Interview with Jean Lowe Carlson

Today, I am excited to share an exclusive interview with another indie author who is close to my heart, Jean Lowe Carlson.  Jean and I have been friends since we were kids, and in many ways, she is like a sister to me.  So when she first started writing, I immediately became a number one fan.  When she published her first book, something clicked in me that said hey, I can do this too.  By following her dreams, Jean also paved the way for me to follow mine.  And for that, I am forever grateful.  So without further ado, here is a fun look at this up and coming author!

Jean Lowe Carlson

What made you decide to become an author?

I kinda slipped into it, actually!  Being an author was one of many creative things I wanted to be as a kid, but I never really got into it.  I’ve always read a ton of fantasy, horror, sci-fi, but for some reason never felt the bug to write it.  But then, I started writing down my dreams back in 2012 (which have always been fantastically epic and strange) and suddenly found I had nearly 100 pages!  Before long, I was working full-time, and coming home to write for hours every night.  In two years, I had over ten novels fleshed out, and a number of them finished.  It was about that time that I thought to myself, “Hey, maybe I should really give this a try.”  Boom!  Authoring bug acquired.  ;)

Where do you find your inspiration for your stories?

Many places, but mostly my dreams, meditations, Gaia TV, and the news site Futurism.  My dreams have always been out there (think Salvador Dali meets Lord of the Rings), and a number of elements in my books come from those.  I also do yoga and deep trance meditation, and the imagery and interactions I have with entities during meditation shape a lot of my characters as they move into the light by facing and embracing their darkness, then transmuting it.  And I am constantly fascinated by the content coming out on Gaia TV and Futurism, definitely media for an enlightened generation.

Have you encountered any major obstacles since you started writing?  How have you overcome them?

Yes, marketing myself has been a big obstacle for me.  When I first started, I really thought I could do this authoring thing by myself, you know, “the author in their cave” thing.  But the more I get into it, I find it takes a village.  Successful indie authors not only write great product, but they follow a code of altruism that is amazing, sharing and joining up to promote each other to their followers.  I didn’t know that for the first two years of my publishing career, and it made me think my books were no good because I wasn’t finding readers!  Now I know, that sharing is caring, and teaming up to do joint promotions and cross-promotions benefits everyone.  Readers read everything in their genre they enjoy, not one person’s books.  So share the love!

What is the most helpful technique you have discovered as a writer?

Write ideas down RIGHT AWAY.  Can’t stress this enough.  There have been so many times I got up in the middle of the night and jotted down a dream or idea, then came to find out later it turned into a full book, fast.  The worst thing you can do is stop that creativity stream before it starts.  Don’t even bother to flesh out something you’ve seen in your head in full sentences, just write down the imagery, the feel of the people, their emotions.  That gives a great start, and can lead to amazing places.  You can always revise it later, and you will.

If you could go back and give advice to yourself when you were first starting out, what would it be?

Don’t be afraid to grow.  If you keep going as a writer, it’s inevitable.  And when you grow, don’t be afraid to leave the past behind and move forward.  Don’t get stuck criticizing something you wrote a year ago, saying, “Man, I can write so much better now!” or “No wonder that idea didn’t sell!”  Just move forward.  Take good ideas and morph them.  I look back on the first series I published, The Three Days of Oblenite dark fantasy novels, and it was tough at first wondering why they didn’t sell as well as I hoped.  Then I took a good look at them, and though they’re fabulous stories with great characters, they don’t fit any particular niche.  I had to let that go, and just learn from it.  Don’t be afraid to face failures and say, “Well, that didn’t work.  Ok, let’s change it up and do this instead!”

What is the best advice you've received as an author?

Oh, man.  Best advice I probably ever received was from J. Thorn, a fantastic horror writer and friend (you can hear me narrating his American Demon Hunters audiobooks, coming soon to Audible!).  He got real with me about indie publishing.  It’s slow at first, and you gotta get connected and hone your niche.  He told me about his first year, where he sold like 11 copies total, of three books!  His admission of first-year failure inspired me to stop hiding my demons and start looking at them, because my first year in indie publishing wasn’t much better than his!  But now he’s regularly a top-ten horror author on Amazon, and my books are starting to steamroll with the Kingsmen Chronicles series.  I appreciate that he shared his failures with me, because it made mine ok.  I embraced them, worked through them, and then moved forward.  Like Luke Cage says, “Forward, always.”

What is the most rewarding part of writing for you?

Feedback.  I love when people come to me and say, “This changed my life.”  Not necessarily because my ego loves it (and it does), but because I love to hear how the journey of a character can inspire people to live a fuller life.  I once met a man who had read Tears from my Oblenite series, which features a very tender M/M love story.  He was 65, his wife had recently passed, and after he read that book, he said, “Jean, I think I’ve been gay my entire life and not really known it until I read your book.”  He started dating men and loved it, really blossoming as a person before he also passed away just a few months ago.  That’s what I’m talking about.  Real people, letting their hearts open because of a piece of fiction that calls to them.  That’s the magic.

What are you working on now?

Lots!  The second novel of my Kingsmen Chronicles epic fantasy adventure series, Bloodmark, is coming out March 20th.  The first novel was Blackmark, published in 2016, and is getting rave reviews, and I’m hoping to also get the third novel, Goldenmark, out this year.  I’m also working on narrating and producing audiobooks for authors J. Thorn and Marsha A. Moore (definitely check out their books – they are fantastic!).  I am also hoping to put out another novel in the next year, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi about a damaged world where people live underground, and the brilliant recluse of an engineer racing against an evil corporation to restore the surface to habitation.  Title TBA!

What are your goals for the next 5 years?

Get big, get known, get connected!  I’d like to be fully self-sufficient in 5 years, able to pay for my life and writing costs entirely from writing and audiobook proceeds.  I also want to build a big network of great indie fantasy and sci-fi authors (any of you reading this – contact me!), who promote each other’s work, join together for co-promotions, and help each other with book launches. Ultimately, I want to get in the top ten on Amazon, and with a little help from my friends (as the Beatles once put it), I believe it’s possible!

Where can readers find your work?

My website: http://jeanlowecarlson.com/  - If readers go there, they can get Blackmark, the first book of The Kingsmen Chronicles, free!  Think Game of Thrones meets Lord of the Rings, meets The Wheel of Time meets Outlander.  My books are also on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes, and I use Smashwords to distribute to Barnes and Noble, Kobo, iBooks, and a number of other retailers.  If readers join my mailing list from my website, I send out regular updates on new releases, announce giveaways, send freebies and cut scenes, and a whole lot more!

Thank you to Jean for coming over to my blog for this interview!  It has been fantastic to learn more about your writing process and share your story with my readers.