The 2018 Author Interview Series Featuring Rebecca Howie

It’s time for the next subject for my 2018 author interview series. Author interviews are posted every Friday throughout the year.

I am honored to continue this series with Scottish author Rebecca Howie

You can catch up with all of my past author interviews (nearly 200) on my Author Directory page.

If you’re an author interested in being interviewed in this series, I still have limited spots available for 2018. You can email me at don@donmassenzio.com

Now, please enjoy this interview with Rebecca Howie:

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Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?

My approach to writing has always been to write the story I’d want to read, and I’ve stuck with it even after self-publishing two novels because I’ve had things I’ve posted online plagiarised, and I can’t imagine deliberately doing that to someone else.

It wasn’t flattering, and it almost put me off sharing my work completely, so there’s no question of whether I want to be original or not.

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Writing can be hard work, but it’s worth it when you can you put your novels next to your favourite authors on a bookshelf.

What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?

Silence is Goldfish by Annabel Pitcher or Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz.

Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?

Reading a positive book review is up there on my list of favourite things about being a writer, along with opening your first proof copy and seeing the cover art. It’s reassuring and a great confidence booster to know that someone likes what you’ve spent months fretting over, and they felt strongly enough to take the time to leave you a review.

Bad reviews, on the other hand, are disappointing, but a few bad reviews I received when I was younger were what pushed me to work harder, and I don’t think my writing style would have changed as much as it has if it weren’t for those criticisms.

Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?

I made a few references in my second novel that my family would understand, but I also added in some things that anybody else might notice if they’re paying attention.

Do you Google yourself?

I did once. It felt strange.

What is your favorite childhood book?

The Runaway Train by Benedict Blathwayt. It didn’t matter how many times it was read to me; I always wanted to know if they managed to catch the train.

If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?

Ignore the plagiariser on Wattpad and not abandon my account. My decision to take that story down after finding out it had been copied wasn’t one I put a lot of thought into, but it annoyed me that someone was taking credit for my work and doing nothing more than changing the main character’s name.

If I got to do it differently, I would have taken the story down, but continued to share my work there, because everyone was supportive after I told them what had happened, and the feedback I was fortunate enough to receive definitely played a part in me being confident enough to make the decision to publish for real.

How long, on average, does it take you to write a book?

It only took me about three months to write The Game Begins, but that was because I already had a rough idea of what was going to happen and who the characters were. With A Woman Scorned, it took me much longer, so I’d say anywhere between three months and a year.

About Rebecca:

Rebecca Howie is a procrastinating writer from Scotland, who prefers spending her time in fictional worlds rather than the real one.

She self-published her first novel, The Game Begins, at 18, and it reached 2nd in the Teen and Young Adult Detective category on Amazon after its release in February 2016.

Connect with Rebecca:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rebeccah2016

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebeccah2016/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/readalot18/

Blog: https://rebeccahowiebooks.wordpress.com/blog/