Bonus Episode with Naomi Rivers

Hey friends! Welcome to another Indie Author Spotlight Bonus Episode! Hopefully you read the feature interview I did with author(s) Naomi Rivers, a wife writing team and retired military veterans who used writing as a way to stay connected during deployments. That interview is over on The Writer's Workout website. As you know, I'm a volunteer at WW and I love to help spread the word about new Indie Authors I meet.

What does your writing ritual look like?

We’d love to wax poetic about a ritual…but neither of us have a set ritual unless we agree to a writing sprint with others. For our first novel we each wrote in various countries around the world and emailed the manuscript back and forth. Our ritual for the second novel found us writing and editing anywhere that was convenient.

What’s the worst advice you’ve ever received as an Indie Author?

Terrible advice that Naomi still simmers about. We were at a book festival and met with an author who suggested self-publishing was “less than.” As if it was a badge of honor, she said we should collect rejection letters in pursuit of getting traditionally published. Since our first novel, THIS: A Simple, Complex Love Story, was already 20 years in the making, we chose to forego traditional publishers potentially holding our manuscript for 10-12 weeks with each submission. It also helped that we knew several successful self-published authors.

What’s your go to book, movie or musical artist when you need some inspiration?

Inspiration can come in many forms for us, traveling, music—we like many genres jazz, country, yacht rock, gospel. There’s a church setting in Why Not Us? where the youngest character is asking for prayer for her mother. It’s a fairly emotional piece and listening to gospel music while writing the scene was helpful. One of the biggest places we draw inspiration from is nature. Hiking, camping, or our go-to, dirt therapy (aka gardening) all provide space to take a break.

If you could snap your fingers and be “known” for one piece of your writing, what would it be? Is it something already published? Or is it something in your heart you’ve not yet

written?

It’s not written yet…and still being formulated. We’ve lived at many intersections as women veterans. Less than one percent of people serve in the U.S. military; we know there’s a story there—romance or women’s fiction, we haven’t decided.

Any other tidbits you wanna share?

Yes, writing can be a very solitary act. Keep circling back to the “why” of telling your story. It’s important to find community to share your work, get feedback, and ultimately be encouraged. Keep something near and handy to write thoughts—you never know when a new idea will come up. Anytime is a good time to write however, because of the political climate being, we sincerely believe now is a great time. Writing is resilience and activism.

Do you have a newsletter you want people to sign-up for? Link it here:

Yes, we have a fun newsletter where we share all kinds of tidbits about us, other authors, books and happenings in general. Sign up on our website – Naomi Rivers Books.

Feel free to connect with us on Facebook and Instagram - @naomiriversbooks