Biography:
Summerset was Karen Mason’s first title, followed by the novels Mad About the Boy, Two Become One, and Winner Takes it All, the sequel to Summerset following it. Her new book, The Tale of Jezebel Cole, is set for release soon. When she's not writing, she works as a Data Analyst within the Criminal Justice System. Karen Mason resides in South London.
Thanks for being here again, Karen. It’s a pleasure.
#1- Tell us a little about yourself outside of your writing career…
I’ve recently started writing for a website called Never Enough Notes. It’s a music website, like an online magazine. I’ve been reviewing gigs and singles for them. I’ve had to put it on hold for a while because I’m in the process of preparing my new novel, but I hope to join them again soon. I’m a big music fan, so writing about it is a privilege. Apart from that, I’m pretty dull. I like going to the cinema, watching TV and I’ve become worryingly keen on online bingo!
#2- You’ve been self-publishing since your first book. Do you find the social media sites helpful in sales, since the largest challenge is promotion?
Yes, they are very helpful. I’m trying to get into using Goodreads, Authonomy and Shelfari, but for some reason find them difficult to navigate. Also you run the risk of appearing pushy. But Facebook is a great tool, and I’ve become a keen tweeter! If anyone wants to follow me I’m authorkarenmaso
#3- Your publisher is a U.S. one, and you reside in the U.K. Any complications with that?
Not really. I keep getting tax bills for 25c, and I’m not quite sure what to do with them. It’s quite difficult to get help with Lulu. They used to have a great live help system but that’s not available now, but that’s nothing to do with me being in the UK. It’s the same for everyone worldwide.
#4- Your book, Summerset, was announced as one of the finalists in the Amazon Novel Breakthrough Award. How did that feel and are there any new goals you set for yourself?
It’s phenomenal to have been selected from 10,000 entrants to the final 250. It’s also an achievement as I believe the majority of the contestants are from the US, so I’m doing it for the Brits! It’s great PR for my books and as it’s judged by industry professionals, it makes me realize that I can write and have got talent and just makes me want to work harder. I doubt if I’ll go beyond the quarter finals but I’ve at least won a review in Publisher’s Weekly and a complimentary copy of Summerset (which I’ll probably donate to charity or something).
#5- Can you tell us a bit about the new book coming out?
The True Tale of Jezebel Cole is about a world famous novelist – Patty Belleville, who is a little like Jackie Collins. She created the happy hooker, Jezebel Cole and has written many books about her, making a fortune along the way. She writes a soppy romantic novel which is a flop and shortly afterwards she disappears, and her eldest daughter – although she does not consider herself close to her mother, feels the need to find her mother and with the help of a Private Investigator, unravels all sorts of secrets from Patty’s life in the hope that it uncovers where she’s hiding. It’s the last of my books to explore aspects of love. Summerset was about romantic love, Mad About the Boy, the love of a mother for her child, and Two Become One, the love between sisters. Jezebel Cole looks at the love of a child for her mother. My next book, Only You will be a departure – and that’s all I’m saying!
#6- You started your own online book review site called, I Heard It On The Grapevine. Can you tell us about that and what the site is?
I started it because it’s so difficult for writers to get reviews free of charge and I thought it would be a great way of getting free books to read! So I started it up and spread the word that I was looking for writers and I’ve had some success. Unfortunately, a lot of the people who said they would review have let me down, other people (myself included), have other commitments and can’t dedicate as much time as they’d like to it. Because I’m preparing Jezebel Cole, I’ve had to put it on hiatus for now. But if anyone is interested in checking it out, the address is
http://ihearditonthegrapevine.wordpress.com
#7- This about concludes it. Thank you again for joining us. Is there anything else you would like to share?
That’s it thanks Kelly. Just to say that the competition is still open for the Amazon Competition. You can download Summerset for free at
http://www.amazon.com/Summerset-Excerpt-Amazon-Breakthrough-ebook/dp/B003CV7TJE/ref=sr_1_28?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270502245&sr=1-28
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