I am privileged and honored to have PG Forte, author of WAITING FOR THE BIG ONE, here with us today at Boomer Chick! Waaahoo! Listen, this girl is the bomb, okay? Buy her book. Buy lots of her books!Now, I've got to tell you her books aren't Mary Poppins! PG is...ahem...an erotic romance author which means she writes books with more racier themes, but even if you have to hide'em from your grandkids, don't miss out! Even boomer chicks need a little fun and excitement, don't they? Well, don't they?
Okay, so I've got PG here with us today and we're all about to find out what goes on in an erotic romance writer's life. I mean, do they hang out in men's locker rooms? Do they have wild sexual encounters like they write about? I won't tell...read my interview with the world reknown, Ms. PG Forte!
Boomer Chick: Welcome to Boomer Chick, PG! Can you tell us a little about yourself and your book, Waiting for the Big One?
PG: Hi! And thanks for the welcome. It's great to be here. By the way, I love the header on your site. That's gotta be California, right? With all the lupines and poppies.
BOOMER CHICK: How'd you guess? Yeah, had to...I've got California in my blood! Where are you from, PG?
PG: I'm a transplanted Jersey girl but I've really made my home here on the West Coast. So far, all my books have been set here and Waiting for the Big One is no exception in that respect. It's set in Los Angeles, where I lived for about eight years. In fact, I 'gave' my heroine, Gabby, the apartment I first lived in when I moved out from the East Coast. That was such a magical time for me and I hope I've managed to incorporate a little of that feeling into the story.
BOOMER CHICK: I lived in LA, too! Well, actually, Burbank, but Burbank is a subdivision of LA, or something they told me like that when I was a kid. But, your background is simply fascinating, and that cover...PG, that cover is one of the best covers I've seen in a long time. How much input did you have into that?
PG: Oh, isn't it great? I'd love to take some of the credit for that but I can't. April Martinez is a genius and very wisely ignored anything I had to say.
No, actually, I'm kidding about that...not the genius part, but the rest of it. I was no help whatsoever. I had no idea what I wanted for the cover, other than I think I did suggest that maybe Gabby should strike a Yoga pose.
That was pretty much the extent of my contribution.
Boomer Chick: Well, it's simply beautiful. The book...how long did it take for you to write it?
PG: Well, it's a very short book. I wrote the bulk of it in less than a month. All except for the last big love scene, I think that took a whole month just by itself.
Boomer Chick: Why did you choose to write an erotic romance? Did it come easy or hard for you?
PG: Choose? No such thing. I got Shanghaied. My critique partners all got together and pushed. lol! I think they were counting on (in my daughter's words) my 'freakish compulsion to write books in series'. Once I wrote one I simply had to write another and another...now I'm hooked. And very grateful too because, despite my initial resistance, I love it.
However, I do find it works better for me to write shorter pieces in this genre. Too long and I think I'd start to bore myself. I try very hard to make sure the love scenes aren't repetitive. Which is one of the reasons I love writing for e-pubs, btw. For the most part, they don't place a lot of restrictions on their authors in terms of length or content and they don't force them to add more scenes or hotter scenes. Or, at least, they haven't done so with me.
Boomer Chick: Can you tell us a little bit about your publisher, Liquid Silver Books? Are they strictly ebooks or do they offer their authors print books, too?
PG: I really, really enjoy working with them. Everyone there is great to work with--fun, friendly, professional, consistently good at what they do. Also I think their books (including their covers) really live up to their promise of being 'distinctive, classy and hot'.
Liquid Silver is primarily an e-publisher. Although they do put some books into print, I really haven't explored that possibility yet. However, I certainly wouldn't object to having the LA Love Lessons released as a print anthology. *hint, hint*
Boomer Chick: One of the reasons why I buy ebooks is to get information. In other words, the ones I have bought have been strictly how to. What can you say to me to convince me to go outside of my box and purchase a book that isn’t a how to book?
PG: lol! I'm assuming you're not asking me why you should read fiction? I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to be swept away into someone else's world for a little while for a vicarious adventure. Is anyone's life so fantastically exciting that they don't ever wonder what it would be like if...(fill in the blanks).
Story-telling is right up there with singing and cave painting in terms of ancient creative arts. What child hasn't asked to hear a story before bedtime? I see no reason any of us should ever outgrow that!
As for why you'd want to read fiction in e-book format--there are so many reasons. First of all, they're so much more convenient. You can carry or store an entire library on your thumb drive. And if you don't want people to know that you're reading erotic romance while you're waiting on line at the post office, or seated at your desk at work--then e-books are definitely the way to go. Although, if your reaction to the content doesn't give you away, I'm probably not doing my job right!
As an author, the thing I like best about writing for e-pubs is that you can push the envelope in terms of creativity. It's still a new industry so there's more variety, less rules, less restrictions. It's very vibrant. What that means to the reader is that you have more choice.
Also, it's quicker. You write a book and, in most cases, you can see it released in a matter of months. Print books are contracted years in advance. And the time it takes to get your proposal accepted or rejected--that's also longer for print. If you're a reader who's caught up in a particular author's series, that means less lag-time for you.
Boomer Chick: Do you think it’s harder to promote an ebook?
PG: It shouldn't be, should it? I honestly do not understand why there's so much resistance to the format. My daughter just came into my office not more than five minutes ago to borrow my credit card because she was bored and had nothing to read. Five minutes--and now she has a new novel to entertain herself with and neither of us even had to leave the house.
However, one of the realities of being e-pubbed is that the market is smaller. So yes, I think it is harder in that respect.
We're still re-inventing the wheel. If your book's in print, it's easy for readers to browse by genre. They can go to the store, pick up a dozen books, read from the beginning, the end, somewhere in the middle (rather than being restricted to a single, selected excerpt) before they make their decision.
Of course, it's axiomatic that fiction is harder to promote than non-fiction anyway. So, it's doubly hard for e-pubbed fiction authors!
I think the answer is for us to be more personal in our approach to promotion. For example, I have my own Yahoo group: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/pgforte/ where I keep in touch with my readers. It's great. I love it. I've 'met' readers and reviewers from all over the world.
I host impromptu contests on my group, give away prizes, answer questions. I even ask for input from my readers occasionally too, on things like which of my WIPs they think I should work on next or their opinions on various ideas or directions I might be contemplating.
So, wow, really long answers, huh?
Boomer Chick: LOL, I love it! I'm always interested in ways ebook authors promote since they don't have a "physical" book to do it with and that's all the more reason for ebook authors to learn how to promote online such as what you are doing with your virtual book tour. Tell me, do you plan to write strictly erotic romance of do you plan on venturing into other genres?
PG: For me, genre is really dictated by the story idea. I have lots of ideas currently in the works. Stop by my website http://www.pgforte.com/ and you'll see what I mean! I have paranormal erotic romance, historical paranormal erotic romance and contemporary erotic romances planned as well as several books that will probably turn out to be women's fiction or chick lit.
I also have an entire paranormal romantic suspense series that I'm hoping to re-release by the end of the year.
Boomer Chick: Interesting, really interesting! Well, time's run out but I really thank you for coming by Boomer Chick's abode on the net and good luck with the rest of your tour!
PG: Thank you . It's been fun chatting with you. Great questions!
**********
PG's virtual book tour is being brought to you by Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours, a full-service online touring agency. You can visit their website at www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.com.
PG's virtual book tour is being brought to you by Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours, a full-service online touring agency. You can visit their website at www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.com.
Fabulous cover, I must say! Good luck with your tour.
ReplyDeleteVery nice!
ReplyDelete