We recently connected with Amey Zeigler and have shared our conversation below.
Amey, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
I’ve always wanted to be a writer. When I was younger, I went to teen writer camps and wrote stories–you know the kind, where you start and have a great idea and get a few pages in and have no idea where it’s going and so you stall out. I wrote thousands of those. I decided I needed to learn the craft. I took a short story writing class in college and no joke got a C. My professor probably never thought I’d be the one to make a career out of writing. I sent him one of my books to read after it was published. It wasn’t until I had my second child and I told my husband I really wanted to write, so he told me to sit down and write a scene and send it to him. So I did. He said, “It’s good. Keep going.” So I did. Although he was sweet to encouragement, I knew I lacked skill. As he was still in school, we didn’t have a lot of money to travel to or even attend conferences. So I checked books out from the library. One of the books mentioned something that encouraged me. In essence the author said, “Hard work trumps talent.” Or in other words, writing is a skill that can be learned. So I checked out more books, read more fiction, had friends give me feedback, wrote some more. Practice, dedication, patience, feedback, hard work, persistence are all required skills to gain competency. Some of my favorite books early on talked about how to execute a scene. Another taught how to add suspense to all your writing even romance. But my favorite books on writing that took me to the next level was Story Genius by Lisa Cron and Save the Cat Writes and Novel by Jessica Brody. I also like the Emotional Craft of Fiction. I will go back to those three when I’m stuck. When I finally had money, I was able to go to conferences. I got professional feedback (that was better than just my friends giving critiques–no offense to my friends). Also, I was able to take classes and get more professional training at the conferences. So being able to attend conferences certainly sped up my process. It was just after my first conference that I found my publisher. Now I teach at conferences and I’ve come full circle
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’ve given lots of thought about how to brand myself as a romance author in a way that represents me and my style of writing. Authors are supposed to have pithy one-liners, but I’m terrible about distilling my essence. So here are a couple of failed one-liners for me: Amey Zeigler–romances for people who don’t like romances, or Amey Zeigler–romances even men will love. As you can see, I should’ve gone to marketing school first then learned to write. How do I describe my work? I write romances with humor and heart. But that sounds too generic. I write action-adventure-romantic-comedies reminiscent of the late 90s rom-coms–think You’ve Got Mail or While You Were Sleeping. My stories go beyond the normal romance books of meeting, fighting/complications, and then getting back together. Oh, no! Sooo much more goes on in my books. My reviews praise my characters, my world building, and my fun plots.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
There are two camps in the fiction publishing word: Independent authors and traditionally published. I’m a hybrid. I do both. Indie authors care more about sales–numbers, rank, etc. to gain credibility. Traditionally published authors also look upon awards as a measure of success. (Of course that is a gross generalization.) One of the things that builds credibility within the author community is having not just an award-winning book, but also a best seller.
My first self-published book won Runner-up in the Rone Awards for Sweet Contemporary Romance. (I entered the contest by accident when I paid twice for another book and only entered my self-published book because I didn’t want to lose the $20 entry fee.) No one was more surprised than I was when my book got to the finals and then won the runner-up. The book was titled The Casserole Dish. I wrote it from my pain, and, for some reason, that resonated with others. Every time I advertise that book, it climbs to the top of the ebook charts.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Let me illustrate this with a story. I traditionally published my first book, and I was so excited. I made sure everyone knew it. A friend of mine said she was reading it. That made me a little nervous. My first book was what I call “steamy-clean” which means it had about a PG-13 rating–nothing too graphic, but this book was way outside my friend’s comfort zone. Also this friend had experienced some mental health challenges. Because of the stress in her life, her laugh became stilted, forced, and unauthentic. It was heartbreaking to hear it. When she called me, my husband was listening in. My friend was laughing so hard, she couldn’t even speak. She had to tell me about a line she thought was hilarious in my book. When I got off with my friend, my husband turned to me and said, “Your book healed her laugh. You have a gift and you need to keep writing.” I believe fiction can be healing. It’s so rewarding when my experience, my humor, my stories touch another person and lift and heal them.
Contact Info:
- Website: books.ameyzeigler.com
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/ameyzeigler
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/azauthor
- Twitter: @ameyzegler
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ameyzeigler
- Other: tiktok: ameyzeiglerauthor
Image Credits
Angelica Marie Photography