Interview with Olivia Hardin

 

Can you give us a brief overview of your latest book? Is it part of a series?

Shifty Business is the third book in my Bend-Bite-Shift Trilogy.  We briefly met Gerry and Nicky during book one of the series.  In Shifty we get to find out what was happening to the pair while we were following the other characters at the start of the trilogy.  It turns out Gerry and Nicky are married, but that is just the beginning of the secrets that get revealed during the book.

Do you have a favorite character?

My absolute favorite is Langston.  The giant is the dependable, wise and solid cornerstone of their team.  He even helps me when I’m writing because just putting him in a scene gives me clarity and helps me get my writing on track.

What is your writing process? Do you listen to music or do you like silence?

I try to get a bit of writing in each evening as the story is coming along.  When it gets close to the end, I usually buckle in and give myself longer periods to focus.  I do like to listen to music while writing, but almost entirely instrumentals.  I don’t like the lyrics from songs to interrupt the words in my head.  I do use music to help me plan out scenes, usually when I’m on my thirty minute drive to and from work.  I “see” what’s going to happen and replay it over and over to its own soundtrack before I write it later.

Do you outline your story or just go where your muse takes you?

I’ve tried to outline but it just doesn’t seem to work for me… I feel stifled by it.  Instead I tend to follow the characters on their journey.  I sometimes don’t have any idea how a book might end and in fact, part of the reason I chose to turn my first book into a trilogy was that I wanted to know what happened to some of the characters I was introducing.  The only way to learn their stories was to follow along as I told them.

Did you hire an editor to review your manuscript before publishing?

Yes and in fact with my last book I hired two separate editors to complete three different editing processes.  I’ve learned so much since my first book, but there are so many levels of review necessary to create a good finished product.

Did you hire a graphic artist for your book cover? Were you actively involved in the creation?

For the Bend-Bite-Shift Trilogy and my MAUCs Series I’ve been doing my own book covers.  I enjoy doing them and it’s fun for me to experiment with stock photos to get just the right look.  However, I’m very excited that I was able to hire Stephanie Nelson with Once Upon a Time Book Covers to make the three covers for my next series, For Love of Fae Trilogy.  She did a beautiful job!

Besides Amazon, are there any other sites where your books are for sale?

I’m on Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Createspace (paperbacks) and All Romance Ebooks. 

Do you find it difficult to juggle your time between marketing your current book and writing your next book?

Sometimes it’s very difficult, but the marketing side can be fun.  I love doing interviews like this and also interacting with fans on facebook and twitter.  I think it’s important to balance both.

What advice would you give a new author just entering into the self-publishing arena?

It’s important to have people to support your work when you’re trying to successfully self-publish, so I’ve found my most important tool to be my circle of supporters.  These are folks who are in the business and a few who are not.  They prop me up when I’m down and give me a swift kick in the pants when I need to buck up and most importantly they cheer me on along the way.

What’s next for you?

Ooo!  I love this part.  I have so many irons in the fire and I’m so excited about all of them.  Right now I’m finishing up a contemporary romance called All for Hope through Hayson Publishing.  Right after that I’m going to get back to Tangled Up in Trouble, the second in my MAUCs Series.  And then later this year I’ll start the For Love of Fae Trilogy which will continue the story began in the Bend-Bite-Shift Trilogy!  Lots of exciting stuff going on!