Interview with A.M. Burns author of “Blood Moon, Yellow Sky” .
1.Your name:A.M. Burns
2.Short Bio: A.M. Burns lives in the Colorado Rockies with his partner, several dogs, cats, horses, and birds. When he’s not writing, he’s often fixing fences, hiking in the mountains, or flying his hawks. You can find out more about A.M. and his writing at www.amburns.com, or follow him on tiwitter @am_burns
3.When and why did you begin writing?
I started writing in high school to escape the boredom of getting my work done before everyone else. Most of the teachers wouldn’t let us read in class, but by writing it looked like I was still working.
4.What inspired you to write your first book?
Wow, that was a long time ago. Again, back in high school, that book is locked away in a box in the garage somewhere. It was a superhero book, inspired by some of the comics I read at the time, it wasn’t fan fiction, even then I made up my own characters and worlds.
5.What made you decide to self-publish?
After having a really bad experience with the first agency I signed with, I started looking around for other options. The indie world is really starting to take off. It’s a lot of work but I like the control I have over every aspect of self-publishing.
6. How do you market your work?
I put it out through various email groups, forums, blogs, twitter, facebook, anything I can find. Word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool even if that now means on line.
7. What is the name of your latest book, and if you had to summarise it in less than 20 words what would you say?
“Blood Moon, Yellow Sky” The story of a dragon who falls in love and has to save the world from the monsters.
8. How long does it usually take you to write a book, from the original idea to finishing writing it?
It normally takes me a month or so if it flows well. If it doesn’t flow well...then it can take a bit longer.
9. What genre would you place your books into?
Mostly paranormal, but I also do a bit of high fantasy and the occasional erotica
10. Where do you get your book plot ideas from?
I get most of my ideas from life around me mostly. Having a diverse group of friends helps a lot.
11. Do you have writing routine?
Depends on what stage a book is in. When I’ve got a book in the early stages and its flowing well, I try and spend as many hours a day as my fingers will handle working on it. Sometime 10+ hours for a few days straight. If I’m editing, that drags and I have to break up the day with walks, TV, reading ect.
12. Have you ever suffered from a "writer's block"? What did you do to get past the "block"?
I normally have several projects that I’m working on at one time. So if I get blocked on one, I switch to do something else for a while. Also long hikes help.
13. What are you currently reading?
“Kitty’s House of Horrors” by Carrie Vaughn
14. Are there any New Authors you are interested in for us to watch out for?
LOL, other than me??? I proofread a book recently by Courtney Farrell, a YA scifi that’s really good. A.J. Marcus writes really awesome erotica. And A.T. Weaver is interesting. There’s just so many new authors showing up right now that it’s hard to say. Some of them are really great, others need a bit more polishing.
15. What piece of advice would you give to a new writer?
Keep writing and join a critique group. A real critique group that not afraid to tell you when something is crap is one of the best tools a new author can have. The group I belong to has helped my writing more than I can say. Also get a good editor, it’s nearly impossible to edit your own work.
16. Do you have another project in the works? If so, what is it?
I’m working on several things right now. The sequel to “Blood Moon, Yellow Sky” tentatively titled “Death in Dallas” should be out end of February first of March. Same with the sequal to “Perfect Love” entitled “Perfect Trouble” and around the middle of Febuary we should see my high fantasy steampunk book “Dr. Gnome” which folks can read the rough draft of on my blog.
17. How can people get in touch with you?
a) Your blog details? http://amburns.com/blog/
b) Your Facebook page? http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-M-Burns/226547897358075
c) Your Goodreads author page? http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5134598.A_M_Burns
d) Your Twitter details? https://twitter.com/#!/AM_Burns
Thank you so much & good luck with all your books.