Why did you become a writer? I became a writer because I wanted a change in my life and to try something new. I had five years experience as an administrative assistant but I hated the rigid schedule of the corporate world. I wanted to work from home, so I came up with the idea of starting my own business. Although I had a plan with goals that took me about a year to accomplish before launching into entrepreneurship, I kind of morphed into a writer. I started out offering virtual administrative services as well as writing. The next thing I knew I was doing more writing than admin work, so I began to pursue more writing opportunities.
Was it a dream of yours since you were younger or did the desire to write happen later in your life? I have enjoyed writing all my life. This is a natural fit for my personal interests and career skill set, but I never dreamed of being a writer when I was young. I wrote songs and musical scores when I played keyboards and taught piano for more than 25 years, but I didn’t start writing for clients until 2003 when I started my free-lance writing and editing business. I wrote short stories for and about my children, but I didn’t attempt to publish any of my writing until 2004 when I self-published my first book, Email Episodes ~ A Hilariously Honest Look at Life.
What do you love about being an author? It’s hard for me to separate being an author from being a free-lance writer. I enjoy both but there is a big difference in writing for clients and writing my own material for publication. I love being able to share my knowledge with others—part of the teacher in me—and writing my own books is one of the ways I get to do that. Being an author gives me opportunity to be a guest on many talk shows. Getting feedback and reviews for my books is fun and it helps me grow personally.
Is there anything you dislike? There’s nothing I dislike about writing my own books. I’m very task oriented and I like to finish what I start, so I do get a little frustrated when my clients do not take their writing project seriously. Their reluctance to respond quickly to my phone calls or emails slows down the progress I could be making with new clients. Right now, I’m writing/editing four books—that’s a typical workload for me. I have people waiting for me to complete my current projects so I can start on theirs. Fortunately, I have a wonderfully competent team of writers and editors that I can send clients to so they don’t have to wait as long.
Please tell us about your latest release. What inspired it? My latest release is a full-color printed book called The Sid Series ~ A Collection of Holistic Stories for Children (ISBN: 9780982572207). The Sid Series is a collection of 12 body-mind-spirit stories that give insight on some relatively mature subjects such as recycling, being who you really are, overcoming the fear of storms, helping others, listening to one’s inner guidance, caring for the body, accepting and appreciating diversity, dealing with family change, and coping with the death of a pet. See http://TheSidSeries.com
I began writing The Sid Series when my grandson, Sidney, was very young. The stories were inspired by things we did together. I typed the stories into a Word doc, and would later read the stories to him while he sat on my lap in front of the computer. He wanted pictures to go with his stories, so I attempted to illustrate them and bring them to life with colored backgrounds. When I had all twelve stories written and illustrated, I published them through Lightning Source. At almost nine years old, he has excellent reading and writing skills. He helped me write the last story in the series.
How do you balance your personal and writing time? I put in a lot of hours each week, but I’m very organized. I have always been able to set priorities and reach goals. I use a daily planner and Allison Maslan’s online goal tracking software (http://tinyurl.com/AFFBlast) to list everything I want to accomplish each day. I may take several breaks, go for a walk, or even babysit one of my grandsons, but my to-do list keeps me reminded of what I need to accomplish before I call it a day. Thankfully, my husband is very supportive of my goals and understands that my business requires a lot of my time and attention.
How do you write? Do your characters come to you first or the plot or the world of the story? Most of my writing is non-fiction so there are no characters unless I’m editing the fiction work of my clients. Those characters are already in place and I simply help develop them.
What genre(s) do you write? I write mostly non-fiction such as self-help, science, medical, and spirituality. I have written a humorous memoir (2004), a book on death and afterlife (2005) , a book on stem cell research (2007), an e-book about online marketing (2008), a children’s book (2009), and a book on bipolar disorder that I co-authored with Angela Grett in 2006.
Why do you write the stories that you write? I write on topics that I am passionate about. I was entrenched in religious dogma for many years. Now that I’ve broken free from it, I am happier than I’ve ever been in my life. I hope that my writing will help someone else break free from whatever belief system they have that limits them, and start living an authentic life of true joy and peace.
Do you have any advice for beginning writers in regards to writing a book? There is a lot of marketing and buzz building you can do while you are writing the book. I typically start a blog when I am writing a book of my own so I can begin to attract a following of target readers. It also offers the writer some accountability to know that readers of their blog are expecting progress reports. I am co-authoring a second book in a series with Angela Grett and we started a blog this week: http://sowhatami.blogspot.com . This should give writers an idea of how a blog can be used to build a platform and garner readership for the book before it is ever published.
What are you reading right now? My time to read for fun is limited. However, I have started reading two books for authors who are planning to be a guest on my podcast in a couple of weeks: Writing Down Your Soul by Janet Conner and Hostage of Lies by Maxine Thompson
If you could be anyone or anything that you wanted, who or what would you be? I am happy being who I am. I can’t think of another person I would want to be or trade places with.
Where can readers find you on the web?
Web site: http://writersinthesky.com
Writing blog: http://yvonneperry.blogspot.com
Marketing blog: http://onlinepromotionmadeeasy.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://Twitter.com/writersinthesky
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/yvonneperry
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Yvonne-M-Perry/1223149713
Snippit of The Sid Series by Yvonne Perry:
Sid was able to communicate with me telepathically from the time he was born. He exhibited the gift of premonition at about age nine months, he channeled his higher self at age three, related his ability to see spirits and used a magic potion to heal a crippled dog at age four. When he would spend the night at my house, he would wake up with nightmares. From the descriptions he gave me, and from what my inner guidance was telling me, I was aware that his astral spirit was traveling to dark realms. Rather than discourage him from his astral travel, we created a mantra that we repeated before he went to bed: "Thank you, angels and guides for letting my spirit visit only the realms of highest light and love and travel only to safe places filled with loving beings." Sidney is still very much in touch with his inner guidance. He receives most of his messages through dreams now that he is in third grade. He related one of his dreams to me when I interviewed him on my podcast.
I knew I had a special child on my hands and I wanted to do everything I could to help him develop his spiritual gifts-the same gifts I was accustomed to that had been strangely unappreciated by the churches I had attended. Sid's spiritually-enlightened mother has been very encouraging to me and together we have taught Sidney how to use his gifts as a tool to help himself and others. I realize this is not the norm and that most psychically gifted children do not have this type of adult influence. In fact, many adults are afraid of the supernatural. That is my main reason for writing The Sid Series ~ A Collection of Holistic Stories for Children.
I wrote the stories as much for parents as for the kids because a the time when most kids are at the peak of displaying their spiritual experiences, they are too young to read. Even though I used a lot of illustrations in The Sid Series, I wrote the text on a level that would require an adult to read the stories to their toddlers. The message would stir interest and help guide the adult, and the stories and illustrations would entertain the children. The Sid Series is my gift to the kids and parents of this special generation.
For more information about this book, please visit http://thesidseries.com/
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