YIKES! Arcs are ready. It’s marketing time!
Kristina Makansi
YIKES! Marketing time is in full swing. (Shutterstock)
As someone who may appear to be extroverted in social situations but who absolutely most definitely prefers to be in very small groups with her favorite people or quietly reading, writing, drawing, or playing music with friends, marketing seriously wigs me out. Putting myself out there wigs me out. And putting a story that is near and dear to my heart out into the world for people to either (hopefully) love or (please, god, no) hate and dismember word for word while casually calling me a terrible writer or, worse, a terrible person, strikes fear in my little ol’ storyteller’s heart.
Has that last thing ever happened to me? No. But it still physically pains me to remember a reviewer criticizing my first book by saying, The author loves her characters a little too much.
Too much?! What does that even mean? I definitely love them; I just spent years creating them! Of course, that was the same reviewer who insisted ancient Greeks didn’t have couches. (No symposia for you, Mr. Reviewer!)
Anyway, that was way back when, and five books later no one has yet to dismember a story word by word. But it could happen. Hence the desire to crawl under the covers and hide.
But in this modern world, marketing and writing go hand in hand and, for indie authors, it’s basically one and the same.
So, YIKES!
Here goes…
Someone helping to sign up ARC (Advance Reader Copy) readers for NEMESIS IN LOVE asked me to answer a number of questions for their website, so I thought I’d start this phase of the journey by sharing a few of my answers (edited & abridged).
What genres do you write in & why are you drawn to them?
Everything I write has a love story in it. I focus on romance in sci-fi, historical, speculative, and dystopian fiction. I’ve written one contemporary romance, but everything else is set in the distant past (ancient Greece) or the future. And because romance and falling in love is magical, why not add a touch of magic, alchemy, or fantasy to the mix?
What are some of your hobbies or interests outside of writing?
I play guitar (not very well) and sing (not always in key) with a group of musicians in Tucson. I’m not ready for primetime, but making music is a great creative outlet for me. I also love to draw and have done some painting in the past. Living in Tucson is great because the hiking trails in the area are spectacular, and I love walking our two derpy doxie mixes while listening to audiobooks.
What is one thing most people do not know about you ?
I cuss like a f*cking sailor who hasn’t had shore leave in an age. My father and my older brother both served in the Navy, and I never heard my father cuss (of course, I was only nine when he died), and I don’t remember hearing my brother swear, either. I’m making up for both of them.
What is your go-to snack or drink while you’re writing ?
Coffee or hot tea and trail mix—with raisins and chocolate, of course.
What do you hope readers take away from your book?
Here’s a content warning: Everything I write is political. From the tension between male and female goddesses and the struggle to control the powerful oracle in Delphi in 300 BCE to vaccines and covid and the tension between democracy and dictatorships today, my work focuses on strong characters standing up for justice (and health care and the crazy notion that love is love is love). I believe all art is political, and in NEMESIS IN LOVE, and the forthcoming books in the PANTHEON LEAGUE series, the characters featured in the romance come together because they are fighting to defeat fascism and tyranny together.
Can you tell us a little about your latest book? What was the inspiration behind it?
My favorite stories (I’m a lifelong Lord of the Rings fan!) are about courageous individuals standing up, banding together, and risking everything for ideas like justice and equality and fairness. And I love stories of strong women saving the day and being leaders and role models. So, my inspiration for the PANTHEON LEAGUE series comes from myth and J.R.R. Tolkien and other authors who tell stories of both real and fantastical worlds where evil casts a shadow over the land and brave souls stand up to vanquish it.
NEMESIS IN LOVE, the first in the PANTHEON LEAGUE series, is the story of the immortal goddess of vengeance and retribution who falls in love with Cy Bigelow, a regular guy from Southern Arizona who has no idea he’s a demigod. It’s set in a near-future dystopian America which has been transformed into a dictatorship by Harold Jensen, the world’s first multi-trillionaire.
Nemesis is a member of the Pantheon League, a group of gods and goddesses who for thousands of years have helped honorable and courageous humans fight for justice. Without revealing too much, it turns out that Harold Jensen had help destroying American democracy—help in the form of another goddess who is the exact opposite of Nemesis and who just happens to be Nemesis’ sister. Namely, Eris, the goddess of strife.
Our heroes, Nemesis and Cy, fall in love while working together to protect the countless people who have fallen victim to Jensen’s despicable practices—practices such as human trafficking, organ harvesting, murder, property confiscation, resource extraction, and general run-of-the-mill despotic behavior.
With humor, tenderness, and bravery, Cy and his three best friends join Nemesis and the Pantheon League to fight for those who can’t fight for themselves. And like in all good stories, eventually, the good guys win!
What has been the most rewarding moment of your writing journey so far?
The most exciting moment was when the series I wrote with my two daughters—The Seeds Trilogy—was optioned for film by an Oscar-nominated independent production company. The option was renewed several times and then covid hit. The movie was, obviously, never made, but it was fun to dream!
OKAY. THAT WASN’T TOO DIFFICULT.
So, if you’ve read this far and would like to read NEMESIS IN LOVE (and review on Amazon, Goodreads, or another book site), you can follow this link over to Book Funnel, sign up for our newsletter, and download a copy of the ARC.