We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mariah Ankenman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Mariah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I have a degree in playwriting, but most of my writing skill come from books, workshops, and writing conferences. There’s a common misconception that writers need a degree to be an author. While this might be accurate for non-fictions writers who need to be experts in their field, this is not true for fiction writers. You can learn more (and at less cost) by simply reading craft books or joining a writing group. A few of my favorite craft books are Saves The Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody and Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes. Critique partners are also a huge help for authors. I have dyslexia so having a critique partner to not only look over my story structure, but also my spelling and grammar before I send it off to my agent is a huge help. It’s important to listen to others and take helpful feedback on your work in order to grow as a writer. You don’t need a fancy degree to be an author, but you do need to study the craft and find people who will give you honest feedback.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I write sassy and swoon-worthy romance. The subgenres I write in are; contemporary, romcoms, paranormal, small town, western, suspense. All my books are open door with detailed love scenes. I’m a hybrid author which means I’m both self and traditionally published. My trad books are with small independent presses and as such are what we call POD which means print on demand. This means I’m not in bookstores, but you can order my books through Barnes & Noble or your favorite local independent bookstore. I love making people smile with my stories. Whenever a reader tells me they had a bad day and one of my books made them feel better it makes my whole week! I’ve always loved getting lost in a good book and that’s what I try to provide readers with my books. I tend to write on the lighter side, but there are content warnings for all my book available on my website: www.mariahankenman.com
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
The best thing you can do to support authors (besides buying our books, please we’ll love you forever) is to talk about our books. Post reviews on your favorite book site. Tell your friends about our books. Share about them on social media. Suggest our book for your local book club. Ask your local library to carry our books. As an author we can only do so much to promote our books, what really makes our books go viral is when everyone else is talking about them.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding part of being an author is when a reader says your book is their comfort read, the place they go to to escape the darkness. Providing that safe haven for someone else is the greatest feeling in the world.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mariahankenman.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariahankenman/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mariahankenmanauthor
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mariahankenman
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@mariahankenman%20 https://www.bookbub.com/authors/mariah-ankenman https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B01DUNU4AY