Book Tour AUTHOR INTERVIEW: S.E.Thomas, author of The Sixth Hour

Tell me a about yourself. What got you started in writing?

I started writing when I was very young – about nine or ten years old. I was a HUGE daydreamer and writing helped ground me—let me put my dreams down on paper and then let them go. I finished my first novel at age sixteen. Of course, it’s pretty awful… sounds like a sixteen-year-old wrote it, but it taught me that I could actually FINISH a manuscript. Until then, I had just written a couple of chapters of various projects, hit a wall, and then quit.

How and where do you write? Do you prefer a lap top or do you prefer writing freehand?

I write on a laptop in my living room in my favorite chair while my kids are at school. A good part of my “writing” involves wandering aimlessly about the house, standing in the shower too long, or driving between Montana towns.

What's your favorite part about writing? Your least favorite part about writing?

Writing releases me from the dreams and worries that haunt me and gives me a voice. I hate that people think writing is just a hobby and not real work. It’s actually very hard to do it well.

At Amazon

How do you come up with your characters? Why would readers want to get to know them?

My characters are often combinations of people I know—sometimes my kids, sometimes myself, sometimes friends. Other times I just make them up to provide contrast/comparisons with my main characters. I think my readers will want to get to know my characters because they will be able to identify with them. None of my characters are perfect. They struggle with doubts, temptations, and difficult situations, but there is always something to hope for, to strive for.

What types of marketing do you do to promote your writing?

I create book video trailers, plaster various social media outlets with memes and quotes and descriptions, place my books in local brick-and-mortar stores, promote them in my enewsletter, offer certain free products, ask for reviews, and, basically, pound the pavement for any way to get the word out.

How do you schedule your writing time? When do you write?

Writing is my job, so I work on writing or editing or publishing-related issues whenever my kids are in school (8:00-3:15) every day of the week. I also fit in time on the weekends and evenings if it doesn't interfere with my family life. (God and family come first!)

What are you currently working on? Do you have a new book out?

I am working on revising the third book of the “Scrolls of the Nevi’im” series—a Biblical historical fiction book entitled, “Habakkuk’s Plea: Elohim Answers.” I am also having a YA Dystopia novel edited and will soon be revising that while I write Book II of my “Holy Land Mysteries” series, entitled, “The Brazen Altar.”

My newest books are: “Habakkuk’s Plea: A Prophet of Elohim” and “Habakkuk’s Plea: Evil Persists.”

Do you have a project on the back burner? Tell me about it.

I want to write children’s books—particularly a children’s series that will teach about how Jesus fulfilled biblical prophesy.

What would you tell a beginning writer who wants to publish but doesn't believe he/she has enough talent?

Writing is a learned skill, just like everything else worth doing. If your desire is to write, then you will put in the time to learn the craft. “Talent” has almost nothing to do with it.  Nobody is born with such a skill. So, if I can do it, you can do it.