Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Books and Authors: Meeting Jennifer Owen Davies at the New England Au...
Books and Authors: Meeting Jennifer Owen Davies at the New England Au...: As many of you know, I attended the New England Author Expo, orgainsed by Christopher Obert of Pear Tree Publishing , as a blogger....
Friday, August 5, 2016
Author Karen Maffeo
After attending the New England Author expo at Danversport last week I met some really great local authors, and one of them was Karen from Maine.
A little bit about Karen Maffeo.
Karen Maffeo Creamer of Wells, Maine has just published her first novel, One Brave Thing. She has been a lifelong lover of and reader of books, and now she is also the author of one!
Her book is about a young woman whose dating
life starts off on the wrong foot. Bad luck and naïve choices complicate
situations and make her relationships so much harder.
Bebe wants to get married someday so she forges ahead, adapting her approach,
learning from her mistakes, and overcoming obstacles to reach her goals.
Since 2010, Karen has written a novel annually
in November as part of National Novel Writing Month (nanowrimo.org). One
Brave Thing is a product of this practice!
Karen celebrated 25 years of marriage to her
husband Bill this June, and is the very proud mother of a son and a daughter,
Anthony and Isabelle. She is a Registered Nurse Health Coach and Reiki Master
Teacher. She blogs at kwrites.com, karencoaches.com, and has a photo blog at
wellsbeachblog.wordpress.com. You can reach Karen at kmcwrites@gmail.com.
1. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR AND SO YOU ASPIRE TO WRITE LIKE HER?
Toughie! The first names that come to mind are Lisa Scottoline, Anita Shreve, Elizabeth Berg, and Kate Braestrup. I have enjoyed (and in many cases, LOVED) every book I have read by all of these authors. I know that if I see any of these names on the cover, I will be happy reading their book. I would love it if people think of me as an author like that!
2. HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH YOUR IDEAS?
I never have trouble coming up with ideas. I have hundreds of ideas all the time. I have trouble coming up with the time to act on them.
3. HOW MANY BOOKS HAVE YOU WRITTEN and WHAT IS YOUR GENRE?
So far, I have written 4 books, one of which I published this year, ONE BRAVE THING. The genre for this book, and 2 of my others is fiction. One is non-fiction.
4. BEING A BUSY MOM, HOW DO I MANAGE MY WRITING?
It's a challenge to find un-spoken-for time! I work full time and have a husband and two kids (one grown and one still growing). I am always struggling to fit it all in. One thing that helps me is participating in National Novel Writing Month every year in November. I discovered through this practice that structure is my friend! And that I can do ANYTHING for 1 month!
5. YOU ARE A SELF PUBLISHED AUTHOR. DO YOU THINK YOU WILL TRY TO SUBMIT TO A TRADITIONAL PUBLISHER?
As of today, there is a publisher in New York that is looking at my book. That said, I love having 100% control over my work, and it would be hard to give that up. We'll see.
6. ANY ADVICE FOR ASPIRING AUTHORS?
Yes! Sign up for NaNoWriMo 2016! It's free. Here's the website: nanowrimo.org. Also, if your computer is unreliable, try writing in Google Docs. It backs up automatically every few seconds and you can access your work from any computer or device that can access the internet.
7. WHAT HOBBIES DO YOU ENJOY?
Reading and writing are my favorite things to do. I also knit sporadically. I love making SoulCollage cards. I like to watch cooking shows on TV with my daughter, and reality shows with my husband. I like to talk about writing and travel with my son. I love anything metaphysical (rocks and crystals, reiki, oracle cards, and such). Oh, I write several blogs: kwrites.com karencoaches.com
8. HOW DO YOU COPE WITH STRESS?
I have a daily meditation practice, which helps immensely. Also, I LOVE the ocean, sitting at the ocean, walking at the ocean. It is truly the cure for what ails me.
9. WHAT IS THE BEST PART ABOUT BEING AN AUTHOR?
The best part is that I have fulfilled a dream I've had since childhood: to write a book.
10. WHAT I SEE HAPPENING FOR MYSELF AS AN AUTHOR IN 2016: I will continue attending book expos, giving readings wherever I am asked to go, getting another manuscript ready to publish (goal: February 2017), continue meeting other authors, and writing about it all in my blog.
WAYS TO CONNECT:
my blogs (also mentioned above) kwrites.com karencoaches.com wellsbeachblog.wordpress.com
my blogs (also mentioned above) kwrites.com karencoaches.com wellsbeachblog.wordpress.com
My Facebook pages: https://www.facebook.
My email address: kmcwrites@gmail.com
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