Welcome to Readers Write to Know! I asked you, my readers, what questions they would ask their favorite authors if given the chance, and the authors visiting my blog answered them! This week, I am interviewing my very first U.S. Coast Guard Captain! I’m so excited! Please enjoy romantic suspense author Connie Mann’s interview. And — Connie is giving away a copy of either a paperback or ebook (winner’s choice) to one winner! See below how you can enter to win!
Tell us a little bit about yourself: Besides writing romantic suspense, I’m also a USCG-licensed boat captain. I work for the Silver River Museum (part of our local school board) and get to take 5th graders out on the Silver River in Florida. It’s a great job. Many of them have never been on a boat before and have never seen an alligator in the wild.
Our own children are grown and hubby and I spend every possible minute out on the water.
Tell us about your current release: HIDDEN THREAT, another romantic suspense, just released on May 30th. When Eve Jackson, passionate clean water advocate from DC, hears that a baby has been hospitalized from possible water contamination, she rushes back to her hometown of Safe Harbor, Florida, and starts flinging accusations around. Especially against local rancher Cole Sutton—who also happens to be her high school crush. But as she digs deeper and the danger around them escalates, she and Cole will have to work together to survive the investigation.
*This is the 2nd Safe Harbor book, after TANGLED LIES, but it is written to stand alone. You won’t be lost if you haven’t read the first one.
How do you push past the fear of your writing being average and be bold enough to sell it to a publisher? Almost every writer I’ve ever met has to fight off the doubt gremlins. They are sneaky beasts, whispering all manner of lies in your ear, trying to eat away your drive and passion for storytelling. The best weapon is to keep writing, no matter what.
What inspired you to start writing, or did you always want to write? I’ve dreamed of being a writer since penning an epic tale about my hamster in third grade. But it took years and years to find the courage to put pen to paper. And then it took more years to muster the courage to submit those stories. And yet more years of facing rejection after rejection before I finally got a story published.
Do you have your plotline and character development already laid out before you begin writing a book, or do they develop as you write? I always have a general plotline and character development in place before I start. Otherwise, I feel like I’m leaving town without a roadmap. But I have to be careful. If it’s too tightly plotted and planned, there’s no room for surprises and then I feel like I’ve already told the story before I start.
What advice do you have for aspiring writers? Those who succeed in this crazy business are the ones too stubborn to give up. Keep writing. Keep learning. Keep submitting. It’s still too soon to quit.
What is your preferred method of writing? (computer, pen & paper, etc.) All my initial ideas and brainstorming are scribbled on yellow legal pads with a #2 pencil. Then I start putting that info into computer files and go from there.
Who were some of your favorite authors as a child? (Book series, maybe?) I checked books out of the library by the armload and loved diving into another world. I wanted to BE Harriet the Spy. I dreamed of hanging out with the Little Women and knew I could solve mysteries as fast as the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew.
What do you do when you hit a roadblock and have NO idea what to write? If that happens, it usually means I took a wrong turn somewhere. My subconscious won’t let me move forward until I figure out what’s wrong. I do something else for a while and eventually (though never as quickly as I’d like), the answer pops up and I can keep going.
Find Connie online:
Website: www.conniemann.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ConnieMannAuthor?ref=hl#!/ConnieMannAuthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captconniemann/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CaptConnieMann
Pinterest.com http://www.pinterest.com/captconniemann/
Find Connie’s latest book online:
Connie is giving away either an ebook or paperback (winner’s choice!) of her latest release, Hidden Threat. See below to see how you can enter to win!
I’m so grateful for your visit, today.
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13 comments
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Thanks so much for having me as your guest, Hallee! The interview was great fun. 🙂
I love Little Women! I always loved Beth.
Phronsie, me too! I so wanted to hang out with all of them. 🙂
What an intetesting job! I was thrilled to see an alligator in the wild as an adult. I can onky imagine how 5th graders feel.
Paula, the best days are when one of the students gets off the boat and says, “Best field trip EVER!” 🙂 It’s great fun to get them excited about nature.
Sounds awesome! Great to meet you! I currently write christian romance, but I’m also working on a YA action adventure about pirates and other sailing shenanigans. Oh yes, Little Women was one of my favorite books as a kid and I know I wrote stories based around that story. They’re gone now unfortunately lol
Hi Sara Beth, Oooh, I love pirates and sailing shenanigans! Good luck with that. It sounds like great fun!
Connie, thank you for your impartation. I just made the leap to submit my manuscript to a publisher. Darn, I left out my hamster stories. Blessings to you.
Hallee, thank you for the great insights and shares you give to us.
Congratulations on submitting your manuscript. That’s wonderful. Cheering you on. So glad you enjoyed the post.
Hi Connie!
I confess to kinda being an aspiring writer – though I’ve never made it past the first chapter (I’m told most books require something more 😉 ). Thank you for your advice! I need to start plotting time to just write, regardless of what ends up on the page. It’s a love of mine that I very rarely take the time to indulge.
P.S. I loved Nancy Drew as a kid and still love helping characters solve mysteries! Your books sound like something I would greatly enjoy! I’ll definitely be checking them out! 🙂
Sarah, I hope you MAKE time in your schedule to write and help those characters solve some mysteries! Don’t put off something you so clearly enjoy. (And, ahem, unfortunately, yes, books need more than one chapter! 🙂 ) I hope you’ll let me know what you think of my books!
Hey Connie! It is a pleasure meeting you here. Being a boat captain for the Silver River Museum sounds fun! How exciting to share your knowledge with those young minds.
Nice to meet you, Caryl! I do love my job. Today was the first day back on the river with students and we had a blast! 🙂 Saw several good-sized gators, too. Always a plus.