1. Your novella CUTTING THE FAT was written by both of you. I understand it was written completely online and that you were basically complete strangers. Talk to me about the process and experience.
Jason: Prompted by another independent author, the successful and talented Darcia Helle, I plopped a one-page introduction of Nestor Maronski, the titular ‘fat’ in “Cutting The Fat” onto a writer’s website called Bestsellerbound.com and then asked folks to carry on the story. Maria hopped in with her next take and we were hooked on the process, going back and forth to get the story towards the end. And, you’re right! We didn’t know each other at all except for a few tweets and shared friends in the virtual world. It wasn’t until the end that we connected via an email or two to see if we should wrap things up and who wanted to do the honors.
Maria: What Jason said! It was a fun writing experience. I’d never written with a co-author before. And the fact that it was all done without any planning was a definite test of skill. I was writing one chapter, Jason the next etc., I never knew what Jason would write and so I couldn’t plan my next chapter in advance. I was lucky to be writing with such a talented writer. I’d never read any of Jason’s work before we wrote this novella, so I had no idea what kind of writer he was. In the end, even though our styles are very different, we’ve been getting lots of reviews saying that people couldn’t tell where one writer ended and the other began. That’s a great compliment because it shows that we were both in tune with each other throughout the exercise and were able to adjust our writing to fit together into a fluid text. I have to say, when I was reading it through for the editing, I had trouble sometimes remembering which bits I wrote and which bits Jason wrote!
2. In CUTTING THE FAT a group of indie authors conspire to kill a book critic. As an indie author myself I instantly connected with the story, but I have to know – any bad reviews and/or conspiracy plans in your past?
Jason: Certainly, by this stage, any author who hasn’t had one or two bad reviews is either lying or not reading them. I’ve had a few horrendous reviews — primarily from readers, as opposed to critical reviewers or bloggers — who’ve been simply out to lunch on what they were reading. They either didn’t get it or didn’t like it. I find that most bad reviews come from anonymous readers. At sites that allow reviews by anonymous reviewers scores are much lower on average. Anonymity is a powerful tool to allow people their feeling of honesty. I think Maria and I have plans to skewer a few of these anonymous readers and their atrocious reviews in an upcoming story.
Maria: Ha,ha! Yes, that’s right, we have plans for a trilogy. In the second book we plan to kill off a few indie-bashing reviewers, you know, the ones who just review books without even thinking about what they are saying, but mostly seem to want to have a dig at indie authors for the fact that they are indie… Nestor Maronski wannabees, shall we say. But seriously, yes, of course, as Jason says, where you’ve published a few books there will be the odd bad review. I’ve had a few. I tend to find that the bad reviews seem to have some kind of agenda, though. I’m pretty outspoken about supporting and defending indie authors, and there are people out there who don’t like that. There are still people who believe that in order to be a ‘real’ writer you have to be published by a major publishing house or have a bestselling book. As a writer who has been around for a while, I know that is definitely not the case. However, it’s hard to try to change a person’s mindset. It’s happening though. It’s a gradual process, but I believe with e-books becoming more popular, giving indie authors the chance to compete against major publishers on a more even playing field, people will begin to realize that there are so many fabulous books out there written by talented authors who remain undiscovered only because they don’t have the financial backing of adverts from major publishing houses, and all the media hype that comes with it.
3. You’ve authored a wide variety of books and short stories that don’t seem to fall into any one genre or category. What’s it like to have so many varied interests and ideas to write about?
Jason: In all honesty, I don’t ever intend to write in all these areas when I start out. But as an avid reader who’s interested in so many kinds of stories and entertainment, I find that these ‘casseroles’ of genre just flow out of me. Primarily, I dwell in realistic portrayals of dramatic, suspenseful, paranormal and thrilling stories. But I draw in my real-life experience with family, romance and yes, even a satirical outlook on the world we live in. If I was limited in a traditional way by genre, I think my ink well would dry up and I’d start selling insurance.
Maria: I agree with Jason. I think I would find it hard to write a story to fit a genre. I think trying to write to any sort of set of rules stifles creativity. When I write, I let my characters dictate what happens, and the story flows from what they would or wouldn’t do in a given situation. Then there are all the influencing factors from life in general that go into a book. In everyday life, you will hardly ever just get only romance, or only crime, or only horror/suspense/mystery, you’ll get a mixture of all those factors and a million other things in between. I like the analogy that Jason uses of a ‘casserole’, because I think that when I write it is like a blending pot of many things that I have experienced, heard about, seen etc. All of those go together to create true-to-life but fictional and entertaining stories.
4. What’s your strength as a writer – dialogue, setting, character development or something else?
Jason: All writers have ego and, as such, I’d like to say that I’m able to do all of those well. But of course, that’s not what you asked: Out of them all, I’d probably say my stand-out abilities lie in getting readers on side with the character’s decisions, actions, and thought-process. I believe that character development is the most important thing besides having meaningful plot-driven action in a story. Setting and dialogue are important but take a side car next to the character and plot.
Maria: When I write I try to make sure that all of those things, dialogue, settings, character development, are as good as I can make them. I can only go by what my readers have said. I think most readers tell me that my strength lies in character development and understanding human nature, creating real and true-to-life characters.
5. Nowadays everyone is talking about strengthening their Author Platform – the way in which an author reaches his/her potential readers. Talk to me about your author platform.
Jason: I write for the people who’ve continued with me and want to read my work. I’m in touch with them in a macro way (through social media) but also in a more personal way (one-on-one communication, my website). I don’t really have a platform in the planned sense. I do what I do and strive to connect with as many readers as possible without driving myself insane or making them worry that I’ll show up at their bedside in the middle of the night. So far, I can report that the latter has only happened twice so far.
