Author Kate Hill writes a LOT (and NaNoWrimo Day 1)

Hello Fellow Writers!

NANOWRIMO!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, I'm excited. Just a little. As many of you know, my goal for this year's National Novel Writing Month is to write 80K instead of 50K. Am I setting myself up for failure? Who knows. And who knows how many of those 80K will actually be usable.

Part of me is thinking - don't waste *any* time! Get started! Why are you even blogging? Tweeting? Facebooking? Playing with your child?

Well, I still need to do all that stuff. And I'll miss DS if I ignore him for a whole month. So writing this novel in a month will have to happen like I write everything else - during bits of stolen time, and late at night.

 You know who knows a little something about writing a lot? Kate Hill. Her Ellora's Cave author page has like 40 books on it or something. Holy Moly. Fortunately for us, she stopped by The Writer's Challenge to chat.

Shoshanna: Hi Kate! How often and how much to do you write? Do you make a daily goal (pages, word count?)

Kate Hill: I write every day. How much depends on what my goals for the month are. Sometimes I have one story to finish, other times it's two. At other times I work on short stories and a novel at the same time, so the amount I write each day depends on my workload.

Shoshanna: What's the best way to cure writer's block?

Kate Hill: For me the best way to cure writer's block is to step away from the story I'm working on and write something different. If I write something just for pleasure, it relaxes me and I'm usually able to get back to the story I need to finish. Not that I don't enjoy working on all my stories, whether for fun or to sell, but writing a story for fun can be very liberating.

Shoshanna: Do you have an agent? Do you want one?

Kate Hill: I don't have an agent. A few times I tried to find one but none were interested. I can't say I tried diligently to get one because at this point I don't feel an agent is necessary for the markets I'm focused on.

Shoshanna: Do you have problems with e-book pirates? What should be done about that?

Kate Hill: I have a problem with theft in general, whether it's stealing ebooks, music or anything else. To me stealing online is no different than walking into a physical store and taking the merchandise.

I agree! Thanks for stopping by The Writer's Challenge, Kate!

To check out Kate Hill's latest Ellora's Cave release, Much More than Blood - click here.
To read an (adults only!) excerpt of Much More than Blood, click here.

Tracey H. Kitts: "Pirates Cut Into My Earnings"

Hello Fellow Writers!

Can you believe it's already September 14th? That means my book Punishing the Art Thief will be out in just TWO days. I'm so excited but I'm also a bit freaked out. My dream of being published is about to become true. Then I think - "Oh no, what if my parents read what I wrote? Sunday dinner will never be the same again!" Then I think - "Well, I'm married and we have a baby, so surely they don't think I'm a virgin still, right? RIGHT?" As you can see I'm a little weirded out.... lol

I was chatting with another Ellora's Cave author (who just happens to be multi-published) Tracey H. Kitts, and she agreed to answer some questions for us! Of course the whole literary agent thing is on my mind, so I started off asking her about that.

Shoshanna: Do you have a literary agent? If yes, how did that come about? If no, do you think you need one? 

Tracey: I don't have an agent. But someday, it would be nice:) I don't think that everyone needs an agent just starting out, but eventually once you make it big (and we all plan to, right?) then you'll probably need one. As the literary world goes more an more digital, I find myself pushing back when I'll look for an agent. At first I thought it was really important. Then, I learned to put together proposals and got several contracts on my own. Plus, pirates keep cutting into earnings. So, am I glad right now to not have to pay someone else a cut of my hard earned royalties? Yes. It's one of those tricky things that I'm not always sure about. Right now, I think I'm doing alright by myself.

Shoshanna: I've heard a lot about pirates stealing e-books. That sucks that they eat into your royalties. Any tips on promoting your book once it's out?

Tracey: I think that like a lot of authors, I'm still trying to figure out the best type of promo. I've done a little bit of everything. One of my editors told me that the very best promotion is to follow it up with another good book. I agree with her:)

Shoshanna:  Ooh, me too :)

Tracey: Thanks so much for having me:) "Grab life by the fangs" www.traceyhkitts.com

Shoshanna:  Thanks for being here! And can I just say I am *drooling* over the cover of Sex Symbol!

Okay, it's Shoshanna again. So, fellow writers, I've been having such a ball interviewing other authors for their professional tips and advice. I think it's really helpful to hear things straight from the people who know!

Today will be a busy day for me, because I got back the critique from one of my beta readers of The Wooden Pony, the 5000 word short story I just wrote, and I need to revise and submit it soon for that anthology. I know it's a long shot since they are only accepting 20 stories but it was fun to write anyway!

Have a good week, guys, and if you have any questions of your own for Tracey (or me of course) please put them in the comments and I'll pass them along to her!