Meet SCi Fi and Paranormal Romance author, Veronica Scott

Meet Veronica Scott , best Selling Science Fiction & Paranormal Romance author and "SciFi Encounters" columnist for the USA Today Happily Ever After blog. Veronica has nine books and two anthologies up on Amazon. 

 Veronica Scott grew up in a house with a library as its heart. Dad loved science fiction, Mom loved ancient history and Veronica thought there needed to be more romance in everything. When she ran out of books to read, she started writing her own stories.

 Thanks for having me as your guest today!

 You're most welcome, Veronica.

I love firsts, so tell me about the moment when a publisher told you they wanted to publish your book. 

I’d submitted a paranormal romance novella set in 1550 BCE Egypt to the Carina Press slush pile in mid-2011, because they’d put out a call for ancient world romance. Sometime in August, Angela James called me to say they’d like to publish Priestess of the Nile and I was so incoherent on the phone with amazement and joy, she finally laughed and said, “You did want us to publish the story, didn’t you?” Later she told me that they typically only made offers on 3% or so of stories that came through the slush pile. So it was a dream come true for me.

 Love that story. My heart feels happy.

When did you decide to move to self publishing?

I’d written Wreck of the Nebula Dream, a science fiction novel loosely inspired by the sinking of Titanic, but set that aside to concentrate on working with Carina on the Egyptian romance. Then I realized 2012 was the 100^th anniversary of the Titanic sinking, and I didn’t want to miss getting my book out there. It was too late to submit the manuscript to anyone – even Carina – and get it published by March, so I went independent! Hired a freelance editor, copy editor and formatter, got a cover and got the book out there in about three months. Since then I’ve independently published three more scifi romance and three fantasies set in ancient Egypt. I love the freedom of running my own tiny publishing business. Although Carina was excellent to work with and I learned so much from them!

How did you find your cover designer? I have two – Frauke Spanuth of Croco Designs does the Egyptians. Carina asked her to do Priestess of the Nile, and so she and I have collaborated since then (except for one book that she couldn’t work into her schedule). Fiona Jayde does my science fiction romance covers, and a friend of mine originally suggested I should talk to her. I love both!

 Fiona Jayde did the cover for my book, Time and Forever. I love her work.

What’s the best thing about Self Publishing? I love being able to write whatever I feel like writing, and publishing on my own schedule, which is much faster than even a nimble traditional or e-book publisher can do.

The Worst? I’m not sure there is a ‘worst’ for me. I enjoy the business aspects of being an independent! I’ve been able to quit the day job and write fulltime as of this year, so it’s hard to say anything negative LOL. Maybe that when a book gets pirated, I don’t have the full weight of someone like Harlequin (which owns Carina Press) to deal with the problem for me.

Other than your own, who are your favorite (heroes/heroines/writers) in your genre? My must-buy is always Nalini Singh, with her Psy-Changelings series. I’m also a huge fan of Rachel Bach, with her Paradox series. In fantasy I love Jeffe Kennedy with The Twelve Kingdoms series and Grace Draven’s Radiance.  And of course my early favorites (and inspirations) as a reader were Andre Norton and Anne McCaffrey.

 I got two Nalini Singh books at RWA and am looking forward to reading them. I loved Andre Norton and I think almost everything Anne McCaffrey wrote is on my keeper shelves. I usually re-read some of hers once a year. (If you are reading my posts regularly and thinking I have a lot of Keeper shelves, you would be right. Stacked and double stacked. five floor-to-ceiling in the living room. Five more in the bedroom. I always know I am going to read them again.

What is your favorite pastime, other than writing? Probably reading! Or building Lego masterpieces with my grandson. And I do love researching all kinds of topics for my novels, especially the ancient Egyptian series.

I always ask. Feel free to ignore the question. Got a recipe you want to share? Panda Express Honey Walnut Shrimp….ohhhh, you mean that I make LOL. Not a big cook here, pretty much just the basics. 

Any advice for new writers just starting out? Write every day and don’t self edit and don’t self doubt on those first drafts. Get the words on the page and then you can revise and improve later. But if you don’t write in the first place, you’ll never finish the story you’re holding inside. Also, there’s no one right or wrong way to do anything in the author world, so figure out what works for you and your book. Agree!!!

Tell us about your latest release.  

I just released Star Cruise: Marooned, which has been doing very well thanks to the Readers! Here’s the story:

Meg Antille works long hours on the charter cruise ship Far Horizon so she can send credits home to her family. Working hard to earn a promotion to a better post (and better pay), Meg has no time for romance. 

Former Special Forces soldier Red Thomsill only took the berth on the Far Horizon in hopes of getting to know Meg better, but so far she’s kept him at a polite distance. A scheduled stopover on the idyllic beach of a nature preserve planet may be his last chance to impress the girl.

But when one of the passengers is attacked by a wild animal it becomes clear that conditions on the lushly forested Dantaralon aren’t as advertised – the ranger station is deserted, the defensive perimeter is down…and then the Far Horizon’s shuttle abruptly leaves without any of them.

Marooned on the dangerous outback world, romance is the least of their concerns, and yet Meg and Red cannot help being drawn to each other once they see how well they work together. But can they survive long enough to see their romance through? Or will the wild alien planet defeat them, ending their romance and their lives before anything can really begin?

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Star-Cruise-Marooned-Sectors-Romance-ebook/dp/B00ZZ0OCBS/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1056074421?ean=2940151450706

KOBO: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/star-cruise-marooned

Apple iBooks:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/star-cruise-marooned/id1008770954?mt=11

What’s your current WIP? I’m juggling several science fiction romances (two at the editor right now, and another one in progress that’s going to be the second in the Star Cruise series). I’m also writing an ancient Egyptian fantasy novella for an anthology. Never a dull moment!

I am so impressed. 

And finally, where can we find  you?

Blog: https://veronicascott.wordpress.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/vscotttheauthor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Veronica-Scott/177217415659637?ref=hl

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5428500.Veronica_Scott

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Veronica-Scott/e/B006CUCJ92/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1438533835&sr=1-2-ent

 Thank you for being here. I love your journey. I wanted to interview you ever since I saw you on a panel at The Flintridge Bookstore.

Veronica is giving away two combo prizes: A copy of Marooned and a copy of Ghost of the Nile as one prize together.
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