Maria: LOL. Don’t give away the plot details for the next novel, Jason!
To answer the question, I would say that I find it very hard to say to people ‘buy my books’. That’s where I think authors who are represented by an agent or publisher have a headstart; they have someone else advertising their work for them. I always feel as if I’m doing something wrong when I tweet about my own book, or put something up on Facebook about my writing. So, for me, establishing that kind of ‘Author Platform’ would be difficult, and I haven’t gone out of my way to do that. The way I try to get the word out about my books is by having a constant internet presence on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads. I’m also a resident author on BestsellerBound.com. In this ways I have built up a fan base over the past couple of years. I don’t like to be too ‘in your face’ about my writing, I don’t like it when I see other authors sending out 100 tweets a day about their book. It’s off-putting. So, as much as possible I like to get to know readers and fellow authors and be available to chat with them about my work, and hopefully attract other readers that way.
6. What’s you writing process?
Jason: Ugly, loud and intense. Alone time is required. One condition of me being allowed to write as I do is that I also need to do my screaming outside in the yard, or drive a short distance to a nearby farmer’s field to let off some of my frustration and energy. I pace, I bang on walls, I lay down on the floor and kick. I needed to build a separate studio space or I’d have driven others in the house mad with my ‘writing furor’, as I call it.
Maria: I’m not sure whether Jason is being serious about that, but it’s interesting. I can actually relate to the intensity and the frustration that goes with the writing process. When I’m writing I need to have the time to do that or I can get very tense and angry. It’s important to allow a writer to have space and time to create. My writing process is pretty random. I don’t have set times when I work, and I don’t really work to plans.
7. Where can readers learn more about you and your work?
Jason: http://www.theFarthestReaches.com is the gateway drug. Well, it’s more of a portal. You can find links to all the e-stores plus interviews, videos, excerpts and some surprises.
Maria: My official website http://www.mariasavva.com I can also usually be found tweeting about random things on Twitter @Maria_Savva
About Maria
Maria Savva was born in London on 19th March 1970. She studied for a Law Degree at Middlesex University and went on to gain a professional solicitor qualification at The College of Law in London. She qualified as a solicitor in 1996. Maria continues to practice as a solicitor in London whilst writing her novels and stories in her spare time.
She was able to read before starting school, and on her first day at infants school, she remembers reading a story to another child in the class. Maria was immediately moved into the second year class, being too advanced for the first year. She has always been a bookworm and favourite books from her childhood include, Alice in Wonderland, The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, and Swallows and Amazons. By the age of seven Maria had read most (if not all) of the books in the school library. During her teenage years she read probably all of the Mills & Boon titles available, and would often help out in the school library. She then went through a phase of enjoying horror and thriller books. Authors that Maria admires include Paulo Coelho, Maeve Binchy, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Stephen King and Marian Keyes. After reading Paulo Coelho’s book, ‘The Alchemist’, Maria was inspired to try to write her first novel. These days, Maria enjoys reading all types of books and in particular chooses books to read by less well-known authors to support fellow independent writers. She enjoys reviewing books when she gets the time.
Maria has always enjoyed creative writing. She began work on her first novel ‘Coincidences’ in 1997 when she found herself out of work. The positive feedback she has received for her work from fellow authors and fans maintains her enthusiasm and passion for writing.
About Jason
Born on the prairies, Jason McIntyre eventually lived and worked on Vancouver Island where the vibrant characters and vivid surroundings stayed with him and coalesced into what would become his novel, On The Gathering Storm. Before his time as an editor, writer and communications professional, he spent several years as a graphic designer and commercial artist.
Interesting take on the Indie Author review world. Although, I don’t really care for they discredit someone just because they are anonymous. Reviews I write on my site are HONEST. I write what I felt when I read the book. I treat Indie Authors the same as Traditionally Published Authors.
Granted, I guess I’m not anonymous since I have a site and have gained a reputation over the past few months. But at the same time, I would like to believe if someone doesn’t like a book, they don’t like it. Who cares about symbolism, irony, metaphor, and the like? If the book is boring, it’s boring. By their statement, if an anonymous person gives a positive review, that also can’t be valid.
Naw, B.C., I respectfully disagree. I’m not saying an anonymous review should be invalidated. What I said was, “Anonymity is a powerful tool to allow people their feeling of honesty.”
In my opinion and experience, most of my negative reviews have been posted on bookseller sites that allow anonymous reviews.
Now, it’s wholly feasible that readers who don’t like my work are choose not to post a review because their name would be attached to it. Maybe I gave them the book personally or they won it in a contest. Maybe they’d just feel bad posting a negative critique to a book they know won’t sell a bazillion copies and get its ratings averaged out somewhere in the middle as easily. I really don’t know. Nor do I speculate.
I would actually commend you for giving honest reviews on your site (in fact, I’ll check out your site — pleased to make your acquaintance)
j. //
Thanks for the feedback and clarification. It is tough to write a review for an indie author that you know might be negative. But I still have to do it. It’s very important to me to convey how I felt when I read the book. I feel it’s only fair to my readers to do this and maintain a rapport with them.
Thanks for the comments B.C. I’m also a reviewer, for Bookpleasures.com. I know that it can be tough being a reviewer. Like you, I’m always honest in my reviews, and I think that’s important. I have nothing against reviewers who give negative reviews as long as they back it up with reasons and don’t hide in the shadows. I think its’s always easier for someone to put up a negative review if they stay anonymous, and they could be doing that for a dozen reasons. I personally prefer to know who’s written the review, otherwise I don’t think it can be relied upon as being a legitimate one, and that includes positive anonymous reviews, because they could have been written by the author. And as Jason says, it’s sites that allow anonymous reviews that tend to get more negative reviews posted.