A Vision of Green (Florence Vaine #2) (41 page)

How did you go about publishing your work?

Looking back on it I went in pretty much blind to a lot of what I was supposed to do. I set up a date to publish
Tegan's Blood
on Amazon, wrote to lots of reviewers, set up a twitter account and that was about it. I had no clue about Goodreads or any other promotional things, so I basically learned it all as I went along. It's definitely been an eye opening experience and I know so much more now than I did at the beginning of the year.

How have you found the promotion/marketing side of publishing?

I see it very much as a necessary evil. As an indie author you can't just write your book and send it off to be taken care of by the publisher. It's a do it yourself job. So basically you're your own marketer, publicist, formatter, cover designer etc.(unless you have the funds to pay other people to do it for you!) You definitely have to have the stomach for the marketing side of things and lots of time(both of which I don't have) but I do the best that I can. I always feel uncomfortable with saying things to people like, “Hey, read my book, it's BRILLIANT!” I just really can't do stuff like that, it makes me feel ill. But I will do blog posts and tweets to let people know about my books and when new ones are coming out.

Who would play Tegan and Ethan in a movie?

Ah, if only River Phoenix were still alive he'd be perfect for Ethan. There aren't very many actors who look the way I imagine Ethan in my head, but the closest I can get would be Micheal Pitt, because he has that whole sort of blond grungy look and I love his hair in
Boardwalk Empire
. For Tegan I would say Eva Green, although if I was going to pick an actress who's the same age as Tegan I'd go for Kaya Scodelario who played Effie in
Skins
. Both of them have those kind of interesting faces that you just can't stop looking at.
Is there any book you read over and over again?

Rose Madder
by Stephen King. One of my all time favourites.

What are some of your favourite TV shows and films and why?

I'll watch just about anything. My favourite show this year was
Hit and Miss
starring Chloe Sevigny, about an Irish transgender hitwoman. I just found the whole story spell-binding. My other favourites include
Dexter, Fringe
and
True Blood
. One of my favourite movies is
Heavenly Creatures
, I love the exploration of the relationship between the two main characters in it and the way they create this fantasy world that they can both live in. It's one of those movies that you just can't stop thinking about after you've watched it.

Will you be releasing your books in paperback?

This is something I really want to do, possibly next year, it's just finding the time to do it that's the problem. But soon, soon!

The feedback for your books has been excellent. How does this make you feel?

It's always an amazing feeling when I get a positive review, it gives me the determination to keep going. Although I do have that problem of focusing on the few negative ones instead of enjoying the positive ones. It's a learning process, I'm sure I'll find a balance eventually. One day I'd love to not be curious about what's said in reviews anymore and just simply write because that's the part I really enjoy. That being said, I'm so unendingly grateful to any reviewer who takes the time to say what they thought of my books because it spreads the word about them and gets other people reading them.

A Vision of Green, the second book in the Florence Vaine series is out soon. Let us know what’s in store for Flo.

Oh lots. She's going to be on a bit of a rollercoaster in this book, with ups and downs and everything in between. She'll discover that breaking her habit of following her dad's orders and letting him bully her is not as easy as it seems. Her relationship with Frank deepens and she also spends more time with her new friend Caroline, as well as Frank's brother Alex. For anyone who's read my Ultimate Power series, Tegan, Ethan and Rita play a brief cameo in one of the chapters(this also has a small spoiler for something that happens in
Tegan's Magic
) Not to mention Flo makes a discovery about where her ability to read auras really comes from.

About the Author

L.H. Cosway is a self-employed writer, editor and proofreader. She has a BA in English Literature and Greek and Roman Civilisation and an MA in Postcolonial Literature. She lives in Dublin city. Her inspiration to write comes from music. Her favourite things in life include writing stories, vintage clothing, dark cabaret music, food, musical comedy, and of course, books. You can follow her on twitter at twitter.com/lhcosway and y
ou can contact her at [email protected]. You can also read her blog at lhcosway.blogspot.ie.