Interview with @erincruey #TuesdayBookBlog

Today I’m fortunate to present Erin Cruey author of The Adventures of Captain Patty Series and The Ripple Affair Series.

Hi, Erin, thanks for agreeing to this interview.

Thanks for having me!  It’s a pleasure to be here.

Question 1) What part of the world do you come from?

I’m from the Great Lakes region in the U.S.

Question 2) What do you think makes a good story?

I love intriguing characters and unpredictable plot lines.  If a story has characters I can get emotionally attached to, or if a story has a plot that makes me spend the rest of my week in awe, I’d call it good.

Question 3) What inspired you to write your first book?

The Ripple Affair initially started out as my own version of an epic fantasy.  I would write for fun during my free time in college and I didn’t have many plans to ever publish.  I just loved stories, and it was a good way to spend my free time.  As the story grew into a series, however, I started wondering if publishing could actually be in my future.

Question 4) What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?

Sporadic!  It’s funny how life can get so busy, and when you write, you make time for it when you can.  I typically like to start early so I can get a good start on the day and write when my mind is feeling fresh.  There’ve been plenty of times, however, that I’ve strayed from the schedule and wrote when I was feeling very inspired, like in the middle of the night or while I’m eating dinner at a restaurant.

Question 5) What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I’ve heard many writers like to write to music, but I find myself writing better when it’s completely silent.  If there’s music playing, I’ll concentrate on the beat way more than what I’m actually supposed to be writing, ha!

Question 6) Give us the title and genre of your latest book.

My latest release is The Adventures of Captain Patty: Captain Patty and the Boston Buccaneer.  It’s technically marketed towards the middle grade/pirate genre, but I find a lot of adults who are fans of the sea adventures genre have been reading it as well.

Question 7) What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your book?

Writing is not as easy as I thought it was.  There’s a huge misconception that writing is nothing but a hobby that you just sit down and work on for a little bit and then watch the cash flow in.  It’s certainly not as simple for the majority of us.  There’s hours and hours of not just writing, but editing, formatting, marketing…the list goes on.  When you’re an author, you’re not just an author.  You also become a researcher, a businessperson, a designer, and a marketer as well.

Question 8) Do you have an excerpt from your current work you’d like to share?

I’m currently working on Book 3 of The Adventures of Captain Patty and I can honestly say I’m excited over this.  It’s a bit different from what I’ve done before in terms of how the story is formatted, but it’s going to provide a lot of clarity and context into many of the questions my readers have been asking after the first two books.  What is Captain Patty’s story and background?  Who is Willy Whalebone?  How are Charles and Patty going to be able to stop a pirate civil war with just one ship?  We’ll also be seeing some old characters (Louis will be returning, as will Jonah’s whale!) while meeting some new ones.

Question 9) What can we expect from you in the future?

More books, ha ha!  I’m currently working on Captain Patty and Veronica’s Vengeance and plan to finish Heir of Vengeance after that.  Both The Ripple Affair Series and The Adventures of Captain Patty Series are nearing their ends, but I have a few new series and standalones in the works, specifically in the action and adventure genres.  I’m also thinking about doing some dabbling in sci-fi, so we’ll see what the future holds. 

Question 10) What was the best money you ever spent as a writer? 

Marketing.  I can’t express that enough.  There are so many books out there that it’s difficult to stand out, so developing a good marketing plan and spending money wisely will help in the long run.

Question 11) How can we contact you or find out more about your books?

Feel free to check out my website at http://erincruey.com and follow my blog there.  All my contact information is on there, plus I’m on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.  My books are available on both Amazon and Kindle.

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