Billie Sue Mosiman

This week I have Billie Sue Mosiman answering my personal questions. 

1. When and why did you decide to become an Indie writer? 

After a seven year writer's block where my elderly parents lived with me and I cared for them, I finished my novel BANISHED. At that point the world of publishing had changed. I could either try to sell the novel as a traditionally published book as I had always done my other works, or I could jump right into the Indie scene and do it myself. I had a great cover artist who did a superb cover. I had a proofreader who could proof it. I had a beta reader. I already had some of my backlist titles up on Kindle and decided why not, let me try this my way. I was hooked. The novel has already earned what it might have from a traditional publishing contract and continues going strong.

 2. What genre do you write in and what genre do you prefer to read?
 I write suspense and horror. My novels have tended to be suspense thrillers and my short works in the weird, strange, horror fiction field. I prefer to read both genres.

 3. Where do you sell most books, USA or UK, Amazon or Barnes and Noble?
 I sell most in the US and on Amazon. 

 4. During your childhood who was your biggest influence? 
There were a couple. My mother was a voracious reader so we always had books lying around all over the house, stacked on tables and the floor. She encouraged her children to read and bought us books. It was her love of reading that opened that world to me and made me admire the written word and those who wrote it. The other influence was my grandmother, who thought the sun rose and set in me. She believed I could do or be anything I wanted and that helped me believe the same.

 5. Are you fortunate enough to write full-time?
 Yes. Most of my career has been as a full-time writer. My husband supported me in those early struggling years. He's a saint. Every writer needs a spouse willing to let the writer do her work full-time and I know not everyone gets one, but I've been fortunate.

 6. If Hollywood came knocking who would you want to play your main character?
 I have a novel called BAD TRIP SOUTH and I just saw an actress in a movie called HIDE who would be perfect for my character Heddy. Other than that I don't think I'd have any preferences.

 7. Name 6 people, dead or alive, you’d love to have as guests seated around your dinner-table. 
F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Steinbeck, Jim Thompson, Patricia Highsmith, Flannery O'Connor, and Sherwood Anderson.

 8. What one piece of advice have you found the most important in your writing career?
 "Don't buy into the romantic notion of the writer as boozer living a wild, erratic life. Live a quiet life and do the work."

 9. What are your plans for the coming year?
 I hope to decide on my next novel and begin it. As always I'll be writing new stories and novellas because I love the form. 

 10. And finally, if you were stranded on a desert island what 3 books would you choose to have with you? Steinbeck's THE GRAPES OF WRATH and EAST OF EDEN, the Bible. There are so many stories in the Bible it would last a long time. 

Check out Billie Sue's blog:  http://www.peculiarwriter.blogspot.com

MOURNING-MANSION Amazon US

MOURNING-MANSION Amazon UK 

Billie Sue's Kindle Store