May 28, 2025 • 26 mins
In this episode, I sit down with Romance Author, Christina Sol, and talk the realities of being an author in today's world. Sol also discusses how her family has helped her throughout the years into becoming an Award-Winning Author right here in the Inland Northwest.
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Listen more to Leslie's Lowedown on Life:
KHQ: https://www.khq.com/podcasts/lowedown/
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/2zh3I6QViMX9u71UQPZ5bI?si=Zu7gGK2YTCqjSs0f1479bw
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leslies-lowedown-on-life/id1793616053
iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/53-leslies-lowedown-on-life-262851666/
Follow Me!
Facebook: facebook.com/LeslieLowe10
Instagram: instagram.com/khqleslielowe
#romantic #books #leslieslowedown #christinasol #author #love
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The actual craft of writing was not something I knew.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
It's the characters. Like that's the important thing for me.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
I love a good character who has overcome difficulties, and
I didn't want to be like, Oh I wish I
had done, you know, And so as scary as it was,
you just gotta try.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
All Right, Welcome everybody.
Speaker 4 (00:23):
I am excited to introduce you to our guest today,
Christina Soul.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
She's an award winning author.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
She loves to read and she loves to write some
saucy romance novels.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
She's from right here, Liberty Lake.
Speaker 4 (00:36):
She's married, she got a great husband, two kids, and
a series of books, eight of them out now. And
I'm just going to start with this.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
You're ready for this? Christina? All right?
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Bookkeeper by day, saucy romance novel writer by night. So
stripper turned bartender meets golden boy. The only thing they
have in common is their belief in no commitments. When
a threat from her past reappears, there're no strings. Affair
takes a turn into uncharted territory.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Hi, Christina, how are you? Thank you for being here today?
Speaker 2 (01:13):
For having me?
Speaker 4 (01:14):
Okay, so you wrote your first book in two thousand
and five thousand and five, two thousand and five, Yes, okay,
and walk us through the journey.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Well, I never really wanted to be a writer. It
was not really like even on my radarm. And then
in two thousand and five, we're in our mid twenties,
pre kids, pre weddings, pre all that stuff, a bunch
of us living in Seattle downtown at a dive bar,
and a friend comes to us and says, hey, there's
this National Novel Writing Month thing in November. You write
(01:46):
a fifty thousand word book, and do you guys want
to do it? It's fun And I was like, oll that
that sounds like a great idition. No kids, no anything.
We had time on our hands. And so I did
it and I thought it was amazing, wonderful, and it wasn't.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
It wasn't. It's okay, And then so it kind of
caught the bag.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
And so after that, I had like this book that
I thought was great, and I'm like, well, I want
to publish it.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
How do I go about doing it?
Speaker 1 (02:14):
And back then in two thousand and five, it was
you know, querying agents and editors and the big houses
in New York and that kind of stuff, and I
knew nothing about that, and so I literally was like,
how does one go about doing this? And then I
went to a book signing by Nora Roberts, who happened
to be in the area, and she was like, someone asked,
(02:36):
you know, what's your advice for aspiring authors, and she
was like, join a writing group. Seattle's got a bunch.
And so I go home and I'm like, dude, do
you know? I look for the romance writing group and
there is one. I join it, and I quickly everyone
was so nice. I mean, I'm an introvert, and so
I go to this first meeting and it's like twenty
(02:57):
twenty five people all talking about their books, and I
feel like an impostor because you know, it's it's new,
and I just you know, they're they're welcoming and they're like,
here are you know, editing things, classes, that kind of thing,
and I quickly realized I didn't really know what I
was doing, but that's okay, you're right, and so I
(03:20):
volunteer for all the stuff with the writing group and
there is a conference where they fly in editors and
agents and you get a picture book and I was like,
oh my god, this is my opportunity. I'm gonna do it,
and I do, and Harlequin is like, oh yeah, send us,
send us your book and we'll take a look at it.
And again, back then, it was you. You go to Kinko's,
(03:40):
you print out your book, you bind it with the
rubber band, and send it snail mail. And during all
this time, you know, you wait for the response. And
then during this time, I joined.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
A critique group.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
And the critique group they are very kind, but they
also showed me that I didn't really like, I didn't
know what point of view was, like the actual craft
of writing was was not something I knew. And so
at that point I was like, okay, it's time to learn.
Time to take classes, you know, enter contests and all
(04:15):
that kind of stuff to really, you know, learn how
to actually write a book.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
So that's when you buckled down.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
That's when I buckled down. And then I spent the
next gosh years, years and years and years learning how
to write, how to you know, all all this stuff.
And in the meantime, you know, I had two kids,
I got married, we moved from Seattle to Spokane. Life happened,
and so before I knew it, like gosh, ten years
(04:44):
at best, I was going to say, so years had passed.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
Fast forward then to the two thousands, and you've got
the one. What's the do you say the name of
your first book?
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Well, the first book that I wrote during Nano Raimo
in two thousand and five. It was originally called take
My Hand, which whatever it was, it was, it was.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
What it was. That's actually a pretty good title.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
It was, but it didn't really match the book got it,
you know. And so at that point I had i'd
queried it, I had gotten rejected, and and I had
put it basically in the drawer and wrote another book,
which was eventually Redemption, And that's the one that I
ended up publishing. But the first book I wrote ended
up becoming shattered vouths like after REI like multiple multiple revisions,
(05:30):
and it ended up being like my my best selling,
like my workhorse kind of book.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
But after like years, after years.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
So again, fast forward to the two thousands, and who
were your inspirations?
