Today, Secret Cravings author, Robert Wacaster joins me to share a nip or two off whiskey! I'm celebrating the release of the paperback issue of What Happens in Ireland and Robert is celebrating the up-and-coming release of his second novel with SCP, A Writer's Proposal! Sláinte Robert and welcome to Ireland!
And now, for the interview to begin :)
And now, for the interview to begin :)
First things first, tell us five things about yourself as a person and as a writer (genre, hobbies, personality, are you a little on the quirky side?)
1. I not only love to write, but also like to make videos. Not big productions things, but just small, fun youtube things. I think those are some of the most fun to watch, too. Much better than regular tv! Feel free to take a look. Quite a bit of eclectic videos! *chuckle* http://www.youtube.com/user/lvyoyo
2. Though I’ve written romance, my favorite kind of videos to make involve video games. I’m not your typical romance author!
3. Though a lot of books that I’ve written involve romance, the most popular book I’ve written is a self published military novel. It mostly involves a crazy naval crew and a dangerous pirate hunt. It’s unedited and rough, but outsells all my other books put together!
4. I’ve written for most of my life, but never really kept anything. I didn’t start writing seriously until 2007 when I wanted to write a book about my completely insane job in casino security. That was my first book. Also rough and unedited it still sells occasionally.
5. I may seem outgoing and loud, but it’s mostly a front. I can be pretty shy at times. Quite a few women have inspired my writing without even knowing they have.
Interesting stuff, Robert! :) Typical or not, your welcome here haha. :)
When did you first start writing? Was it just an unbridled urge to write or had it been a matter of ‘it’s now or never’?
I think I’ve always been a writer. Going back to when I used to beg my mother to let me “play” with an old typewriter, to creative writing in high school. Something inside me always drove me to write.
Is there a reason as to why you write? And what’s your favourite part about being a writer?
For me I think writing represents a healthy fantasy life. I’ve used myself in a number of the books I’ve writen and can see myself in the role of the character I write about. It’s a way to send myself off to another world where I have different problems to deal with. Usually fun and strange problems. *chuckle*
What inspires you? The novels you read? Other authors? Life itself?
Life itself inspires me quite a bit. I can find inspiration from all kinds of places. One of the stories I’ve just had published called Beauty and the Bet was actually inspired by the owner of a new publishing company doing an internet radio interview. She was speaking about how the publisher was looking for “something different” and my mind just went wild. *chuckle* I’ve been inspired by women I’ve known. I doubt they even realized they’ve inspired stories, though. I can find inspiration all over.
When did your writing dream become a published reality?
I self published my first book in 2007 and it’s still for sale. A rough title called Adventures in Casino Security. It’s not for everyone. *chuckle* But it does still sell a couple copies a month both in print and digital. As for being published by a professional publisher, that first story came out 3/21/2012 and is called Kiss the Darkness. It was published by Secret Cravings Publishing and is the story of a U.S. Air Force Sergeant who is blinded in Afghanistan. He ends up falling in love with the nurse at the rehab hospital in Germany. Not your typical love story, it does deal with a few rough topics such as survivor guilt, and some of the horrors of war. Not really a happy ending, the main character is blinded for life.
What was the hardest part of the publishing process for you?
Promotion. Definitely promotion. Writing a book is easy, getting people to read what you’ve written is a bit more of a challenge. A lot of times I don’t even know where to start. If you’re a really popular author, getting your books noticed is easy. If you’re a bit less popular…well...you’ve really got to work. And even with a lot of hard work sometimes your books just don’t sell. There is no secret to what makes a best selling book.
You're not the only one! In this new day and age with digital publishing more and more books are hitting the shelves. It's hard to stand out in such a big crowd. :)
Do you have any inspirational words for aspiring writers?
Keep writing! Don’t think just because your first book wasn’t accepted by a publisher that you’ve failed! Or if you’ve gotten a book published and it isn’t selling well, or isn’t even selling at all, don’t think you’re a failure! People just haven’t noticed your book. Keep in mind there are a few hundred thousand books coming out every week! Amazon has millions of books for sale! Keep writing! There is one quote I like that goes “You only fail if you stop writing”. So if you want to have things published, keep working!
Can you pitch you current/upcoming release to us in ten words or less?
Ten words? Robert meets Katie’s parents and finally proposes. Katie’s very happy.
That’s awful! Just awful! *chuckle* How can you describe a story in just ten words? I have enough problems trying to write blurbs for my books, let alone being limited in word count. And this next release is the second book in a three book series. So how do you only use ten words to describe the upcoming release while getting readers up on what went on in the first book? *chuckle*
It's not easy haha. I struggle with blurbs myself. I think it's because you want to tell readers so much. I have always battled with word counts haha.
Who is your favourite character in A Writer’s Wedding?
