Monday, January 30, 2012

Interview With Fabulous Author T. M. Souders!

Today I have a special treat for you on this blog.  I am interviewing author T.M. Sounders, who I have had the pleasure of getting to know on kindleboards.com.  Please take a few minutes to get to know more about her and her writing.  You will be glad that you did!


Welcome T.M. !  I appreciate your taking time to chat with me today.Let's talk a little bit about how you became an author, your books, and you. First of all, I am curious as to what made you personally decide to write your first book, why you decided to go "indie", and when the first book went "live".
I wrote my first book in college, but my life was crazy at the time and I was not fully committed to writing. I became serious about it shortly after my first child was born, this was about four years ago. Since then, I've written about one book a year, only one of which has been published (Waiting On Hope). I decided to go Indie after researching the industry and publishing. It seemed like a “no-brainer” at the time. My first book, Waiting On Hope went live in late July of 2011.



Waiting on Hope has 28 reviews and 4 Stars. That speaks very well of the book!  People can click on the book to get to Amazon and read the reviews.

How many books do you have out?  What are the other titles and genres?  Tell us a little about the main character(s).

I have one women's fiction novel, Waiting On Hope. The main character in this story is a pariah of strength. She is forced to find a way through unspeakable tragedy and manages to pick up the broken pieces of her life.
Dashing Through The Snow is a romance/chick-lit novelette that I published this winter. The main character is sweet, but my favorite character is her best friend Gemma! She's funny, sassy, and tells you like it is.

I loved Gemma, too!  She made me laugh out loud more than once, that is for sure. I can see why this is another 4 star book.  (Click on cover to read reviews, etc)

When is your next book coming out?  What is it about?

My next book, Freedom Road, is undergoing edits as we speak. I believe and hope it will be available in mid-March. It's a YA/Crossover novel and is about an eighteen year old who comes from an extremely dysfunctional family. She has a dream of Juilliard and a desire to escape home and the life she's leading.

What advice would you give other people who are thinking about writing their first book, but then that self doubt comes in?

Don't doubt yourself. If you're that unsure, then get Beta reader or someone who provides critique to look at your work, then go from there. Often times, self doubt is something we all struggle with and something we just need to get over. A good critique will tell you if you're just doubting yourself or if you really do need to work on your craft.

 What do you think are the five most important things a new author has to "take care of" to give them the best chance at success?
The first, and I learned this the hard way, is to get a good editor. Don't just hire anyone who is cheap, with little to no experience. Look at their credentials and make sure their worthy to work on your book. Second, grow a thick skin. Third, get ready to devote some serious time to promotion, marketing, and networking if you want to be successful. Fourth, create goals for yourself. How successful do you want to be? Are your goals realistic? Fifth, get a good cover, because most people do buy a book based on the cover.

 Let's talk a little bit about you as a person now. Tell me, what about life never fails to make you laugh?
My kids. They constantly are reminders of what's important in life. They're the two things I'm positive I did right!
What do you enjoy doing besides writing?

I love to read! Sometimes I devour books, one right after the other, because when I'm in the middle of writing I don't have as much time to read. I love spending time with family and good food! Eating out is one of my favorite things to do, lol. In the spring and summer, I also love gardening and spending time outside. There's something amazing about burying a seed in the earth and watching it grow.

I love gardening, too.  For me, it is working with my annuals daily. They get as much attention as one would give a child!
Finally, let's play the old genie in a bottle game. You get 3 wishes. They can't be general wishes, like "peace on earth", or all disease cured. No I wish my family, etc would stay healthy.  We all wish those kinds of things.  These 3 wishes are for personal, material things. What three things would you wish for?
1.    To be in St.Lucia, Antigua, or somewhere equally as exotic and beautiful right now for a month of R&R.
2.    For my book to get a movie deal, and actually be made into a movie. (Often times, books get deals but never come to fruition)
3.    A beach house in the Outer Banks of North Carolina!!! I can't believe I almost forgot this one! It's my DREAM to get a beach house there. I'm determined that some day it will happen!

I hope you get that beach house and be you will.  The movie deal would be AWESOME!  What book by another author do you wish you would have written and why?
Jennifer Donelly's Rose Trilogy! I LOVE these books. They are absolutely amazing for romance fans. It's funny because I don't read much historical romance, but these by far are three of my favorite books. Especially, the first two. I don't know what else to say except I love them. The writing is amazing, the history amazing, and the story lines---> this is my jelly face :-/

Any last things you would like to tell people about you or your writing?
I write because I love it! If I had one main goal to achieve through my writing, it would be for people to love my books and for them to leave the book wishing it didn't have to end. I love hearing from readers and other authors, so feel free to contact me!

Thank you again.  It was a pleasure.  Please see the links below for ordering information begarding T. M. Sounders books and contact information!
http://tmsouders.com/blog/
Purchase links:
twitter: @tmsouders
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)