#MondayBlogs: The Thing About Author Interviews

Intro:

If you’ve been following me for a while, I’m sure you’ve heard me mention Jonas Lee. He’s a fantastic author—both as a writer and as a supportive participant in the Indie community. I’ve even had the absolute pleasure of being interviewed via Google+ and appearing later on his YouTube channel (which you can watch here), and I make it a point to always listen to his latest interviews. That was why I chased him down and asked him to write today’s post. Jonas Lee discusses the importance of interviewing authors . . . and he’s also open for authors to sign up for an interview on his channel! For interview requests, please email Jonas Lee at JL.Fiction@gmail.com, and tell him I sent you. But if for some reason, you need more convincing, (wink), read his post below. I highly recommend talking to this wonderful author!

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#MondayBlogs The Thing About Author Interviews

Who in the hell would want to know more about me? That’s the general thought I had when I first received a request to do an interview. Then, I was inwardly squealing with delight, Someone wants to know more about me! Now, I’m not famous (yet) so it felt a little weird to answer questions about my writing style and advice to give to other aspiring authors at the time. The thing is, most people who want to publish a novel, never do. It’s not because they are bad writers or can’t deliver a good story. It’s because they get to that proverbial edge of the cliff, overlooking the ocean and just…can’t…jump.

It’s friggin terrifying! Leaping with your work in hand off into the Indie Ocean (I should trademark that). In the water there are thousands of other authors. Some swimming, others floating. Some are making enough noise to be seen by anyone while some very worthwhile and prolific authors are content treading water. We all want rescued and by that I mean we want our stories heard. The best way to do that is getting attention and swimming together. How do you do that?

Networking is the new game, my friends. Swimmers in the Indie Ocean have an almost secular bond we don’t fully understand. Simply utter the word and you have a brother or sister in arms. We all fight the same struggle and essentially bleed the same blood. So, we band together and interview one another. We review each other’s books and throw out nods, tags, mentions, hashtags, recommendations and whatever we can in the spirit of fellowship.

Why are interviews seemingly important? They deliver a message, plainly. It’s your message through the eyes and pages of another author/blogger/reviewer. It’s a glimpse into Oz behind the curtain. Putting a face or a personality to the name that created a work of other worlds or situations is almost more than words can capture. I love reading interviews by my favorite authors and especially thankful to call some of those authors my friends now, present company included. Plus, beyond the stories we create, we have our own stories of getting there and how we came up with them to begin with. Interviews are like the Extra content on DVDs/BluRay movies.

Me, personally, I love answering questions and I tried some 2-dimensional Q&A’s of my own. I started doing something in the spirit of a stepping outside my comfort zone. I began interviewing other authors on camera…live. I’ve had a few hiccups thus far, but overall, I’m not doing too shabby. My whole purpose was to shine a light on authors and soon to be published authors who are out there swimming in the Indie Ocean. Putting voices to faces and personalities to the writers who create some fantastic worlds is my goal. Plus, I’ve made some great friends and I look forward to making many more.

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Bio:

Jonas Lee was handcrafted from the area around the Black Hills of South Dakota. Living in the ever-changing climate with his wife and daughter, he likes to keep his mind occupied with entertaining stories and thought provoking scenarios. A child of the 80’s, his imagination has always been rampant with thoughts of time travel, other dimensions, and the fight of good versus evil. As such, you can see how prevalent those thought are in his stories.

Jonas is the author of The Legend of Carter Gabel series about a young boy who is “afflicted” with the genetic disease of spontaneous time travel. Carter soon realizes how his illness has many other side-effects and the situations surrounding his life and those like him are about to take a turn for the dangerous. If the snarky humor doesn’t grab you, the plot should do the trick.

Books: A Time to Reap and A Time to Live

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Want to be a guest blogger? I would love to have you on! I am accepting original posts that focus on reading and writing. A picture and a bio are encouraged. You do not have to be published. If you qualify, please email me at shannonathompson@aol.com.

~SAT