Speaker 3 (05:46):
She brought up Nora Roberts.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Well, yes, so when I was all my whole my
whole life, I was a big time reader, you know,
from like the Berensteinbers to like Sweet Valley High, Christopher Pike,
Judy Booty, all of it, right, you know, Anne Rice
vc Andrews, a little bit of Stephen King, but he
was a little too scary for me. And so those
(06:09):
were the inspirations. And then I read you know, Danielle Steele.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
And Nona Roberts.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Yeah, I from did it.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Yeah, And from.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
There I was just like, oh, happily over rafters like
their characters.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
I mean there's a lot of you know, a lot
of people look down on.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
It like, oh, it's fluffy, it's this, it's that, but
it's there are stories of people overcoming there whatever and
getting happily over after. And if I'm going to read
for entertainment, I am the person who doesn't want to
read sadness and like depressing books. You know, Like if
I'm reading a book and I'm invested in these characters
(06:46):
and they all die in the end, I'm just like,
not my thing, right, There's like a place for that, yeah, absolutely,
but it's not.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
What I like.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Your escape books exact I like.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
And so I wrote the books.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
I write the books that I want read, you know,
ones that you have some really traumatic backstory, but they
overcome it together with the other person and their couple
and the found family and have their little happily ever after.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Okay, I have to know the process first of all.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
I want to ask where do you where do you
get your ideas from?
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Like, you know, where did those come from?
Speaker 1 (07:24):
They come from everywhere? Yeah, truly, Like I am not
a plotter kind of person. I just kind of go
with it. But it's the characters, Like that's the important
thing for me. And so like anywhere truly, Like for Redemption,
the heroin in that book, I was taking a class
(07:45):
by an FBI profiler who was doing in class for writers,
and he was talking about serial killers and how they
practice on runaways and prostitutes and that kind of thing.
And because he said because their throwaway and I was like, oh,
but they're not. And so I was like, well, what
if there was a girl who had a really rough
(08:06):
childhood who ran away and why doesn't she get her
happy young after?
Speaker 2 (08:12):
You know?
Speaker 1 (08:12):
And so that was kind of the inspiration for the
first character in the heroine in Redemption.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
I mean anywhere it's.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
And who doesn't love a pretty woman type story? Right?
Speaker 4 (08:25):
So tell me about your characters and your bugs. How
did they come to life?
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Very gosh, it's just one of those like they just
kind of take a life of their own. Like I
love a good character who has overcome difficulties, you know,
and they have everything stacked against them, but yet they
still get back up and they keep on going. And
(08:53):
like the guys, the girls side characters and that like
the family regardless of its like blood or found.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
You know.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
That's like a really big part of my stories is
the like the found family, and you can't do it
alone and you have to do it with your people,
and so.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
Yeah, and you learn to love these characters, right, they've
become part of your life.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
They do, They absolutely do. I was looking when I
was getting my books together today, I was.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Like, oh, I love these people.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
They're so good, you know, Like when I'm actually writing it,
they're not so much, but like afterwards, it's like I
appreciate them after the book is done.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
Okay, talk about that process, the writing of the book,
because you said, you know, you don't just sit down
and write one overnight.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
No, that would be so lovely, God, that'd be nice. No,
Usually it takes a good Like the fastest book I
wrote was in two months, but usually takes about two
to four months to get a good, solid first draft,
and then from there it's a lot of editing. I
have a friend that's a critique. I send stuff to
(10:01):
her kind of in in the process. She's like, oh, yeah,
that that doesn't not.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
It didn't last.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
I don't even know what you're talking about here, you know,
and you're like ah. And then so once I get
through her edits, I will do another round of edits.
And then I have these two beta readers who are
big romance readers, and I send it to them and
I say, tell me where you stop reading, tell me
what pulls you out of the story, or what I've
completely messed up, Just let me know. And then they
(10:29):
go through it, and you know, we do that, and
then I send it after those revisions are done, and
then I send it to the actual editor and just
wait and hope and hope it's not too bad.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Kind of thing.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
I don't think anybody realizes a process.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
There's a lot, and then after the editor there's a
true reader, and in between you do like well, I.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Do like a word.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Has like a read aloud thing, and it's something to like.
When you're looking at something, sometimes your brain tells you
what it what it wants to see, and then when
you hear it, you're like, oh, that's not the right
word at all.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
My bad.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
So there's that process too, and I mean it's a
long process from first draft to actually getting it out.
And then there's like the cover because I am an
indie author, so I published my own stuff, but I
have a whole team behind me, and so there's like
the cover designer, there's like the pr people.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
I mean, it's a lot.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
It's a lot.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
I'm very organized.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
You are. You are very organized.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
You have to be.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
You are the calendar with the stickers and the colors.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
If you have a to do list, it may as
well be a pretty to do it. That is my
whole thing.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
I love that. But you need that. You have to
be able to do this process.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
And then to set up the promo and all that stuff.
Everything needs to be done within you know, x months
beforehand and stuff.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
So so you talked about the kind of the process
of the characters and then the book cover itself.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
I mean, they're me, Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
I must say, I have two teenagers at home, and
so when I'm doing book covers, like my Head's an
Island series, has couples and most of the guys don't
have shirts on. And like, I'm in my office looking
at all these photos on like shutter or deposit photos
and that kind of stuff, and my kids will walk
by and they're like, Mom, what do you do is it?
(12:22):
They're like, oh, so embarrassed. It's fine, it's fine, it's okay.
