How/why did you start
to write?
Even before I learned how to write, I used to fill up blank
notebooks with scrawls and symbols that I would pretend was real “writing.” So
there was never a real “beginning” – it was something I always did.
How did you become an
author?
I moved to New York City after graduating from college and
was determined to make it as a novelist. By the end of my first year I was
still working at temp jobs and plastering my bathroom wall with hundreds of
rejection letters LOL. The rejections didn’t bother me – at least not enough to
keep me from sending out manuscripts. I felt like a “real” writer every time I
got one.
What was your first
published piece?
I finally sold a romance novel to an editor – we met at a pretty
wild party and hit it off. I sent her a mystery I’d written, which wasn’t her
thing, but she bought several romances from me instead.
Where was it
published?
A publishing house called NAL/Signet – they were launching a
new romance line called “Rapture Romance.” Very steamy, romantic, tales… I
loved writing those!
How long ago?
My first romance novel was published in 1983.
What did you do
before embarking on your writing career? Was it an asset to your writing? How?
I did play lots of music, but I never wanted to do anything
but write, most of the time.
What inspires you?
I love to dance – a sufi form of meditative dance is my
favorite. Also, walking in nature, people, friends ... and I teach high school
writing and I do find that very inspiring. Teenagers are wonderful.
Please share one of
your successful author platform building technique
I think having a really great website is the most important aspect
of your author platform. The social media connections will ebb and flow, some
become more important, or you join a great community somewhere else – but any
time you connect with someone in a friendly way, you need to have a way to
connect them back to a place where someone might become interested enough in
you to buy your book. I also believe that having your own domain name is
important, otherwise you’re just giving “hits” to blogspot or wordpress, rather
than to your own name. It’s not expensive, but it does make a difference in the
long run. But best of all, you can really try to convey a sense of who you are
in a website. You can present your personality and your books through your
posts and photos.
What’s a highlight of
your publishing career?
I have lots – but winning awards, one for my novel Heaven Falls, and three for my
nonfiction What Would You Do If There Was
Nothing You Had To Do? has been incredibly gratifying. There’s nothing like
feeling recognized.
Parting words
Enjoy your writing journey! I wish more writers would create
a more loving relationship with Writing, so that they are kinder to it and to
themselves – treating it like the special, sacred relationship that it truly
is. I have had so many ups and so many downs – really down, at times! – that I
look back now and say, with Collette: “I lived a wonderful life – I only wish I
had realized it sooner.”
Here is the Amazon link to The Happiness Cure:
Here is Amazon link to What Would You Do If ...? : http://www.amazon.com/What-Would-There-Nothing-ebook/dp/B009NMESA4/ref=sr_1_12?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374284770&sr=1-12&keywords=what+would+you+do+if+there
All my books are also described and available on my website: http://winsloweliot.com/books/
Social media links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/winsloweliot
Twitter: https://twitter.com/winsloweliot
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/winslow.eliot
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/winsloweliot/boards/
