Writerly Wednesday Welcomes Beth Bishop

Writerly Wednesday Welcomes Beth Bishop.

Writerly Wednesday has been off the air for a few weeks but now we are back and glad to share.

Bio

I am a mathematics professor, and I live in Alabama with my husband and 1 year-old son. My first published work of fiction, Fairest, is a modern re-telling of the Grimm’s fairy tale “Snow White.”

 

Email, FB, Twitter links or addresses

 

email: bethbishopwrites@gmail.com

blog: “Upon A Time” http://bethbishop.blogspot.com/

twitter: @BethBWrites

facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/bethbishopwrites

Interview

1. What is your favorite marketing task that has resulted in a sale?

 

I am a college professor, and I find that my co-workers do a lot of promoting for me. My YA romance, Fairest, is my first published work, and my teacher friends have done a lot for me in spreading the word amongst their teenaged daughters and their friends. Facebook has also helped tremendously. It connects me, via my friends and family, to their friends and family. My sister-in-law teaches high school art, and she’s told me that several of her students bought my book. My former students have found out about the book this way, too. I actually had someone who met me through Facebook come to my blog to comment about my book. So exciting!

 

2. What do you like about your publisher or why did you decide to Self Publish?

 

I love Eternal Press! What initially drew me to this publisher is that they allow unsolicited submissions, and they wanted YA romance. Once my manuscript was accepted, I quickly learned how different working with EP is from other publishers. I actually emailed with CEO Kim Richards, and she answered me. The editors, cover artists, and of course, my awesome marketing manager — everyone has been so friendly and professional. Going with a small press, my book came out quickly, six months or so instead of 2 years. This was very important for my book, which is a trendy, modernized fairy tale. The publishing world can be a scary place, but the folks at EP have made it simple and straightforward. The authors form a community that you don’t find with mega-publishers. They are all so supportive.

 

3. What do you have under your bed?

 

A plastic tub full of stationary and letters, a sewing kit, old frames, old framed pictures and awards that I don’t have hanging anymore. Also, for now, my and my husband’s PhD diplomas are stashed under there because I haven’t had a chance to get them framed.

 

4. Are you a plotter or a pantser when you are writing?

I do some of both. I find that if I go totally panster, my story ends up winding far away from where I intended. This isn’t always a bad thing, but it can detract from the story in that the reader begins to wonder where I’m going. I usually start writing with an idea of how I want things to end. Sometimes that changes and sometimes it doesn’t. But, I like to leave things mostly open so the story can go where it needs to go.

 

5. Do you write in a bubble or do you prefer critique groups, writing buddies or other companionship during the process?

 

I am very sensitive about whom I let read my work until it’s ready for the public at large. I probably should join a critique group, but I prefer to write in a bubble and use close friends and family as editors.

 

6. When do ideas come to you and how do you capture them?

 

Most of my ideas come from dreams, but some scenes have been inspired by music. Fairest, on the other hand, was inspired by two things: writing another novel in which the main character says that female characters in fairy tales tend to be stupid and reading “Snow White” by the Grimm brothers.

 

As for capturing my ideas, I keep a pen and paper on my bedside table so I can write down my dreams. If I think the idea is interesting enough, I transfer it to its own piece of paper and add it to the stack at my computer. Most of these papers contain a few paragraphs about a character or a bit of plot and a rough outline.

 

7. What is your favorite word processing program and what other tools do you use, pen, notebooks, white board, index cards, finger on fogged bathroom mirrors?

 

I use MS Word because almost every agent and every publisher wants the manuscript in .doc or .rtf. Plus, I know the short keys so well and can make up my own.

 

I do use pencil and scrap paper to write down ideas on the fly. I keep them in my purse and all over my house, just in case. You never know when inspiration will strike!

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Blurb

Skye Daniels knows it isn’t wise to wander alone in the Big Easy, but she hopes the trip will give her a break from the teasing she endures at school and time to resolve her feelings for playboy Whit Hastings and his best friend Linc Moore.

When a stranger tries to grab her outside the House of Blues, Skye runs for her life and finds refuge with a group of orphans. Unable to contact her father, she calls on Linc to help her find out who wants her dead and why.

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Buy Link(s)

 

Eternal Press Link: http://www.eternalpress.biz/book.php?isbn=9781615729517

 

Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Fairest-ebook/dp/B00CLY296Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370465728&sr=1-1&keywords=fairest+by+beth+bishop

 

Barnes and Noble Link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fairest-beth-bishop/1115311725?ean=9781615729524

 

All Romance Ebooks Link: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-fairest-1209554-143.html

 

Excerpt

 

#1

We get two Excerpts this week.  Enjoy them!

He laughed, wrapped his arm around my waist, and pulled me against him. When we kissed, I lazily ran my fingers through his hair and twirled it around my finger. For another while, I was able to lose myself in kissing a boy I found cute and that maybe, I loved, just a little.

#2

Someone yelled at me to stop, but I didn’t. I kept going in one store and out another until I ran into the front of an empty building. Abandoned, probably by whoever owned it before Hurricane Katrina, the place smelled stale and faintly of sewage. From what I could tell, it had

been a small hotel. Hotel, hotel…I should go back to my hotel.

 

“He knows your name,” I said quietly.

 

I realized I was still depressing the pepper spray. It was empty, and I dropped the can on the floor of what had once been a lobby. I couldn’t think. My heart pounded in my neck and ears, and my throat was raw.

 

My attacker had called me by name.

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Buy Links again and contact links again as well.

 

Eternal Press Link: http://www.eternalpress.biz/book.php?isbn=9781615729517

 

Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Fairest-ebook/dp/B00CLY296Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370465728&sr=1-1&keywords=fairest+by+beth+bishop

Thanks Beth, for being my guest this week!  You made my day easy.

Come back next week for Writerly Wednesday and don’t touch anything sharp.

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