Patricia D. Eddy doesn’t know how to relax. Really. She’s tried. But between a full time job, running, cycling, swimming, writing, reading, and the occasional movie or trivia night, it just doesn’t happen. Despite routinely telling her mother that her life is boring, what she really means is that she doesn’t have enough free time to get bored. She wouldn’t have it any other way. She lives in Seattle with her husband and three cats. She has been known to participate in clandestine coffee bean exchanges in corner shops and is happiest when she’s mixing the perfect Manhattan.
And now I get nosy...
And now I get nosy...
Do you write as yourself or under a pseudonym? Why?
I write under my own name. I have a number of tech books published and so I never saw much need to hide what I do from a fiction perspective. I’m proud of what I’ve written and I don't see a need to hide it. That said, I’m toying with some…darker pieces and I haven’t ruled out a future book being published under a pseudonym.
What made you want to be a published author?
I suppose it would have to be the joy I get from books. A book can take you away to a whole other world and there are times when I think we all need that desperately. So when I first started being able to finish a complete story (this took me a while…years in fact), I realized that I had the possibility to do that for someone else. I could make someone I’d never met before happy. I could help reduce their stress. So why not? Especially with how easy self-publishing can be.
What genre do you write in and why?
I primarily write paranormal romance. I didn’t set out to write romance. I actually wanted to write mystery/fantasy/thrillers. But it seemed that whenever I tried to write, my characters would end up falling in love and having sex. I’m fascinated by the process of falling in love, the uncertainty, the passion, and of course, the sex. After my first book, when I realized that the sex scenes were some of my favorite to write, I started to accept what it was that I was doing and just go with it. I’m still hoping to release some books that don’t involve sex at some point, but for now, I’m going with what feels right.
If you could talk to your 12 year old self, what advice would you give?
I’d tell 12 year old me that she should spend more time writing and less time telling herself that her writing wasn’t anything she would ever do professionally. I’ve been writing stories since I was maybe 8 years old. I’ve always had them in my head. But at some point I decided that living in my head like that wasn’t appropriate and I stopped for a long time. It wasn’t until I was closer to 30 that I really got back into writing and accepting that these scenes that would float into my head at random times weren’t unwanted intruders but something I could work with. They became something I embraced even.
Have any other authors influenced your writing through theirs?
I read a lot. A lot. And I will read almost anything. There have only been a couple of books that I picked up and didn’t finish in the past ten years. I can find good things to say about almost every book I’ve read. I’m not sure that I’ve been overly influenced by any particular writing style. I think I take a bit of influence from all writing styles. But I will say that my decision to take the plunge into self-publishing was probably started by Lindsay Buroker. She’s one of my favorite authors and she’s an indie author. When I got a Kindle about 2 years ago, I asked friends for recommendations. One of them recommended the first Emperor’s Edge book. It was free, so I said, why not? It was probably the best book I’ve read…still is. Her characters are rich, flawed, and fantastic. She’s built a wonderful world. And her characters are funny. I really suck at writing humor. Her books are better than most of the traditionally published books I’ve read. So I think she was the one who really helped me to see that this was something I could do.
If you are a self-published author what made you take this route and what was your experience (good or bad)?
I love self-publishing. I went this route for a number of reasons. First of all, editorial control. No one tells me what I should and should not put in my books. I consider this a double edged sword. Sure, editors are great and honestly, I have a fantastic one. I listen to almost everything she says. But I’m free not to. I know some authors who go the traditional publishing route who’ve been told that they have to edit their stories to fit X, Y, or Z. I don’t have to do that unless I want to. I follow one traditionally published author on Twitter who at one point tweeted something along the lines of “I have the perfect ending for this book, but I can’t write it. It puts me over my word count.” I found that just heartbreaking. Sure, my books might be better (or more marketable) if I went the traditionally published route. But they wouldn’t be the same books and that would make me sad.
Also, I make a higher percentage on every sale going the self-publishing route. There was a study that was surfaced on Goodreads a few months ago that said a self-published ebook at 3.99 makes as much as a traditionally published ebook at 7.99. I want my readers to be able to get the book for 3.99. Not 7.99.
