We were lucky to catch up with Allison Sipe recently and have shared our conversation below.

Allison, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

This story takes us back to around 2006 when I was reading Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon for the first time. I fell in love with her books immediately, and wanted to learn more about her. I ended up finding an interview where she talked about why she started writing. She said: “When I turned 35, I thought, ‘Mozart was dead at 36, so I set the bar: I’m going to start writing a book on my next birthday.'” That was the first spark that had me thinking, maybe I should start now in my early 20’s and not wait until I’m 35.

Fast forward a few years, and I picked up the twilight books. To say I fell head first into the books is an understatement. I LOVED THEM! And again, I went to the internet and looked up Stephenie Meyer and how she got started writing. Again, that spark flared to life, and a character that I had in the back of my mind for years took center stage in my mind. So I started writing. At first it was just for fun. I wanted to see if I could write a whole book, and what it might feel like.

Turns out I really enjoyed taking the magical world in my head and making it real. Once I finished my first book, Soothsayer. I started to query agents while I kept editing. I heard back a few times, got rejected a lot. But nothing ever came of it. And as I sat there with a pile of rejections and a finished book, I just knew that it couldn’t be the end of this journey.

Enter the book gods. I got an email from amazon in 2013 about their new program for authors, now called KDP. In that email was an interview with Joanna Penn, an indie author, who had published her books on her own through this new amazon tool, while living in London (my favorite city). Just watching the video again, gave me butterflies, because it was the moment that changed everything. I knew without a doubt that this was what I was meant to do.

So I edited my book a thousand more times, I jumped into the indie world, and learned as much as I could. I hired an editor, cover designer and I published my first book in 2015, and I haven’t stopped. I can’t stop. I love telling stories, and I feel so lucky that I came across each author mention above. They sort of feel like guides on my path to where I am now, and I’m so grateful, and honored to have followed in their footsteps.

Joanna Penn Interview that changed everything: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORisLeZ7FIA

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.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve spent my days dreaming of far off places, Magical kingdoms and worlds completely different from our own. As a child, this used to get me in trouble with my teachers. But who could blame me, really? Living in a world of Magic, castles, and legendary creatures was always preferable to practicing my times tables.

Now I get to day dream and share my stories with the world. Writing is such an incredible journey. From creating a new world, full of characters and history to hearing from people who have read my books. I may breathe life into fictional characters, but my characters are the ones who make me feel like I’m truly alive.

The fantasy romance genre has always had my heart, even when it wasn’t what it is today. So of course all my books have elements of fantasy, magic and of course love.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Social media is an incredible tool, but it can be soul sucking. My biggest pieces of advice is to stop worrying about your follower count, your likes, your views, and focus on you and your story. Focus on being authentic, and growing your audience one person at a time. Because those people will be your ride or die.

Everyone’s in a hurry to go viral, to gain thousands of followers, which is great. But at the end of the day you end up having people follow you who will never buy your art, and who will forget about you and move onto the next viral thing. You want your audience to follow you, because they enjoy you, and your art. Not because you danced great, or posted a funny meme. Focus on why you’re doing this, and stay consistent. And I don’t mean post every day, three times a day. Consistently show up over the years, share your journey and be authentic always. And have fun with it!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Being a writer is a solitary endeavor. I spend years alone with my characters. Building their worlds, diving into who they are, finding music and art that fits the story, and research until my search history looks more than questionable. (Hi Tom, my FBI agent.) And then one day I put it out into the world and it’s no longer mine. I don’t get to see people’s reactions all the times. I don’t get to experience the gasp at the twist, or the tears from a characters death. I just move on and keep telling stories.

So when someone does send me an email, or review my book on tiktok or instagram, or a friend says, ‘how could you do that, I loved them??’ It’s the most rewarding part of the job. To know that my books have touched people, and helped carve out a piece of magic in their life, means the world to me.

There is one email that stands out over the years, and I always go back to it when the writing gets hard. Someone sent me a message saying that my books helped them through the hardest time in their life. Their partner had passed, and reading was the only thing that helped them take their mind off the real world. They said that my, Soothsayer series, allowed them to escape for a little bit, and they are forever grateful for that.

To this day, I think about that email. Because that’s what books have always done for me. They’ve helped me escape into another world when this one is too much, and to know that I can provide that for others is truly the greatest honor of my life.

So message your favorite author! Tell them what their books mean to you. I promise we love it, and your words just might touch them, as much as their words touched you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.allisonsipe.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allisonsipe_author/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allisonsipeauthor/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR3_Xqi0HHL4WEWPSbfSwlw
• Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@allisonsipe