BRoP Interview with Gail Martin Part V

I know I am a day late with this, I am having "issues" with my old lap top, so my wife is letting me use her computer, and so I am on a strange keyboard navigating my way to things that I just click and go to on my own computer......

Ah, life is full of little set backs isn't it?

So today's (yesterday's) guest is Gail Martin and she is sharing what she has learned from getting published.

You can read the other sections of her interview here:

Part 1 @ Terri (www.terribruce.net) - Wed. January 23rd
Part 2 @ Teresa (www.twfendly.com) - Thurs. January 24th
Part 3 @ Emily (http://emlabonte.blogspot.com/)- Fri. January 25th
Part 4 @ Sandra (http://ulbrichalmazan.blogspot.com/) - Mon. January 28th
Part 5 @ Dean (http://deanswritingtime.blogspot.com/) - Tues. January 29th

Gail Z. Martin’s newest book, Ice Forged: Book One in the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga (Orbit Books), launched in January 2013.  Gail is also the author of the Chronicles of the Necromancer series (Solaris Books) and The Fallen Kings Cycle (Orbit Books).  For more about Gail’s books and short stories, visit www.AscendantKingdoms.com. Be sure to “like” Gail’s Winter Kingdoms Facebook page, follow her on Twitter @GailZMartin, and join her for frequent discussions on Goodreads.

Read an excerpt from Ice Forged here: http://a.pgtb.me/JvGzTt

Words of Wisdom

1.      Tell us about your route to success – where there any bumps and bruises along the way? How long did it take you to get an agent? To get a publisher?

There were several previous versions of The Summoner before the draft that landed an agent and a publisher. During those years, I was working in corporate and raising small kids, so my writing was limited to evenings after the kids were in bed and early on Saturday mornings.  When things would get too busy, the manuscript would go into a drawer for months at a time, or longer.  When I finished the novel and started to put it out to agents, there were rejections.  I revised the manuscript, and revised the cover letter.  That’s when I landed my contract with my agent, and he found me a great publisher.  So persistence pays.

2.      What are the most important elements of good writing?

For me, it would be compelling characters the reader really cares about, a detailed and interesting world/setting, elements of humor, snappy dialogue and a plot that the reader can’t figure out before the end of the book.

3.      What tools are must-haves for writers?

I’d say the basics would be a good computer and word processing program, a fast Internet connection, a web site and social media presence (Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, etc.)  I’m also a big believer in Writers’ Digest Books how-to books—they were very valuable to help me learn technique and also the business of publishing.  I also love mobile apps like QuickOfficeHD and iProRecorder that help me do work when I’m on the road.  I’ve actually done a whole book for authors on great tools—The Thrifty Author’s Guide to Social Media and Virtual Apps for Authors.

4.      Do you have any advice for other writers?

Don’t give up.  Success takes time, and it can seem as if nothing is going right and then WHAM!  Everything falls into place.

5.      What are your current / future project(s)?

My newest book, Ice Forged, comes out in January 2013. I’ve written the sequel to Ice Forged, and I’m in the process of editing it.  I’m also going to be releasing a new short story each month, some in my Deadly Curiosities world (from my anthologies) and some in my world of the Winter Kingdoms (my previous books).  And I’ve got a couple of other book projects up my sleeve that I’ll be exploring as well.

Here’s the story: Condemned as a murderer for killing the man who dishonored his sister, Blaine “Mick” McFadden has spent the last six years in Velant, a penal colony in the frigid northern wastelands of Edgeland. Harsh military discipline and the oppressive magic of the governor’s mages keep a fragile peace as colonists struggle against a hostile environment. But the supply ships from Dondareth have stopped coming, boding ill for the kingdom that banished the colonists.

Now, McFadden and the people of Velant decide their fate. They can remain in their icy prison, removed from the devastation of the outside world, but facing a subsistence-level existence, or they can return to the ruins of the kingdom that they once called home. Either way, destruction lies ahead…

Gail Z. Martin’s newest book, Ice Forged: Book One in the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga (Orbit Books), launched in January 2013.  Gail is also the author of the Chronicles of the Necromancer series (Solaris Books) and The Fallen Kings Cycle (Orbit Books).  For more about Gail’s books and short stories, visit www.AscendantKingdoms.com. Be sure to “like” Gail’s Winter Kingdoms Facebook page, follow her on Kingdoms Facebook page, follow her on Twitter @GailZMartin, and join her for frequent discussions on Goodreads.

Find Gail on the web:

Website: www.AscendantKingdoms.com

Blog: www.DisquietingVisions.com

Facebook page: WinterKingdoms

Goodreads author page: www.Goodreads.com/GailZMartin

Twitter: @GailZMartin

Amazon: http://amzn.com/e/B002BM8XSQ

Other: Podcast—www.GhostInTheMachinePodcast.com

What format is your book(s) available in (print, e-book, audio book, etc.)?

Trade paperback, Kindle, Kobo, Nook