But like I choose the photos and then I give
it to my cover designer and for the Heads and
Island series, I was like, it's Pacific Northwest Island, small town,
this is the couple. This is like I sun comp
like book covers, yea, Like this is kind of the
(12:43):
feel that I like. And then she comes back with
magic and I'm like, oh, thank you.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
And I don't think that.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
I don't think I've ever picked up a book and
thought about that process either.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
It's a process.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
And that was one of the reasons I also wanted
to do the indie publishing, is because you have control
over that. When control freak as you know, and like
you get to control all the stuff, you know, and
so that was it's stressful, but it's also a lot
of fun to be able to control that. And so
like from my latest book, the paperback is a discrete
(13:17):
cover with no people, no half naked anything on top
of the cover, and then the ebook cover has the
little couple on top. So publishing, I was just.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
I was going to ask you about the whole indie
process as opposed to what we all know is like
kind of that main line traditional traditional process. In the
indie process, I like the fact that you have more
control over but you're because this is your project, your
baby exactly. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Well it was also interesting is the people that, like
my cover designer also works with traditional publishers. You know,
she does designs for other things, as does my editor
and that kind of thing. So it's like you're still
getting the quality, but you're just you know, hunting the
clostic front versus the traditional route.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
And how about the titles, because your titles are great.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
That thank you title, my gosh, I'm.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
To and they're everything because that will draw it's your
eye when you're doing the whole book thing, you're like,
which when do I want I want that one?
Speaker 2 (14:18):
It was I have.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Some writer friends and literally they helped me move back
because I am awful at titles.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Just really, oh my gosh, awful.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Is that the difficult piece for it.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Is it's like the title and then the blurb on
the back is I think harder to write than the
actual book.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
Did you write this bourb on Gosh?
Speaker 1 (14:38):
I just read I shared it, and you went through
so many iterations.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
That's so good though, because you want to.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Like condense it with like some with some anticipation and stuff.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Well, it's like a tease, right, It's so hard to write.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
It's hard eighty thousand words condensed down to like one
hundred and fold pair and I just want to write
like it's really good.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Read it, I promise.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
What do you hope people get out of reading your books?
Speaker 2 (15:05):
You know, I think they're a good escape.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
I think I think there's a there's something we said
about reading a book where.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
The women are strong and the men are.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
All so strong and standing beside them and not necessarily
being the rescuer, but like you know, helping and being
a partner, being a partnership exactly, and a lot of people,
you know, there's a lot of nuts, I guess stigma
about you know, Oh, they're unrealistic. You know, men don't
(15:39):
act like that. I mean, that's really high expectations, and
I'm like, that's high. No, Like you should have high expectations.
You should want someone to be an equal partner to you.
And like writing that and having people like reach out
and say, oh, you know, I really loved how they
were together. That but just means everything.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
I was gonna it's really But with that said, I'm like,
what does your husband think?
Speaker 2 (16:02):
My husband? My husband's hilarious.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
He wanted to get a T shirt with some of
the covers and like wear them out on like boys' nights,
and I'm like, like the half naked.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Covers, Yeah, yeah, I could see him doing that.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Absolutely, No, He's so supportive, Like I would not be
able to do any of this without like him and
the kids really helping, because there's a balance, right, And
I'm not good at the balance because I have a
day job that it is really important to me, got
a family and finding the time to write all this
(16:41):
stuff and do all the things. I couldn't do it
without them because they do pick up so much slack
because you know, in the meantime, laundry still has to
get done, you know, dinner still has to be made,
kids still have to get picked up from practice, and
that kind of thing. So it's truly like like I
wouldn't be able to do it without them.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
Yeah, And I think so often we don't see that
that piece of the author have soheid in the curtain
really because you do have a busy life. You do
have two teenage kids who are all over the place,
so you're still trying to balance all of.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
That and it's it's not easy.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
And right when I think I have like a schedule down,
something changes, like a sport ends and a new sports starts,
and so everything changes and you're like, oh, OK.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
But absolutely, but they've all been so good.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
Yeah, well they're proud of you and watching you, you know,
kind of live your dreams.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
And it was important to me.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
This is gonna sounds super cheesy, but it was really
important to me because this was really scary, like publishing
a book that like really means a lot, publishing multiple
books that really mean a lot, it's really scary. But
I wanted to show them that you can you can
do scary, I mean terrifying, and because it's what you want.
(18:04):
It's like a dream that you have And I've said
it before, like no one's going to chase your dreams.
For you, like you have to go after it yourself
and life is short, right, and only get one shot exactly,
and you make And I didn't want to be like,
oh I wish I had done X, y Z, you know,
and so as scary as it was, you just gotta try, yeah,
(18:27):
I know, and it could have flopped completely, and it's
whatever I would have tried at least, you know, versus
not ever knowing.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
You didn't have to sit and wonder what is have worked?
Should I have done this exactly?
Speaker 4 (18:37):
I always told my kids, and I think this is
the same for you. It's like you gotta go do
the thing you can't do, yeah, you know, get out
of your head and go do this scary thing.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
You might surprise yourself.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
One like it's full of pitfalls because you're always going
to compare yourself to other people's success or whatever. But
it's like this is you when you got to stop
caring about other peoples things, you know. I mean it's hard, obviously,
but as I've gotten older, I'm like I've embraced that
a little bit more because it's like, this is my life.
(19:09):
These are you know, this is the example I want
to set, So I know.
Speaker 4 (19:13):
So with that said, do you have eight books right now?
Eight books?
Speaker 2 (19:16):
I do.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
I just started my third series.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
Okay, so you have the Spotted Dog.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Spotted Dog series, three books, three owner co owners of
a Seattle, Irish pub, and then we spin off to
the Hudson Island series, which there's a couple side characters
in the Spotted Dog that move over to Hudson.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
I was just gonna ask you to move over, okay.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
And then that's fictitious Pacific Northwest Islands, small town romantic suspense.
