Five Things I Didn’t Know

2 days ago

3 min read

when I started my website

When I started my website and newsletter, I expected to shout into the void. Write, publish, hope someone somewhere would read. That’s not what happened at all. What happened was conversations: with other authors who asked me questions, and who let me ask them mine.

I told that story in five little posts on social media. Here they are, gathered together, with a bit more room to breathe.

Cream meme labelled 'What I know now, 1/5'. 'What I expected:' SHOUTING INTO THE VOID. 'What happened:' a collage of author portraits, Conversations with Other Authors.

1. I expected silence

Instead of silence, I met wonderful writers who interviewed me and let me interview them. Didn’t see that coming.

2. It started with a swap

In the spring of 2021, I was offering newsletter swaps to other authors. Fantasy author Suzanna J. Linton (now S. L. Linton) suggested something more: an author interview. That July, my very first interview went out to her readers. I took the chance to lead my very first interview too: I asked her my questions and shared her answers in my newsletter and on my blog (My First Author Interview).

That’s the issue W. D. Kilpack III, author of the New Blood series, read. His reply: “If you are on the market for another interview subject, don’t be afraid to contact me!” I suggested a swap. He was already writing his questions—thirty-six of them! (Answering The Knights of Ril)

What I know now: I didn’t need to have the idea. I just needed to say yes, even when it stretched my comfort zone.

3. Then, a new idea

In 2023, fantasy romance author D. L. Lewellyn (Darci), whom I’d met on Twitter, offered me a blog interview. Before we even got to it, we were emailing… for weeks: writer’s block, plotting vs. pantsing, beta readers, marketing, the courage to start before you’re ready.

So I suggested something different: instead of a Q&A, why not publish the conversation itself, almost as it happened? Darci had the idea of two versions, one on each of our blogs, out on the same day. A Two-Way Interview! was born.

It worked so well that it became a yearly ritual: again in 2024 (in four parts!), then last December. And we’re already planning the next one.

Cream meme labelled 'What I know now, 3/5'. 'What Darci offered:' portraits of D. L. Lewellyn and me, next to A BLOG INTERVIEW. 'What I suggested:' PUBLISH OUR EMAILS. 'And then:' A YEARLY RITUAL. 2023, 2024, 2025, next: December.

What I know now: the format doesn’t have to be the usual one. A good conversation makes great content.

4. Then, the invitations

In November 2021, Lynda J. Williams, author of the Okal Rel Saga, invited me on her podcast, RelSkim Chat. Others followed: video interviews with Colton Iverson on Narrative Ink, J. V. Hilliard on The Realm and Massimo Parlermo on MPP Power Hour, then written interviews for the Speculative Fiction Showcase blog and for Leon Stevens’s Free Book Friday. Six invitations already: podcast, video, written.

Seven Drifts wasn’t out yet. It still isn’t. They invited me anyway, as an aspiring author.

What I know now: you don’t need a finished book to have something to say. Your process, your doubts, the world you’re building: that’s already a conversation. (They’re all gathered here: Conversations with Other Authors.)

Cream meme labelled 'What I know now, 4/5'. 'What I thought shows wanted:' A PUBLISHED AUTHOR. 'Who they invited anyway:' AN ASPIRING AUTHOR. 'And then:' SIX SHOWS ALREADY: RelSkim Chat, Narrative Ink, The Realm, Free Book Friday, MPP Power Hour, Speculative Fiction Showcase.

5. And I got to ask the questions too

After Suzanna and Bill, I kept going. I’d come across an author online, explore their work, start talking with them, and the questions would pile up. Sometimes I suggested the interview; sometimes the invitation came from the other side. Since 2021, I’ve interviewed sixteen authors for my blog and newsletter (so far): fantasy, science fiction, thrillers, romance, satire.

Thank you to J. V. Hilliard, Lynda J. Williams, Larry Yoke, V. R. Friesen, Henya Drescher, Dan Gallagher, Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli, Seth Halleway, S. Z. Attwell, Eric Lard, John Calia, Maya Bairey, Leon Stevens, D. C. Greschner, and of course Suzanna J. Linton and W. D. Kilpack III. (All the interviews: Author Interviews.)

Cream meme labelled 'What I know now, 5/5'. 'What I thought interviews needed:' A JOURNALIST. 'What they really needed:' CURIOSITY. 'And then:' 16 AUTHORS… SO FAR: Linton, Kilpack, Hilliard, Williams, Yoke, Friesen, Drescher, Gallagher, Monticelli, Halleway, Attwell, Lard, Calia, Bairey, Stevens, Greschner.

What I know now: I didn’t need to be a journalist. Curiosity was enough.

A void already full

When I started, I expected to shout into the void. But actually, that void was already full of writers. If you’ve started something (a blog, a podcast, a first novel), maybe that’s what I’d want to tell you: someone, somewhere, wants to answer.

What’s something you started that took an unexpected turn?

Enjoyed this post? Twice a month, I send out a newsletter about books I love, my writing life, and the making of Seven Drifts. Join at the top or bottom of the page and get my short story Drift & Cradle as a welcome gift.