First, let me say that A Writer’s Wedding isn’t scheduled to be released until around December 2013 I think. It’s the third book in a romance trilogy. My favorite character is Matt Smith. The character of Matt is based on my real life friend Matt and after writing his parts into the book I would send excerpts to him to make sure he felt the character was true to life. Matt’s character is crude, rude, and just the guy who makes the Best Man role at a wedding fun! An example of Matt’s character would be this: In the book the main characters have a Catholic wedding. When Matt sees the priest in his formal wedding outfit and papal hat, he says “Are you the Pope now? Robert, you’re being married by the Pope!” Matt was really fun to write!
Haha, I have a few friends worried about what I'm going to do to them in my novels. My characters aren't them per say, as Matt is for you, but they have similar traits and my attachment to the fictional characters and my real friends are much the same. :)
So, what’s next for Robert Wacaster?
I’ve actually been working on (dragging out working on…*chuckle*) a series called The Mailroom Series for Front Porch Romance Publishing. The first book which was just released is titled Beauty and the Bet. The stories are kind of Twilight Zone type things and are a bit hard to describe. The first story has an aging executive who thinks if she had the looks of a young intern, she could easily flirt and sleep her way to the top. She ends up in the intern’s body, but things don’t work out the way she thought they would. *chuckle* The characters are guided through the stories by a mailroom manager named Earl who will appear in the sequel books. The publisher said they wanted “different” and these stories are definitely different! *chuckle*
They certainly sound so! Love a good body swap haha.
Now, I think of my muse as some being. An alter ego of sorts. Tell us about your muse. Are they male or female? Can you describe three of their personality traits?
My “Muse” is not so much a person as a thing. Mine would be a projector. It shows little scenes in my head. And if I don’t write out the scene or story, they just keep running through my head over and over. But once I write out the scene, the projector will move on to the next scene. Strange, huh? *chuckle*
Connecting it with you love of making films, I would not say so. But definitely a very unique Muse. :)
My “Muse” is not so much a person as a thing. Mine would be a projector. It shows little scenes in my head. And if I don’t write out the scene or story, they just keep running through my head over and over. But once I write out the scene, the projector will move on to the next scene. Strange, huh? *chuckle*
Connecting it with you love of making films, I would not say so. But definitely a very unique Muse. :)
If you were about to encounter the rakish charms of an Irishman, what would you arm yourself with?
An Irishman? He probably wouldn’t charm me at all. I’m not an easy person to impress. *chuckle* An Irish woman however…well, that’s a different story. I’m not sure I’d have much defense against a charming, sweet, Irish girl. Like most American men I think her accent would draw me in and then if you were to add some charm on top of that, I’d probably be putty in her hands! *chuckle*
Haha, fair enough! :) You might like one of my sub-characters Jen then. She is a force to be reckoned with. :)
An Irishman? He probably wouldn’t charm me at all. I’m not an easy person to impress. *chuckle* An Irish woman however…well, that’s a different story. I’m not sure I’d have much defense against a charming, sweet, Irish girl. Like most American men I think her accent would draw me in and then if you were to add some charm on top of that, I’d probably be putty in her hands! *chuckle*
Haha, fair enough! :) You might like one of my sub-characters Jen then. She is a force to be reckoned with. :)
Now, this author runs on coffee and the occasional nip of whiskey. What refuel your writerly engines?
Mountain Dew and Pepsi.
Mountain Dew and Pepsi.
Now for a question to appeal to our readers visually, but which Hollywood star would you choose to play your hero and heroine? And if not one, are they a mixture? (please provide pictures)
Wow, that’s a tough one! I think for my romance series Robert should probably be played by Luke Wilson.
And for Robert’s love interest Katie, I think she would probably look like a news reporter named Katherine Whaley. Though she’s a reporter and not an actress, I do think she portrays the look that Katie would have.
Wow, that’s a tough one! I think for my romance series Robert should probably be played by Luke Wilson.
And for Robert’s love interest Katie, I think she would probably look like a news reporter named Katherine Whaley. Though she’s a reporter and not an actress, I do think she portrays the look that Katie would have.
The favorite part for me would be the characters. Seeing how they react to the situations I put them in, how things don’t go quite as they thought they would. *chuckle* My favorite part would be creating the characters.
Now, I’ve had some strange encounters where I’ve met my characters in real life. After I’d created them! Has this ever happened to you?
No, but I have used people I’ve know as characters. It does happen. In one book I took girls that I’ve had crushes on throughout life and mixed up their names for characters.
Hahaha! I always warn people to watch themselves writers. If you're too interesting, they might just use you as one of their characters.
Well, that's the end of our chat for today. Thank you, Robert, for joining me. It's been a pleasure and definitely a very interesting chat.
Well, that's the end of our chat for today. Thank you, Robert, for joining me. It's been a pleasure and definitely a very interesting chat.
For my readers, Robert would love to hear from you. :)
And here's the cover and links for Robert's novels! Happy Reading!
And here's the cover and links for Robert's novels! Happy Reading!
A Writer's Love Story:
Buy links:
Barnes& Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-writers-love-story-robert-e-wacaster/1018396139?ean=2940016021430
Secret Cravings Publishing: http://store.sweetcravingspublishing.com/index.php?main_page=book_info&cPath=4&products_id=122&zenid=18257ff915136b5ba40e7cf358e671c4
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