IndieView with Margarita Felices, author of Ordinary Wins

ORDINARY WINS NEW COVER (3)

I don’t want to be known as a one story author, meaning that I only write one genre. I want to write so many more stories of different topics and adventures, I have so many ideas right now and I intend to get them done. 

Margarita Felices – 25 June 2015

The Back Flap

Have you ever worried that life has passed you by?

They do say that life begins at forty.

When Nicci Lace woke up one day and wondered where her life had gone, she never counted on what would happen to her next?

What if you had the chance to jet off with someone famous that picked you over all those beautiful models?

Ordinary you!

It seems life really does begin at forty after all.

About the book

What is the book about?

Ordinary Wins is a story about us.  The normal, ordinary woman in the street with wishes and dreams who is now slightly older and perhaps a little heavier.  My lead character is called Nicci Lace and she thinks of herself as ordinary.  Recently split from her long term partner she decides to attend a rock concert and meets a man while having a sneaky cigarette around the back of the venue.  Little does she know that he’s one of the band members!  But he remembers her and plucks her from the crowd to be with him.  The story tells of her adventures in Los Angeles and all the trials and tribulations of being the girlfriend of a popular musician. This is definitely sex drugs and rock n roll.

When did you start writing the book?

 I had a sort of brief idea late last year and just played about with the idea… I began to write the story in January 2015 and it was published and released on the 15th April 2015.  This was the fastest novel I’ve ever written but I loved it. And thankfully there wasn’t a big edit on it, just the one draft and that was it. The cover took the longest; it had to be just right.

Where did you get the idea from?

It’s always bothered me to see famous people only connect with models and those pretty faces and bodies, so I spoke to other women on the Internet about it all. They were in different groups on Facebook and some websites that you can chat about all things and got an insight into what some women felt who were at a similar age to my character.  I also based it from my own experiences, my own fantasies and wishes.  I wanted a story from the other female point of view.  From that one woman who is overlooked because she’s no longer young, thin or titled as a ‘model’.   

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

Well I’m not into the whole erotica side of writing so the parts I struggled with the most were the sex parts.  I had to ask myself, do I make it very graphic or do I hold back?   In the end I wrote what I could see happening in my head and didn’t opt for over doing it graphically for shock value…

What came easily?

A lot of the story is fiction mixed with fact… I won’t reveal which is which but I felt that explaining how Nicci felt the way she did at the start and then at the end the easiest because it’s exactly what I felt at the time. I’ve had readers tell me that it was like I was in their head – a huge compliment to me because I wanted the story to relate to ‘ordinary’ women.

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

Some of them are borrowed from real people and events… I have changed the names to protect my sources. The experiences are a little of both and embellished to make it more than it was… but they are taken from real experiences.

We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?

I am such a fan of Anne Rice.   My first two books, Judgement of Souls 2 and 3 are heavily influenced by her writing.  She is so poetic in her descriptions and I’ve tried to do the same with my vampire trilogy. My problem is patience. Anne Rice can comfortably take her time to complete her work and make each chapter last with her descriptions and dialogue. I want to get my story out there. I’m pretty sure there are readers out there who want a story and don’t care about how descriptive the room or countryside is, they want their favourite character to move the story along and so do I. I’ve spoken to her several times on Facebook and she’s so willing to offer advice, I do like that about famous authors and hope that I can offer help and advice to others who are starting out too.

Do you have a target reader?

I suppose not really, mainly because we all have different tastes.  I have found that most readers have started with my paranormal books and then progressed to my romantic stories and loved them… Readers have their favourite authors and it’s hard to persuade them that they should give you a chance. I don’t want to be known as a one story author, meaning that I only write one genre. I want to write so many more stories of different topics and adventures, I have so many ideas right now and I intend to get them done.

About Writing

Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?