And then we stay for the third series, which I
just started. It's Hudson Security. So we've met these people
in the Hudson Island series and it's just a separate
spin off series.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
All right, So give me a spice level on this bug.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
I would say, like my series in general, on scale
of one to five chili peppers, I'm actually like a
two point five because there's like two scenes, maybe three scenes,
ten pages out of like three hundred. So it's it's spicy.
Some people will think it's very spicy, but in just spicy,
(20:17):
it's a middle spicy.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
It's like little spicy. It's a little bit.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Yeah, you's gonna have a little spice.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
That's what you're writing, you exactly so, but it's definitely
not Hallmarks.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
So there's nothing wrong with Hallmark. But this is more.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Yes, spicy, spicy.
Speaker 4 (20:34):
All right, let's talk about like spicy romance novels. There
are seriously having a moment.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Right now, you really are.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
And I mean romance has been really popular in general,
right you know, it's been like a real base for
traditional publishing or publishing in general. But like romance, like
Romanticy is like it's really like taking off. And I
just started reading Romanticy myself, and part of me is
like should I write something like that?
Speaker 3 (21:00):
But being on back up, what's romantic meantasy.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Is like like dragons and like like fantasy with romance
that kind of thing, and so it's a whole.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
I mean, it's very popular.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
I've been out of the game for it.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
It's really good and it's just I mean it's fascinating,
but like part of me really wants to write that
kind of thing, but I don't think I have the
discipline to create a world like that.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
And the people who've done it have done so well.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
I mean, it's so good and it's nice to have,
like any kind of good you know, romancy kind of
thing I think is good for everybody.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
Well, we all want to sit on the beach or
by the with a good romance novel.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Exactly.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
And if you haven't e book, you know, no one
sees the manchest covers.
Speaker 4 (21:43):
And it's very it's fun, you know, I'm reading a
very serious novel right now.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Absolutely, it's like, yeah, it's it's and like there's been
a growth I think of like indie romance bookstores, which
I think is really cool.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Like talk about those a little bit.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
I don't honestly, I don't know too much about it,
but I know that there there's like a couple romance
focus bookstores that have opened up around the country. And
I just think it's so fascinating that, you know, because
romance it has something for everybody. There's like amish romance
to like super super spicy romance, to everything in between
with like aliens and shape shifters and like historic and
(22:23):
all that.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Everything. There's something for everybody.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
And do you lame bed at night and these ideas
pop up? Do you have to get up right away
and write them down? Or how does that work?
Speaker 2 (22:33):
My phone?
Speaker 1 (22:34):
I email myself all the time. Like little like one
liners or little characters or that kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Absolutely, it's right next to my bedside.
Speaker 4 (22:43):
I was just thinking, I'm picturing like you're talking about
the Spotted Dog series and how a couple of the
characters go on to the Hudson Island series, and so
how the picking and the choosing, picking.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
And the choosing.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
It's like when I write a book and I'll have
the side characters, when the side character wants to take over,
and I'm like, oh, we need to put you aside
and hopefully give you another story somewhere down the road.
And then I've also had people reach out and they're like,
does such and such get a story? And I'm like, no,
but maybe maybe they will. Apparently this character has resonated,
(23:16):
so maybe they.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Will get a story.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
Oh that's interesting.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
It's really fun.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
Yeah. I never thought about people like reaching out and
going what happened to this character or what's going to happen.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
The reader reaching out thing is probably the most surreal
thing of this whole process. Like people. I mean, I
love the people that I know who read my books.
I think that's wonderful and amazing. But when you have
people that I don't know who live in like the
opposite side of the country. They're like, oh my god,
I've read your book and I loved it. I'm like,
what's like, it's so surreal.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
That's where you're like, I'm here.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Absolutely, it's absolutely crazy and it's like absolute country moments.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
It's really wonderful.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
So where can people find your bugs?
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Wait?
Speaker 1 (24:00):
All the ebook is exclusive to Amazon, and so you
can get that on Amazon. The paperbacks are also available
on Amazon, Barnesandoble dot com, Target dot com. I believe
to you, but yeah, and then I'm also in Kindle Unlimited,
which is Amazon subscription program, so like you pay I
(24:21):
don't even know how much a month, and you can
read as many books in the that's registered for the program.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
And so I'm on there too.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
What do you see for the future? I have? So
how many storylines do you have? Line Depp? Right now?
That's what I learned.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
So the Hudson Security series just started. I put the
first book out last month, and I'm writing the second book,
and I have either two or three more in that
series that's going to come out. I'm doing another book
this year, hopefully two or three next year, and then
as I'm writing this current book. The heroine has like
(24:55):
four brothers who live in a small town around Bellingham.
I'm like, guess what, They're gonna get books too, So
I've got the production thing.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Yeah, you too lined up for future So yeah, you're.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
The next Daniel Steele. Yes, oh, I can see it.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
That would be amazing.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
Do you have any advice for people out there who
have thought, I have this story in my head, I
want to write this book.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
I've you know, write it, absolutely, write it.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
And it won't be perfect the first draft.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
I mean it will be, but you know, you can
edit it and then you can learn, like if you
can submit it to traditional publishers and try to get
an agent and that kind of thing, or you can
publish it yourself, you know. But if you publish it yourself,
you know, there are steps for whatever genre you're in,
you know, And I mean, just do it. Don't be
(25:51):
afraid of like of like what if what if I've
always I've always wanted to write a book, Then do it.
Speaker 4 (25:58):
Yeah, absolutely, right the crummy copy and then go from there.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Absolutely, I can't revise what's not written. It's so true,
so true.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
There you go.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Oh, I love that Christina, thank you so much for
being here today. Your book series are They're amazing, Red one,
I got to move on to the next one.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
I need a little more time in my life to
be able to read now, I hear you.
