Welcome to the weekly Irish Independent Authors Collective (IIAC) author interviews. Today on my blog, I’m delighted to introduce you all to June Molloy. I hope you all enjoy learning more about June and be sure to check out her books.

Irish Independent Authors’ Collective – June Molloy

Tell me a little bit about yourself and why you decided to join the Irish Independent Authors’ Collective?

I’m originally from Dublin but grew up in a small seaside village in Wexford. After school, I went back to Dublin for college and then work, and somehow never left. I do love Dublin, but I really missed being in the countryside. I love nature and long walks with hardly a person in sight. So, a few years ago, when I got the opportunity to take voluntary redundancy from my job, my husband and I decided we would do something different. We bought a camper van and set out on a trip around Europe. I’m a huge foodie, so as well as chasing beautiful scenery we also went on the trail of wonderful food products. I started my blog, www.myfoododyssey.com, to chart share stories of our trip with others. Although I had written technical documents in work for years, this was my first time writing my own stories and I absolutely loved it. And, to my surprise, people enjoyed reading them.

After a few months on the road, we ended up in my husband’s home country of Lithuania. An opportunity arose to buy a tumbledown house in need of major refurbishment. The price was good and we were prepared to do a lot of the work ourselves, so we grabbed the opportunity with both arms. We started creating the kind of life we wanted, growing our own vegetables, keeping animals and making most of our food from scratch. I continued the blog, sharing stories about the house, garden and surrounding countryside. I had bought a “good” camera for the European tour and found I really loved photography, particularly landscape and nature photography. I eventually started a separate website, Wild Lithuania, to share photos of the stunning Lithuanian countryside and wildlife.

It was actually while I was out taking photos that the idea for my first novel, Guardian of Giria, came to me. I spotted a fox and a roe deer doe running across a field together. At first, I thought the fox was chasing the deer, but then I realised they were together, like friends. I began imagining where they were going and what they were up to. I started relating their adventures to my husband and he played along, encouraging the story. Eventually, it became so big in my head that I had to write it down. It was just coming up to NaNoWrMo and I thought I would give it a whirl. I didn’t quite write 50,000 words in one month, but I wasn’t far off. When I finally finished, I knew I had to leave it aside for a few months before revisiting to edit. I was so immersed in book writing that I couldn’t stand to do nothing for a few months, so I put together another book based on the content of my food blog. It became a part cookbook, part memoir of my experiences with Lithuanian food. I knew this book had a very niche market and so never considered finding a publisher for it. Instead, I published to Kindle and POD paperback via CreateSpace.

For my novel, I felt there was a much bigger market and really wanted to go with traditional publishing. I spent several months querying agents, a process I found completely soul destroying. I can take being rejected, but the concept of simply not replying and leaving people to wait for three or four months before they’re sure it’s a “no” from you doesn’t sit well with me at all. After about eight months of trying, I decided I would publish myself. I had had good success with the cookbook and had learned a lot in the process, so knew I could do it. It’s never easy to tackle these things alone, though, particularly the marketing aspect, so I was delighted when the IIAC was established. It is great to chat with people in a similar situation about the joys and pitfalls of self-publishing and to help each other out with marketing. I look forward to all we can achieve together.

How long have you been writing and why did you decide on self-publishing?

I have been writing technical documents for most of my career but only began writing for pleasure when I started my blog in 2013. Guardian of Giria is my first work of fiction since I left school. Since finishing it, I have written a number of short stories and have two more novels in progress. As I mentioned above, self-publishing seemed the obvious choice for my cookbook as it was a small book and written for a niche market. I chose self-publishing for my novel because I felt it was worth publishing and was struggling to find an agent. I’m very happy with my choice!

Do you think the stigma surrounding self-publishing is lessening?

Yes, I do think it is lessening, outside of the world of publishing, at least. If your book is well written and produced, many readers might not even realise that it is self-published, particularly if they are buying printed copies from a bookshop. I think there is probably still some stigma amongst the writing and publishing community. Because self-publishing has become so easy with the likes of KDP and CreateSpace, there are no real barriers to entry, so you are always going to get some poorly produced books as well as brilliantly produced books. There is nothing we can do about that, unfortunately, except ensure our own works are as good as they can be and then promote them as if they were traditionally published. Any bookshops, libraries and schools I have approached about my book have all been very open to helping me promote it, regardless of the fact that it was self-published.

