We’re very pleased to have Sue London, author of the popular Haberdashers series of books belonging to the historical romance genre, join us at e-Books India. We quizzed Sue about her work including how to she got into writing and about one of her most recent novels entitled Saving Persephone. Read on to find out what Sue had to say about her works, including two spin-off series based upon the Haberdashers books, and a recent story she co-authored on. Sue also shared some great advice for beginner authors new to the publishing industry.
Hello Sue and welcome to e-Books India! It’s great to have you with us for this interview. Please tell us about you. Where are you from? What is your professional experience and how did you become an author?
Thanks so much for having me on your site! I’m excited to chat with you today. I’m from Virginia, and although I’ve moved around a lot in the United States, it is where I live now. I’ve had lots of jobs, starting with dusting at my mom’s store as a kid and then getting into contract art, retail, and restaurant work until I finished my degree and went into accounting. I still work in finance today, doing all my writing on nights and weekends. But during all that other work I listed, I was always writing. For instance, when I worked in Washington, D.C., I would spend a couple of hours a day on the Metro train and almost all that time I’d be scribbling in my notebooks. Maybe those stories will see the light of day eventually! As for becoming a published author, one day I decided to finish a novel and publish it myself. That was Trials of Artemis, which I published in May of 2013. The rest is history!
You’re the author of The Haberdashers series of novels and a recent book from this series is entitled Saving Persephone. Could you please explain the overall concept of The Haberdashers series, and tell us a bit about Saving Persephone?
The Haberdashers novels are based around three young women in England during the early 1800s who, when young, decided to started a ‘boy’s club’ because they thought boys had more fun. So they spent their youth riding, shooting, and fighting. Not very ladylike activities at all! When the series begins they are all grown up and expected to marry. The fourth book in the series, Saving Persephone, takes place after the Haberdashers are all married. The hero is Robert Bittlesworth, the older brother who encouraged their martial interests. We get to see a tiny bit of why Robert encouraged the girls to learn weapons and strategy, but mostly we get to see them all in action. Meanwhile, we have to try to figure out if Robert’s lover, Imogen Grant, is an American spy or simply an innocent woman in the wrong place at the wrong time.
You also write short stories and novellas. Could you tell us some more about these?
Mostly I have expanded the Haberdashers stories with two little series – Haberdashers Tales, which are ‘sweet’ (just kissing), and Haberdashers Nights, which are quite spicy! Both of those series focus on minor characters from the main novels, and the Tales have primarily been about the common class rather than the nobles.
Two years ago I co-wrote an urban fairytale with Andy Click called American Werechaun in Dublin which is about, you guessed it, someone who turns into a Leprechaun during the full moon. That series is hilarious! I’m hoping Andy will do a third one this St. Patrick’s Day.
Coming up in February I will have a story in the Once Upon a Regency collection. My story, The Enchanted Cave, is a retelling from the Irish Fenean Cycle. Instead of faeries there are female bare-knuckle boxers – and that was a real thing from Georgian England! The stories are available on Amazon.in at https://www.amazon.in/Once-Upon-Regency-Timeless-Fables-ebook/dp/B018HSNFM6.
Do you have any upcoming books scheduled for release? If so, can you please tell us what we can expect to see from you in the future?
I have so much going on I can hardly keep it straight! The fifth book in the Haberdashers series, Taming Chiron, is overdue to come out. I have a Super-Secret project for February, plus the one I mentioned above. I’m signed up to do a Duke of Danby story coming out in May. There are seven more novels in the Haberdashers series after Taming Chiron and I want to release at least two a year. Plus there are tons more novellas to write to accompany that series. And that’s all just the historical romance plans! I also have a contemporary romance series planned and waiting in the wings.
What other things do you like to get up to when you’re not writing?
My husband and I have four dogs, so they keep us active! We also love movies and television – basically we love stories! When we have a chance we like to travel. In the summer we spend time by a river in the mountains (where, guess what? I do a lot of writing).
From your experiences as an author, could you please share 2-3 top tips to help beginner authors who dream of getting their work out there for the world to see?
I’ve been in those shoes! And sorry to say, the advice that always seemed like it must not hold the secret does, in fact, hold the secret. Read. Write. Read. Write. Think a bit. Revise. Repeat as necessary. So, let’s see, to turn that into three top tips.
1. Read a lot. Great writers are usually readers. Don’t feel guilty about reading time because it’s part of your professional development. I refer to writing as a breathing exercise. Reading is when you breathe in, writing is when you breathe out.
2. Write a lot. The biggest thing separating amateurs from professionals is “butt in chair” time. Feel free to do things that are fun to learn, but always be focused on finding the right process for you. The right process is the one that yields high quality, completed work with the least amount of effort and time.
3. Trust yourself. Again, you’re finding the right process for YOU. Somewhere out there is a person for whom lots of reading and a nose-to-the-grindstone focus on productivity isn’t the right path. They (you?) need to figure that out by trial and error.
Then? Remember that rejection is part of the publishing game. Even if you self-publish you may not be able to find readers and that will feel a lot like rejection. Or your first few reviews could be bad because the wrong readers found you before the right ones did. It’ll be ok. Keep at your dreams until you do what you set out to do.
How can people find out more about you?
You can always come by my website https://bysuelondon.com, chat with me on Twitter @cmdrsue, and follow me or my fan page on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bysuelondon. For special offers sign up for my email list https://eepurl.com/Bicsb. I’m pretty easy to reach and very chatty.
Thanks so much for having me on your website, Hiten! It’s really great to be here.
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingtipsoasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/hv1.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Hiten Vyas is the Founder and Managing Editor of eBooks India. He is also a prolific eBook writer with over 25 titles to his name.[/author_info] [/author]