My guest and I have been sharing our writing journey for the past couple of years. We chatted on my Spotlight last May with the release of her second book, Hearing Wind.
It’s not often you get an opportunity to meet an online friend and fellow author, and when one comes around, it can be magical, especially when it takes place at Lake Tahoe, where A. B. Herron and her husband recently vacationed.
I am a huge fan of her Elemental Wolf Series and picked up her latest release, Wooden Wolves, to take with me for a signing.
We had a great time exchanging signed books and chatting over lunch in a café with the lake glistening across the highway. As these encounters often go, we barely scratched the surface of everything we wanted to discuss about writing, so I felt a Q&A session was in order, especially since this marks a year since we last chatted on my blog.
Let’s Meet The Author
A.B. Herron grew up pretending to be a wild creature running through the hills of California. Her love of reading is her dad’s fault, introducing her to White Fang, Treasure Island, and Call of the Wild before she could hold a book. Her favorite directive was “read”. Later, when she conquered reading for herself, Herron could be found curled up in her closet, tucked away from reality, riding on horseback, performing magic, and later running with werewolves.
The secret itch to write bloomed in grade school, along with the diagnosis of dyslexia. Professionals told her parents she would struggle with reading, but that information came too late for her to put into practice. However, depositing letters in the right order continues to be a mystery for Herron.
In college, while studying for her BS in Zoology, she started putting pencil to paper and allowed her imagination to bleed out into the real world (so to speak). None of her early attempts found an audience due to her complete refusal to admit to their existence.
Nowadays, Herron splits her time between her dog (well, and husband), her writing, and a full-time job that keeps her firmly rooted in the now, even when her brain whispers “the Mountains are calling…”. Her real-life adventures can be found on Instagram, and her daydreams can be discovered in the Elemental Wolf series on Amazon.
About Wooden Wolves
Becoming a werewolf was supposed to solve his problems.
As it turns out, one needs more than a fur coat to do that.
Tobin barely has time to adjust to his new life before something begins hunting him, and he’s forced to flee Portland for the unclaimed magical territories of Washington. But in those northern wilds, Fey lurk in the forests, and a newly turned werewolf is easy prey.
To survive, Tobin needs to learn fast: what hunts him, how to fight back, and where he belongs in a world where power rules.
The last thing he needs is a distraction, but there is one woman whose scent keeps drawing him closer, making him question his decisions.
Neoma never planned on coming back to her hometown.
Running a bookstore wasn’t part of the dream, and neither was her cranky autoimmune disease. Fighting her overwhelming desire to retreat from the world, she gives connection one more shot. So, when a dangerously handsome stranger invites her into his gaming group, she figures—why not? What’s the worst that could happen? She might actually have some fun?
What she doesn’t know is that some games can change your perception.
Others contain monsters that might change you.
Let’s Get Started
It was fabulous meeting you, Amanda, and what a blast. I started your book when I got home and immediately got hooked. Tell us about your Elemental Wolf series and where it’s at in the scheme of things. What was the inspiration behind it?
ABH: Hello again Darci, and it was so much fun meeting with you in person. I’m still marveling over your own beautiful book that you gifted me; I can’t wait to finish my current read so I can get started on yours. I’m happy to hear you got hooked into Wolves. I have to admit, it is my favorite book in my series currently. Am I allowed to have a favorite when it comes to my book babies?
You ask what inspired the Elemental Wolf series. Honestly, it was during a pretty stressful time in my life, and I was writing short stories for friends as escapism. One friend shared with me a fantasy that they wanted me to put on the page, so I took it, placed it in the Pacific Northwest, rubbed some magic on it, and when I was finished, I looked at it and thought, “There’s a whole book here.”
Jumping ahead, there are now three books in Elemental Wolves, and this new one, Wooden Wolves, is a bit outside the normal timeline for a series. At the end of Watching Water, the first book, I leave a couple of cliff hangers. Hearing Wind, the second book, follows the main character, Nora, on her timeline, but Wolves follows a secondary character, Tobin, on his journey. His story is one that needs to be told, and was supposed to be a short novella to connect his events into Nora’s journey for the upcoming 3rd, now 4th book. As a result, I have Wooden Wolves as book 1.5, and I worry that it will be confusing to readers. However, it gives them the option to read either book, in either order, and they are both happening at the same time. Different storytelling, and I’m hoping it will be well-received.
