Holly Ellis interview
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
When did your love of books begin?
My love of books began as soon as I could hold one. When I was very little, I loved looking at the illustrations and getting lost in them. When I reached an age where I could read, I used to imagine myself as an essential character who would always save the protagonist from certain death or destruction.
Now, I love reading and getting lost in the thoughts of others, but I especially love creating my own worlds because I create characters who are real to me. I know their favorite colors and foods, I let them tell me how they will respond to any given situation, and my job is to share these stories with my readers.
When did you start to have the wish to become an author?
I was always fascinated by the author's ability to create a whole world from nothing, and I never thought I could ever be that imaginative, but when I reached high school, and I started looking to escape my reality, I started writing short stories and from there, my love of fiction grew even more. Now that I've written my first novel and am revising its sequel, I find my writing has become a place to retreat and live through the eyes of my characters. It's a very rewarding experience to know that I can help my readers to escape into my world as other authors have done for me.
How have you found the process for becoming an author?
When you become an author/writer is something that so many writers ask. My answer is as soon as you have the ability to tell a story and begin the uphill battle of revising that work. It doesn't have to be published, and it doesn't have to be a bestseller. The point of writing is to tell your story. Once you've done that, you're a writer.
So, my process for becoming a writer was not simply by any means, but it was really a process of believing that I could achieve the goals I had set for myself which is easier said than done. It took me many years before I had the confidence to broadcast to others that I was a writer, let alone a novelist. I still have my moments where I feel self-conscious, but I feel that being concerned about being my best is something that I should never lose.
What would you say to those wanting to become an author?
I would tell new writers to write as much and as often as possible. Developing a daily writing habit is what makes it all possible. My daily writing habit has only recently developed, but this daily work keeps me focused on my end goal. At first, I struggled to sit down and write on a schedule, but now, it feels therapeutic, like a daily meditation session.
I recommend finding a time or making time when you feel most comfortable and able to sit down and write. It might be tough at first, but you will find that eventually, you crave this time for your writing, and you look forward to immersing yourself in your work.
Tell us about your book/books:
Living with the Past is my first of three LGBTQIA+ novels. In this story, we meet Margaret who has a realization that her whole life has been living for other people, and she questions what she has gotten from all this sacrifice. Margaret decides to file for divorce and rebuild her life. In the midst of these changes, she's reunited with her high school sweetheart, Lillian, who wants to pick up where they left off over thirty years ago.
My goal is to put readers in her shoes and consider how their lives could be different if they their own well-being ahead of others. I also wanted to highlight the bigotry that can exist in small-town life. I hope that someone out there who might be experiencing the same thing will pick up this book and not feel alone.
What do you love about the writing/reading community?
For many writers, there is a stigma that authors are cutthroat and will try to sabotage each other. This may have been true in the past, but now, authors in the writing community lift each other up because we all have our own readers we want to reach, and we feel we can help each other to find them.
The reading community is so important, especially on platforms like this because, first and foremost, I would be out of the job if I didn't have readers, but more importantly, readers fall in love with characters as much as writers do. I love the reading community because, like me, other readers love to get lost in the same worlds that writers create.
Where can people connect with you?
I am on
Twitter and Instagram (@hollin8er),
My website where readers can ask me questions and interact with me:
Anyone interested in reading my novel can find it on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited:
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