What do you feel the hardest part of self-publishing is?

I think this is something that will be different for everyone. I’m quite comfortable with all the elements of producing a book – getting it edited, typesetting, cover design, etc. For me, the hardest part is marketing. It’s like being back at the querying stage again, looking up appropriate journalists, bloggers, radio presenters, etc. and sending them copies for review. Most don’t even reply. At least when I was querying agents it wasn’t costing any money! Now I have the cost of the book itself, plus the cost of post and packing. As a self-published author, I have to foot this bill and it can mount up quickly. But it’s something that has to be done if you want to get your book noticed. You need very thick skin to continue day after day, looking for ways to promote yourself. Some days I make progress, other days I drink wine!

What genres do you write?

So far I’ve written one non-fiction cookbook/memoir and one middle-grade fantasy novel. The two other works-in-progress are also middle-grade fantasies. However, I can see myself writing in other genres in the future.

What is your favourite story or character that you have written?

Ooh, that’s hard to answer. I really love a number of my characters. I love the progression of Felix, the main protagonist in Guardian of Giria. He starts out as a grumpy and self-centred, but slowly it becomes clear that he really does care about the other animals in the forest and that he will do anything to help them. I love Katana, the level-headed matriarch of one of the sounders (groups of wild boar). I love Tula, a doting fox mother. And I love Leo, who is a reluctant leader of a group of young wild boars. He’s really more of a thinker than a hero and really stretches himself to help the other animals.

What time of day do you prefer to write?

I prefer to write in the mornings, but not first thing. I have to eat and clear any email or messages first so that I can write with a clear head. Generally, I’ll start at about 9 am and work until lunch. If I’m on a role I might continue after lunch, but generally, I do research in the afternoons and write again the next day.

Do you have a special writing space?

I write in our conservatory on an easy chair with my laptop on my knees, looking out at the expanse of countryside around us. I have to be able to look out a window and far into the distance when I’m writing. If I feel closed in, my imagination just won’t switch on!

Do you outline your books ahead of time or just go for it?

With Guardian of Giria, I had a concept and an idea of where the story was going, but really no idea how it was going to get there or what the ending would be. Every day I would just sit down and write and see where the story took me. For the other two works in progress, I had a bit more of a plan before starting, but am really approaching them the same way.

Who are your favourite Irish authors?

Ooh, so many! I love Tom McCaughren , W.B Yeats, C.S. Lewis, Walter Macken, Jonathan Swift, Patrick Kavanagh, Maeve Binchy, Roddy Doyle and more recently, Catherine Ryan Howard.

Your latest book, Guardian of Giria, is a middle-grade animal fantasy, what was the inspiration behind it and is there anything you would like readers to know?

Guardian of Giria is an animal forest fantasy inspired by the animals and countryside around where I live in Lithuania. While the animals can talk (otherwise I wouldn’t be able to tell their story!), I have gone to great lengths not to humanise them. I did a lot of research on each animal species and kept the characters’ behaviours true to their species. So, as well as being an exciting adventure, I think readers will learn lots about European wildlife from the book. It’s aimed at older kids – about 9-14.

Is your latest book part of a series and if so how many books are planned for the series?

Guardian of Giria is a complete standalone novel, but there is potential for a follow-up if it is successful. It’s a bit too early to judge whether or not it will become a series and how many books might be in the series, but I am certainly open to writing a series if readers are happy to read them!

Where can readers find out more about you?

There is a dedicated website for Guardian of Giria at www.guardianofgiria.com.
You can find more about me on my blog, www.myfoododyssey.com.
You can find some of the wildlife photos that inspired Guardian of Giria at www.wildlithuania.com.
I am also on Facebook (www.facebook.com/guardianofgiria) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/june_molloy).

Guardian of Giria by June Molloy

 

 

Felix is in a bad mood. An intruder has visited his private clearing. The only traces are a strange scent and an even stranger set of footprints.

A few days later, a young fox cub goes missing and her frantic mother asks Felix for help.

Felix investigates and discovers two enormous wolves. He realises the residents of Giria Wood are now in great danger and immediately devises a plan to guard the animals and eliminate the wolves.

What follows is an exciting adventure as the animals band together to protect and defend against this new threat.

Guardian of Giria is available in paperback and ebook from Amazon.

Until next time,

Keep reading and writing,

Amanda