I will say that I couldn’t be happier with how Wolves turned out, and the secondary main character, Neoma, has a firm place in my heart. She’s strong, feisty, and determined despite the odds against her. I can’t wait to hear what you think of her and Tobin
DLL: Congratulations on your release, Amanda, and way to go. I want to say you fleshed this out and published it in like a year? Tobin is a great character, and I’m excited to be delving into his story. This is your passion story, and it’s coming through in the reading. So yes, there is nothing wrong with authors having a favorite book baby!
I love this cover, the formatting, and your publication mark, all things you’ve been exploring in your publication journey. Can you share some tips and highlights about the process and your resources?
ABH: Awe, I love that you commented on the publication mark. I had to invent this press since this time around I was the full publisher. I had a support team, editor, formatter, cover artist, and an author friend that I kept bugging with questions of “how do I do this?” For the first two books, I used an amazing independent publisher for Indie Authors called Luminare Press. I had no clue how to bring a book to fruition, and they took that stress off my plate and made it happen. They were a gift because I didn’t even know where to start. I had a manuscript and was clueless about what to do next. This was before I got on social media and found the author community. Luminare has a fantastic staff and will make the process easy on you, but that comes at a price point I couldn’t shoulder for this latest book.
Because of the author community and friends like you, Darci, that I have made, I’ve learned a lot more about how to navigate the publishing process and do more of it on my own. An IG friend put me in touch with Becky at Platform house when I was asking how to format. Becky’s an Indie author who does book formatting for other indie authors. She was amazing and budget-friendly. I know I can learn to format, but I was extremely short on time for getting this book to print. I might try to format for the next book, but Becky was worth every cent, and she really made the interior look good.
Now, the cover artist, Ravven (you can look her up just by her name), has been an absolute joy to work with, and her skill speaks for itself. The werewolf howling in the background on Wolves, she made for me when the stock photos she’d found didn’t fit the look I was hoping for. I love what she does, and I keep begging her not to retire before this series is done.
I’m always surprised by how many people a book needs to go through before it ever makes it to print. From the alpha and beta readers to the editors and formatters, this manuscript had more eyes on it than the first two, and it showed. For those who are working on their own stories, my humble advice is to get as many different eyeballs on your manuscript as you can; it will make it better. And find a good editor; they are worth it.
DLL: This is great advice. Thank you! I didn’t even know there were people who offered formatting services. Here is Becky’s website. I also found Ravven’s website, and her work is phenomenal as your gorgeous covers attest. The more eyes, the better, is so true. I’m really happy all this came together so well for you… And that I get to benefit by enjoying a great story.
Where can readers find you and your awesome books in the upcoming months?
ABH: The easy way to find me is to hop on my website www.abherron.com, and there are links to the two places to buy my books online. I’m now in a bookstore in Eugene, Daffodil Books, and will be at four different in-person events throughout Washington and Oregon over the summer. If you sign up for my newsletter, those dates and locations will show up in your inbox, but can also be found on my website.
Thank you so much for having me, Darci. Lunch was a special treat. Somehow, we need to do this again and keep talking about all things writing and books.
DLL: Yes! Meeting you was awesome, Amanda, and it was way too short. I will definitely be looking for a way to get together again.
Thank you for answering just some of the questions that I wanted to ask you at lunch. Do you have any last words of advice for independent authors just getting started?
ABH: My last pieces of advice for new authors are three-fold: 1 – Don’t start your publishing journey with a series, do a stand-alone book first, because you will learn everything you don’t know about the process and how to make it better. 2 – Get connected with other indie authors, it really helps to have people you can ask questions from when you’re feeling lost. 3 – Find a good editor. Seriously, they are worth it, and I can’t stress this enough. I’ll stop there, or I’ll keep sharing all the mistakes I’ve made (and the new ones I’m making) and the hard-won advice I’ve been given. Enjoy the journey, everyone, it’s a wild one.
DLL: Awesome! Thank you! I will leave our readers with a gallery of your fantastic Lake Tahoe photos.
Follow A. B. Herron on Instagram for more amazing photos and the latest on her books.
By D. L. Lewellyn 