The Interrogation Room with SE Cooper
Please welcome a brand spanking new author SE Cooper to the hot seat this week!
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Which writers inspire you?
Growing up I loved to read Enid Blyton. My favourite series was The Naughtiest Girl in the School. As a teenager, I became fascinated with Virginia Andrews. I have always enjoyed thrillers and suspense but it wasn’t until the release of Twilight and subsequently Fifty Shades of Grey that I discovered a whole world of Indie Authors that I had been missing out on. So, if you asked me now who inspired me to finally put pen to paper, it would be the likes of Kristen Ashley, Madeline Sheehan, Kristy Bromberg, R.L. Mathewson, Pepper Winters and Tillie Cole.
What are you working on at the minute?
I have recently started working on my second book, Solace, which is another standalone in the Hunter Series. Creating secondary characters is always fun but sometimes a certain one just shouts out for a book of their own. That’s how I felt when I wrote about Big in Silhouette and I had to stop half way through the first book and write down some of his backstory. This resulted in two chapters and a prologue for Solace and I couldn’t wait to finish the first so I could get started on his story.
What’s it about?
The story revolves around two of the characters that were introduced to each other in Silhouette. James (Big) Parker and Nyah Hunter. Nyah believes in love at first sight and even though she has been hurt before she throws everything she has got at Big, unfortunately he doesn’t want to know, or at least that’s what she thinks but he has his reasons for keeping the beautiful blonde at bay.
What genre are your books?
My debut novel Silhouette is Adult Contemporary/Romantic Suspense. My favourite genre to read myself is dark romance and although I can’t write it, I do love a good twist where the reader doesn’t quite know how things are going to pan out. Most lovers of this genre enjoy the heat created from a believable couple but I also need a gritty story to keep my attention and I hope to create that for my own readers.
Why do you write?
If you ask any of my family or friends, they will tell you I have always been a bit of a daydreamer. I’m always half listening to a conversation and half inside my own head. Life gets hard sometimes and we all have our struggles, for me writing is an escape from every day life. I feel unsettled if I haven’t been able to write anything for a few days. If I’m not writing, I am reading. There is nothing better than getting lost inside a good book and not being able to concentrate on anything else until you can get back to it. It’s a huge compliment to an author when you find yourself with a book hangover and can’t stop thinking about their characters long after you have finished the last page. I would love nothing more than to create that feeling for someone else.
Do you have a special time to write or how is your day structured?
I try to write everyday, mostly at night when the house is quiet. I am very easily distracted so late evening is ideally when I get most of my words down. If I can’t write that day, I read over some of what is already written to allow me to stay connected to my characters and their story.
Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you?
After the story idea forms in my head, I always write out a chapter structure. It makes things so much easier. There were many copies of Silhouette scrapped as I flew by the seat of my pants. Then after pulling out most of my hair I decided to write a basic chapter structure, obviously, I deviate it from it on occasion but I found it so much easier to keep track of my aim for character progression. This also helps to build the story and makes it much easier to ascertain where your climaxes and resolutions should go, this is particularly helpful when you are tying in sub-plots for secondary characters as well.
Do you proofread all your own books or do you get someone to do that for you?
I can’t imagine anyone proofreading their own work. That’s not to say there aren’t authors out there who don’t do it but personally I think you need another set of eyes on your work, maybe even several. The brain tends to read an incorrect word as it should be read and I can easily read the same paragraph over and over without seeing an obvious mistake, even in a different font. I have a wonderful proofreader in Joanne Thompson and she gives me the confidence to get on with what I do best and not worry too much about the specifics. Although she does take great pleasure in pulling me up on some proofreading gems which I think she’s filing away to torture me with at a future date.
Who edited your book and how did you select him/her?
Finding the right editor is paramount. After searching aimlessly for weeks, I asked another author for advice, Tracie Podger, and she recommended her own editor, Karen Hrdlicka. After talking to her briefly, I knew that she was the one for me. She made my first experience as painless as possible and became really invested in my characters and their story. She is fantastic at what she does and I wouldn’t be without her now. I think it is important to have a team around you that knows your voice and the direction you want to go in. It means I can concentrate on my writing without having to worry about anything else because I know she understands were I am trying to take the story and my style of writing.
What’s your views on social media for marketing?
Social Media is a fantastic platform to get yourself noticed. It is where most of the blogs showcase your work and allows readers to discover new writers. It also allows them to get up close and personal with authors like never before and get really invested in their characters. Some sites work better than others and every one will have their preferences. I use Facebook first and foremost as I am useless at Twitter but I have recently discovered Instagram gains a fair reach. People tend to be very visually stimulated and I’ve had much better results there than any other platform of late and hope to use that to my advantage in the future.
What is your favourite book and why?
My favourite book is At Peace by Kristen Ashley. It just has EVERYTHING you could ask for in a novel. My skin tingles and my heart races just thinking of some of the lines from that book. Reading it as an aspiring author had me both in awe and contemplating defeat before I had barely started. Meeting her this year and having her sign my copy was a real highlight for me and I’m not going to lie, I got a little teary.
What is your favourite movie and why?
My favourite movie is The Long Kiss Goodnight with Geena Davis and Samuel L Jackson. I loved the premise of a female action hero with a male side kick and the camaraderie between the two, along with the memorable one liners had me hooked. I would LOVE to write something along those lines in the future so watch this space. I love a strong female lead when I’m reading. I love my alpha males but I like my female protagonists to have a little sass and I look to achieve that with my own characters, I think it’s really important.
Silhouette will be released on 6th January 2017.
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Thanks so much for joining us beauiful! All the best with your new book baby!
Please show her some support and follow her everywhere!
Website: www.authorsecooper.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorsecooper
Twitter: www.twitter.com/CooperAuthor
Instagram: www.instagram.com/authorsecooper
Amazon Author Page: www.amazon.com/author/secooper
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2gZJTA5
Silhouette Promo Video: http://bit.ly/2gVIz4f
Book Links:
AMAZON UK → http://amzn.to/2h83t0E
AMAZON US → http://amzn.to/2gVSAfv
AMAZON AU → http://amzn.to/2gQNwbA
AMAZON CA → http://amzn.to/2gOCFBj
