Author Carey Decevito Shares Their Story

About the Author
Born and raised in small town Northern Ontario, Canada, Carey Decevito has always had a penchant for reading and writing for as long as she can remember.

More than a decade later, with weeks of sleepless nights, where exhaustion had settled in to her everyday existence, she finally gave and put pen to paper (more like fingers to keyboard). She submitted to the dreams that plagued her insomnia. And the rest, as they say, is history!

Carey Decevito has two published works entitled Hot Communications and Once Written, Twice Shy which is part of a five-book series named The Broken Men Chronicles. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, the outdoors, traveling, and playing tourist in Canada’s National Capital region. When life gets crazy, she seeks respite through her writing and reading. If all else fails, she knows there’s never a dull moment with her prolific story-teller of a four-year-old daughter, her goofy husband and their two cats who she swears are out to get her.

What inspires you to write romance books?
I’ve read so many books of multiple genres over the years that my love for writing grew from that alone. I love a good HEA but not all of them need to be the one where the guy gets the girl or vice versa. My inspiration comes from the people I surround myself, the wants and desires that I have, that friends and family alike have shared with me over the years. It can be as simple as taking a walk alone, seeing another couple, a sweet and tender moment. Or my inspiration can come from a song I’ve heard on TV or the radio. Regardless, a whole novel doesn’t come from just one person, a single scene in a dream or a simple song–it’s a combination of the three and one heck of an imagination.

Tell us about how you write:
As I’ve said, my imagination is wild and when dreams begin to pop up, day or night (yeah, I daydream), I know it’s time to put those ideas down. I used to put pen to paper, over a decade ago but I now use my laptop.

When a new idea strikes me, I usually let it roll around in my head. Sometimes it takes a few minutes, sometimes a day or two, sometimes longer. I never start a new book without knowing how to start it and how I would like it to end. The in-between parts are what are the most fun for me.

I don’t write with a definite plot. I find that those can seriously hinder my creativity. I’m sure other authors can attest to this seeing as I’ve conversed with a few. When I write, I actually see the book unfold in my mind’s eye as if it was it’s own movie. It’s entertaining and just like a reader picking up a new book and being excited to read it, it’s how I feel when I first write it all out.

When it comes to emotions, if I don’t feel it, I don’t write it. Plain as that! I’ve had instances where I just wanted to slap my characters across the back of their heads, hug another for the horrors they’ve lived through, kiss the sweetheart of a man that suffered rejection and tend to the wounds of the child that cried for help and had none.

Seeing as I’ve declared that I like to fly by the seat of my pants when I write, I will also state that I do have a notebook and I do jot down notes. When my creative juices flow, it’s not infrequent for me to gain ideas for another work or something I may just want to include in my current piece.

Once everything is done and written, it’s edit, edit, edit! I can’t say it enough! Use Beta readers. Sometimes family and friends but to be honest, those opinions may not necessarily be fully to your writing career’s benefit since they love you and will support you no matter what and that may entail keeping a few things from you with regards to your efforts.

If you’re self-published, like me, learn the tricks of the trade with regards to media outlets, promotions, advertising and so on. The more effort you put into things, the better the return. I’m not saying not to go the traditional route. By all means, try it! You have nothing to lose really since you’re starting off not published at all and with the cost of email (nothing) and the few dollars in stamps, the worst you could get is a rejection. The best…well, need I say more?

Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Of course I do. All my characters are branches of me, friends and family of mine (yeah, even the villains to a certain extent). Sometimes I sit back, leave my fingers on the keyboard, close my eyes and visualize a complex scene, other times, the ideas strike so fast that I’m typing away, giggling or grumbling, feeling my heart break or melt as I get to it.

I put my characters into a series of complex situations and literally ask them/myself “So what are you gonna do to get yourself out of this mess?” kind of questions. Of course they don’t answer back in the conventional sense (I’m not crazy), but they do answer in the way that ideas come and I continue writing.

What advice would you give other writers?
Play hard, work hard, and DON’T give up!

By “playing hard” I mean enjoy how it feels to be writing something. Post it somewhere online where people can look at it for free. I know you’re thinking it’s ridiculous, you putting all of that time and effort into a book only to let it go for free. I truly have a point with this. If you post it on some site for free, readers discover it, they read it, they provide comments and feedback. It’s a great way to use the public eye as a soundboard, especially if you’re not sure if you have what it takes to appeal to the masses. You’ll make new friends, acquaintances, find some great free reads of your own and a client base that will support you if you make the jump to publishing!