Speaker 4 (26:21):
But they're so good, and I just hope everybody takes
a minute big exhale and just enjoy.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
So absolutely yeah. Escape, Yeah, it's an escape.
Speaker 4 (26:31):
Yeah, we could all we can all use an escape, right, absolutely,
all right, Christina, thank you so much, Thank you everybody again.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
You can find them on Amazon, and I hope you will.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
They're great.
The actual craft of writing was not something I knew.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
It's the characters. Like that's the important thing for me.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
I love a good character who has overcome difficulties, and
I didn't want to be like, Oh I wish I
had done, you know, And so as scary as it was,
you just gotta try.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
All Right, Welcome everybody.
Speaker 4 (00:23):
I am excited to introduce you to our guest today,
Christina Soul.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
She's an award winning author.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
She loves to read and she loves to write some
saucy romance novels.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
She's from right here, Liberty Lake.
Speaker 4 (00:36):
She's married, she got a great husband, two kids, and
a series of books, eight of them out now. And
I'm just going to start with this.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
You're ready for this? Christina? All right?
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Bookkeeper by day, saucy romance novel writer by night. So
stripper turned bartender meets golden boy. The only thing they
have in common is their belief in no commitments. When
a threat from her past reappears, there're no strings. Affair
takes a turn into uncharted territory.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Hi, Christina, how are you? Thank you for being here today?
Speaker 2 (01:13):
For having me?
Speaker 4 (01:14):
Okay, so you wrote your first book in two thousand
and five thousand and five, two thousand and five, Yes, okay,
and walk us through the journey.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Well, I never really wanted to be a writer. It
was not really like even on my radarm. And then
in two thousand and five, we're in our mid twenties,
pre kids, pre weddings, pre all that stuff, a bunch
of us living in Seattle downtown at a dive bar,
and a friend comes to us and says, hey, there's
this National Novel Writing Month thing in November. You write
(01:46):
a fifty thousand word book, and do you guys want
to do it? It's fun And I was like, oll that
that sounds like a great idition. No kids, no anything.
We had time on our hands. And so I did
it and I thought it was amazing, wonderful, and it wasn't.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
It wasn't. It's okay, And then so it kind of
caught the bag.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
And so after that, I had like this book that
I thought was great, and I'm like, well, I want
to publish it.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
How do I go about doing it?
Speaker 1 (02:14):
And back then in two thousand and five, it was
you know, querying agents and editors and the big houses
in New York and that kind of stuff, and I
knew nothing about that, and so I literally was like,
how does one go about doing this? And then I
went to a book signing by Nora Roberts, who happened
to be in the area, and she was like, someone asked,
(02:36):
you know, what's your advice for aspiring authors, and she
was like, join a writing group. Seattle's got a bunch.
And so I go home and I'm like, dude, do
you know? I look for the romance writing group and
there is one. I join it, and I quickly everyone
was so nice. I mean, I'm an introvert, and so
I go to this first meeting and it's like twenty
(02:57):
twenty five people all talking about their books, and I
feel like an impostor because you know, it's it's new,
and I just you know, they're they're welcoming and they're like,
here are you know, editing things, classes, that kind of thing,
and I quickly realized I didn't really know what I
was doing, but that's okay, you're right, and so I
(03:20):
volunteer for all the stuff with the writing group and
there is a conference where they fly in editors and
agents and you get a picture book and I was like,
oh my god, this is my opportunity. I'm gonna do it,
and I do, and Harlequin is like, oh yeah, send us,
send us your book and we'll take a look at it.
And again, back then, it was you. You go to Kinko's,
(03:40):
you print out your book, you bind it with the
rubber band, and send it snail mail. And during all
this time, you know, you wait for the response. And
then during this time, I joined.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
A critique group.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
And the critique group they are very kind, but they
also showed me that I didn't really like, I didn't
know what point of view was, like the actual craft
of writing was was not something I knew. And so
at that point I was like, okay, it's time to learn.
Time to take classes, you know, enter contests and all
(04:15):
that kind of stuff to really, you know, learn how
to actually write a book.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
So that's when you buckled down.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
That's when I buckled down. And then I spent the
next gosh years, years and years and years learning how
to write, how to you know, all all this stuff.
And in the meantime, you know, I had two kids,
I got married, we moved from Seattle to Spokane. Life happened,
and so before I knew it, like gosh, ten years
(04:44):
at best, I was going to say, so years had passed.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
Fast forward then to the two thousands, and you've got
the one. What's the do you say the name of
your first book?
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Well, the first book that I wrote during Nano Raimo
in two thousand and five. It was originally called take
My Hand, which whatever it was, it was, it was.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
What it was. That's actually a pretty good title.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
It was, but it didn't really match the book got it,
you know. And so at that point I had i'd
queried it, I had gotten rejected, and and I had
put it basically in the drawer and wrote another book,
which was eventually Redemption, And that's the one that I
ended up publishing. But the first book I wrote ended
up becoming shattered vouths like after REI like multiple multiple revisions,
(05:30):
and it ended up being like my my best selling,
like my workhorse kind of book.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
But after like years, after years.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
So again, fast forward to the two thousands, and who
were your inspirations?
