Interview with R.J. Blain, OUTFOXED

 Thank you so much for hosting me! It is very appreciated.

 

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

Outfoxed is the first book of the Fox Witch trilogy. This is the opening of an of interconnected series of trilogies and quartets that will be dubbed “the Fox Witch World” novels.

 

There are foxes, and many of them are also witches. It’s a very clever naming system. (I’ll go to my room now.)

 

Have you ever had a minor character evolve into a major one? Did that change the direction of the novel at all?

In the Witch & Wolf World stories, there is a character named Dustin in Beneath a Blood Moon, which is a standalone in the series. Dustin somehow got a life of his own, and I wrote a rather extensive collection of short stories and novellas about him. The first set of those stories is called Water Witch.

 

He will eventually get a novel. What I don’t know is if that novel will be included in the second set of short stories and novellas featuring Dustin, or if it will grow beyond what I can reasonably toss into the anthology. It depends on how many shorts and novellas I write involving Dustin.

 

He is such a wonderful character, and while he is a hard character to write, he is one of my favorites.

 

His inclusion in Beneath a Blood Moon did not change the direction of the novel, but his existence within the novel did grow out of control.

 

What factors influenced your decision to self-publish your book(s)?

There are a lot of reasons I ultimately decided to self-publish my novels. Honestly, I did the agent/publishing house circuit before. I had a really good ‘let me read your manuscript’ rate, but I never got the bites or contracts, and after a while, I decided I was tired of being ‘not quite good enough’ for publishers and opted to write my own thing—and publish them.

 

I’ve grown a lot as an author since then, and in a way, I’m really grateful for all of the rejections.

 

Each and every one of them makes me thumb my nose a little.

I made it… and they told me I couldn’t, and some? That I’d never be good enough.

 

Thumb, thumb, thumb…

 

Do you belong to a critique group? Have they helped improve your writing?

Once upon a time, I learned a lot while in several critique groups. Nowadays, I write for a living, and I just don’t have the time to teach others how to write. Every rare now and then I take on a developmental editing client, but it’s rare. I just don’t have the time.

 

I have books to write—and a lot of them.

 

I wouldn’t have it any other way, but in 2021, my resolution is to work less and play more. I need to.

 

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

My editorial team currently has sixteen people between my paid staff and my volunteer proofreaders. I need every last one of them. I am human, I make mistakes. They’re also human, and they make mistakes, too. So, I need as many eyes as possible on the manuscript preparing it for release.

 

So, yes. I absolutely do hire editors, and they’re worth every penny I pay them and then some.

 

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

My books are available at all major retailers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, Google Play, most public library systems, and others. For readers who like the Kindle Unlimited library, please check your local public library systems for the wide (expanded distribution books) you want to read; you can often check them out for free there.

 

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

Absolutely. It’s a lot of work to market a book. I have to research the market I want to reach, I need to set up the ads, monitor the ads… oof! So much work, so little time. Honestly, my time management is terrible. Since it doesn’t all fit in eight hours a day, I work extra hours… and that is exhausting.

 

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

Don’t give up. That’s the lamest advice ever, I know… but writing a book is a huge amount of work. Editing a book is even more work. Polishing and proofreading the book is even more work. It’s all hard work, too.

 

I have always believed that it takes a million bad words to write a good one, but that’s only if you’re writing to improve. So… get started. Go write those million bad words so you can capture those good ones.

 

Even if it takes you years.

 

(You don’t have to finish it quickly. You just need to finish.)

 

And, since I’m here offering mostly unsolicited advice anyway, masters are masters at their craft because they mastered the basics, and the basics are beautiful. Think about a beautiful crocheted blanket.

 

The person who made that blanket started with a basic stitch and mastered that.

 

Master the basics and make the basics beautiful. The rest will fall into place with time, effort, practice, and a love for what you’re doing. But mostly time, effort, and practice. (It’s okay to hate it at times. We all do.)

  

Besides writing, do you have any other passions?

Unicorns. I love unicorns. I love my cats, but I have over thirty stone carved unicorns on my desk, and they are all little spots of joy. When I am having a bad day, I just pick up and stroke one of my unicorns because they make me happy.

I also have a t-rex. She’s carved from labradorite, and I hold her while roaring at my husband.

 

I am a very mature adult-like person. So very mature.

 

(I also have a labradorite chameleon on my desk. She’s my Karma Chameleon.)

 

Some fun facts about you, which do you prefer – dogs or cats? Chocolate or vanilla? Coffee or Tea? Talk or Text? Day or Night?

Oooooh. I love these questions. They’re fun.

 

I prefer cats, or so sayeth my feline goddesses named Princess the Understudy and Zazzle the Beguiling Tyrant.

 

Chocolate, please.

 

Tea, please.

 

Text! I am an anxious beast and my mouth blurts weird stuff at its whim rather than mine.

 

Night, because I like listening to frogs sing.

 

Thank you for hosting me!

 

 

Outfoxed
R.J. Blain
(The Fox Witch, #1)
Publication date: November 3rd 2020
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy

Death is a way of life outside of the safety of Inner Tulsa, and Jade means to keep flipping Mother Nature off until old age claims her. With one eye always on the sky, the last thing she needs is a pack of bounty hunters out for her living head. With no idea of why anyone would want her, her wits might keep her free, assuming she can resist the charming lures of Sandro, one of the men out to claim her as his own.

Left with the choice of being the evening snack of a tornado or taking shelter with the bounty hunter, she does what she does best: she lives on the edge.

Striking a bargain with the handsome bounty hunter buys her another day of life, but it also dumps her into the heart of a sinister plot, one meant to enslave the residents of the storm-tossed city—and the others brave and foolish enough to call the Alley home.

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Author Bio:

RJ Blain suffers from a Moleskine journal obsession, a pen fixation, and a terrible tendency to pun without warning.

In her spare time, she daydreams about being a spy. Her contingency plan involves tying her best of enemies to spinning wheels and quoting James Bond villains until satisfied.

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