Interview with author, G.B. Miller

I'd like to welcome author, G.B. Miller to my blog today.

Bio

While working as a Payroll Clerk in state government back 2006 (and with a little encouragement from friends and co-workers), G. . decided to take up writing so as to make better use of his free time. Becoming fully immersed with his nascent second career, some six years later, he can proudly say that he is a published somebody, with two short stories, a self-pubbed chapbook and his commercial debut, Line 21.

G.B. lives in Newington CT with his wife Joanne, his two children and his pet cat Holly. Currently he divides his time between working for the state, and creating written mayhem in the cyber world and the real world.

Tell us something about yourself and how you became a writer:

I am 47 years old and a worker bee for the state of Connecticut, and unlike most writers who probably knew what they wanted to do, I didn’t start writing until about six years ago. Prior to that, most of my creative energy was done verbally and the pen was put to paper only for business purposes. The only reason I decided to write was because I was going through a personal crisis and the easiest (and safest)  way to survive that crisis was to write.

Tell us about your novel?

Jeannie Mitchell was deep in debt to her uncle the loan shark, and the only way she could get out of debt was to become an adult movie star. However, she did have some concerns and after voicing them to her symbiont sister, Aissa, she bravely stepped into a world that catered to the hidden desires of both sexes.

 

Line 21 tells the dual story of the trials and tribulations of a vivacious young woman who tries to straddle the line between illicit excitement and the moral high ground, and of her symbiont sister, who yearns to be flesh and blood.

What have you had published to-date?

To date, I have two short stories published: Cedar Mountain, which was published in the e-zine “Beat To A Pulp” (www.beattoapulp.com) and Red Stripe, published in The Cynic Online Magazine (www.cynicmag.com), and I have one self-published chapbook called Betrayed (booksbygbmjrofct.blogspot.com).

Tell us a little about your road to publication. Was it a long one? Do you have an agent? In your opinion are they even necessary?

The road for publication of this novel was about average, that from the first word written to the release of Line 21 was a little over 2 ½ years. The writing itself took about nine months, and the querying took almost a year. I signed with Solstice on my 13th query.

I do not have an agent, and in my opinion, if you’re writing in a genre that is popular/hot and you want to stand out from the crowd, then an agent is your best bet, especially if you’re gunning for a well known publisher. Otherwise, if you’re aiming for something a little more personal, like a small to medium sized publisher, then an agent probably isn’t for you.

How much of the marketing do you do?

I’m doing most of it. Since being commercially published is a new experience for me, I’m kind of doing baptism by fire. I’ve already picked up a lot of do’s and don’t’s when it comes to marketing, so at least I’m not stepping into this blind.

Anything you’ve found to be particularly helpful in marketing your book?

Word of mouth helps, as well as having a solid portfolio of what you’ve written, be it blog posts, short stories or even another novel or two. My blogs have helped me throughout the years, and I’m just getting my feet wet with other social media, as well as a trailer on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gRGBeFSwUI)”

Where can readers find you?

I can found at my main blog Cedar’s Mountain (http://cedarmountainnewengland.blogspot.com), and I can be found on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/gbmjrofct).