Interview with BC Brown, author of A Touch of Madness

Indie Book Promo would like to welcome BC Brown to the blog!  She is here to answer a few questions, and to talk about her book, A Touch of Madness.  If this book sound like something that you would enjoy, use the buy links at the bottom of the post to pick up a copy for yourself and a friend!

IBP -  If someone wrote a blurb about your book what would it say?

BC – Up, down, twist and turn, the world of Abigail St. Michael, clairvoyant, takes you on a ride. Abbey finds herself promising her ex-husband to locate his new fiancée’s killer, and she plans to do it – no matter the cost to her health or her sanity. But what can she do when it turns out there may not be one killer but multiple killers? She does what Abbey’s does best – takes the hardest road with the most personal speed bumps to get to her destination.

IBP – How would my friends describe me in 20 words or less?

BC – Melodramatic thespian, karaoke queen, and that weird chick who writes.

IBP – Do you listen to music while writing?

BC – To many author-friends dismay, I do not listen to music while I write. I find it influences my mood and therefore my writing too much. I, however, can not live without it during editing.

IBP – Do you have a day job?

BC – I do have a “day” job (that is, I work third shift). I work for 911 coordinating local law, medical and fire emergency crews. I tell people when they ask what I do for a living that I save lives or create worlds; they can pick which is more interesting.

IBP – What scenes were the hardest to write?

BC – The scenes I find most difficult to write are the erotic scenes. While I love them on a whole, I always wonder how fine a line I need to walk when writing them between purposeful erotic nature and plain shock erotic.

IBP – Could you describe to us your typical writing day?

BC – My writing day typically consists of finding any and all spare moments to write. Fortunately, I have a “day” job which allows me a great deal of free time (sometimes that is) between work “duties”. That free time is most often dedicated to writing and editing, with some focus on promotion, correspondence, and other author support such as critique work.

IBP – Where do you get your inspiration?

BC – I’m fortunate in that my inspiration for my stories come from a combination of my everyday life and my nightly dreams. I have an interesting job that gives me constant input and access to peoples’ daily (and, at times, surreal) lives. And, while I’m not always able to immediately see how to use material that has come to me, I squirrel it away nonetheless and wait for it to take root. That often happens in conjunction with dreaming. In my sleep is where I work through many things – that includes my writing problems, ideas, and inspirations. And, since I vividly dream and remember them in incredible accuracy and detail, I can get a lot out of just going to bed. As is I have more than 16 novels plotted from snippet ideas mixed with dreaming. Of course I’m certainly not going to say that all of those are worthy of being produced; I’m sure some are too bizarre for publication!

IBP – Are there any particular books and/or authors that inspired you and continue to do so?

BC – George R.R. Martin and his Song of Ice and Fire series (now a popular HBO show) having had a resounding influence on me as a writer. Mr. Martin proved that there needn’t always be a ‘happily-ever-after’ to still produce a satisfied reaction in a reader (something I had always suspected but had not seen with proven results until this series). Also, his writing inspired me to better myself as a writer. He manages a unique and detailed setting, character description, battle, even intimate scenes with short, concise prose. He truly is a master in this field, and I am proud to be considered a part of this industry with him. And I can attest he is one of the most approachable and interesting authors since I had the pleasure of meeting him at a convention several years ago.

IBP – How important do you find the communication between you and your readers? Do you reply to their messages or read their reviews?

BC – My initial reaction was to select one of the questions to answer in this section on the interview sheet about where my work can be found. Promotion is always vital for an author. However, this question seemed more pertinent to me – my relationship to my readers.

I have always tried to maintain strong communication between myself and my readers. After all, who am I writing for in the end? Certainly for myself, but what is the point of writing for self fulfillment only? The readers are the ones who get the most out of my worlds, and I have always been grateful for each and every one I get/have.

I receive emails, blog comments, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and Goodreads messages from a good many of my readers it seems. Most are small praises about if they enjoyed my latest work or inquiries about the next piece of fiction I have install for them. I try to read and respond to each one diligently. Although this does, at times, take me a while to do. I limit my online correspondence time to balance it with my writing workload. An author can get lost and burn up all their allotted writing time on the internet alone.

As to reviews given, I respond to each and every one of them. I love to read the reviews given by fellow authors, editors, reviewers, and readers alike. The information I gain from each is invaluable, and I make sure I take the time to let each of them know how important the time they spent telling me about their enjoyment (or sometimes not) of the work truly is.

IBP – What are your thoughts on ebooks? (love them, hate them, the wave of the future?)

BC – Ah, e-books. I personally love the feel of a paper and glue book. That being said, I do realize the importance of the e-book industry. I even own an e-readers myself and purchase often from there, reading when I’m away from home or at one appointment or other. E-books open an avenue of reader not available before to writers. What I mean by this is that we used to not be able to tap the people who were A) digitally-inclined only, or B) the harried, hectic, my-life-has-too-much-to-juggle-already readers. With an e-book, the digitally-inclined can indulge in the format of their choice – electronic. With an e-book, the person with too many things to carry around with them while they keep track of babies’ toys or business memos and cards can concisely carry an entire library without a hassle.

But, in my heart, I will always remain an old fashioned kind of gal – the paperback preferred reader. That does not mean that I can ignore the importance of a well-written book available in digital formatting, however. And any writer who does so, in my opinion, will regret their decision one day.

IBP – Are you working on anything new and if so, when can we expect to see it?

BC – A multitasker, I always have several projects in the works. Now is no different than any other. I am working on three new projects, slated for Winter 2012, Spring 2013 and Fall 2013/Spring 2014. One is highly recognizable; it is another novel in this same series, An Abigail St. Michael Novel. The second, I believe, will be welcomed by Abbey’s fans. It is a spin-off novel starring a young woman named Jillian Dewitt. While set in the same world as Abbey, it will star a new lead heroine and hero and a whole new set of metaphysical mysteries. The last project is an anthology collection of my shorter work. This collection will include every genre from drama to more paranormal mystery to YA, including some comedy. They’ll all be something to watch for because, I promise, each will delight the reader in very different ways!

 BC can be found:

Website     *     Facebook     *     Twitter     *     Goodreads

Bio: B.C. Brown was born with six fingers on each hand endowing her with super powers, thus enabling her to fight crime.  When a freak Cuisinart accident severed the additional digits and her powers, B.C. was forced to fall back on her secondary talent – writing.  Now she lives between the pages of a book – whether she has written it or not.  Since she has not found the surgeon to restore her fingers and powers, she has published three novels to date and contributed to one anthology.  She enjoys writing mystery, paranormal romance, science fiction and fantasy but is always in the mood for a challenge to branch out.  You can follow her crime fighting or writing at Twitter or Facebook or Goodreads.

A Touch of Madness can be purchased at Amazon