Today's interview with an author comes all the way from Melbourne, Australia! Or, well, from Australia via email; I didn't actually get to go there.
Side note: Seriously though, why do I have so many great friends in Australia? Y'all are too far.
Fellow Erin (romance author Erin Thomson) graciously agreed to answer my pesky writing questions. We talked about self-publishing expectations vs. reality, work-life balance, and (most importantly) author mascots.
Without further ado, friends and enemies: Erin Thomson.
1) Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and your books?
I am a mum of two living in Melbourne and so far I have 3 books out. The Love in Brooklyn series is about a group of friends all finding their happily ever afters.
2) How did you first get started writing?
I didn't really start writing until my mid-20s, but it was off and on and messy and nothing ever got finished. After I had my kids, I picked it up again and actually finished a few full drafts. Then at the start of 2021, I decided if I really wanted to do something with it I’d need to work on something past first draft stage—I didn’t like revising up until that point, once I’d told myself the story my brain lost interest!
3) What's the most unique part of your writing process?
My writing process is… kind of chaotic. When I’m working on the first draft I don’t have a set routine, my only goal is to write ideally every day so I don’t lose momentum. I try to get the words down whenever I can. Sometimes that’s on my lunch break or waiting in the car to pick up my kids, sometimes I can carve out larger chunks of time, but honestly I’m usually most productive when I’ve only got an hour or less to just bang it out.
4) Do you have any favourite craft books or resources?
My two favourite are Save the Cat and Story Genius. I also recently got into Romance Your Brand, which is great.
5) What made you choose to self-publish The Wedding Planners (and subsequent novels)? Had you considered traditional publishing?
I briefly considered traditional publishing, but I’m impatient and didn’t like the idea of having to wait for someone else to tell me my work was good enough. So, self-publishing felt like a more natural fit from pretty early on. It’s daunting being responsible for literally everything but really satisfying too.
6) What drew you to writing in romance? Do you think you'll ever branch outside of that genre?
I’ve always loved reading romance and first got into through paranormal and fantasy romance. The first full draft I finished was a sci-fi-fantasy-romance-mystery thing which I had a lot of fun writing but no idea what to do next. Then I asked myself, if you were going to write a contemporary romance, what would you do? As soon as I gave myself permission to just write it, I finished the draft in a little over a month. (It’s never happened that quickly since!) And that was it, I knew romance was my happy place. So far I’ve only written contemporary, but I’m working on a cozy fantasy now, and it’s been so much fun!
7) What's your favourite part of writing romance?
Can I say all of it? I just love those early giddy feelings that I get to explore over and over, and it’s especially fun when there’s some irritation thrown in the mix.
8) What were your publishing expectations? How did they differ from your experience?
I tried not to have too much in the way of expectations. If some people read and enjoyed my books I was happy, but of course somewhere in the back of my head I hoped that they’d be best sellers (it’s not happened yet!). My biggest thing is to try not to compare yourself to other authors. It’s almost impossible sometimes, but it just gets me in that cycle of not good enough blah, blah. And that’s not fun!
9) What advice would you give to those just starting out with the goal of publishing?
Where to start! Write the book. It seems obvious, but you can get tangled up in all the what-ifs down the road, but none of it can happen if you've not written the book, so start there. And find yourself an editor when you’re ready because they are worth their weight in gold!
10) (Without spoilers) What has been your hardest scene to write? Hardest book?
Hmm… every book has felt difficult in a different way. Strings Attached was probably the hardest because I wrote maybe half and found it wasn’t quite working so had to scrap it all and start again. That was rough, but it made for a better book in the end. The hardest scene was probably some of Jemma’s backstory in The Wedding Planners, which I didn’t actually intend to put in the book, I’d written it to better understand her, but then it ended up making it in.
11) How do you balance writing, marketing, etc. with other life stuff?
Not well! Marketing usually gets pushed to the bottom of the list, and it’s something I’d like to get better at this year.
12) What do you do for work outside writing? (Or what would you be doing if not writing if your writing now supports you full-time?)
I’m a mum of two and work part time in retail, which can make it hard to find the time to write, but somehow it all gets done. I’d love to write full time but we’re not there yet.
13) What would your author mascot be?
Ooh I have no idea. I’d like to say an animal but realistically it’s probably a cute mug (I have a serious mug addiction) or my unicorn pen!
A huge thanks goes out to Erin Thomson for taking the time to speak with me. <3 (One of my favourite things is connecting with other authors.) Find out how to follow along with Erin's publishing journey below.
Happy writing!
Bio
Erin is a romance author living in Melbourne. She loves nachos, chocolate cake and happily ever afters but not necessarily in that order. She has self-published three contemporary romance novels so far (The Wedding Planners, Five Dates Between Friends, and Strings Attached), which can be found on Amazon.
Connect with Erin on Instagram, TikTok, and her website.