Guest Author: NJ Walters

Good morning!

Today, I am honored to have NJ Walters visiting my blog. Read on for more about this awesome author.

NJ, author’s lives intrigue readers and other writers. Tell me about your typical daily schedule.

I get up in the morning, usually between 6-7:00 am. After breakfast, I make my commute to the corner of my living room where I have a small office nook. It’s the space where I’ve written almost all my books. Afternoons are spent on social media, promotion, emails, and the countless other things that go into having a writing career. Then it’s time to call it a day. Evenings I spend reading or watching television. I tend to take weekends off. And at least one weekday morning I’ll take myself out for breakfast. I know many authors work all the time, but I need the downtime in order to recharge.

Do you have a pre-writing routine to prepare yourself to get down to business?

The computer in the writing nook in the corner of my living room is not connected to the Internet. That is on purpose. I have a desktop computer in another room where I do emails and social media and everything else. So when I sit at my writing desk there is nothing else for me to do but write. It’s trained my brain to switch into writing mode when I sit in the chair.

What’s your writing style? Slow and steady? Quick and prolific? All over the place?

I’m slow and steady. I know a lot of authors who can write 10K a day and write 7 days a week. I admire them, but I would have burned out long ago if I’d done that. I write 4-5 days a week, when I’m working on a book, and I generally write anywhere from 3-4K at a time. I also tend to write one book at a time, start to finish. I don’t jump around at all.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned since starting work in this industry?

Remember that it is a business. Don’t take rejection personally. It’s tough and it does hurt, but you have to not let it get you down.

What are you working on now?

I’m currently working on a new series. I don’t talk about my books before they’re written. I find talking about them makes me lose the urgency to write them.

What’s your favorite genre to write?

I enjoy writing contemporary romance, but I have to say that paranormal is my absolute favorite romance subgenre to write. The possibilities are endless.

Do you have a favorite author or someone you look up to in the industry?

I have dozens of favorite authors like Nora Roberts, Nalini Singh, JR Ward, Jayne Ann Krentz, Shelly Laurenston… The list is endless. My goal is not to be like anyone else or to try to duplicate their success. I just try to make each book I write better than the one before. If I do that, I’m happy.

Tell me your writing story…when did you decide this was what you want to do? How long did it take you to get “the call”? When were you first published? Etc.

Like most teenagers, I wrote poetry, but never did I ever consider being a writer. I was in my early thirties when I wrote my first book. I’d been an avid reader and discovered romance in my late twenties. One day I decided that I could write a book, and I did. It had a lot of problems. I wrote another book and shopped both around. (This was the mid 1990s). When they were rejected, I put them away and forgot about writing until 2004 when I wrote a short book because of a contest I saw online. The book eventually was finished and published by Ellora’s Cave as Annabelle Lee (available now as Uncovering Annabelle). And the first two books I wrote? They were rewritten and became Discovering Dani and The Way Home, the first two books in my small-town contemporary Jamesville series.

How many books have you had published and for whom?

That’s something I’ve never really kept track of. I had to go and check this one. I wrote 50 for Ellora’s Cave before they closed. I had 32 with Samhain Publishing before they closed. Some, but not all, of these have been republished. The release of Wolf of her Own will make 5 with Entangled Publishing, who have published my entire Samhain backlist. I also have 1 original novella with Carina Press and have been in 4 Indie anthologies. So that makes 91 projects in all ranging from shorter stories in anthologies to 90K novels.

What is your goal as a writer?

To make every book I write better than the last.

What do you love most about writing?

Creating something where nothing existed before. It’s an amazing feeling.

What’s your latest release? Can you tell us about the book and how you got the idea?

Wolf of her Own is the next book in the Salvation Pack series. This one features an “older” hero and heroine, but since werewolves in this world have a lifespan twice as long as a human, they’re really in their prime.

Here’s the official blurb:

Mikhail Matheson may be an outsider in Salvation, but he stays with the pack to be close to his sister. It has nothing to with the fact that Elise—the most fascinating woman he’s ever laid eyes on—is part of the pack. Mikhail has wanted Elise for years, but being with her could cost him his life. Soon he’ll have to decide if he’s going to leave the pack or risk it all to pursue a place at her side.

After escaping her abusive mate, Elise LaForge has made a home in Salvation with her sons. She never expected to have her emotions stirred up by the always serious and seriously handsome Mikhail. But can she finally put her past behind her and dare to move on?

When danger creeps into the pack, both she and Mikhail have to be willing to sacrifice everything to have a chance at love.

What’s your writing space like?

As I mentioned earlier, it’s a small corner of my living room. I have a tiny desk, which is basically big enough to hold a desktop computer. I have a small shelf directly behind my chair. There is a folding screen in front of the desk and also covers part of the side. It’s a cozy little space.

What do you do when you’re not writing?

LOL I mostly read.

I’m all about ‘giving people something to talk about’. We all experience crazy things from time to time. Can you tell us something unusual that you’ve done or had happen to you?

Hmm…that’s a tough one. I’m pretty normal and a complete introvert. I am a huge hockey fan. (I’m Canadian, after all.) I’d been to Toronto where I’d taken in a Blue Jays baseball game since it was summer. While there, I visited the Hockey Hall of Fame, which was amazing. I was on my way back home and in an airport waiting for a connecting flight when two former hockey players from my favorite team walked by. I watched them play back in the 1970s. I actually got my picture taken with them.

Tell us… What’s your favorite movie and why?

That’s tough as there are a lot of movies I love, but my favorite regular movie has to be The Crow. I can’t count how many times I’ve watched it. My favorite Christmas movie is Scrooge (Albert Finney version.)

Is there anything else you’d like to share with readers?

I want to thank all the readers who have been a part of my journey these past 14 years. Your encouragement and support has meant so much to me. I wouldn’t be here without you.

Last questions…

Coke or Pepsi? Neither. I’m a water girl.

Summer or Winter? Definitely summer

Cat person or Dog person? Dog

Bronte or Austen? Bronte (Charlotte, not Emily)

Star Trek or Star Wars? I like both equally

Chocolate or Vanilla? Vanilla

Chips or Cookies? Cookies

Zombies or Werewolves or Vampires? Werewolves

Country, Classical or Rock? Rock

McDonalds or Burger King? Neither

Where can people contact you and find you online?