Dominick Okawmmay: Because, I know I'll laugh and I can vent about my issues, plus I know he'll give me the advice I need.
A'oleon Ka'Wazay: Crazy how I named her after me, but I'd love to ask how she kept going after her biggest heartbreak and how she's keeping her family together so well.
Iron Okawmmay: Because, well to me he's my husband lol
I think it's a game changer. Now, with technology you can read a book on your phone instead of holding a physical copy. Plus, it's given writers a huge advantage.
Um, mostly movies..I find inspiration sometimes from movies. My first book was inspired by the movie "Mobsters" lol especially parts about loss, pain and lust.
I've done this many times, especially with book 1... I think I've published ( One on accident while editing, and someone bought it. That still haunts me ) 3 versions of the book and I'm finally settled on this current one. I like rewriting older stories before I publish them now. I've grown and I want to add, fill in plot holes etc
Oh my goodness, so much! 23 year old me was just writing to write without any care in the world. 30 year old me, is taking her time. Adding new content and bringing my stories as I edit them up to date..I'm so proud of myself, though. I look back and read older stories from 2017, and just smile. Sometimes I cringe because of how mediocre my vocabulary was back then and how I was trying to find my own voice through writing stories. I also had a speech issue before I started writing, so this helped me so much!
It definitely matters..but, I will say that you should be authentic. Not many covers are authentic, many writers- especially in the Romance/Erotica genre use the same male models, pictures, font, colors etc. everything looks the same now.
I did with my 5 story. I realized quickly that I wasn't interested and that's what caused it. From then on, I always wrote books that I knew I'd like and enjoy writing. I don't believe in Writers Block anymore.
Sometimes. I used to check my books on Barnes and Noble back in 2018. Then, I started googling my Pen-Name and found lots of options and such. I like to see what people think of my books and I like reading comments from my fans. It really makes me happy to see their comments.
As for the bad? I received my first 1 star review a few years ago and I was actually confused because the review wasn't helpful lol. Just that she didn't like the style of my writing and the diary entries, she also mentioned that she didn't like their unfinished thoughts. So, I went back and read that book, I can agree there were many unfinished thoughts because something would happen, but I also see where that would get annoying. What helped me, is reminding myself that not everyone will like your books, some will leave helpful reviews and some will go out of their way and be nasty. I only get offended if they come after me personally, that's when I get irritated. I wrote the book a certain way for a reason, lol if you don't like the character, that's totally fine. Just don't attack me, leave it about the books setting, storyline and characters
It made it want to keep going. At the time I was dealing with a lot of hate from a girl who copied my first two books, so that same day that a hate account was made about me, I got that email that my first book was in Barnes and Noble. That was such an amazing feeling and it made me want to keep going!
Picking and choosing. Publishing companies pick what's popular instead of what's great. But, we've seen how that played out with authors like J.K Rowling. Also, I'd have to say that some girls in this industry are very nasty to one another. Stealing each other's work, plotting to take another out of the top 10. It's really crazy
Write, write, write. Don't overthink anything! Edit later, stress later. I wrote 100 books in one year. I didn't care about grammar issues and such. I wasn't selling it, so who cares? Come back later and see how far you've grown. You'll be surprised. Now, edit, take the time and add or take away what needs to be. Don't stress, you got this and remember. It's never too late.
