After topping the Kindle charts for nearly the entire month of July, Kerry Lonsdale’s smash-hit debut, EVERYTHING WE KEEP, is now out in paperback and audiobook!
We sat down with Kerry over a cup of coffee and the Internet to talk about her success and get her advice for aspiring authors:
When did it hit you that this was something you could do—that you could be an author for real?
About a year after I started writing fiction, I entered a flash fiction contest and received an honorable mention. It was a good indication my writing had potential. It seemed that way to me, and that’s what matters. It was enough to motivate me to stick with it.
Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
Find your writing community, whether it be a local group, online critique group, or an association. Also, never stop learning. Participate in workshops, attend conferences, and read craft books. Last, but not least, pay-it-forward. If it hasn’t happened to you already, one day there will be a published author who refers you to her agent, tells his editor about your manuscript, gives you advice on how to self-pub, or critiques one of your chapters, without asking anything in return. Make sure you do the same for someone else.
You’re a founding member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. What was your motivation for that?
Build it and they will come?
The number of readers interested in women’s fiction is growing as is the number of women’s fiction authors. There are plenty of writing associations by genre, from the Romance Writers of America and the Historical Novel Society to the International Thriller Writers organization and the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America. However, there wasn’t an association specific to our genre. A group of us writers got together and started discussions about creating our own organization. Not ones for sitting around, we did just that. Exactly nine months later, we launched the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, an international online community, in 2013 and today have over 800 members.
The Kindle First promotion saw your book rocket to #1 overall in the Kindle store within 24 hours…and stay there until the release of the new Harry Potter. What has that been like?
Overwhelming. Exciting. Nerve-racking. Exhilarating.
An author friend described the Kindle First experience is like being shot into space at face-peeling speed. There isn’t a more accurate description than that.
Overnight success is scary and thrilling while extremely rewarding. I’ve received some amazing reviews and even more amazing letters from readers who’ve reached out to express how much they enjoyed Everything We Keep. Kindle First is an experience I’ll treasure and never forget.
What makes for a good beach read?
There’s such a stereotype when it comes to beach reads. Many regard these types of reads as easy, breezy, and light. A fast read. For me, a good beach read can be anything from a story with a beach setting to an intense drama or a page-turning suspense. Basically, a book that holds my attention, is entertaining, and makes me oblivious to the passing time so I can truly relax and have a great time at the beach.
What’s next for you?
My next book All the Breaking Waves publishes December 6th (you can pre-order it here), and I’m currently writing the sequel to Everything We Keep titled What We Leave Behind, which is expected to publish Summer 2017.
Where can we find you online?
Here, there, and everywhere. Almost. Debating opening a Snapchat account. Not sure I want to go there yet. We’ll see…
www.kerrylonsdale.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Goodreads | Amazon
Thanks, Kerry! For the rest of this interview (including Kerry’s top book picks of 2016), subscribe to our Fuse Lit newsletter, and if you haven’t yet read this summer’s blockbuster suspense novel, you can pick it up here.
