We recently connected with A. K. Frailey and have shared our conversation below.

A. K. , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

If a story isn’t meaningful to me, I don’t write it. My OldEarth Encounter series focused on early humanity and our struggle to deal with supernatural realities, our understanding of God and humanity’s place in the world, counter-balanced by a larger universe of aliens with their wider perspectives, observing the human race’s development.

Contrasting personal and individual identity crises against the human race’s identity in a universal setting allowed me to consider the ramifications of my own actions in a bigger setting. How does each person alive today affect the world in which he or she lives?

Last of Her Kind was the most challenging novel I have yet written since it focused on a woman facing – along with the human race – the end of the world as they knew it. I had lost my husband to cancer shortly before, so I well understood how loss and suffering can either break or make a person. We either self-destruct or become forged into a new and better version of ourselves.

My Newearth series builds on the idea that suffering and challenges can shape us into better people and possibly into a better race of beings.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have loved to write stories, poems, and reflections all my life, but after earning a degree in elementary education at UW-Milwaukee, I decided to do something a little different, something that might make the world a better place, so I volunteered to teach third grade on the South Side of Chicago, and then later joined Peace Corps in the Phillippines. Both of these experiences helped me widen my perspectives so that my personal vision was not limited to a particular place or culture.

After working for three years at LA Unified in Los Angeles, I met and married my husband, and we settled just outside a small mid-western town, where we raised our family. During that time, with my husband’s encouragement, I began to write. I had completed a non-fiction reflection on The Lord of the Rings and started the OldEarth series when he was struck with cancer and died a few years later.

Writing helped me to deal with the huge questions that weighed on my heart and troubled my mind. Why was I alive? Why do good people die? How is it possible to bring up innocent children in our world today? Last of Her Kind and the Newearth journey – along with various short stories – allowed me to explore the deep questions and nurture the hope I needed to move forward.

I continue to write for the same reason.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Since I have been writing for many years and have self-published seventeen books, I have seen, up close and personal, the book market landscape. It is not an easy world to navigate. There are a huge number of scammers ready to lure innocent authors into dead-end schemes that will cost them money and lead nowhere.

The best support an author can have is a loyal readership – people who take the time to leave positive reviews on Amazon and other sites and continue to follow an author’s work. We live in a tech-dominated society inundated with options, but authors need more than occasional support.

If you believe an author has something valuable to add to the human conversation or is putting out entertaining high-value work, follow him or her on social media, buy their books, and positively review their work. That kind of support translates into sales and a sense that their work means something to the outside world.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I have had to unlearn fantastical dreams and blind trust. Just because someone approaches me with promises to achieve great marketing goals does not mean that the person can achieve those goals. Not all marketing efforts are a scam but practically none can achieve the success that is often promised. We don’t live in that kind of world.

Being very careful about marketing efforts, refusing to waste time on dead-end efforts, refusing to spend money on unproven projects, and not allowing myself to be used to draw others into a marketing scheme have been hard lessons to learn.

Dreaming and trusting are great, but it is best to stick to proven methods, respect honest readers who support authors, and not expect marketing miracles.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://akfrailey.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnnKFrailey/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akfrailey/