Yes I do, most definitely.   I start by labelling a few sheets of A4 with short descriptions of what is coming up, a sort of running order of catch lines and descriptions.  For example, Chapter One may just include the words INTRO CHARACTER AND SET THE SCENE.  CHAPTER TWO MAY HAVE THEM IN A CERTAIN SITUATION.  CHAPTER THREE INTRO SECONDARY CHARACTERS… and each page will have a paragraph describing what should be happening at that time… and so on.    In some cases I may just have the start and ending and perhaps a few storylines in the middle and I work from that. It’s like a puzzle where I have to fill in the blanks.

Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?

Editing is my curse and I suspect it’s why I take longer than I schedule myself to submit a draft to the publisher.   I do tend to leave a story for maybe a week if I feel that the story is not progressing the way I want and then I come back to it.  So when I do that, I try to read what I have down already and end up editing it all even though I had intended not doing that.

Did you hire a professional editor? (May skip if being published by a small press rather than self-publishing)

My agent supplies the editor – luckily I do have a very tough one! I remember the first novel I sent them, Judgement of Souls 3: Kiss at Dawn. It came back with every page covered in red edits, I almost cried. That edit took 6 months! But at the end of the whole edit and rewrite, I had a pure and interesting novel that has been optioned for a movie so it was worth the tears.

Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?

Music is very important to have while I write. But it must be the right sort. I can’t have Heavy Metal or Goth if writing a romantic/erotica story, same goes for any slow, easy listening music if I’m writing about vampires so I choose wisely. Music revives those feelings in my head and puts me in that bubble. I do need to have background noise while I write.  For the vampire trilogies I do play a lot of Gothic rock music such as Evanescence, Within Temptation and also the soundtrack to the vampire film Queen of the Damned.  For the latest novel Ordinary Wins, I listened to several different bands including 30 Seconds to Mars, Evanescence, Jessie Ware, Paloma Faith, Within Temptation and listened and read up on drumming techniques.

About Publishing

Did you submit your work to Agents?

I sent a synopsis to hundreds, in the UK, US, Australia even to some European agents. I got so many rejections it was hard to stay focussed, but you have to. Just because a few agents (OK a lot) didn’t want to sign you, doesn’t mean you’re not any good, it just means they aren’t taking chances with an unknown. It’s a Catch 22 situation and it’s so wrong, but that’s the way the author game is these days. I was lucky in the end, I signed to Books To Go Now who are based in Seattle.

What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?

I had no choice really because traditional publishers just do not accept new authors!  I contacted several in the UK, US even in Australia and got nowhere with them.  I happened to come across Books To Go Now and they were quite new at the time and they signed me up.  Funnily enough, one of those ‘traditional’ publishers contacted me after I released the first book asking if I was still interested in signing with them… I told them, thanks but I had someone already.  I have no regrets and know that I made the best decision.  I know that I had been contacted because the book had reached Number 1 in the Paranormal Romance and Vampire categories on Amazon quicker than expected – perhaps next time they will look again into accepting Indie authors?

Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?

Books To Go Now have an excellent graphics team.  But I did have more to do with the cover for Ordinary Wins than any of the others. I found the models and picture on a free graphics page and had the tattoo added to the shoulder of the male model… I love that cover!

Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?

I want to be honest here and tell you that I’m just winging it…  The vampire stories for example were promoted every week for months and then I was contacted by two US Producers who were interested in adapting them for the big screen, so they have now been optioned for a movie (third book is a work in progress) and so the campaign to continually market that story is a priority for me.  The Producers have said that the more publicity they get, the more likely it will be funded so the work continues in earnest. I work for a marketing and promotion team and have used my experiences to promote myself, but there’s only so much you can do on your own. If you spend time promoting yourself you’re not writing and if you’re writing you’re not selling your product. I sought the advice from other authors and found myself a publicist, it’s the only way you can get on with your work while someone else promotes for you.

Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?

