Why did you want to write Binding Arbitration?
I was writing another novel, a historical fiction book, and I hit a wall where I didn’t know where to take the story next. I had just visited Indiana University for a baseball reunion weekend and an idea started to weave its way into my mind about a cutter, what they call townies on IU’s campus, and a big time jock. I started asking myself what would happen if they fell in love and he went to the big time and she was much more than a townie. Once I started writing the contemporary it flowed very smoothly, probably because I felt I knew the characters and settings so well. I decided to put the other historical novel on the backburner, I’ve never finished it, but I went back to it recently and am thinking I’ll rework it into a fantasy trilogy.
What is the hardest part about writing for you?
Right now the hardest part is finding the time to write. I launched four books at about the same time, so I’m doing all I can to promote them. My website is also in the works and should launch this month and that’s a lot of work, finding the right images, making sure you have all the right content. Writing itself usually flows pretty well for me, if I get stuck its usually because I’m somewhere I don’t want to be in the story, in Binding at one point I stopped for two week because I just couldn’t bring myself to do something that I knew I had to do. Luckily, all my characters live in my head, or unluckily in this case because Cass kicked me and said, “You just gotta do it.” And I said, “I’ve gotta do it, got it.”
What is the most rewarding part of being published?
Recently someone reviewed Binding Arbitration and in her review she said she had a very special connection to it. When I emailed her, she told me her personal story which paralleled Libby’s journey in some respects and she told me how touched she was by the story. Most of my reviews say they laughed and they cried reading this book, which means to me as author that I succeeded in getting you to know Aidan and Libby, because would you cry over a perfect stranger’s story? It might make you sad but you wouldn’t want to cry. I guess what I’m saying is I like knowing I can touch you with my words.
Are you currently working on another novel?
I’m always working on a novel. The second book in the Chicago series, which doesn’t have a title yet, is about an interior designer and a race car driver. They both come from prestigious backgrounds, but one of them gave a baby up for adoption and the other one was given up for adoption. Both of them have preconceived ideas about the other and they love to rub checkered flags in each other’s faces, the problem is that a checkered flag means caution, and these two don’t catch on until they’ve passed the finish line. It features a magical black cat; Santana is willing to sacrifice its nine lives to keep them together. I’m about four chapters into the book.
I have a paranormal romance that’s almost complete, it’s about a vampire who has been yearning for something for 600 years—it’s not blood that Sebastian Pearce wants more than anything the human world has to offer—the House of Imperials needs a breeder.
Do you have a writing routine you try to stick too?
I’m trying to develop a new routine where I write a few days a week all day and then do marketing a few days a week all day. So far I haven’t gotten a lot written other than guest posts and interviews, but once my web site goes up I hope to go to the back and forth routine.
How important do you think blogs and/or social media are to authors?
I think blogs are very important, especially to Indie authors. They give authors a platform where they can display their work. Unfortunately, the time of the bookstore is rapidly coming to an end. I don’t relish the day, because I love hanging out in bookstores and libraries but authors will need places to promote their books and blogs and social media are the place to accomplish this.
What is your advice for aspiring writers?
I believe that authors are born not made. I think it’s a talent, and like any other talent, the more you practice it the better you will become. I believe a good education supports your talent. Then an author needs lots of life experiences. I think a good writer is naturally curious about many things and very observant, they have the ability to arrange disjointed ideas into stories and make them believable to readers.
Samantha, thanks so much for taking the time to interview me, it was a pleasure.
Elizabeth Marx
http://www.elizabethmarxbooks.com
March 27, 2012