How would you rate your writing?
I hate this question. I think every author goes through phases where they think their writing is pure, unadulterated crap. I’m no different. But I know my stories, my plots, have promise. I can write decent sex scenes. My action scenes are passable. So I’d say I’m a fair writer. I can always improve. My writing is perhaps simpler, more straightforward than I’d like, but it’s also approachable. It’s also always evolving.
How do you react to poor reviews of your book?
Uff. It depends. There are reviews that say they don’t like the story or that it just didn’t speak to them and I’m fine with those. Not every book is for everyone. But then there are the reviews that are more vile or attacking. Those are harder to take. Note: I haven’t had any of those yet and I’m crossing my fingers that I don’t. But I dream about them. I had a dream just last night about a horrible review of my book. The reviewer was hateful and accusatory and outright lied (whoever it was said that I spelled naked wrong. Apparently in my dream they said I spelled it nacked). I fear the day that I get a review like that and I’m pretty sure that one day it’ll happen. My full time job is in tech and I’m very familiar with the concept of online trolls. Some people are just never happy and want to make sure the world knows it. So I fear reviewers like that. But if you just didn’t much care for my book? That’s ok. We can still be friends.
What influences your choice of book covers?
I’m fortunate to have a killer cover designer. I love her. She’s hit the nail on the head both times. I write strong female characters, so they are always the primary concern for me. I usually ask my beta readers if there are scenes that stand out to them in the book as particularly emotional or representational of what the book is about. From there, I’ll give my cover designer two or three options and see what she comes up with. She’s never disappointed me. She’s also amazing at finding models on the stock photo sites that fit my characters’ descriptions to a T. That said, my girlfriends and I do tend to have at least one alcohol and chocolate fueled evening spent at my dining room table looking through pages of hot men for the covers.
How do you balance your writing with your real world responsibilities?
I don’t sleep. Seriously. My best writing time is between 8pm and 1am. This is probably the hardest part of the writing process for me. The balance. I have words and scenes in my head all the time. I joke with friends that if I’m staring off into space, I’m likely composing a scene in my head. I carry a notebook with me all the time and I’ve been known to excuse myself from places, grab the notebook, and go huddle off in the corner for five minutes to jot things down.
I suppose the fact that I’m a multi-tasker and that my day job is rather analytical helps with the writing. I can really stretch those creative muscles at night. But it’s hard. I get…anxious if I get busy and can’t write for three or four nights in a row.
Do your characters drive the plots of your stories or do you plan out your plot?
My characters drive the plot. When I start a project, it’s usually because I’ve got one particular scene in my head. For example, for Secrets in Blood, the vampire novel coming out next month, I had this one scene in my head for a few weeks. The vampire was imprisoned behind silver and the human discovered him. She didn’t agree with why he was imprisoned and so she fought to free him. From there, it turned into a whole mystery that will span three books and cover prejudice, religious extremism, and love.
For Fates, I had an idea for a short little novella about abuse and recovery. It was going to be really raw and dark and I didn’t even think I was going to publish it. I just wanted to write it for me. But then it evolved and softened a bit. I toned the abuse down. I added more characters. And then one of my beta readers suggested turning it into a full length novel. And that’s how that series was born.
For Fates, I had no outline at all. For Secrets in Blood, I did outline once I had that first scene down. The second two books in the Fates trilogy are already outlined and I will start writing them soon.
Do you ever write what you dream? Give an example.
Oh yes! I was staying with my parents for a few days last year and I had this vivid dream about a woman baking bread. Someone came into the kitchen where she was working and threw a bowl of flour at her. It hit her and bruised her cheek. She then kicked the guy’s ass. But another guy came in the room right afterwards and got all alpha male “who bruised you?” with her and she told him it was none of his business. From there, it evolved into this novella that’s about halfway done in a post apocalyptic Las Vegas.
Do you market yourself or pay a professional?
I pay for editing and cover design. Not marketing. When you’re starting out, you don’t make a profit if you want to have your work professionally edited, so I can’t afford to pay someone to market the books for me too. But I think that I’ve learned a lot with the first book and the second should be a lot smoother.
What are your tips for editing?
