I only buy ebooks these days (house sinking under the weight of paper books!) but will definitely be buying yours when available electronically.

Combining humour with the paranormal definitely sounds a winner…..I’d love to meet a witch wearing a corset and riding a Harley Davidson! *g*

*Raises a glass of rum*
Heres to your continued success.
Bottoms up and down the hatch!

And, yes, I think I’ll always keep Donald Maass’s not-so-bad rejection letter. He obviously took some time to write it and that’s another thing that gave me confidence when it came to writing the next book. Like I said, I’d just love to run into him sometime and tell him what a difference his rejection made.

The two books collecting dust under my bed aren’t paranormal - one is a romantic mystery and the other leans more toward romantic comedy. I read widely and when I began writing, I tried a lot of different genres in order to find what I liked to write.

I don’t really worry about trying new ideas/genres in the future. Maybe I’m naive, but I believe there’s always room for a good book.

And, yes, those early manuscripts are a part of the process, at least they were for me. As far as auctioning them? Well, I’ll admit something to you here - I’m afraid to even look at them. What if they are better than I think? What if I haven’t learned as much as I imagined? I think that sometimes, the mere belief that we know what we’re doing helps us succeed as writers, and it’s very easy to shake that belief.

As far as where I find ideas for my worlds, it’s less about the supernatural and more about taking what I see everyday and giving it a twist. To me, if you start with the ordinary world, things feel a lot more real. I take what amuses me about life in general and use it in my books.

Although, I will say that I did give into temptation and used Demon Slayer to parody the genre just a bit. I couldn’t resist. Again, this came less from a research standpoint and more from a “I’ve read so many dark paranormals that I’d like to throw this in there and see if anyone notices.”

Most people read the book and never catch that nuance. But dedicated readers, as well as industry folks have picked up on it right away. I get these emails from reviewers saying, “Did you mean to…”

One agent wanted to sell Demon Slayer as the book version of “Shaun of the Dead”…with witches. I thought it was a neat comparison (especially since I love that movie).

But, really, I think the key for me (and for most writers) is to have fun with a book, draw on your experiences to make it truly unique.