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Interview
What do you find the most fun about being an Indie author?
Getting to write the stories in my heart! Getting to give faces and voices to the characters that live in my head. Hehe.
What are the five words that you feel best describe the moments before you hit publish on a book? Why?
Exciting, terrifying, game-changing, happy, nerve-wracking. It’s a mix of all of those. I’m happy and excited because I’m publishing, but I’m also nervous and scared, hoping people will like it. Each book is a game-changer for me, because it shows another side of what I’m capable of producing.
Who inspired you the most to write?
My Grandma Jean. She spent so much time telling me stories when I was little. She’d always make me the heroine, and she inspired me to find my own stories to tell.
Do you feel like you grew with your writing or your writing grew with you? ;)
I think I grew with it. I look back now to right before I published AS YOU TURN AWAY, and even in that short time, I’ve changed so much. I’m a little wiser, but I’m still growing, still stretching my wings, and definitely still looking to challenge myself.
What do you find the most challenging about being an author?
Probably the stress. I’ve had to become a lot better at self-care and realizing there are things I can’t change. Some things, like reader reactions, book sales, the market and reader’s wants, are just out of my hands. I love the control of being an indie, but it can be hard realizing there are things I just can’t control. I don’t begrudge any of those things, because all reader reactions are valid, sales will eventually happen, etc., but it’s a struggle.
How do you come up with the titles for your books?
This is a fun question, because it differs for each book. With my first, AS YOU TURN AWAY, that was just a working title because it’s also a song title from one of my favorite groups, Lady Antebellum. Slowly over the course of the book, the phrase took on a new meaning, and now the other books in that series (forthcoming AS YOU BREATHE AGAIN and AS YOU COME UNDONE) are expansions on the “As you” theme from the first title. With my second book, ONE SONG AWAY, I called it “Southern Rebel Belle” for most of the time I wrote it, and the title came in during the last few chapters. I will say though, once I decide on the title, I just know, and it doesn’t change.
Do you love or hate writing the synopsis for your books?
I love-hate it. I love tweaking them and getting them just right, but I feel like I could be better at writing them. I usually go through several drafts before I settle on one.
What book do you feel the closest to and why?
Of mine: AS YOU TURN AWAY, because it’s my first, and has a lot of my heart. That I’ve read: probably THE FAULT IN OUR STARS by John Green, because it changed a part of me.
Is there a genre that you would like to write but feel that you just couldn't or are too nervous to try?
Yep! I really want to write some type of alt-universe retelling (of what, I’m not sure), but I’m too scared…for now.
Covers... How long do you spend either on them or working with someone to come up with the perfect one?
When I’m about halfway through each book (or sooner if I know what sort of feel I want), I start scouring my stock photography sites. I’ll create a collection of images I like, and I spend a few weeks circling them, narrowing it down until I get to two or three finalists. Then I enlist help from my CP, my beta readers, and friends and try to somehow make a choice. :D
You wake up and find you are no longer an author... Instead you are?
Oh man, this is a hard question. Probably photographer. I don’t know much about photography, but I’m learning and I love it.
Name some kick ass Indie Girls that you feel everyone should know about.
You should definitely be reading Marie Landry, who writes both YA and NA, and such amazingly genuine characters. Her love interests are such realistic guys and girls. Her latest release is a female/female NA, TAKE THEM BY STORM. Then there’s Lilly Avalon, my pal who writes swoony erotica that I just devour. I love her RESIST series. Jessica Sankiewicz wrote a wonderful YA Groundhog Day-inspired novel called IF ONLY WE that I thought was super cute. And I have to mention Becka Paula, because her NA books are gritty and romantic. I loved EVERLY AFTER and BETWEEN EVERYTHING AND US. Elizabeth Barone is a talented writer; her latest, THE NANNY WITH THE SKULL TATTOOS, is really great.
Do you love your Indie ways or would you want to go the Traditional way at some point?
I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a small part of me that would like to be traditionally published, but ultimately I think if anything, I’d want to be a hybrid author and have the best of both worlds. For now, I’m happy to be an indie author, because it gives me full control over my career, as well as the chance to grow as a writer.
Most random place you have found yourself inspired...
