Author Interview - Maureen O. Betita

Let's welcome this month's author, Maureen O. Betita.  You can check out The Kraken’s Mirror, The Ship’s Mistress, The Sister’s Story, Something Different, The Pirate Circus, TheChameleon Goggles, and most recently A Caribbean Spell. 

Maureen, thanks for taking some time to answer a few questions.

1)      What were your favorite books growing up? The Adventures of Robin Hood, everything Alexander Dumas wrote. The Pelucidar series from Edgar Rice Burroughs… Yes, I didn’t grow up on childrens’ books. I was reading Tolkien in fourth grade. And loving it!

2)      Now that you have, let’s say—some life experience, what would you tell your younger self? Get over yourself and have more fun. Having fun doesn’t mean getting into trouble, it just means having fun. Have more fun!

3)      Describe your typical day. *Snort! Well, sleep too late, get up and watch TV I’d DVR’d, get on the internet and fritter away too much time, fix myself an iced Via from Starbucks, fritter some more, work on my elliptical machine. Fritter. Look at the time, scream, open the newest whatever work I’m doing and do something with it. Give into the dog’s pathetic looks and take her for a walk. Get home, fritter…get serious and work on promotional stuff. Husband gets home, eat, watch TV, go to bed. VERY EXCITING!

4)      Who is your favorite character in your books? I’m not shy. Emily Pawes from the world of the Kraken’s Caribbean. Miranda is the central character in my Caribbean Spell series and I adore her, torture her, force her to grow and just do awful terrible things to her. But she still loves me. But…Emily is older, less burdened, knows how to mix drinks, can curse like a pirate and there is something about Emily…she’s my fav. I like her guy, too…

5)      What do you do when writer’s block shows up, settles in, and makes itself comfortable? Get depressed, deny, eat too much, sit in my rocking chair and stare at the TV for hours on end. Then I try to just start small. Took a great class from Hillary Rettig on how to handle writer’s block and I might pull the book out and read it for a nudge…

6)      Do you find yourself pulling details from “real life” or does your imagination rule the roost? Real life only intrudes when I need to vent my frustrations with…people who are frustrating me. Then I might create a character I can bellow at to calm my mind. But generally, it’s all from my imagination. (Scary, isn’t it?)

7)      What was the first manuscript you wrote (even if it never saw the light of day)? Well, the first writing I ever did is in the process of being edited in order to see the light of day. My Caribbean Spell series began in the middle of book three, the very first stuff I wrote. Then I went back and wrote the first 2.5 books, caught up with myself and went on to write the next 26. No, 27. Book three is called The French Gambit and should be out in September!

8)      Have you ever pursued traditional publishing? Or did you go straight for indie publishing? Oh, sure. I still pursue traditional publishing. With other MS I have written that I believe fit them better. I started with indie and am now self-publishing, but hope to keep my options open to all worlds, at all times.

9)      What Works In Progress are brewing?  Any target dates for publication? Well, editing the 27 remaining books of A Caribbean Spell will keep me busy, but I do have some other projects I hope to see out there. I currently have a submission of a light paranormal ménage I’m hoping to see a well-known indie pick up. But we’ll see! June, I’ll put the second book of A Caribbean Spell series out, called Red Sean’s Revenge. From then on, a new book every three months. For 7.5 years.

10)   How can fans reach you? My website is easy, www.maureenobetita.com – I’m on Facebook, two pages, one author and one just me being a goof. Look for Maureen O. Betita. Include the O. or you’ll get my distant niece in the Philippines. Twitter – just my name. LinkedIn, I lost my password and can’t find it. Email is maureenobetita@sbcglobal.net and yes… Amazon Author Page! 

I’m also on Goodreads.