Speaker 3 (05:46):
She brought up Nora Roberts.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Well, yes, so when I was all my whole my
whole life, I was a big time reader, you know,
from like the Berensteinbers to like Sweet Valley High, Christopher Pike,
Judy Booty, all of it, right, you know, Anne Rice
vc Andrews, a little bit of Stephen King, but he
was a little too scary for me. And so those
(06:09):
were the inspirations. And then I read you know, Danielle Steele.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
And Nona Roberts.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Yeah, I from did it.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Yeah, And from.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
There I was just like, oh, happily over rafters like
their characters.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
I mean there's a lot of you know, a lot
of people look down on.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
It like, oh, it's fluffy, it's this, it's that, but
it's there are stories of people overcoming there whatever and
getting happily over after. And if I'm going to read
for entertainment, I am the person who doesn't want to
read sadness and like depressing books. You know, Like if
I'm reading a book and I'm invested in these characters
(06:46):
and they all die in the end, I'm just like,
not my thing, right, There's like a place for that, yeah, absolutely,
but it's not.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
What I like.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Your escape books exact I like.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
And so I wrote the books.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
I write the books that I want read, you know,
ones that you have some really traumatic backstory, but they
overcome it together with the other person and their couple
and the found family and have their little happily ever after.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Okay, I have to know the process first of all.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
I want to ask where do you where do you
get your ideas from?
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Like, you know, where did those come from?
Speaker 1 (07:24):
They come from everywhere? Yeah, truly, Like I am not
a plotter kind of person. I just kind of go
with it. But it's the characters, Like that's the important
thing for me. And so like anywhere truly, Like for Redemption,
the heroin in that book, I was taking a class
(07:45):
by an FBI profiler who was doing in class for writers,
and he was talking about serial killers and how they
practice on runaways and prostitutes and that kind of thing.
And because he said because their throwaway and I was like, oh,
but they're not. And so I was like, well, what
if there was a girl who had a really rough
(08:06):
childhood who ran away and why doesn't she get her
happy young after?
Speaker 2 (08:12):
You know?
Speaker 1 (08:12):
And so that was kind of the inspiration for the
first character in the heroine in Redemption.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
I mean anywhere it's.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
And who doesn't love a pretty woman type story? Right?
Speaker 4 (08:25):
So tell me about your characters and your bugs. How
did they come to life?
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Very gosh, it's just one of those like they just
kind of take a life of their own. Like I
love a good character who has overcome difficulties, you know,
and they have everything stacked against them, but yet they
still get back up and they keep on going. And
(08:53):
like the guys, the girls side characters and that like
the family regardless of its like blood or found.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
You know.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
That's like a really big part of my stories is
the like the found family, and you can't do it
alone and you have to do it with your people,
and so.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
Yeah, and you learn to love these characters, right, they've
become part of your life.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
They do, They absolutely do. I was looking when I
was getting my books together today, I was.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Like, oh, I love these people.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
They're so good, you know, Like when I'm actually writing it,
they're not so much, but like afterwards, it's like I
appreciate them after the book is done.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
Okay, talk about that process, the writing of the book,
because you said, you know, you don't just sit down
and write one overnight.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
No, that would be so lovely, God, that'd be nice. No,
Usually it takes a good Like the fastest book I
wrote was in two months, but usually takes about two
to four months to get a good, solid first draft,
and then from there it's a lot of editing. I
have a friend that's a critique. I send stuff to
(10:01):
her kind of in in the process. She's like, oh, yeah,
that that doesn't not.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
It didn't last.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
I don't even know what you're talking about here, you know,
and you're like ah. And then so once I get
through her edits, I will do another round of edits.
And then I have these two beta readers who are
big romance readers, and I send it to them and
I say, tell me where you stop reading, tell me
what pulls you out of the story, or what I've
completely messed up, Just let me know. And then they
(10:29):
go through it, and you know, we do that, and
then I send it after those revisions are done, and
then I send it to the actual editor and just
wait and hope and hope it's not too bad.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Kind of thing.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
I don't think anybody realizes a process.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
There's a lot, and then after the editor there's a
true reader, and in between you do like well, I.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Do like a word.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Has like a read aloud thing, and it's something to like.
When you're looking at something, sometimes your brain tells you
what it what it wants to see, and then when
you hear it, you're like, oh, that's not the right
word at all.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
My bad.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
So there's that process too, and I mean it's a
long process from first draft to actually getting it out.
And then there's like the cover because I am an
indie author, so I published my own stuff, but I
have a whole team behind me, and so there's like
the cover designer, there's like the pr people.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
I mean, it's a lot.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
It's a lot.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
I'm very organized.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
You are. You are very organized.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
You have to be.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
You are the calendar with the stickers and the colors.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
If you have a to do list, it may as
well be a pretty to do it. That is my
whole thing.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
I love that. But you need that. You have to
be able to do this process.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
And then to set up the promo and all that stuff.
Everything needs to be done within you know, x months
beforehand and stuff.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
So so you talked about the kind of the process
of the characters and then the book cover itself.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
I mean, they're me, Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
I must say, I have two teenagers at home, and
so when I'm doing book covers, like my Head's an
Island series, has couples and most of the guys don't
have shirts on. And like, I'm in my office looking
at all these photos on like shutter or deposit photos
and that kind of stuff, and my kids will walk
by and they're like, Mom, what do you do is it?
(12:22):
They're like, oh, so embarrassed. It's fine, it's fine, it's okay.
But like I choose the photos and then I give
it to my cover designer and for the Heads and
Island series, I was like, it's Pacific Northwest Island, small town,
this is the couple. This is like I sun comp
like book covers, yea, Like this is kind of the
(12:43):
feel that I like. And then she comes back with
magic and I'm like, oh, thank you.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
And I don't think that.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
I don't think I've ever picked up a book and
thought about that process either.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
It's a process.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
And that was one of the reasons I also wanted
to do the indie publishing, is because you have control
over that. When control freak as you know, and like
you get to control all the stuff, you know, and
so that was it's stressful, but it's also a lot
of fun to be able to control that. And so
like from my latest book, the paperback is a discrete
(13:17):
cover with no people, no half naked anything on top
of the cover, and then the ebook cover has the
little couple on top. So publishing, I was just.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
I was going to ask you about the whole indie
process as opposed to what we all know is like
kind of that main line traditional traditional process. In the
indie process, I like the fact that you have more
control over but you're because this is your project, your
baby exactly. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Well it was also interesting is the people that, like
my cover designer also works with traditional publishers. You know,
she does designs for other things, as does my editor
and that kind of thing. So it's like you're still
getting the quality, but you're just you know, hunting the
clostic front versus the traditional route.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
And how about the titles, because your titles are great.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
That thank you title, my gosh, I'm.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
To and they're everything because that will draw it's your
eye when you're doing the whole book thing, you're like,
which when do I want I want that one?
