers for them to review and hopefully recommend.

    I wanted to avoid the route some debut authors go down which is to bombard social media in that first week. You just end up spamming and annoying everybody. I have always maintained that word of mouth and recommendations are a writer’s best hope for success and I am prepared to be in this for the long haul.

Wise words there, and you’re spot on about the cover – it’s stunning. How did it come about?

-- I engaged my own designer and found it to be a wonderful collaborative process - something traditionally published authors don't really get to experience. With the cover for Searching for Arthur, the designer and I went back and forth several times until the cover was a perfect match for my vision of the story.

Did you read up on book design or use the designer’s knowledge? What book design tips can you share?

-- I did read up on book design but I chose a designer who had worked with authors I knew. The important thing about the cover is to choose images carefully because most of the time it will be a thumbnail image people see. Keep it clean and clear, nothing fussy in your fonts and images.

And have you had any surprising responses for Searching for Arthur since you began to promote it?

-- I continue to be amazed when I read a tweet or review from a total stranger who has read and loved the book. When the readers are from the general public, then that is a wonderful feeling. Most of the comments centre around the originality of the tale I've told which is exactly what I think the selling point is.

Congratulations on receiving such positive feedback! One thing I personally loved throughout the book is that there were spectacular action scenes juxtaposed with moments of wonderful (and hilarious) comic relief as well as with some to-die-for romance scenes - which story arc did you enjoy writing the most?

-- There are so many story arcs in this tale, and I loved writing every one of them, but I have two joint favourites: the romance between Natasha and Bedivere (I think he is very much overlooked in Arthurian legend), and then the trio of Natasha, Arthur and Slurpy. The sibling relationship between Natasha and Arthur is very much the heart of the trilogy, but then throw in a thoroughly nasty girlfriend and it makes for fun writing.  I love writing Slurpy’s character because she is so nasty but I have to be careful not to make her one dimensional, so her redeeming feature is the fact that she truly loves Arthur. The decision to link her with Morgana came halfway through writing the novel but it fitted in effortlessly so it was clearly meant to be.

And finally, what’s one piece of advice everyone considering self-publishing should know?

-- Writers self-publishing need to be informed and they need to take their time. BE PROFESSIONAL ALWAYS.  I despair when I see someone announce they finished a novel one day and have it for sale the next. This is your career and if you want longevity - which I do - then you need to do it properly. That means a professional cover, a good edit, and a strategy for promotion. Doing it yourself is very empowering but it is a huge responsibility.

I’m sure it is, and I wish you the best of luck. To all of you in this little blog community we’re building together, I encourage you to go out and support Donna, even if it’s just by RTing this interview or my review (tweets here  & here). To one lucky tweeter we’ll award a free Kindle copy of Searching for Arthur, so come back this time next week to see if you've won)! And as this is my first interview, feel free to comment with any questions I should have covered and I’ll chase up the answers.

Thanks!