Tips? I'm not sure I have tips. I don't edit like "they" say you should. I keep hearing advice to write first and edit later, but that just doesn't work for me. I tend to write a chapter, sleep on it, go back and edit it, then write another chapter. Shampoo, rinse, repeat. I do think that you need to give yourself a deadline or you'll never stop editing. I take notes while I edit in Scrivener's project notes section so that I can keep all of my changes straight.
What inspired you to write your current WIP or current published work?
I honestly don't know! By the Fates, Freed was started on a very bad weekend for me. I had some personal stuff going on that was overly stressful and those are the times when I feel the need to write the most. I just sat down in the middle of a movie theater (it was during a film festival and I was hanging out in an empty theater for an hour before the show) and started to write. It was an escape for me. I think I finished the draft in about 3 weeks. I don't recommend having a really stressful life event in order to get inspired though.
For Secrets in Blood I wanted to write something modern and I knew I wanted to explore vampires, but I didn't want to do it the way everyone else did. I didn't want the vampire to be the one in control. In this work, it's the humans who are in control for most of the book. I also didn't want to follow all of the standard vampire canon. My vampires can walk in the sun, eat garlic (and other food), and most have no desire to sire another vampire.
Do you prefer to write stand-alone novels or a series? Why?
I prefer series. I spend so long with the characters in my head that I just have a really hard time letting them go. I feel like I know them by the time I’m done and to let them go after a single book…it seems cruel. To them and to me.
If you could change one thing in the publishing process what would it be?
I've had a really great process overall. So not much. I suppose better communication over sales would be good.
What advice would you give to a new author?
Write! Write, write, write, write, write, write. You're going to write crap at first. You're going to make mistakes. Find a good network of beta readers. Don't JUST rely on friends, or if you do, make sure they know what you need from them. I had to tell my friends that they needed to be harsh. They had to give me honest, real feedback, not stroke my ego. And get a good editor.
Share a favourite quote from your book.
This little exchange tickles me every time I read it. It’s in editing now and I really hope it stays in.
“Where could you possibly get the idea that I hated you?” Evangeline asked.
Nic practically growled his answer. “From you! ‘I’m not a fucking vampire’. Those were your words. Clearly fucking a vampire doesn’t translate into caring for one.”
Tell me something quirky about yourself?
I’m an amateur bartender. My husband and I have a well-stocked bar and our friends tend to congregate at our house because of this. I’ve been told that I make a better Manhattan than just about anywhere in town.
And: Favorite writing related quote:
“Writers turn caffeine and alcohol into words.”
An ancient prophecy. A tortured witch. A powerful warlock protector. A devil clan, desperate to stop the prophecy from coming to pass.
The devils bind the witch, taking her name, her voice, and her magic. Shackled inside the cold, stone walls of the devil’s prison, she prays for a death she knows will not come.
The warlock has always felt unfulfilled. His casual promise to his king’s Council results in a life-changing discovery. The imprisoned, nameless witch is his mate — the one witch he is fated to love for all eternity. He must free her or his very life will be over.
Freed, the witch must learn how to trust again. But the kind warlock with the face of a dark angel is hiding something — a secret that will give the witch the strength to help her to fulfill her destiny.
As she comes into her power, she will discover a pure truth that allows her to save herself and the man she loves.
This is the first book in the By the Fates trilogy.
Warning: This book contains disturbing and potentially offensive scenes including forced imprisonment, rape and physical and mental torture. Suitable for adult audiences only.
The warlock has always felt unfulfilled. His casual promise to his king’s Council results in a life-changing discovery. The imprisoned, nameless witch is his mate — the one witch he is fated to love for all eternity. He must free her or his very life will be over.
Freed, the witch must learn how to trust again. But the kind warlock with the face of a dark angel is hiding something — a secret that will give the witch the strength to help her to fulfill her destiny.
As she comes into her power, she will discover a pure truth that allows her to save herself and the man she loves.
This is the first book in the By the Fates trilogy.
Warning: This book contains disturbing and potentially offensive scenes including forced imprisonment, rape and physical and mental torture. Suitable for adult audiences only.
Sooooo what you waiting for??? Go and buy it...
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