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Tell us about your relationship with BookTrope:
Booktrope is cofounded by one of my best friends from theatre school, Katherine Sears. We lost touch after college; she moved to San Francisco and I moved to Seattle. When I was shopping Riversong to publishers, out of the blue, I received an email from Katherine. Turns out we’d been living eight miles from one another for five years. She offered to read Riversong and convinced her co-founder Kenneth Shear to publish it. The rest, as they say, is history. Booktrope is the perfect publisher for me (I plan to be with them for as long as they want me) because they put a team of people together consisting of a stellar editor, marketing manager and book cover artist that rival any bigger publishing house. Their model is unique in that we’re all compensated as a team when the book sells – so we all have proverbial skin in the game. The main thing they’ve done is create an environment where I can do what I do best – write – and the rest of our team does what they do best – figure out how to get my books in readers’ hands.
What do you know now, you wish you’d known before you sat down to write your first novel?
Don’t waste time worrying about if you’re any good or not. Just write. Hard. Every day. Like you’re the finest writer on the planet. Pretty soon you’ll earn the right to be called a writer.
What are you working on now?
The sequel to Riversong, called Riverbend. It features the chef, Annie, from Riversong as the main character. A mysterious man arrives in town and, well, you’ll have to wait until May to find out the rest.
Final Words of Wisdom
Talent is less important than discipline.
