Maree Anderson talks about writing and her latest release Freaks In The City

I've known Maree for a number of years and she really is a fantastic writer. She's feisty, intelligent and articulate and one of the nicest people I know. Maree is visiting me here today to discuss her writing, her successes and her books.

Maree's Bio
Maree Anderson writes paranormal romance, sci-fi, fantasy, and young adult books. She’s a Kiwi, a New Zealander, and she’s addicted to chocolate — the darker the better. Not to mention coffee, and the occasional glass of excellent NZ wine. She’s not quite so addicted to her local gym — she’d much rather do an hour’s karate class and go Ceroc dancing than pound the treadmill.

She shares her home with a neurotic cat who likes to bring in bones snitched from the neighbour’s dog, and a depressed goldfish who likes to scare her by lying at the bottom of the fish-tank and playing dead.

To date Maree has published three novellas, six novels, and two young adult novels. Her latest published book is Freaks in the City, the sequel to her multi-award-winning YA Freaks of Greenfield High, which has been optioned for TV by Cream Drama, Inc. She’s currently working on the first book of a fantasy trilogy.

Freaks of Greenfield High

Freaks In The City

Where did you get your idea for Freaks of Greenfield High and Freaks in the City?

The idea for Freaks of Greenfield High was spawned from the book Body of Glass by Marge Piercy, about a sentient cyborg who (spoiler alert!) ultimately sacrificed himself to save the humans he’d come to care about. I’d recently re-read the book, and then while I was watching an episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, the idea for Freaks smacked me upside the head. My thought processes went something like this: high school pretty much sucks, right? But what would it be like if you were a teenage cyborg on the run from people who want to use you as a weapon, and you were struggling to come to terms with human emotions, and you fell in love with a human boy? It was a bit out of left field, I admit, but that’s the way my mind works.

Earlier this year Freaks of Greenfield High was optioned for TV by a Canadian company, and I had fans begging to know what happens with Jay (my cyborg heroine) and Tyler, so I wrote a sequel, Freaks in the City. I’m hoping that like Freaks of Greenfield High, Freaks in the City will appeal to adult readers as well as teens.

What attracted you to writing and why romance in particular?

I love reading (I read around 15-20 books a month), and when I was a kid I wanted to be a librarian, so it seemed a natural progression to try to write a book. But even after finishing my first manuscript, I didn’t have a clue it was a romance! Luckily I discovered the Clendon Award online and decided to enter it for some feedback; the Clendon Award first round is judged by readers who love all genres of romance. And in order to enter the Clendon, I needed to be a member of Romance Writers of New Zealand.

Joining RWNZ was the best thing I ever did—I learned who I was as a writer, discovered my “voice”… turns out I was a romance writer after all *g* And finalling in the Clendon with that very first manuscript was a huge thrill. I was hooked from that moment on. For the first time in my life I knew exactly what inspired me, and what I wanted to do. And now I can’t not write. It’s in my blood and I’m like a bear with a sore head if I can’t write.

Why did you choose the Indie Publishing route?

The Crystal Warrior

The editor who was my mentor, and who loved my stories and “got” me, left my publishing company, and I decided I needed a break from writing erotic romance. Before I was published, I wrote in a variety of genres because I loved a challenge. And I had a few manuscripts lying around that had either won or finalled in various writing contests, so I decided to polish them to within an inch of their lives and self-publish them.

In the past year I’ve published three books in my Crystal Warriors paranormal romance series (The Crystal Warrior won the Clendon in 2006, and Ruby’s Dream and Jade’s Choice also finalled in the contest), two young adult stories, and Lightning Rider, a quirky paranormal with a sci-fi twist.

Lightning Rider

So now I’ve officially self-published more books than I’ve had traditionally published. But I haven’t chosen Indie Publishing over traditional publishing. I’m still pursuing traditional publishing as an option—in fact I have a YA out on submission with an editor at the moment. For me, it’s all about having choices and finding readers for my stories, and I think it’s great that authors have more choices as to how they reach those readers.

What do you think is necessary to produce a successful self-published book?

That’s far too meaty a question to answer here, I’m afraid! I recently gave a workshop on self-publishing and even then I felt I only barely scraped the surface. The landscape is changing so quickly right now! So very briefly, I’d say:

 1) knowing your strengths and weaknesses as a writer so you know exactly what level of editing you require for your story;

2) a great cover that still looks great as a thumbnail—those gorgeous print covers with the fancy fonts often don’t translate well to teeny tiny thumbnails on Amazon’s Kindle store;

3) a certain degree of marketing-savvy, combined with enough self-awareness to understand how NOT to market to people. By that I mean engaging in the “hard sell” that only turns people off and ensures your book will be the last one they’ll buy.

Do you have any suggestions for those thinking of taking this route to publication?

As with anything, do the research before you jump in. Indie-publishing isn’t easy. It’s a hard slog because you’re responsible for every part of the publishing process, and the buck stops with you. Don’t go into it with the expectation of making loads of money in a very short time. Often it’s a crap shoot, and a fantastic book will fall by the wayside despite your best efforts.

The most sage advice I’ve heard from other indie-authors is that “indie-publishing is a marathon, not a sprint.” Oh, and that the best marketing you can do is to write another book!

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I started off as dedicated pantser. I’d have a hero, a heroine, a concept, a beginning scene and vague idea of an ending, and what happened in between was a mystery until I sat down to write it. I’ve taught myself to plot so I can write more efficiently. But in all honesty, my process is neither one thing or the other: it’s whatever’s required for the book I’m planning at any specific time. The outline for Freaks in the City, for example, was a 10,000-word hot mess of scene briefs, fully completed scenes, and scenes with conversations only. Hey, it worked for me.

I gotta say, outlining a story before I write it isn’t my favourite thing in the world to do, but it sure makes writing a synopsis much, much easier. And whatever makes writing the synopsis easier is a real good thing in my opinion!

Who are your favourite authors?

There are far too many to list! But if you want to know my reading habits, check out the monthly Recent Reads posts on my website. Plus, I often rave about a book I’ve just read on social media.

Do you have a favourite book or books that you always go back to?

Anything by Nalini Singh, Angela Knight, Lilith Saintcrow, Meljean Brook, Janet Evanovich, Rachel Caine, Rachel Vincent, Holly Black, Sarah Rees Brennan… the list goes on. I’m a huge fan of series books that I can read and re-read.

What’s next for you?

I’m nervously awaiting the verdict from an editor who requested a full manuscript from me at our recent RWNZ annual conference. Plus, I’m nervously awaiting an update on the TV option for Freaks of Greenfield High, which is being shopped to broadcasters at the moment. And while I’m trying not to think about those too much and play the “what if” game, I’m rewriting the first book in fantasy trilogy with a view to self-publishing it in the next few months. After that, I have fans asking for a fourth Crystal Warrior book, and a third Freaks book. So I guess I’m in for a busy time *g*

Thanks so much for having me as your guest, Rowena. It’s been fun!

You can find Maree lurking in a bunch of places, so rather than list them all here, check ‘em out on her website About page:

http://www.mareeanderson.com/about

And if you’d like to know more about Maree’s books, please visit the Books page of her website:

http://www.mareeanderson.com/books