FAQs ABOUT YASMINE:
DO YOU EVER DO APPEARANCES?
Not much anymore. The travel takes a toll on my wallet and my health, so I don’t do much in the way of non-local appearances.
DO YOU WRITE FULL TIME?
Yes, I have since 1996. This is my career and I’m the primary breadwinner for my household. 🙂
CAN I HAVE A JOB AS YOUR BETA READER/EDITOR/PROOFREADER?
I appreciate your interest, but no, I have a great team in place and am not looking for new members.
CAN I SEND YOU MY STORY/BOOK TO READ?
No, I cannot read unpublished work due to legal concerns, and I do not offer endorsements without knowing the writer.
I WANT TO WRITE FAN-FICTION OF YOUR WORK–
STOP. NO. I do NOT condone, nor will I authorize ANY fan fiction of my worlds, characters, story lines. Do NOT use my worlds/characters/stories/creations in any fan fiction. I don’t like it and they are my intellectual property.
I HAVE IDEAS FOR YOUR BOOKS–CAN I EMAIL YOU ABOUT THEM?
No. My writing isn’t a democracy. 😉 And…if you do so, my assistant will delete your email without me ever seeing it–legally it’s not a good idea.
QUESTIONS ABOUT BOOKS/SERIES:
WHEN WILL THE NEXT BOOK BE OUT IN (XX) SERIES?
If it’s one of my current series (and not one on hiatus or that is finished), then if I have an official release date, I’ll have it listed on the book’s page. Check under my STATE OF THE SERIES page. If there is no preorder yet, it will say so. If there are preorders available, you’ll see buy links.
WHY WON’T YOU WRITE MORE IN (XXX) SERIES?
Well, first, if a traditional publisher owns the rights to books in a previous series, I have chosen to put those series on hiatus, except for Otherworld which I finished. I need to have control over all the books in a series to effectively/economically promote the series. For the series where I’ve put them on hold, it’s because I’m either not making enough money to support writing that series, or I have no current ideas for the series. If a series doesn’t sell enough copies, I can’t afford to keep writing it.
WHAT IS THE READING ORDER OF YOUR VARIOUS SERIES? DO YOU HAVE A LIST?
Yes! Check the book series page for the reading orders!
WHY ARE SOME BOOKS SHORTER THAN OTHERS?
Because some books take less space to write the stories. I won’t pad my books just to make them longer, and I tell the story that needs to be told.
ARE YOU IN KINDLE UNLIMITED (KU)?
No, I tried it and lost a lot of money that way. Since I support my family, and have a mortgage to pay, I can’t afford to put my books in KU. At least not unless they pay the authors more. And I have a number of readers outside of Amazon who wouldn’t have access to reading my books through Nook, Kobo, Googleplay, and Apple.
QUESTIONS ABOUT E-READERS/E-BOOKS
I DON’T HAVE AN E-READER–HOW CAN I READ YOUR BOOKS?
That’s not a problem! If you have a computer, laptop, smart phone, or tablet, you can get free Kindle and Nook apps to read e-books! Just go to AMAZON.COM for Kindle apps and to BN.COM for Nook apps and bingo, you have the ability to read my books!
WHY AREN’T YOUR BOOKS IN KINDLE UNLIMITED?
Because my readers are spread across multiple e-formats–I have Kindle readers, Nook readers, iPhone readers, and KOBO readers. So I do my best to make my books available to them all, and I couldn’t do that if I were to offer them through Kindle Unlimited. PLUS…I tried KU briefly and my income plunged dramatically. I can’t afford to put my books in KU.
I DOWNLOADED A PIRATED BOOK OF YOURS AND GOT A VIRUS.
NOT MY CIRCUS, NOT MY MONKEYS! Piracy is illegal and if you choose to steal from my livelihood, then I hope you DO get a virus from the file. Writing is my JOB…my career, not a hobby. I pay mortgage, health care, food, basically everything that my family needs comes out of my earnings. A majority of pirate sites have viruses, malware, etc., on them so if you want to avoid screwing up your computer, don’t pirate books. Buy them legally or check them out from the library. I make all my books available for library purchase in e-format. If you don’t want to read e-books, that’s your choice. You can also encourage your library to buy a print copy from Amazon for their shelves.
QUESTIONS ABOUT WRITING
WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR IDEAS FROM?
The idea fairy!!!
Okay, seriously, where don’t I get ideas from? Ideas are everywhere, and my mind works overtime. I saw a personalized license plate one time–HUNTER–and my first thought was, I wonder if that’s a serial killer taunting the police? Yeah, my mind treads in scary places.
DO YOU BASE YOUR CHARACTERS ON OTHER PEOPLE? WHICH CHARACTER DID YOU BASE ON YOUR BEST FRIEND? WHICH HERO DID YOU BASE ON SAMWISE?
Nope–only on a trait here or there.
I didn’t. I never model characters on real people…only take a trait here or there.
Um…some traits of Samwise can be found in various heroes, but again…nope, didn’t.
However, Maggie the gargoyle was based on a friend’s calico cat named Maggie. 🙂 And Agent H (a cat) in the Whisper Hollow series was based on another friend’s rainbow bridge kitty.
WILL YOU RECOMMEND AN AGENT/PUBLISHER?
No, I no longer work with an agent and now that I’m an indie author, I no longer work with traditional publishers. I suggest you do some research–and research CAREFULLY. There are so many options out there for writers today, so think carefully about what you want out of your work.
DO YOU HAVE ADVICE FOR ASPIRING AUTHORS?
Some, yes. Read. Read what you love. Read what you don’t. Write what you love–if you try to write to the market, you may find your work is stiff and comes off like cardboard–flat and well-rounded. Research. Do your footwork. Don’t just ask other authors for help, but also study. There’s so much info out there now on traditional publishing, indie publishing, that it can be easy to get overwhelmed, but that’s the way with just about any occupation. KEEP writing. Don’t expect your first efforts to be golden–most authors take years to hone their craft, trad OR indie. Don’t expect a field of riches from this–most authors don’t make a lot of money. There IS money to be made, but you have to provide work that speaks to your audience, that they want more of. And you have to provide quality products–you can’t just slam it on the keyboard and toss it up on line and expect to have readers swooning at your feet. And watch my YouTube channel for more hints and writing tips!