Speaker 2 (14:18):
It was I have.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Some writer friends and literally they helped me move back
because I am awful at titles.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Just really, oh my gosh, awful.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Is that the difficult piece for it.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Is it's like the title and then the blurb on
the back is I think harder to write than the
actual book.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
Did you write this bourb on Gosh?
Speaker 1 (14:38):
I just read I shared it, and you went through
so many iterations.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
That's so good though, because you want to.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Like condense it with like some with some anticipation and stuff.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Well, it's like a tease, right, It's so hard to write.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
It's hard eighty thousand words condensed down to like one
hundred and fold pair and I just want to write
like it's really good.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Read it, I promise.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
What do you hope people get out of reading your books?
Speaker 2 (15:05):
You know, I think they're a good escape.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
I think I think there's a there's something we said
about reading a book where.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
The women are strong and the men are.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
All so strong and standing beside them and not necessarily
being the rescuer, but like you know, helping and being
a partner, being a partnership exactly, and a lot of people,
you know, there's a lot of nuts, I guess stigma
about you know, Oh, they're unrealistic. You know, men don't
(15:39):
act like that. I mean, that's really high expectations, and
I'm like, that's high. No, Like you should have high expectations.
You should want someone to be an equal partner to you.
And like writing that and having people like reach out
and say, oh, you know, I really loved how they
were together. That but just means everything.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
I was gonna it's really But with that said, I'm like,
what does your husband think?
Speaker 2 (16:02):
My husband? My husband's hilarious.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
He wanted to get a T shirt with some of
the covers and like wear them out on like boys' nights,
and I'm like, like the half naked.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Covers, Yeah, yeah, I could see him doing that.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Absolutely, No, He's so supportive, Like I would not be
able to do any of this without like him and
the kids really helping, because there's a balance, right, And
I'm not good at the balance because I have a
day job that it is really important to me, got
a family and finding the time to write all this
(16:41):
stuff and do all the things. I couldn't do it
without them because they do pick up so much slack
because you know, in the meantime, laundry still has to
get done, you know, dinner still has to be made,
kids still have to get picked up from practice, and
that kind of thing. So it's truly like like I
wouldn't be able to do it without them.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
Yeah, And I think so often we don't see that
that piece of the author have soheid in the curtain
really because you do have a busy life. You do
have two teenage kids who are all over the place,
so you're still trying to balance all of.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
That and it's it's not easy.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
And right when I think I have like a schedule down,
something changes, like a sport ends and a new sports starts,
and so everything changes and you're like, oh, OK.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
But absolutely, but they've all been so good.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
Yeah, well they're proud of you and watching you, you know,
kind of live your dreams.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
And it was important to me.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
This is gonna sounds super cheesy, but it was really
important to me because this was really scary, like publishing
a book that like really means a lot, publishing multiple
books that really mean a lot, it's really scary. But
I wanted to show them that you can you can
do scary, I mean terrifying, and because it's what you want.
(18:04):
It's like a dream that you have And I've said
it before, like no one's going to chase your dreams.
For you, like you have to go after it yourself
and life is short, right, and only get one shot exactly,
and you make And I didn't want to be like,
oh I wish I had done X, y Z, you know,
and so as scary as it was, you just gotta try, yeah,
(18:27):
I know, and it could have flopped completely, and it's
whatever I would have tried at least, you know, versus
not ever knowing.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
You didn't have to sit and wonder what is have worked?
Should I have done this exactly?
Speaker 4 (18:37):
I always told my kids, and I think this is
the same for you. It's like you gotta go do
the thing you can't do, yeah, you know, get out
of your head and go do this scary thing.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
You might surprise yourself.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
One like it's full of pitfalls because you're always going
to compare yourself to other people's success or whatever. But
it's like this is you when you got to stop
caring about other peoples things, you know. I mean it's hard, obviously,
but as I've gotten older, I'm like I've embraced that
a little bit more because it's like, this is my life.
(19:09):
These are you know, this is the example I want
to set, So I know.
Speaker 4 (19:13):
So with that said, do you have eight books right now?
Eight books?
Speaker 2 (19:16):
I do.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
I just started my third series.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
Okay, so you have the Spotted Dog.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Spotted Dog series, three books, three owner co owners of
a Seattle, Irish pub, and then we spin off to
the Hudson Island series, which there's a couple side characters
in the Spotted Dog that move over to Hudson.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
I was just gonna ask you to move over, okay.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
And then that's fictitious Pacific Northwest Islands, small town romantic suspense.
And then we stay for the third series, which I
just started. It's Hudson Security. So we've met these people
in the Hudson Island series and it's just a separate
spin off series.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
All right, So give me a spice level on this bug.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
I would say, like my series in general, on scale
of one to five chili peppers, I'm actually like a
two point five because there's like two scenes, maybe three scenes,
ten pages out of like three hundred. So it's it's spicy.