In the shower! Weird, I know, but I’ve almost decided to keep a notepad on my vanity so I can jot down all the ideas I get. If I’m stuck on part of a plot, I’ll go take a bath, read a little, and then usually the pieces just fall into place. I swear, I could take over the world with the ideas I get in the bathroom. LOL.
Best tip that you can give to any aspiring Indie Authors out there.
Keep writing and never, ever give up on your dreams. No matter what someone says to discourage you, if you want this enough, you’ll get there. It’s hard work, sometimes sacrificing, tears, ranting to critique partners, but when the magic works and you end up with a finished book, there’s no other feeling in the world like it. The second piece to go along with that would be: be you. You are the brand, not your swag, a publicist you hire, etc. Readers are going to want to get to know YOU, and for that to happen you have to be genuine.
About Molli
Molli is a Southern author who doesn't consider her day complete if she hasn't written. She loves coffee and talking fast, things she attributes to being raised by Gilmore Girls. She's a romantic at heart, and brings that to her books, which are usually about quirky characters chasing after their happily ever after. Although content when reading, she can often be found watching and flailing over Doctor Who, cuddling her various pets, or spending time with friends, family, or her girlfriend. Molli loves Oxford commas, country music, Stefan Salvatore, and scarves.
If you need to reach her for any reason - especially if you want to talk books, or theorize about Doctor Who, you can send her an email or tweet her.
Molli's Books
Two hearts, one life-changing summer, and a long-awaited second chance...When Quinnlan Reynolds left home at 18, she escaped her small, Georgia town and her suffocating upbringing. She started a new life as a ballerina, and tasted freedom for the first time. But four years later, her first visit home turns tragic. Reeling, Quinn tries to piece her life back together again. But doing so is easier said than done when sexy Jonah Walker saunters back into her life.Quinn shattered Jonah’s heart once, so getting involved with her isn’t something he’s sure he’s ready to do again. He became someone he didn’t recognize when he left home. He’s spent the last years burying his pain by keeping everyone in his life at arm’s length. Now he needs to get to know his family again, and finally become who he wants to be.But neither Quinn or Jonah can stay away from each other, especially when old feelings resurface. Something is pulling them back together, and they can’t deny their chemistry for long. One Georgia summer could change both their lives forever, if they can work through their past to have a future together.* This book is considered New Adult due to age range and subject matter. The sequel, AS WE FALL TOGETHER will be published in 2015, and will feature Jonah and Quinn*
Find it/Buy it:
She needs a fill-in boyfriend. He needs a favor. It’s the perfect, no-strings arrangement until they both realize it’s too real…
Sophie-Claire Wright’s life is like a bad country song on repeat. She keeps running into her cheating ex, her songwriting career isn't taking off, and her roommate just kicked her out of their apartment. With nothing to lose, she decides to do the one thing she said she’d never do: she moves back home. She left her small Southern town with big dreams, but now she’s going home with empty pockets.
Life moves at a slower pace in Sophie’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it hometown, but her well-meaning, matchmaking mama doesn't have a slow gear. Sophie invents a boyfriend to hold off her mother’s efforts, but she’s out of luck when her mom wants to meet him. Sophie panics until she runs into Jake Cooper. Her high school crush (and former best friend) is back in town, too, and when he asks her for a favor, she agrees...on one condition. He says he’ll be her fill-in boyfriend, so it should be simple: re-introduce him to her family and then “break up” with him after a few weeks.
Sophie is sure she’ll be able to resist Jake this time. Sure, she was in love with him years ago, but that was then. This is now, no matter how great he looks, or how she feels around him. But she didn't bargain for moments that feel all too genuine. Dates that don’t seem fake. Kisses that leave her shaken and wanting more. Sweet moments where she forgets they aren't really dating. And she didn't count on old feelings resurfacing and complicating their arrangement—which is starting to feel less like acting and more like the real deal.
Soon, Sophie can’t tell which kisses are real or fake, but she knows she’s in deep...and she thinks Jake is, too. When she gets a chance to go back to Nashville and chase her dreams again, she has a choice to make: stay or go? Continue hoping that the life she wants is one song away, or finally write her own song?
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