Special Interview with Amber Stokes (and a giveaway!)

Amber is a great blogging friend of mine I’ve even had the opportunity to meet a couple of times! So to say I’m excited for her debut novel release is a wee bit of an understatement. ;-) So, Amber tell me…what led you to decide on self publishing?

Aw, Casey – thank you so much for sharing my excitement! I’m thrilled to be here. :-)

I think self-publishing became “real” to me earlier this year, when I had the chance to beta read for author Lena Goldfinch and watch her go through the finalizing process for self-publishing Aire (YA fantasy romance). I’d been discovering some fun self-published books for Kindle, and then seeing how it worked for an author friend must have hit some sort of switch in my mind. So when I finished Bleeding Heart in March, I felt ready to take the steps necessary to get the book out there. (Plus, I enjoyed the thought of being in charge of every detail – who would edit the book, what the cover design would be, how the book promotion would go, etc. Self-publishing allows me to make my own brand and implement my own plan.)

But there was also another reason besides the plan’s viability. Self-publishing seemed like a good option because Bleeding Heart is not a traditional story. It’s short (for a novel), for one thing. And the plot takes some twists that deviate from the formula for Christian romance. I had it in mind to self-publish be

fore I sent the book to my editor, but seeing her voice the concern in her comments that I would have a difficult time getting a publisher to accept it as it was – that sort of clinched it for me! I think making it more “formulaic” would make it a different story than the one I wanted to tell… So, self-publishing it was, then. *wink*

What was your favorite part of the process in publishing your book?

Not formatting, LOL! I think the most fun part was working on the cover design with Lena Goldfinch. She did all of the work, but I loved brainstorming with her. And having a beautiful cover made the project really come to life for me! It even inspired a scene I added during the editing phase.

To be honest, while I dreaded editing, I actually ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would! It felt great to see the story shine a little more. It really is a privilege to have a “second chance” to make a story better!

Is this your first book? What makes you love this story?

This is my first published book, but it’s actually the second book I wrote (the first being Forget Me Not, the prequel to Bleeding Heart). The interesting thing, I suppose, is that I’m publishing a sequel before its predecessor – although each book is a stand-alone. I guess it was just a matter of timing and what I was ready to face and to share first… (Kind of fits with the name I gave my “publisher” – Seasons of a Story.)

As for Bleeding Heart, I love it because the journey of writing it helped me to define some of my beliefs about love – or at least wrestle with them. I love it because it’s set in places that capture my imagination and peopled with characters that have become so dear to me. I love it because it was a chance to take what I learned from the first book and apply it to a new story, and because it is a story that makes me want to write more.

Do you have certain books or authors you might compare it too?

This is one of those questions where I feel I need to start my response with, “If I may be so bold…” The authors I’m about to mention are ones I admire so much, and I hope it’s not too presumptuous to compare my writing with theirs! They inspire me. J

I’d say my writing is in a similar style as that of Laura Frantz, Tamera Alexander, Elizabeth Camden, Serena Miller, Jody Hedlund, and Joanne Bischof – or at least it aspires to be! It’s a little hard to compare, because many of these authors’ books are history-heavy (in a good way!) and certainly longer than mine. I hope Bleeding Heart carries echoes of Laura, Tamera, and Elizabeth’s serious but beautiful prose. The story itself references a logging town, which brings to mind The Measure of Katie Calloway by Serena Miller and Unending Devotion by Jody Hedlund (although the logging town in Bleeding Heart is in the redwoods of Northern California, not in Michigan). And Bleeding Heart is very emotionally focused, kind of darker (but hopeful) like Joanne Bischof’s “The Cadence of Grace” series.

Are you planning on self publishing another title in the near future?

Yes! The next two projects I want to focus on are a companion short story, along with the prequel to Bleeding Heart. I plan to write the short story soon and enter it in a contest, so we’ll see how that goes! And I hope to publish Forget Me Not Winter 2014. After that, I do have a title and a main character in mind for another sequel… Maybe to be released Summer 2014? I might be overly optimistic in my writing goals, but it’s fun to embrace this season of ideas swimming through my mind!

What do you hope people are going to love and/or appreciate about Bleeding Heart?

I hope they love the journey. I hope they are challenged or encouraged in even some small way by it – by the things it might make them ponder, or remember, or feel.

Congratulations, Amber! So thrilled you are taking this next step!! :- )

Thank you so much, my friend! I appreciate this chance to share about Bleeding Heart with your readers.

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