I first published as an indie author after several rejections came back from agents stating that the paranormal market was flooded, and they couldn't take any more on. That was in 2011. Once I delved into the world of indie publishing I ended up not looking back, because I loved the control I have over my final product. I also love being able to get my books out to the public at a faster pace than I could achieve through traditional publishing.

Smashwords has definitely helped me reach a wider audience, and I believe their inclusion of my werewolf novel, Shadows of the Ancients, in a thumb drive distributed from a few different events in 2013 helped boost the sales of that book, and the following three in the series, tremendously.

Hands down - Jennifer L. Armentrout stole the show in 2014! Her writing is just so smooth, and her characters are always flawless (even in their imperfections). I adore her!

Some of my other favorites are Patria L. Dunn, Lizzy Ford, Sophie Davis, Susan Kaye Quinn, Colleen Hoover, Dannika Dark, and Becca Fitzpatrick. There are MANY more, but those are just a few off the top of my head.

When my characters are so alive that they are talking to me, and won't let me rest until I tell their whole story. It's an amazing feeling to just sit and have the words flow freely and unhindered. When it happens, I swear I can hear angels singing in the background.

My fans have been amazing. They mean the world to me. It's a crazy feeling to have someone pop up out of the blue, and gush to you about how your book took them to a different place, and allowed them to escape reality. The absolute best part though, is that I have made a lot of new friends that I cherish, and that - to me - is the best thing about my writing experience.

Usually my dog, who will nudge me and then flop over on top of me if I don't get up to let him out right away. ;)
Seriously though, my kids inspire me. More to the point, I want to inspire them. So, they see me get up early, get to work on writing, and all the other responsibilities that come with indie publishing, and they get to see the results of that. Whether it's watching me interact with fans, seeing my books hit the charts, or knowing that mom pays the bills with her job. I want them to see that they can do anything they dream, and be successful, they just have to put in the effort to get them there.

Reading!
Playing with my kids, the animals, and we love to go camping and swimming.

I usually discover e-books by word of mouth from all my friends who are avid readers. I sometimes see things pop up in my social media feeds that intrigue me, and I subscribe to things like Bookbub. Let's face it, everyone likes a good book deal - even writers. I think that's why most indie authors try to keep their prices low to begin with. ;)

I don't remember the story itself. What I remember was that I didn't have any paper to write on at the time. I ended up taking books off my shelf and using the blank pages in each one of them to write my own story. I was still a kid then, and I had to hide the evidence of my crimes from my mom. Underneath of my bed was a book cemetery for quite a while. Shhh I totally got away with it, so don't tell my mom!

I am getting ready to put out a book titled Breathless. It is the first of the Death Viewers Series. Here's a little snippet about the book:

My name is Lacy McAdams and I am a Death Viewer, an agent of the highly trained Homicide Viewing Squad, otherwise known as the Death Squad. When a person dies suspiciously I get called in to view their death. Actually, I get to rewind their memories up to 12 hours before their death.
You'd think that would make solving murders a no-brainer, but there's a catch. When people are about to be murdered, they get that whole "life flashing before their eyes" thing going on, and suddenly what really happened is mixed with what they remember from their twelfth birthday party.
In other words, a dying person's mind is a jumble of reality vs memory. It takes training, experience, and a lot of trial and error to get things right. I've been at it for quite a few years, learned a lot, and I have a natural talent for filtering out the realities from the memories.
It's a good thing, because the most important case of my life just landed in my lap while I was at dinner with Brad. It was our third date and judging by how fast he took off, not to mention leaving me with the bill, I'd say he wasn't too thrilled to be dating a Death Viewer. Maybe I should have mentioned that on the first date?
Chances were good that I would never see Brad again, but the case that I got called in for was one that could make or break Homicide Viewing Squads nationwide. No pressure or anything...

I used to be just wing it and write. It took FOREVER for me to write books that way though. So, now I plan them all out and it only takes me weeks or months to do what used to take years.

A book, for me, usually starts with a strong character idea, sometimes just a basic plot, and from there I start everything out. As I do this more of what will happen, and who will be there, open up to me; and by the time I'm done I have a complete outline. Most of the time my complete outlines can ALMOST resemble a first, very rough, draft. Then I go back and dig into the details of the story, expand on the characters, settings, and everything else until I have a full story. Then edit, re-write, edit re-write, etc.