Raychelle: Joanna, Thank you for sharing your story with our readers.
Joanna: Thank you, Raychelle, for inviting me to be your guest on
The Writer’s Block!
1) Describe your
journey as an author/writer.
Reading and writing has always been in my family’s DNA. My father
had thousands of books in our home library so we naturally learned to revere
books. My father and brother have written many books, although in different
genres from mine. I have written profiles of people in Hollywood and legendary
athletes. I also wrote interior design columns and had previously published a
non-fiction book with a traditional publisher, Celebrity Bedroom Retreats (Rockport Publishers).
Lately my imagination has taken me on a different journey in the world
of fiction, most likely because of a life-long love of mysteries and a desire
to tell epic stories. I had these extraordinary characters rolling around in my
head and they compelled me to write my first story of fiction. That story
became the thriller Maximum Speed:
Pushing the Limit.
2) Do you specialize in
any particular genre(s)?
Well, as I mentioned previously, I did publish a book on interior
design my other love with a traditional publisher. But now that I am focused on
fiction, my genres include mystery/thrillers and action-adventures.
3) Who are your
favorite authors? How do they inspire your work?
I am an avid reader and have a long list of favorite authors. A
few of them include: Wilkie Collins, Mary Shelley, The Bronte sisters, Elizabeth
George, Erle Stanley Gardner, Dashiell Hammett, Harlan Coben, Michael Connelly,
P.D. James, Agatha Christie. Ian Fleming, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the latest
crop of fabulously talented indie writers too numerous to mention.
4) Tell us about your
most current project, Maximum Speed:
Pushing the Limit. Is it part of a series?
I could have written about something a little less challenging,
but I followed where my characters led me. In the case of Maximum Speed, this exciting group of characters was from the world
of auto-racing. Now, I’m a big fan of motorsports. I first caught the bug when
my husband took me to see a few races. I have been enthralled with the sport
ever since. It was a surprise to me, being a city girl more at home with the
shops on Fifth Avenue, but I couldn’t deny my alter ego’s desire to become a
female racer, daredevil, and stock car racing fulfilled that urge in me.
So Maximum Speed became
an adrenaline-charged thriller about three generations of an extraordinary
stock car racing family who get caught up in a web of danger when suspicious
things begin to happen to their DMS racing team: their twenty-three year old
racing champion son is almost killed in a fiery crash and another teammate is
brutally kidnapped. Someone or several someones are hell-bent on preventing the
Devlin family and their DMS motorsports team from winning their third
championship. There are many surprise twists and turns in the story: murder,
switching alliances, family intrigue, romance, heroics, sabotage and just plain
fun. The characters are multi-layered and tug at your heart strings whether
they are good or evil.
People always ask me what happens to them after the book ends and
I’m working on the sequel to address those questions. Maximum Speed will be a series. Ultimately, there will be a third
book to complete the series.
5) How did you choose
your publisher? Describe that process.
I knew that it would be an easier journey if I published this book
with an indie publisher. I had gone through the process before when I helped to
publish my father’s book, The Ancient
Aztecs with the indie publisher iUniverse, who is now the indie publisher
for other family members. Their process is very organized and caters to the
authors. The people at iUniverse were always very helpful and dedicated to me
and did a great job in bringing my book to fruition.
6) How do you promote
your work? What strategies have been the most successful?
Promoting a book is probably one of the most difficult things to
do. I have tried using a publicist and did my best to get reviews in newspapers
and other media. The one thing I have learned is, for some reason if your book
is not published by a traditional publishing house, book review periodicals
tend to ignore you.
So, the next best way to promote your book is through
recommendations of word-of-mouth. I have greatly benefited from using social networks
such as Facebook and Twitter and thank God for all the other talented indie
authors who have been instrumental in helping me get the word out. I was
astounded by the reach of social networking! I now have contacts all over the
world.
7) What else have you
written/published?
I wrote Celebrity Bedroom
Retreats: Professional Designers’ Secrets from 40 Star Bedrooms, an
interior design book I published through Rockport Publishers.
8) What do you plan to
accomplish in 2012?
Since Maximum Speed is a natural for a blockbuster feature film or
as an episodic television series, or made for TV movie, it is garnering
interest in Hollywood where I have representation, and they are actively pursuing
those avenues for me this year. I shall continue to write. I have several new
stories in the works.
9) What advice would
you give to budding writers?
I would encourage writers to trust their instincts in writing and
let their characters live and breathe and let them tell their stories. Just
keep on writing. Write first and then edit after. Don’t keep polishing it
first…let it flow then you can edit.
10) What is your
definition of success as a writer?
One of the hardest things about writing a book or screenplay or
any writing project is to finish it. A successful writer is someone who
conceives of an idea and takes it to its completion whether it is a book or
some other written form.
Author Bio:
Joanna Lee Doster is a writer and author of the recently published
book Maximum Speed: Pushing the Limit.
Her previously published work includes Celebrity
Bedroom Retreats and a series of nationally syndicated celebrity profiles
that also feature legendary sports figures. She has held executive positions in
cable television, communications and the entertainment industry. She and her
husband live in New York.
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