Some people will think it's very spicy, but in just spicy,
(20:17):
it's a middle spicy.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
It's like little spicy. It's a little bit.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Yeah, you's gonna have a little spice.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
That's what you're writing, you exactly so, but it's definitely
not Hallmarks.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
So there's nothing wrong with Hallmark. But this is more.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Yes, spicy, spicy.
Speaker 4 (20:34):
All right, let's talk about like spicy romance novels. There
are seriously having a moment.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Right now, you really are.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
And I mean romance has been really popular in general,
right you know, it's been like a real base for
traditional publishing or publishing in general. But like romance, like
Romanticy is like it's really like taking off. And I
just started reading Romanticy myself, and part of me is
like should I write something like that?
Speaker 3 (21:00):
But being on back up, what's romantic meantasy.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Is like like dragons and like like fantasy with romance
that kind of thing, and so it's a whole.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
I mean, it's very popular.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
I've been out of the game for it.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
It's really good and it's just I mean it's fascinating,
but like part of me really wants to write that
kind of thing, but I don't think I have the
discipline to create a world like that.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
And the people who've done it have done so well.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
I mean, it's so good and it's nice to have,
like any kind of good you know, romancy kind of
thing I think is good for everybody.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
Well, we all want to sit on the beach or
by the with a good romance novel.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Exactly.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
And if you haven't e book, you know, no one
sees the manchest covers.
Speaker 4 (21:43):
And it's very it's fun, you know, I'm reading a
very serious novel right now.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Absolutely, it's like, yeah, it's it's and like there's been
a growth I think of like indie romance bookstores, which
I think is really cool.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Like talk about those a little bit.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
I don't honestly, I don't know too much about it,
but I know that there there's like a couple romance
focus bookstores that have opened up around the country. And
I just think it's so fascinating that, you know, because
romance it has something for everybody. There's like amish romance
to like super super spicy romance, to everything in between
with like aliens and shape shifters and like historic and
(22:23):
all that.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Everything. There's something for everybody.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
And do you lame bed at night and these ideas
pop up? Do you have to get up right away
and write them down? Or how does that work?
Speaker 2 (22:33):
My phone?
Speaker 1 (22:34):
I email myself all the time. Like little like one
liners or little characters or that kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Absolutely, it's right next to my bedside.
Speaker 4 (22:43):
I was just thinking, I'm picturing like you're talking about
the Spotted Dog series and how a couple of the
characters go on to the Hudson Island series, and so
how the picking and the choosing, picking.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
And the choosing.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
It's like when I write a book and I'll have
the side characters, when the side character wants to take over,
and I'm like, oh, we need to put you aside
and hopefully give you another story somewhere down the road.
And then I've also had people reach out and they're like,
does such and such get a story? And I'm like, no,
but maybe maybe they will. Apparently this character has resonated,
(23:16):
so maybe they.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Will get a story.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
Oh that's interesting.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
It's really fun.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
Yeah. I never thought about people like reaching out and
going what happened to this character or what's going to happen.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
The reader reaching out thing is probably the most surreal
thing of this whole process. Like people. I mean, I
love the people that I know who read my books.
I think that's wonderful and amazing. But when you have
people that I don't know who live in like the
opposite side of the country. They're like, oh my god,
I've read your book and I loved it. I'm like,
what's like, it's so surreal.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
That's where you're like, I'm here.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Absolutely, it's absolutely crazy and it's like absolute country moments.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
It's really wonderful.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
So where can people find your bugs?
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Wait?
Speaker 1 (24:00):
All the ebook is exclusive to Amazon, and so you
can get that on Amazon. The paperbacks are also available
on Amazon, Barnesandoble dot com, Target dot com. I believe
to you, but yeah, and then I'm also in Kindle Unlimited,
which is Amazon subscription program, so like you pay I
(24:21):
don't even know how much a month, and you can
read as many books in the that's registered for the program.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
And so I'm on there too.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
What do you see for the future? I have? So
how many storylines do you have? Line Depp? Right now?
That's what I learned.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
So the Hudson Security series just started. I put the
first book out last month, and I'm writing the second book,
and I have either two or three more in that
series that's going to come out. I'm doing another book
this year, hopefully two or three next year, and then
as I'm writing this current book. The heroine has like
(24:55):
four brothers who live in a small town around Bellingham.
I'm like, guess what, They're gonna get books too, So
I've got the production thing.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Yeah, you too lined up for future So yeah, you're.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
The next Daniel Steele. Yes, oh, I can see it.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
That would be amazing.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
Do you have any advice for people out there who
have thought, I have this story in my head, I
want to write this book.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
I've you know, write it, absolutely, write it.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
And it won't be perfect the first draft.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
I mean it will be, but you know, you can
edit it and then you can learn, like if you
can submit it to traditional publishers and try to get
an agent and that kind of thing, or you can
publish it yourself, you know. But if you publish it yourself,
you know, there are steps for whatever genre you're in,
you know, And I mean, just do it. Don't be
(25:51):
afraid of like of like what if what if I've
always I've always wanted to write a book, Then do it.
Speaker 4 (25:58):
Yeah, absolutely, right the crummy copy and then go from there.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Absolutely, I can't revise what's not written. It's so true,
so true.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
There you go.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Oh, I love that Christina, thank you so much for
being here today. Your book series are They're amazing, Red one,
I got to move on to the next one.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
I need a little more time in my life to
be able to read now, I hear you.
Speaker 4 (26:21):
But they're so good, and I just hope everybody takes
a minute big exhale and just enjoy.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
So absolutely yeah. Escape, Yeah, it's an escape.
Speaker 4 (26:31):
Yeah, we could all we can all use an escape, right, absolutely,
all right, Christina, thank you so much, Thank you everybody again.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
You can find them on Amazon, and I hope you will.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
They're great.
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