The Basics
– Michaela August, Karin Welss
– Brand: House of the Rose
– Genre(s): historical fantasy, vampire, historical romance
– Publisher(s): Awe-Struck eBooks
To Other Authors
– What are the three MOST important pieces of advice you would give to a brand new author?
- (1) Never pay a publisher–money should always flow towards the author.
- (2) Always meet your deadlines.
- (3)Don’t take bad reviews personally (this last piece of advice is the hardest to follow, in my opinion).
– What’s your favorite way to advertise?
- Receiving a favorable book review is the best method, I think, but also the hardest to predict. But there’s just something about getting good word-of-mouth…. The most effective advertising method so far has been a Web banner advertising free opening chapters to my books.
– What hard-knock lesson did the publishing world teach you (can be your own experience or someone else’s that you learned from)?
- That an ineffective agent is worse than no agent at all. It’s a terrible dilemma when you finally get a legitimate agent to represent your writing–most of the big publishing houses these days refuse to consider unagented material–but my co-author and I also ended up waiting for two years while our novel sat on an editor’s desk because our newbie, timid agent was afraid to call him in case he might get mad at her. As soon as we found out why things were taking so long, we severed our relationship with this agent, but it was still two years of lost time.
For the Readers
– What are you reading, if anything, at the moment?
- At the moment, I’m reading Thorn Moon, a friend’s unpublished novel manuscript. She’s a wonderful writer, it’s a terrific story, and I sincerely hope a publisher leaps at the chance to publish her YA fantasy.
– Do you prefer ebooks or print for your reading pleasure?
- Publishing format is unimportant to me–I choose my books by author and subject. Some authors are only published in paper, other only in ebook format.
- Actually, at the moment, I’m doing most of my “reading” by listening to audiobooks, since I can do that in the car or at work, and thus save my free time at home for wrestling with my current novel-in-progress.
– Name three of your all-time-favorite, read-them-over-and-over books.
- Only three? (Renee Note: Everyone always ask that. :P) That’s a really difficult one! I have a whole trove of books, both on my shelves and on my computer, that I’ll pull out as comfort reads. Here are the three favorite books I’ve re-read most recently:
- – A Civil Campaign, by Lois McMaster Bujold (unabridged audiobook, but I also own the hardback book)
- – Island of Ghosts, by Gillian Bradshaw (probably my favorite historical novel of all time)
- – Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon (the unabridged audiobook version, narrated by Davina Porter, though I also own the hardback book)
Idle Curiosity Compels Me to Ask
– What inspired you to be a writer?
- I’ve been writing ever since I could remember, because there have always been stories moving through my head like movies. Learning how to read and write gave me a way to put some of the stories away for safekeeping, and free up space in my brain for new stories. My mother recently gave me a box of my childhood papers that included my very first novel, Alek the Lone Wolf, a Jack London pastiche written in the second grade.
– What do you do immediately after finishing a manuscript?
- Re-read a favorite book, and obsess about how I’ll never measure up to my writing idols. Then I bake a few cakes or try out a new ice cream recipe, go for a massage, and satisfy my inner twelve-year-old by watching anime until I’m ready to start writing another story.
– Do you talk to your characters or your muse or both?
- It’s not so much a conversation as it is channel-surfing through the 360 channels of entertainment in my head. *g* As I move through my day, I’ll get bits of dialogue here, a quick visual snippet there, and once in a while, something more, a whole scene or an entire conversation, that I can build a story around.
- Once I settle on a story and characters, then my mind is tuned to that channel most of the time, and I can “see” and “hear” the next bits while I’m walking, or driving, or waiting for the software at work to chug through some task. So, my characters do talk to me, in a sense, but it’s not a conversation as much as me eavesdropping on them interacting.
- (Renee Note: I’m not alone!! *cues up Michael Jackson music*)
Promo Section
~ Most Recent Release ~ |
| Most recent novel: The Shattered Crown by Michaela August  (House of the Rose: Book Five) In the gripping conclusion to the House of the Rose series, the revelation of an ancient conspiracy explodes into war between the House’s vampire protectors and an exiled goddess. Awe-Struck E-Books, Inc., Published: 2008 |
| First solo novel: Twist of Honor by Karin Welss 
Awe-Struck E-Books, Inc., Published: 2007 It’s the spring of 1666, and Kit Fitzgeorge, a disabled mercenary soldier, finds himself in desperate straits, unable to earn an honorable living but unwilling to beg charity. To provide for his young daughter, he agrees to kidnap the young, wealthy, and widowed Countess of Cranbourne and deliver her into a forced marriage with an impoverished nobleman. ISBN-10: 1587496429 |
Learn More
– Website: http://www.michaela-august.com
– Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Karin-Welss/628319234
– Blog/Newsletter: http://sharibet.livejournal.com (mostly my travel journals and anime/manga reviews)
(Renee Note: She does anime/manga reviews too. Kindred spirit!!)
Thanks, Karin!!
Join me next week for Marie Rochelle.