If you like dark romance, you'll have heard of Marissa Honeycutt's Life of Anna. I was lucky enough to beta read the first draft back in the day, and it's been fun watching the series grow and take off.
What's even better is that Marissa is releasing a new novel, Finding Sabrina, Part 1: Master of My Body. Like Anna, this is a dark erotic paranormal political conspiracy novel.
Last week I asked her to share some thoughts about the new book - and I thought you'd be interested!
AJ: What did you love most about your most recent story?
Marissa: I loved getting to know my new characters. They were a challenge, as they wanted to be their own people, not just rehashing Alex and Anna from The Life of Anna.
Chase, especially, was a challenge to get to know. I wanted him to be a really good guy, but different than previous "good guys" that I wrote.
It was fun researching West Point and learning the traditions that go along with that school. Most of all, visiting Boston a few years ago was a real treat. It's such a beautiful city...So different than other big cities that I've been to.
I imagined walking down the streets as a young ballerina, in a big city for the first time.
AJ: What do you hope to achieve in terms of your writing career?
Marissa: I want to connect with readers. I want to make them feel. Good, bad, ugly...If I haven't made a reader feel something, then I haven't done my job. I love it when a reader tells me that they felt everything that I wrote.
AJ: What's the most challenging thing about writing? How do you cope?
Marissa: When my characters won't talk to me. Writer's block sucks. I feel like I'm missing something if I don't have something to write.
I try and be productive in other things, like promoting, making teasers, stuff like that. And sometimes I just veg in front of the TV and wait for it to go away. Or get depressed. That happens, too. (Hey, I'm human!)
Sometimes I will try and write a scene anyways, but most of the time I just wait for inspiration.
AJ: Tell us your best marketing tip!
Marissa: Interact with your readers. Take the time to answer their questions, their posts, their emails. Ask their opinion about things. Involve them. Tease them! Without them, we writers have no audience.
I love hearing from my readers and do my best to respond to every comment. Most of my marketing is done word of mouth... Readers telling other readers about my books. I think a personal recommendation does more than a blog post most of the time. Not that promoting through blogs and other sites isn't useful. You have to get the word out. But word-of-mouth is very powerful.
Last week I asked her to share some thoughts about the new book - and I thought you'd be interested!
AJ: What did you love most about your most recent story?
Marissa: I loved getting to know my new characters. They were a challenge, as they wanted to be their own people, not just rehashing Alex and Anna from The Life of Anna.
Chase, especially, was a challenge to get to know. I wanted him to be a really good guy, but different than previous "good guys" that I wrote.
It was fun researching West Point and learning the traditions that go along with that school. Most of all, visiting Boston a few years ago was a real treat. It's such a beautiful city...So different than other big cities that I've been to.
I imagined walking down the streets as a young ballerina, in a big city for the first time.
AJ: What do you hope to achieve in terms of your writing career?
Marissa: I want to connect with readers. I want to make them feel. Good, bad, ugly...If I haven't made a reader feel something, then I haven't done my job. I love it when a reader tells me that they felt everything that I wrote.
AJ: What's the most challenging thing about writing? How do you cope?
Marissa: When my characters won't talk to me. Writer's block sucks. I feel like I'm missing something if I don't have something to write.
I try and be productive in other things, like promoting, making teasers, stuff like that. And sometimes I just veg in front of the TV and wait for it to go away. Or get depressed. That happens, too. (Hey, I'm human!)
Sometimes I will try and write a scene anyways, but most of the time I just wait for inspiration.
AJ: Tell us your best marketing tip!
Marissa: Interact with your readers. Take the time to answer their questions, their posts, their emails. Ask their opinion about things. Involve them. Tease them! Without them, we writers have no audience.
I love hearing from my readers and do my best to respond to every comment. Most of my marketing is done word of mouth... Readers telling other readers about my books. I think a personal recommendation does more than a blog post most of the time. Not that promoting through blogs and other sites isn't useful. You have to get the word out. But word-of-mouth is very powerful.
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