Author Interview: Claire Gem
1. What does your writing process look like?
It’s begins and ends in the dark. I still work full-time, so I get up very early (4:30 a.m.) and write for about an hour before getting ready for work. That’s usually when I do my best work, especially if the characters have been whispering in my ear all night. I try to get in at least an hour in the evenings too, but since I get up so early, I go to bed early too!
2. Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Retired and writing full-time. A NYT and USA Today bestselling author. Traveling on book tours. I’m ready now!
3. What is your best marketing tip?
Believe it or not, business cards. Old-fashioned, I know. But I carry a few in my wallet at all times and leave them on the counter or stuck in the mirror of any ladies’ room I visit—restaurants, rest areas, hotels. I consistently see a spike in sales within a day or two afterward.
4. What do you consider to be your best accomplishment?
My first Haunted Voices novel, Hearts Unloched, won the 2016 NY Book Festival. My husband and I traveled to Manhattan and attended the Awards Banquet in the Algonquin Hotel. It was a Cinderalla weekend, one I will never forget.
5. What are you working on now?
I’m working on another Haunted Voices novel, Electricity. It’s actually set on the very campus where I work—Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in North Grafton, MA. The site used to be the Grafton State Mental Hospital, and after it closed in 1973, Tufts University bought it. Many of the buildings have been repurposed for offices and lecture halls, but there is one building that has not been touched. I get goosebumps every time I walk past it. That’s where Electricity is set.
6. What is your latest release?
My latest book is Civil Hearts, another Haunted Voices novel set in an old antebellum home in rural Alabama. I actually visited this house many years ago when my husband and I were considering moving to the area. It was creepy, and I never forgot it. Here’s the blurb:
A widow with no family, web designer Liv Larson yearns for big change. After all, she can work from anywhere, right? Why not throw a dart at the map? She heads out of the big city for the rural South and falls in love as soon as she arrives—with the Belle Bride, an abandoned antebellum mansion.
Heath Barrow loves his country life, managing his antiques store in sleepy Camellia. But he’s lonely, and his condition—epilepsy—makes life uncertain. It’s already cost him a marriage. A new medication and the new girl in town have his heart hopeful again.
Sparks fly between Heath and Liv. But his first seizure sends Liv into a tailspin. Its mimics those her husband suffered before he died . . .
To make matters worse, Liv discovers she’s not living alone. Her challenge? Dealing with a Confederate soldier, one who clearly resents his Yankee roommate—even though he’s been dead for over a hundred and fifty years.
Heath Barrow loves his country life, managing his antiques store in sleepy Camellia. But he’s lonely, and his condition—epilepsy—makes life uncertain. It’s already cost him a marriage. A new medication and the new girl in town have his heart hopeful again.
Sparks fly between Heath and Liv. But his first seizure sends Liv into a tailspin. Its mimics those her husband suffered before he died . . .
To make matters worse, Liv discovers she’s not living alone. Her challenge? Dealing with a Confederate soldier, one who clearly resents his Yankee roommate—even though he’s been dead for over a hundred and fifty years.
Buy Links:
Kindle & Paperback: https://amzn.to/2Eqi81C
All other digital formats: https://books2read.com/u/4NGyEG
Coming soon in Audiobook!
Contemporary, Romantic, Soul-Freeing
Claire is an award winning-author of supernatural suspense, contemporary romance, and women’s fiction. She also writes Author Resource guide books and presents seminars on writing craft and marketing. Her supernatural suspense, Hearts Unloched, won the 2016 New York Book Festival, and was a finalist in the 2017 RONE Awards.
Claire loves exploring the paranormal and holds a certificate in Parapsychology from Duke University’s Rhine Research Center. She earned her MFA in creative writing from Lesley University.
A New York native, Claire now lives in Massachusetts with her husband of 40 years. When she’s not writing, she works for Tufts University in the field of scientific research. She is available for seminars and media interviews and loves to travel for book promotional events.
Media Links
Email: gem.writer@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.clairegem.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/clairegem.author
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/gemwriter
Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/2nabvbm
Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO-vB7WDZhEQ8U4YpC937ng
2 comments:
Interesting tips and the book sounds wonderful
debby236 at hotmail dot com from USA
Thanks for stopping by, Debby! And thanks to Kayelle for hosting me today!
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