Author Bio:
Goddess, fairy godmother, erstwhile artist and designer, housekeeping minimalist, INFP, BBW with size 42R feet…not your average Cinderella. I am reinventing myself every day, never quite settling on a given definition of myself, and leaving behind me as much of my old baggage as will not fit in a given story.
What inspires you to write?
Daily life is inspiration, the challenges of my life, the news, the stories of people I know, and sometimes just the fun of the genre. A big part of inspiration is deciding to write and then writing. Writing is work, and it takes discipline, which I wish I could say I have more of, despite my internet and Netflix habits. Research, I say, RESEARCH!
Tell us about your writing process.
I get ideas, snippets of mental videos, sometimes cartoon images, sometimes ideas from things I read or watch on TV. I admit to stealing from the best and then working that into my own stories.
My stories come from within myself, and the issues I am working on personally, although sometimes I don’t realize I have that issue until AFTER I get the story written. So, there I am in the book, although the names, dates, settings and order of events have been changed to protect everyone, especially my imaginary friends.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Characters are like people I hang out with–they tell me what they think, and every single one wants to be my favorite. Sometimes even the villains are the favorite of the day. What good is a villain I can’t like and would not even meet for a cup of coffee?
Characters are like facebook friends, people I know but have never met in person. I stay in touch with them more often than my family members, though I have to type for both of us.
Who are your favorite authors?
Sir Terry Pratchett is my favorite author of all time. He wrote wonderful stories set on a flat discworld that had magic instead of gravity, and was flown through space on the back of an enormous turtle. He wrote about characters that had many flaws, but who lived their lives the way they wanted to despite the objections of others. My favorites are Thud!, The Weird Sisters, Going Postal, and the Tiffany Aching series.
The last book I stayed up all night reading was the last Harry Potter book, as my daughter did not finish it until 11pm the day it was delivered. I’m still studying how to make page turning scenes like those.
Other favorites are Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate and Shelly Adina’s Magnificent Devices steampunk series. I would stay up all night to read them, but it usually doesn’t take 8 hours to finish them, and I usually don’t start a new one at 11pm.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I like to be able to see how my books are doing on the various sites where they are available. If I am working with a publisher, the publisher has control of that information and share it with me as it fits the schedule. The drawback to the self-publsihing method is that I have to pay an editor, and sometimes, a cover designer, which a publisher provides.
But I like deciding when to release a book, how to market it, and where it will be available based on my time to post it rather than on someone else’s publication schedule. Having to do all my own marketing is a challenge, and I’m looking for a better way to manage that as marketing takes more time even than writing does. Writers have to market themselves either way, so that’s part of the deal whether one is traditionally or self published.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
Stories will always be told in some format, print, digital, auditory, orally, mime, video and so forth. The paper vs. ebook is just a shift of platform, just like there is a shift from landline to cellphone. The landline has a lot of benefits, but portability is not one of them. On the other hand, paperback never have to be charged and never cut of in the middle of a chapter. It’s all good.
What genres do you write?
fantasy, humorous fantasy, steampunk, science fiction, southern fiction
What formats are your books in?
eBook, Print
Website(s)
Charlotte Henley Babb Home Page Link
Link To Charlotte Henley Babb Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on Smashwords
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