Anita
This week, the Scribbler welcomes sisters Anita Dawes & Jaye Marie. Two accomplished authors who share many things – a popular website, a passion for writing, a love of detective thrillers, supporting authors and having fun.
It’s a pleasure to have them as guests
this week. Read on to discover more.
Take it away, Ladies.
When Allan asked us to write a post
for his website, we thought we could tell you how we began…
8 years ago, when we first started
hearing about indie publishing, we never thought for a moment that it could be
something we could do, as the thought of anything complicated to do with a
computer, apart from playing solitaire, that is, filled us with dread.
I had been writing for years and
submitted my work to most of the mainstream publishers. Very nearly made it
too, but as they say, a miss is as good as a mile! Which was a shame, for many
people liked what I wrote.
It didn’t take long for the idea of
doing it ourselves to take root in our imagination and became something we were
determined to do. So, I enlisted the help of my sister, Jaye, as she is far
more computer literate than I and much more stubborn too!
What Jaye had to learn was incredible,
and unbelievably hard. I tried to keep up with her, but there were days when
she was pulling her hair out. Some of it was easy, which tended to lull us into
a false sense of achievement, but we persevered.
Eventually, we learned how to upload
manuscripts to Amazon, and I was finally a published author (well, sort of).
Then something strange happened. Jaye
began to write too. She had always been content with her many hobbies and to
edit my work, but writing gets into your blood. Different characters started talking
to her and before we knew what was happening, there were two writers in the
family!
Learning how to do all of that was a
nightmare, but soon, our books were on Amazon, and we were like a couple of
Cheshire cats. We soon discovered that this was only half of the battle. Apparently,
we needed a platform, a reader friendly website to promote our books or they
would remain in limbo. Well, we managed to create a passable website and over
the years we have established a presence on the internet, and we have met so
many lovely people along the way. Not that this is the end of the story, there
is no way you can rest on your laurels (that’s if you even have some!)
Now, we are learning all about
marketing, and this might be the straw that breaks both our backs!
Even if nothing monumental comes from all
our efforts, we know we have tried our hardest. But whatever happens (or
doesn’t!) we won’t stop writing, that’s the fun part!
Anita's Biography
She has written six fiction novels in various
genres, Bad Moon, Simple, Secrets, The Scarlet Ribbon; Let it Go and Not My
Life. Presently working on a sequel to her popular supernatural romance, The
Scarlet Ribbon.
Anita has recently rediscovered her childhood love
of poetry and often writes and posts them online, which is how this book came
about.
Once owned by an egocentric black and white cat
called Merlin, named after her favourite hero, Anita hates computers with a
passion and prefers to write longhand, sharing the website Books & Bonsai with
Jaye Marie, who transcribes and edits her work...
Jaye’s Biography
She enjoys reading many different genres, so was surprised to discover a passion for writing detective thrillers. Four of them to date, with more to follow.
For all you wonderful readers and visitors wanting to discover more about Anita & Jaye, please follow these links:
Email: jenanita01@btinternet.com
Website: https://jenanita01.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaydawes2
Facebook: https://anita.dawes.37
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/doubletrouble44/
Goodreads: https://goodreads.com/author/show/6586480.anita_dawes
Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anita-Dawes/e/B0034NUE10
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/anitajaydawes
Bloglovin: https://www.bloglovin.com/v2/own_profile
Thank you ladies for being our guests. Wishing you continued success with your stories.
Lovely post... I feel that I have known Jaye and Anita for so many years but lovely to see them here together and learn something new...thanks Allan..
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Sally. Interesting beginnings.
ReplyDeleteLovely to see you here too, Sally. Bless you!
ReplyDeleteA great post, ladies. I am always interested in how other writers go about this business. Thanks for hosting Anita and Jaye, Allan.
ReplyDeleteSo nice to learn about Anita's and Jaye Marie's journeys, here, Allan. I've followed them for years and will vouch for their books. I have one from each waiting in my kindle for reading this summer. Yay. Have a great day, all three of you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the nice comment, D.
DeleteThanks for visiting, Robbie. It's always neat to find out how people got started in their writing journey.
ReplyDeleteFab interview. It was great learning more about our sister writing friends duo. I had to laugh as like Anita, I'm a dinosaur and write everything in longhand first too. <3
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by the Scribbler, Debbie. I have to stick to my keyboard, I have terrible handwriting.
DeleteBeautiful post. Thank you, Allen. Through you, I've learned so much about Anita and Jaye. Lovely, lovely writers and human beings. 💗
ReplyDeleteInteresting ladies, indeed. Thanks for visiting Gwen.
DeleteOne of the most fascinating aspects of writing is hearing about any writer's path. I love that Anita and Jaye persevered and were a support system for one another. It takes heart and courage to face new challenges. As a late bloomer to writing, I am encouraged by anyone who makes their dream come true. Thank you, Allan, for the interview. I wish Anita and Jaye continued success and patience in trying to conquer the technological challenges that are thrown our way.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the nice comment, Pete. Like yourself, I came to writing later in life as well and so happy I did. Thanks for visiting.
DeleteGreat interview so lovely to learn more about Anita and Jay's journey :) x
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to stop by, Carol.
DeleteThank you very much for a very interesting interview. Best wishes, Michael
ReplyDeleteThanks for the visit and comment Michael.
Delete