Author Interview: WHITNEY RINES

I'm pleased to welcome a fab new author to the blog today to talk about their journey to publication! 

Here we go...

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I’m Whitney Rines, I’m 32, married with one son, and have a ball python named Archimedes and a cat named Nami. I lived in Alaska for 12 years and moved to Minnesota this summer. I do a variety of arts, from sewing and knitting to sculpting, dance, music, and writing. I love learning, no matter the subject. I’ve been writing since I’ve known how and have always loved stories. I listen to all kinds of music, one of my hobbies is talking about interesting things. I aim to encourage others in whatever their craft is, and give multiple perspectives to go off of for improvement and using my own areas of needed improvement when possible.
 
Also, I joined the Horror Writer’s Association this year, I love musicals and theatre, and I cried at the end of Disney’s Tarzan AND The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and I have a dark sense of humor according to those who know me best.

Follow Whitney here!

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The Wraith’s Memory takes place before Dragonborn, and introduces the main characters we don’t see a lot of in the first book. The histories of both Chiron and Kiyris are followed from where they began and along the path that sets the setting for Dragonborn.

The Wraith’s Memory takes place during and after the conspiracy and success of the five Amaranthine who led their allies in nearly destroying Liansea, and the way the world reshaped during its rebuilding. The history of Liansea, and how it came to be as it is in the present, which starts with Dragonborn, is dark and full of intrigue on the stakes that grow and change along with the story and the characters.

Grab your copy here! 

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The Interview...
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 Who are you and what do you write?
 
I’m a creative person, and love doing all forms of art. I enjoy video games, study the occult and mythology and am also an avid reader of both fiction and non-fiction. Horror and Dark fantasy are my favorites for fiction, and Science and History for non-fiction. I write dark fantasy and horror, and from time to time I experiment with other genres. 


Where and when and how did the writing life begin for you?
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I’ve been writing since I was young. I won a few contests and awards then, and I just kept writing from there. I write for myself as much as for wanting to tell a good story; it’s my outlet for dealing with a lot of things I know I can’t control otherwise, and stress. I also do it for pleasure and getting to have my own world as well.


How has the journey to this point been? 
 
It’s been fun, exciting, stressful, depressing, elevating, soul-crushing, and so much more, but above all else worth it.

I’m publishing my second book The Wraith’s Memory, and it feels a lot like when I published Dragonborn. I’m nervous, excited, have no appetite and am ready for it to be out there. There’s a lot different about the two of them, though, as well as between the Between Gods and Mortals series, and my other works. Dragonborn was published under a company, and that gave me a lot of an insider perspective on the publishing world, both on the side of writing and on the side of business.

It’s motivated me to learn as much as I can from other writers, and people in other parts of the industry to improve myself in my own part in the book publishing process. I’ve had the privilege to have done both self-publishing and traditional(ish) publishing. I’ve learned a lot from each side, and what I do and don’t like about each side.

On the traditional side, I don’t like having to compromise on my creativity for marketability, however, having a team to go to and get advice from on how to handle marketing is nice.

On the self-publishing side, I love getting to put my creativity to work and have it come out like I want it to-there’s fewer compromises to make. The downside is, unless you hire them to do it yourself, it’s a bit of a chore to find the resources to get going after you’ve gotten all the writing parts done.
 
Both sides have taught me that the hard stuff begins after you hit save on the computer. Publishing is more than just writing, and it’s more than just marketing; it’s a mix that I learn something new from each time.

Last time, I learned better marketing. So far, I’ve been learning how to do some things on my own, and to know when to pay someone else with more experience. Time management in the book writing and publishing realm.
 
Deadlines don’t get any less worrisome though.

​What's been the hardest part of your writing/publishing experience so far? And the most enjoyable?
 
Deadlines, and knowing when to say “die”, have been both the hardest and most enjoyable parts

I’ve been running my entire publishing schedule this time around on making the deadline, and there have and continue to be some challenges to this. Challenges that have given me the opportunity to stretch my brain and do what I can to circumvent them and get myself back on track.
 
Knowing when to say die on the work, and let it speak for itself is something that I still have trouble with. Wanting the story to be as good as it can be is the objective, but I’ve found that it’s just as important to step away from it even at the last stages so I can come back refreshed and ready to make it that.
 

Would you go back and change anything?

I appreciate all the experiences I’ve had, for better or worse because I learned something from each one. So no, I wouldn’t change those. If possible, I think I would ask more questions on the journey to education on the publishing world though. Getting to know the marketing world is something I would focus more questions on for one.

 
Where would you like to be in 5 years time? And 10? 
 
In five years I’d like to be finished writing the main story of Between Gods and Mortals, and working through another series I plan on getting more into soon. Plans for the future, I’d like to meet more of my success milestones. I already achieved having a character of mine being used (with my permission) in a tabletop campaign. That exceeded my personal success mile, so I’m excited to have a new success milestone for this book.

Sure I would like some renown and financial success but I mainly want to make a world that can be enjoyed by all and characters that can be loved hated, and related to all while keeping to a good story that invokes a range of emotions for all of it.
 

What's one piece of advice you'd give to new writers just starting out?
 
No one has heard your story until you tell it, don’t worry about how many other books are in the genre you’re writing in, and write your story.


And most importantly...

Ketchup or Mayo? Ketchup
 
Night or Day? Night, I like the night sounds and writing by reading light

Inside or Outside? Inside
 
Twitter or Facebook? Twitter usually gives me more conversation; Facebook gives me more characters to write

e-book or Paperback? I love the smell of a physical book-new or old. Not having to worry about the weight of carrying a book is nice too though

Sun or Rain? I prefer cloudy to both.

Keyboard or Pencil & Notebook? Pen and Notebook

Comedy or Drama? I love a good drama, especially with comedic points

Chips or Chocolate? Chocolate, I don’t handle salt well