By “working hard”, I’m talking about what comes after you’ve written your story. The first word that comes to mind…EDIT! I’ve written over a dozen books in the last 2 years (no, I’m not kidding). Not all of them are edited and I can promise you that chances are, not all of them will be published either. Editing is a crucial part of the puzzle here. No one wants to disperse funds on something that is filled with grammatical, punctuation, formatting and syntax errors. If you find yourself unable to “fix” your story, look into an editor. They can be pricey but if you find a great one, you’ll feel better. After all, your book is a reflection of you. Your name is on it, your blood, sweat, tears are in it. Those are your words, your thoughts and inspiration being presented to the public.

What I’ve come to realize, as a self-published author, is that hire out as much as you can within reason. Don’t go breaking the bank if you don’t have the right cash-flow. Hire an editor, use Beta readers (those are usually free since you give them a copy of your manuscript to read and comment on), learn to do graphics or hire that out so you have a fabulous cover, book trailers, banners and so on. Once those are tackled, you’re in need to work on media outreach. We’re talking Facebook, Twitter, a website or blog (or both but I’m warning you…if you’re the only one doing the work, you’ll feel overrun). From there, you’re looking for reviews, free and paid advertising and promotions, blog tours, using your personal connections (and this is where those people from that website you posted your story for free on, come in). If those freebie readers enjoyed your work, they’ll definitely want to read the new and improved version and they will support you. I’ve done it and reaped the benefits and I know countless others who have and have.

My final point…DON’T give up! Whether you’re self-published or you’re looking to be picked up by a publisher, don’t just submit to sometimes cruel criticisms–BUILD ON IT! One rejection isn’t going to kill you. If you’re lucky, you can speak about getting feedback. Your editor (if you hire one) can do that too and so can those friends, family, Beta readers, etc. I’ve edited a book over 20 times before and still wasn’t fully happy with it (okay, so I’m a little picky about my work…we are our own worst critics, are we not?) Keep at it! Submit to countless publishers but if you’re not interested and rather do the self-publishing, that’s alright too. It’s a matter of finding and discovering what is best for YOU! With that said, good luck to any of you aspiring authors out there as well as those of you who’ve made the leap!

How did you decide how to publish your books?
I decided to self-publish, not because I was rejected one too many times by a publisher. To be frank, I looked into both options. I will also say that just because one person tells you that your work is fantastic, doesn’t mean you should be putting it out to publishers or self-publishing it.

I’m very critical of my work and as a child and in my teens, I never shared my stuff with anyone but the four walls of my bedroom and the occasional teacher if I wrote for a particular assignment. When I discovered an online venue where I could remain anonymous and have the public read and comment, I gained confidence in my writing. I kid you not, I had 2 novellas written within months (November to January). One of those is self-published today.

What I mean to say is that publishing isn’t for everyone. I’ve met writers who are comfortable sharing their work with the public for free off of these said websites I’ve spoken about, others that confessed they write but would never share, some that play around the idea of publishing and only enter contests but don’t pursue anything further, others who’ve been picked up by publishers and some, like myself, who’ve chosen the self-publishing route.

On most days, I love self-publishing because I get to learn the ins and outs, the “hard” way at times. Yes, I do have those moments where I would rather just write a query letter, a synopsis and tailor my manuscript, send it in and say yes to the highest or most reasonable bidder out there where publishing companies are concerned but I haven’t. I might…but that’s me wanting to see and experience both sides of the spectrum. No one knows what’s best for them unless they do just that. Again…live and learn!

What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I won’t tear down either side of publishing and self-publishing. Whatever works best for the author is what works best. I do however find that writers often give up on the traditional route of seeking out a publisher which would include and editor, a cover creator, a promoter and so on because they think (they’ll say “they know”) that they’ll never be picked up and go straight to self-publishing. That’s self-publishing for the wrong reasons. Some are so quick to get their work out on the market and think they’ll be rolling in the cash overnight. NOT SO! It takes a lot of dedication, patience, frustration, blood, sweat and tears, not to mention a long time, to make it worthwhile for most. Those who are quick out of the gate to self-publish without doing market research, the editing, the cover and so on are setting themselves up for failure. I’ve come across far too many books that have had editing issues over the last little while only to see those authors quit writing because of nasty critiques entailing their lack of presentation. I can’t say I blame them since some can be harsh but I can definitely say that they wouldn’t have suffered the sting of those words had they done their homework.

What genres do you write?
Erotica, Contemporary Romance, Suspense/Mystery, Thriller, Paranormal

What formats are your books in?
Both eBook and Print

Website(s)
Author Home Page Link
Link To Author Page On Amazon
Link To Author Page On Smashwords

Your Social Media Links
http://www.goodreads.com/ItalRT4u
http://www.facebook.com/carey.writes
http://twitter.com/ItalRT4u