Next Big Book Thing: Author Interview

Author Interview – NS Wikarski

How do you promote this book? I’ve avoided conventional book signings and radio interviews for this series. Most of my readers seem to prefer the ebook format so I’ve done most of my recent promotion through the internet. I’ve used Facebook, Kindle Nation, and Kindle Author primarily to get the word out.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? That women were the driving force behind the creation of what we call human civilization. It can have a devastating effect on the female psyche to receive the cultural message that you’re nothing more than an afterthought – that all the great discoveries and inventions since the beginning of time were made by the opposite sex. Hopefully, the history lesson in my books will do something to reverse that assumption.

Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)? I do my research online these days but I would love to visit all the places I’ve written about. Since the series takes place on every continent, I’ve had to guess at many of the locations I’m using. Someday, I’d like to see if I got the physical descriptions right – if I captured the feel of the location accurately.

Who is your favorite author and why? Jane Austen is a particular favorite of mine. It’s amazing to me that someone who saw so little of the wider world during her short lifetime could make such shrewd observations about human nature. I enjoy her sly humor. She manages to write perceptive social satire without being mean-spirited about it.

Are you reading any interesting books at the moment? My reading tastes have gone retro lately – primarily Victorian authors. For about a year, I was reading Wilkie Collins novels. I’ve now moved on to H. Rider Haggard. I love the unhurried way that a Victorian narrative develops. It’s a relief to step away from our contemporary sound byte culture. Victorians used language in a much more elegant way than we do now. It feels quaint and cozy and quite relaxing to read something from that era.

What do you do to unwind and relax? I enjoy hiking and gardening. Anything that gets me out of doors and away from the keyboard. There’s also a lot to be said for mindlessly staring at the TV at the end of the day.

What dreams have been realized as a result of your writing? Since I value my independence, writing is a fantastic career for someone who dislikes a conventional office routine. As long as I have an internet connection and a computer, I can work from anywhere. For the past several years, I’ve spent my winters as a snowbird while still working on my novels. That’s something I could never do if I were in another line of work.

If you could leave your readers with one bit of wisdom, what would you want it to be? Believe in yourself, even when nobody else does. If you can see the best that’s in you, eventually everybody else will see it too.

When you wish to end your career, stop writing, and look back on your life, what thoughts would you like to have? No matter how unlikely it seemed at any given point in time, my dreams always came true. I got to do everything I wanted with my life.

What is the one question you never get asked and would like to get asked in an interview? Please ask and answer it. The question would be, “Do you enjoy writing?” Shockingly enough, my answer would be “No.” I think there are writers who are in love with the process of writing itself. They keep journals, maintain blogs, write poetry. I don’t like doing any of those things. I take a much more utilitarian approach. For me, writing is a means to an end. I’m in love with the idea, the concept, that I want to convey to a reader. Writing is just the vehicle that gets me there.