Author Interview: Leonor Bass

Hi everybody! Welcome back to the latest instalment of my author interview series. Today I'm delighted to welcome Leonor Bass to the website. I have two more interviews lined up after this one, beyond which I'll either take a break from interviews for a while or I may end up seeking out a few more authors with whom to chit chat. So keep an eye out!

Leonor's links:

Website

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Instagram

Hello Leonor! Thanks for being a part of my author interview series. As I always ask, would you like to start off by telling us a little bit about yourself?

Absolutely! I’m a former English Teacher, living in a small city called Curicó in my beloved country Chile, in South America. I’ve been writing since I was 15, fanfictions mostly, and then I ventured into the crime/thriller genre. I published my first book on September 26 of last year and after that I haven’t stopped writing! I also have two short stories out there, my pride and joy, with a whole different genre but still very fun to write.

Could you tell us about your published works, The Secrets of Amber and the Lauren Hiddles Adventures Books 1 and 2?

Well, “The Secrets of Amber” came to me in a dream! At first I only remembered bits and pieces but after a while everything became so clear, like it was absolutely meant to be. It was a story I felt I had to write. After the book was out, I had to be completely honest with you, I cried like a baby! I was so excited and happy. After all it took me 2 years to finish, between college, my internship and my job, I couldn’t write any faster so it was definitely a reason to be happy. As for Lauren Hiddles, the first story I wrote with her as a main character was in Spanish, which I published on Wattpad but it wasn’t getting much attention so I decided to write the English version with a few changes. Then I just couldn’t stop writing about her! It was fascinating because it was a whole different genre; paranormal. But I had such a great time creating these new stories.

Where did the inspiration come from to write in the crime/mystery genre?

I always loved crime stories. Detective shows and books are my favorite thing to read and watch. I feel like crime /mystery is the type of genre I’ve always wanted to write about, it drags me in, you know? It’s a complicated to explain, but it’s like your heart, your soul, your brain is calling you and pushing you to write these kind of stories. Like it was actually mean to be.

As an indie author, how have you found the publishing process without the backing of a publishing house?

It can be complicated if you don’t have the right people behind you. I was blessed with two amazing editors, Paige and Olivia, who did a wonderful job with my books. If I didn’t have them with me I might have never had the chance to publish anything. For any Indie Writer out there publishing is twice as hard as a traditional writer. You have to think that every little step we take has to be done on our own, from finding the right editor, to promotions, to finding a cover designer. It’s not easy, but it's still worth it!

Would there be anything that you could go back and change about the launch of your first novel The Secrets of Amber?

I would most definitely, without a second thought, promote the heck out of it! I didn’t do that because it was my first book, I didn’t know who to ask or where to look for help so there was hardly any promotion for it. I didn’t know about ARCs (Advanced Readers Copy) or proofreaders, or beta-readers and I didn’t have the a website like I do now. So I would most definitely promote the book way more than I did!

I noticed that you used to write fan fiction. Did you find that that helped you transition into the world of writing full novels at all?

It did. It served as practice and I like to believe it made me a better writer. I’m not 100% sure I am a good writer, but fanfiction is the best to make your way into the writing world. It helps you build up stories, even with characters that are already created, and make it seem believable and likable.

Are there any fun facts we should know about Leonor Bass?

One fun fact is; dun-dun-dun Leonor Bass is NOT my real name. And also my first language is Spanish :)

And lastly, would you like to promote what to expect from you in the coming year?

I would love to! I’m writing a series of short stories, with Lauren Hiddles as the main character, that will hopefully turn into a book. I’m also working my way into another book *fingers crossed* and possibly a sequel so I’m so so excited!