Do it!  Don’t waste your time wishing you could write a book – go and do it. The whole process is an amazing journey, from your very first words to your very first sale.  I love knowing what people think of my stories and my characters, they are all friends to me so I need to know the reader can associate with them all.  From vampires to rock stars, I hope that I bring my stories to life.   If you have an idea, don’t wait until you get home, always carry a pen and notebook with you or any recording device, you’ll kick yourself if you don’t, I’m full of bruises from all those great ideas I forgot by the time I’d got home!

Love what you do because if you don’t, your characters and situations will reflect it.  Edit edit edit…   did I mention edit?   Really you have to do that all the time.  I know you’ll have an editor after you finish, but each time I edit I progress the story along a bit more and it makes sense.  Do your research if you are tackling certain subjects, especially dates in history.

Don’t give up because you have tried to get it published and have received rejection letters and emails.  I could plaster a whole house with what I received back from them all – it’s not you, it’s the system that makes traditional publishers not want to take a chance with newbies.  

Social media is important these days, connect with other authors and ask advice.  Connect with readers about what they would like to read and establish a fanbase when you can.

Being an author is one of the craziest jobs ever!  You talk to yourself, you invent friends and have conversations with them.  You visit and do things through them that you would never do in normal life and you have so much fun without leaving your house!

Just don’t give up on yourself and your characters, don’t bury them in a drawer because then no one will ever read them and that would be a shame.  

About You

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in an area of South Wales called Tiger Bay and that’s situated in Cardiff. Tiger Bay in its day was a very notorious area and was very poor.  These days it is filled with luxury apartments, bars and restaurants and renamed Cardiff Bay, but to the locals who have always lived there, it’s Tiger Bay aka the Docks.

Where do you live now?

I still in Cardiff but moved away from the area I grew up in – around 5 miles away so not too far.  I visit every week because my family still live in the same house, I may live somewhere else, but it’ll always be home.

What would you like readers to know about you?

Heh heh you can ask me anything.   I work for the BBC and have done so for over 20 years.  I’ve worked on BBC news, music programmes, drama (Torchwood and Doctor Who), factual, arts and now I work for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales – we play the music that you hear on things like Doctor Who!   I was the Production Secretary on Torchwood Series 1, had a brief stint on Doctor Who and worked on a few local Welsh dramas.   

I have three little dogs that are spoilt rotten, I live just outside of town and love to get home and close the world out! I have a lot of research books because I have to get facts right in my novels. Judgement of Souls 2: Call of the Righteous was set over 300 years, so I had a lot of history to cover. I even got my vampires involved in the French revolution which was fun, but I also had a timeline to consider, three hundred years of mortals who die and vampires who didn’t, so it was very challenging. I love researching my subjects.

When I wrote Judgement of Souls 3, I used a club in the storyline that I used to visit, so the club and its clientele are real.   I love Gothic music and culture so it was easy for me to write my first novel.

I enjoy taking pictures and here in Wales we’re lucky to have such an old coastline.  It’s Triassic and Jurassic and an ideal place for fossil hunters!  On the other side of Cardiff and perhaps a 30 minute car ride down the motorway, you’re surrounded by mountains and valleys, with waterfalls, old castles and abbeys… a picture takers dream!

What are you working on now?

I’m currently writing two novels at the moment.   One is collaboration with a friend of mine about two young Welsh girls caught up in a jewel robbery in Monte Carlo – and they haven’t a clue it’s happening. It’s a bit of a black comedy really and promises to be just a little bit naughty… OK it promises to be a lot naughty.

And I’m also writing the third and last instalment of my vampire trilogy.  I’m researching the Crusades so it’s a lot of studying and note taking. This is the most important of the three novels as it paves the way for the start of the whole trilogy so I have to spend a little more time on this one. It’s going to be sad to say goodbye to my main characters but hopefully I intend to write a ten episode TV drama based on them or even a series of stories with their adventures, a whole new twist to their story.

End of Interview:

For more from Margarita, visit her website, follow her on Twitter, or like her Facebook page.

Get your copy of Ordinary Wins from Amazon US (paper or ebook) or Amazon UK (paper or ebook)

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