All posts tagged authors

in category writing tags authors, Self publishing, Writing and 0 comments.

My writing… has taught me to take risks and not be afraid to make mistakes

Author Q&A with Dee Dee Chumley

With a career spent as a high-school English teacher, Dee Dee Chumley first channelled her creative ideas as part of a friend’s writing group.

Her other talents have included teaching girls’ softball, and even a spot of bus driving!

Dee Dee has received numerous awards for her short stories, essays, and poems, and in 2012 her debut novel Beyond the Farthest Star won Best Juvenile Book from the Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, Inc.

We were lucky enough to have Dee Dee answer some questions for us, and share her thoughts on writing and self-publishing.

in category writing tags authors, Writing and 0 comments.

I had always doubted myself as a writer. Not anymore.

Author Q&A with Gordon Gravley

Gordon Gravley hails from the (sometimes chilly) Northwest United States.

Gordon first contacted us at the start of 2018, looking to update the covers for two of his novels, ‘Gospel for the Damned’ and ‘The Quieting West’.

We were thrilled to work with him to create new cover designs for his highly rated books, and also managed to sneak in a chat to find out a little bit more about him and his writing process.

Here Gordon tells us about a 25 year learning process, his interest in the Old West, and how maturity has benefitted his writing.

in category Self publishing, writing tags authors, first time authors, Writing and 0 comments.

Why REAL authors DON’T wait for inspiration to strike

Those of us who don’t work in a creative environment think it must be very hard for those ‘arty types’.

All that sitting around waiting for the inspiration to hit them.

Artists, musicians, writers… What do they do all day while waiting for the lightning bolt idea to strike?!

In fact, any designer, actor or author will tell you that waiting for the ‘sunbeam through the clouds – ta da!’ is total nonsense.

You have to practice your craft ALL the time. Even when you have no ideas. You keep going.

in category publishing, Self publishing, writing tags author mistakes, authors, first time authors and 0 comments.

The 6 most common mistakes first time authors make

I want to start this blogpost firstly by saying: don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

That’s how we all learn. When we’re children, we try to walk, fall over, get up and try again, and think nothing of it. As adults we’re just out of practice at getting things wrong, or perhaps we never put ourselves in the position where mistakes are possible.

The best thing you can do to avoid unnecessary mistakes is to arm yourself with as much information about writing and publishing as possible. But life is a learning curve and none of us would be where we are today if we didn’t get it wrong sometimes.

Here are some tips to help you on your way:

in category writing tags authors, Writing and 1 comment.

When I’m writing I’m always striving to create an environment that is tangible for the reader…

Author Q&A with LeAnne Burnett Morse

A professional writer for TV, LeAnne Burnett Morse has just published her first novel ‘The Willard’, a historical fiction set around the real-life Willard Hotel in Washington D.C.

LeAnne talked to us about where and when she writes, the differences between writing for TV and writing books, and the college professor who had a huge influence on LeAnne’s early writing career.

in category writing tags authors, Writing and 0 comments.

I was one of those kids that just wrote things down…

Author Q&A with Tammy Bench

Tammy Bench is a busy writer and mum, whose nostalgic writing shows her fondness for days gone by and echoes experiences from her own life.

We worked with Tammy on a cover for her book ‘Mr Chambers’, and are due to start work on a new cover for ‘The Not Gate’ shortly.

Tammy gave us some insight into her childhood writing, how her old school friends have inspired some of her characters, and about her past life as a magician’s assistant!

in category writing tags authors, Writing and 1 comment.

I always wanted to be a writer,
I think it’s in my bones!

Author Q&A with Natalie Debrabandere

Natalie Debrabandere is a writer of both fiction and non-fiction. We first worked with her on a cover for her book ‘Switch On!’, a non-fiction book about NLP. Then we were thrilled to help her update her covers for two of her novels, ‘Strong’ and ‘Unbroken’.

We talked to Natalie about her writing career, and found out about her preference for background noise when she works, that she likes to acts out the scenes from her book when editing, and how one day, she might just travel into space.

Here’s how it all started for Natalie at 11 years old with her sister, her dad and a hand-made newspaper…

in category writing tags authors, Writing and 0 comments.

One Thing I’ve Learned Is That I Am A Writer!

Author Q&A with Andy Bailey

Andy Bailey challenged us to create a cover design for the first book in his ‘Martin Dash’ trilogy.

It’s a tale of twists and turns; a hybrid novel, part thriller, part mystery, and part romance. Throw in some satire, and you have quite a mix for creating a book cover that Andy wished to have starkness as well.

Andy’s cover evolved, and along the way we had the pleasure of working with a fantastic writer who likes to challenge convention.

Andy was kind enough to answer a few questions so we could delve into what makes him tick. He told us how he’s come to feel he was born to write, that at the tender age of 52 he’s not sure there’s much left to learn about himself, and much more…

in category writing tags authors, Writing and 0 comments.

Motivated by a Moment in Time

Author Q&A with Peter Dudgeon

At Bespoke, we work with lots of amazing self-published authors. Have you ever wondered what inspires other authors like you to dedicate their time and energy to writing great fiction?

Peter Dudgeon is a part-time consultant, part-time writer, and full-time Stephen King fan. He has just published ‘Chance’, and has his next novel waiting in the wings. He talked to us about stopping writing fiction as a teenager, how his father’s death years later motivated him to start again, and how he often writes with his eyes closed…

Q. Peter, tell us about how you got into writing

As a teenager I had a ferocious reading appetite, devouring mainly Stephen King books; loving them. I dreamt of being able to write that well, of having an imagination strong enough to grip readers. So I wrote short stories, some weird, some ghoulish.

I recall writing a story about a man trapped in a disused amusement park with a homicidal maniac. I remember clearly a scene where the protagonist managed to get to his car. He had only a few moments before the maniac was upon him. His hands shook as he ‘fought the key into the lock.’ I remember the line clearly because I nervously shared my work, looking for feedback and was told that, “you don’t fight a key into a lock.”