Interview with Tracie Podger

Today’s interview is with Tracie Podger. Welcome to the blog.

 

Tell us something about yourself. 

I’m a full time author with a passion for photographing sharks. I’ve been a scuba diving instructor for about fifteen years now and although I don’t teach anymore, I still like to indulge in my hobby, underwater photography. I’m married and owned by a cat called George who doesn’t like me very much.

 

Cats will keep you humble. At what point did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I guess I came to writing later in life. Six or seven years ago I was undergoing therapy for depression (I was in the nuthouse) and part of that therapy was to write a journal. That journal morphed into a ‘story’. I found the process of writing cathartic and I lost myself in the fiction. I haven’t stopped writing.

 

Tell us about your writing process.

I have a notebook and I’ll write a very basic outline before I start. Then it’s straight from brain to laptop. I let the story go where it wants to go. Once I’m done, I leave that piece for a week or so then go back for a read through and edit. After, it’s off to betas then to my editors. I’ll do my last proofread from the paperback that I’ll receive before the book goes live.

 

What is your favorite genre … to read … to write?

I write contemporary romance and I like to explore relationships that are testing and not straightforward. I like to add an element of suspense. I’m known to read crime/thriller but it’s something I’m yet to write.

 

What are you passionate about?

The underwater environment and teaching people not to abuse our seas and critters. I’m passionate about being kind and making sure to do a good deed a day. I’m passionate about my family and my writing, about being the best person I can.

 

What is something you cannot live without?

My husband. If it hadn’t of been for him, I wouldn’t be here now.

 

When you are not writing, what do you do?

Scuba diving and travelling are two of my pastimes. I’ve been fortunate enough to have traveled to some wonderful countries, and explored the oceans.

 

Have you written any books that made a transformative effect on you? If so, in what way?

A Virtual Affair was the first book I wrote, the one that started life as a journal and was for my eyes only. It was the book that I used as part of my therapy through depression. That book was written six or seven years ago and although it’s had a rewrite and a lot of the personal stuff has been removed, I decided to publish this book in February. That one book did two things. It gave me a purpose to keep battling and I found a passion for something I didn’t know I had.

 

Where do you get the inspiration for your novels?

Either personal experiences or dreams. Sounds mad, doesn’t it? Robert Stone, the lead man in the Fallen Angel Series, came to me as a dream. Each night it was as if he was telling me a story and I’d wake and write down that dream as a way of discharging it. Weeks later, after I’d written Virtual I read through the notebook and decided that was my next book.

 

My characters tell me stories too, just not in my dreams. When I’m doing something boring, usually. I’m going to drop you in a remote Alaska cabin for a month. It’s summer so you don’t have worry about freezing to death. I’ll supply the food and the mosquito spray. What do you do while you’re there and what do you bring with you? If you’re bringing books, what are they?

The laptop for sure, a pad and pencil (always has to be a pencil), and my iPad. This actually sounds like my idea of heaven. I’d write for half of that month and then I’d read for the other. I don’t read while I’m writing so I don’t actually get a great deal of opportunity to make my way through my TBR. Two weeks in an Alaskan Cabin (I’d prefer the Winter if that can be arranged) would be bliss – Can we do this? Pretty please?

 

If my husband gets a roof on it this summer, it might be possible. Talk about your books individually.

The Fallen Angel series is a Mafia Romance with a difference. It’s narrated by Brooke Stiles, a British woman who, while on holiday in Washington, DC, falls in love with the elusive Robert Stone. This is her journey of discovery, discovering who Robert really is, and having to alter her life to fit in with his. Now, she’s by no means a walkover, this girl is kickass.

We then have four character novels – Robert, Travis, Evelyn & Rocco. These can be read as standalones and in any order, at any time through the series. These books are the characters backstory, the ‘this is why they behave the way they do’. All are prior to the start of Fallen Angel, Part 1 (which is FREE on all platforms, by the way) but are not designed as prequels.

A Virtual Affair, I’ve already mentioned, is one woman’s journey through depression. In fact it contains one of my favourite tag lines – From her dream house in Kent, via the nuthouse, and eventually to a cottage on a beach.

 

What do you want readers to think or feel after reading one of your books?

That they’ve been on an emotional rollercoaster, that they’ve cried, screamed, and cursed. That they have enjoyed a piece of escapism for a few hours. I don’t presume to leave readers with a ‘message’, it’s not my place to do so. I just provide, hopefully, something to enjoy, a little bit of fun and hope that the reader loses a tiny piece of their heart to my characters.

 

 

What influenced your decision to self-publish?

Simple, it was keeping control at a time when my life was balancing precariously. I had an agent, we didn’t get on, and we parted company very early on. I submitted the very first draft of A Virtual Affair to other agents; no one was interested (and rightly so, it was terrible!) so I decided to go it alone. I made a ton of mistakes, I made a ton of great friends, and I learnt and grew in the process. I love self-publishing. It would be wonderful to see my books in stores and as an Indie this is possible but hard work.

 

What do you find to be the greatest advantage of self-publishing?

Control over all things, which for me, is a must. I can select when I release, cover design, word count, etc. I can ditch a book and start another without consequence. I can work to my timetable and I can alter that if I need to.

 

Conversely, what do you think self-published authors might be missing out on?

Distribution into stores. It’s possible as an Indie to see your book on a shelf but it’s hard work getting there.

 

Who designed your book cover/s?

Margreet Assleberg from Rebel Edit & Design. She is, not only an amazing designer, but a mind reader as well. I send her one obscure email and tell her I’m going to be a real pain on this one, and she’ll come back with virtually what I envisaged.

 

Do you believe that self-published authors can produce books as high quality as the traditional published? If so, how do you think we should go about that?

Absolutely. However, there is a stigma surrounding indie. That stigma has been born from way too many people uploading poor quality books without guidance and with a small group of supporters unable to tell them the truth. With traditional publishing the book has gone through the gatekeeper (Agent), then editors and copy editors, and proof readers. That’s not to say a traditionally published book is error free. I recently finished a book put out by Harper Collins with many mistakes. Self published books often don’t have that level of checking.  That may be due to ignorance, finances, arrogance even.

 

I think it’s a mixture. Finances are a huge driver for me, but I work hard to overcome that, but I think some authors either don’t think it matters or they believe their story is so great that readers won’t care. Then they wonder why the book doesn’t sell.

A self published author that has the ability to learn their craft, to listen and take advice, to seek out guidance and to study the right ways forward will be able to produce work as high, if not higher, than a traditional publisher.

 

I entirely agree. Indie doesn’t need to be poor quality and there are a lot of us out there who are proving it.

To Browse Tracie’s books, please feel free to visit her Amazon page –  http://author.to/traciepodger

Or web site – http://www.TraciePodger.com