Interview with WaWa Productions

Published 2017-11-20.
What's the story behind Take Me To Your Reader?
"Take Me To Your Reader" was a gift from a group of extremely talented writers I had the privilege of meeting at the very first utopYA conference. It's always a joy when the people who write the books are as daring and as caring as the books they feed your soul on a regular basis, and these people are even more amazing than I'd imagined. They constantly support each other and the community -- going out of their way to cross promote for each other, share in celebrations and support each other through the days when they don't want to crawl out of bed. Even this book was a group effort, from the authors to the fans, who voted on the title, "Take Me to Your Reader." They realize that we are stronger together than we are apart, and I am honored to know them.

These authors surprised me after the second year of utopYA with this unbelievable gift -- the gift of storytelling, and the gift of themselves. They have graciously created new worlds based on the #utopYA2014 "aliens and outerspace" theme, and told me that they want me to use this anthology to help defray the costs of creating utopYA. MIND>BLOWN. HEART>BLOWN.

I am awed and inspired by their generosity and creativity. Escape with me to new worlds. Thank you for supporting authors and dreams with your purchase of this anthology. You kick a**, and you should know that.
Who are your favorite authors?
This is a loaded question. The list is entirely too long to write here. And, honestly, I'm always looking for new favorite authors. A good place to start, though, is with the authors of the stories that make up our anthologies.
What inspires you to get out of bed each day?
Aside from my kids, I'd say books, the chance to accomplish something in my chosen field -- book events and management, and, of course, coffeeeeee.
How do you discover the ebooks you read?
Recommendations by author and reader friends definitely. However, I have also spent hours reading descriptions and reviews on different sites looking for my next book. I feel like I'm reading the list of ingredients on the back of a box of cookies -- how many calories does this book have? Is it good for me or bad for me? I can't wait to rip open the box and gorge on the contents.

I will say that I try to pick a healthy mix of both indie- and traditionally published books. I think we can learn a lot from each other. We see people who don't know "the rules" creating new ways of writing books and telling stories that are truly connecting with a new generation of readers. That can't be ignored. However, I also think it's extremely valuable to read traditionally published author works to glean knowledge from them, and enjoy well-edited, well-timed, and well-developed storytelling.
Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?
I do, actually. I was in third grade. We had to write a story for class, and I wrote down a dream I had about a friendly, but misunderstood monster who played the piano. It was sorta a mashup of Frankenstein and Phantom of the Opera, though I don't think I'd been exposed to either of them yet.
Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?
The earliest story I remember that had a huge impact on me was "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein, which, to this day, I can't read without bawling my eyes out. I think I traumatized my son a couple years back. LOL.

"Where the Wild Things Are" was a biggie in my life.
"There's a Monster in My Closet" by Mercer Mayer.
The Serendipity books by Stephen Cosgrove.
The color-coded Fairy Book series.
The Goldenbook series (Poky Little Puppy, The Little Engine That Could, etc)
What do you read for pleasure?
supernatural, dystopian, and a little contemporary YA, NA, MG
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Books by This Author

10 Things I Love About You (A Love in the 90s New Adult Anthology)
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 239,080. Language: English. Published: December 1, 2017 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » New adult, Fiction » Romance » Short stories
10 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT YOU is a collection of ten contemporary romance, new adult, stand-alone stories set in the 1990s. The title of each love story will be a hit song from the year that the novella represents, and are written, respectively, by award-winning and bestselling authors.
Take Me To Your Reader: An Otherworld Anthology
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 77,530. Language: English. Published: February 10, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories
(5.00 from 1 review)
Extra-terrestrial stories by extraordinary authors for an out of this world convention. Discover what happens when "what if" becomes "why not?"