The Picky Bitches Book Blog!: AUTHOR LOWDOWN with Jennifer Ryder

Friday, 26 September 2014

AUTHOR LOWDOWN with Jennifer Ryder

A huge THANK YOU to Jennifer Ryder for coming back for a second interview. You can find the first one here from March 2014

You’re being abducted by hunky aliens and they’ve never watched a DVI. What five movies do you take to watch with them?

Sweet Home Alabama

The Notebook - for shits n giggles (I'd like to see what they think)

Magic Mike - so they can morph like them to conform

Bridesmaids - because it's my fave

Sons of Anarchy - I know it’s not a movie, but I’d like to scare the shit out of them so they know what we're capable of. Oh, and of course to appreciate Jax in all his glory.

You’re stranded on a fully catered desert island (food, accommodation and clothing). What five items/people do you take to have some fun with??

Firstly, I’m assuming booze is included in the ‘food’ element. If not, booze is on the list.

My hubby and two kids

A babysitter

A solar powered kindle, fully loaded with books by my favourite authors

A variety of board games (that can double as entertainment for the kids, and drinking games for adults) J

You previously stated that Eevie was the hardest character to write. Now that you have three books out, which character would you say now was the hardest?

Writing my characters has gotten easier over time, but I did have some challenges with Spencer Jones. Well, it was kind of hard to get inside the mind of a manwhore! I must admit though, I did enjoy the challenges involved in getting his character just right.

What kind of research is involved for you with writing MX books?

I can’t tell you how many YouTube videos I have watched (much to my five-year old boy’s delight). I also read Dirtbike magazines, follow a few riders and organisations on Facebook and Google is of course, my best friend.

Since Australia now has Author Signings *fistpump*, which events do you plan on attending as an author?

Here are the signing events I’ll be attending in 2015:

ARRA - Canberra 7 March - https://www.facebook.com/australian.convention#!/events/650998144995498/

RWDU– Gold Coast 27/28 March - https://www.facebook.com/australian.convention#!/groups/RWDUAttendingFans/

FYM– Melbourne – 17/18 October https://www.facebook.com/australian.convention#!/groups/720061041391319/

I will also be at Sydney Authors Event in November this year, but I’ll be getting my stalk on as a reader. Don’t be afraid to say hi!

If there are any other events out there you’d like to see me at (in Australia), let me know about them!

We know that Strike has been released, what are your plans for future writing?

I am currently working on Sting (Spark Series #4) – Detective Ryan Clark's book. Release is set for late 2014/early 2015. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23200287-sting

Coming Early 2015:

*Cheekily unnamed until just before release (Spark Series #5) - Soph & Rocco

*Again, unnamed until before release (Spark Series #6) - SURPRISE!

Coming Mid 2015:

Blackmail by any other name (erotic BDSM themed – NOT in the Spark series)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20500461-blackmail-by-any-other-name

As a relatively new author, do you have any advice for aspiring authors out there?

Work hard at building a fan base before publishing, particularly if you are Indie Publishing. Promoting yourself is hard work! I spent about six months doing this before the release of Spark. It’s a good opportunity to build up a raport with readers and also network with other authors. Having support from other authors, simply to ask questions, or watch how they interact with people through social media has been invaluable. I’d also highly recommend a release blitz or blog tour to coincide with release of your first book to get it as much exposure as possible.

The biggest piece advice I can give is to get a lot of people to read your work. Feedback from beta-readers is invaluable, and even though it’s hard to receive constructive feedback (about your book-baby that is so close to your heart), you want to get that feedback from betas, and not readers once you’ve published. Take every opportunity to improve your work, and don’t publish until you are at the point where you know you can’t do anything else to get it to shine.