Welcome to the second installment of the Sunday Brunch Author Interview series! It is a working goal to (maybe find a better title and) bring an Author Interview to you lovely people every Sunday morning!
Today I have author Clemy Walker-Thompson joining all the way from the UK! Without further ado, here she is!
Thank you for taking the time to chat! Tell everyone a little about yourself and your writing!
Hi everybody, my name is Clemy. I have been writing since I was thirteen, and I turn thirty at the end of this year. How time has flown! I love anything fantasy, reading books like Hush Hush, Fallen and Eragon. The books I write are also fantasy, with most of them being Young Adult (YA).. Only my newest two are reaching into the New Adult (NA) category. I have two gorgeous cats who are only just two, and I live with my boyfriend in the UK.
What was the Indie publishing journey like for you? Do you have any tips for fellow indie authors trying to publish a book?
After my first book was completed and I’d started working on the next two in the series, I went straight to self-publishing. As every author does, I have the dream of one day seeing my book in a well-known book shop, but for my writing journey so far self-publishing has been the right direction for me. I am a little shy and the idea of being in the public eye is very daunting, so I like the freedom and control you have from self-publishing. It can be very hard at times, with all the marketing and promoting you have to do, but it gives you a taste of what being published is like.
Make sure you have faith in your own work, before you search for readers
I found your book on Smashwords but had not heard of that site before, what led you to it? What do you like about it instead of say, Amazon?
I was only fifteen when I first started looking into self-publishing. I didn’t have a job and I needed something that would be free. My brother, who had published his first book at 16 with Amazon had always said after it was made available, that once something was on Amazon it could never be removed, and the idea of that just put me off a little.
Smashwords has served me well, so too has Lulu where my paperbacks are available, but I will be looking into Amazon a little more now that I have polished off some of my earlier books.
What’s your relationship like with social media? Have you found good support in the writing community?
From the start, I have always had a presence on Facebook. My page has 2000+ likers and followers, and at the beginning it gave me a great push. I met some other authors and arranged some book signings all through Facebook, but as I have matured as a writer I feel that Facebook has very little positive engagement now. Recently I moved over to Instagram and the writing community there is amazing.
Instagram definitely has the engagement with readers and other authors that I was missing from Facebook. Sometimes I spend a little too much time on social media, but when you self-publish that is something you have to do a lot of in order to get your books out there. You should take breaks from social media though!
There are a literal endless supply of indie writers out there, has it been a challenge to have your work seen?
Definitely. I still struggle to this day. If you don’t have the confidence or the courage to get yourself out there, it can be a very difficult task. I have had some amazing readers, and in turn some fantastic reviews left for my books, but I still feel as if I haven’t pushed my books out into the world enough yet.
I checked last week and I have sold to four continents so far, which is such a proud announcement for to me make, but there are places I still haven’t got to yet!
Four continents is amazing though, congrats on that!
YA books are changing now with popular themes, what themes do you like to write about?
I love encouraging strong relationships between family and friends. There are often sibling characters in most of my books which are always very close. I love writing about redemption and proving oneself. Destiny and fate are also themes I like to work with, but I make my characters always follow their heart, even if that means going against the fate that is planned for them.
You started writing at age ..13? What inspired you then and now?
My brother who is four years older than me, self-published his first book at 16. I’d grown up with 4 brothers, with films and games and many books shared throughout the years, and I just wanted to follow in his footsteps. The funny thing is that I continued on with the writing journey and he didn’t. It was only the one book he self-published in the end, and I am currently working on my 8th.
Alright let’s end this with the easy rapid fire general bookish questions: Do you have a favorite book that you always recommend? Favorite character? What genre do you usually read? Do you have any strange and wonderful bookish habits?
I love Roald Dahl: Matilda, The Twits, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
For my favourite character I would choose Saphira out of Eragon. She is the dragon that hatches for him.
Fantasy. Anything and all that is fantasy.
Hmmm, that’s a hard one. I think I’d have to say I always buy a book because of the cover. Even if the story sounds amazing, if I don’t like the cover I won’t buy it.
Thank you so much again for offering to interview! If there is anything else you want to say about yourself, your novels, your life, or anything at all, please do so here!
I am very proud of where I have reached so far in my writing journey, but there are bigger and brighter points I have yet to get to. I appreciate every one of my readers and the reviews they leave. I wouldn’t still be writing now, if it wasn’t because of you all.
Find Clemy and her books!
On Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ClemyWarnerThompson
On Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/cwarnerthompson/
On GoodReads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5328411.Clemy_Warner_Thompson
To purchase E-Books
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/CWarnerThompson
To purchase paperbacks:
OneReadingNurse.com 
4 replies on “Sunday Brunch Author Interview Series: with Clemy Warner-Thompson”
I really enjoy these small author interviews you do!
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She sounds fabulous, great questions!
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Great interview and Sunday series!
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Thanks! I’m trying to find a working title that sounds like it reflects community!
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