We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ellie Maureen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ellie below.

Ellie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you walk us through some of the key steps that allowed you move beyond an idea and actually launch?

It took me years to be ready to publish. The idea for my first book coming to me just before I turned sixteen, I had a lot to learn and a long ways to go before I would be done. Every year I’d tell myself it would be the year I finished and published and would get so down on myself when I didn’t. I had this rather obsessed dream of being a teen author. But I would be twenty one before I published my debut novel Forbidden.
I started as a complete pantser writer (opposite of a plotter). I now plan a little more than I used to, but I still get so much joy out of discovery writing. Due to the pantsing, I was writing a novel that I was unaware was a series. The story just kept getting bigger until I had to call it and just release a chunk of it as book one and then continue to write the rest.
I learned everything as I went, and did a lot of things myself.
I had been practicing visual art much longer than writing, so illustrating my own cover art was something I really wanted to do.
Some things I didn’t want to do as much, but had to out of necessity.
Even though writing itself comes with all sorts of struggles, when I first went to publish, I found writing was the easy part. I’m hopelessly right brained. If there is a moment when creativity isn’t flowing, it’s only a matter of waiting for it to flow again. The minute details of making manuscript into a shelf ready professional book was far out of my sphere of knowledge.
Still, because of budget and minimal connections in the field, I chose to go the DIY route. After getting an editor and finalizing my first book I started to learn typesetting. At first it was a giant headache to my loose, creative soul. Rules and standards? Not exactly my forte. But I researched softwares until I decided on Affinity Publisher, and watched YouTube tutorials until I felt I could get started. I say “I felt” because I definitely didn’t know. The amount of times I would make progress only to stumble into a new issue and have to go back over all my work was disheartening. But I kept praying and leaning on God for my strength and eventually conquered formatting. The learning curve was steep for me, but the road eventually smoothed out.
Then I moved on to researching how exactly to get my book printed and distributed. Another monster in terms of a learning curve. I used both Amazon and Ingram Spark and once I learned the requirements of files (both manuscript and cover art) and filled in the info on the book, it was ready to launch!
With my email list and Instagram followers I had put together a little launch teem to help me spread the word and celebrate on release day. To this day it is incredible to me that my books are out there in the world, available for anyone to read.

Ellie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a YA fiction author. My series Every Shadow Lifted currently has three of the four books out and available to purchase.
I got into writing as a teen, in an absolute time of crippling loneliness. I didn’t feel I fit anywhere or with anyone. But I did have my giant imagination and these sort of “friends in my head.” A little before I turned sixteen, I decided to put all the time I had on my hands to use and put these friends and stories on paper. I longed to share them with others who might feel as lonely and lost in the world as I did.
I write characters with real flaws and struggles with an emphasis on redemption despite imperfection. My faith in Jesus Christ is of the utmost importance to me, and I hope to share some of Jesus’ love through my stories. I believe strongly in fiction being a safe place for us to fight our inner battles. I think it should always walk us through lessons we can take into our personal lives. So I try my best to write with intentionality and create young adult fiction that is clean and wholesome, but also doesn’t shy away from real struggles that real people have.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

I use my Instagram, like I’m talking to my friends. A lot of my followers have become dear friends because of it. I don’t really believe in fans or elevating myself above anyone else. I share thoughts and opinions and enjoy creating a space where other’s can share theirs too.
I have an email list and blog too where I share my Message in a bottle(s). There’s this overwhelming noise out there these days and I really don’t prefer screaming into the void, as they say. I share when I have something to say and I love more than anything when conversations strike up.

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

When someone reaches out and tells me my stories have touched there live, made them feel seen, made them feel less alone, etc …
I’ve heard feedback along the line of “this story wasn’t for me.” Which is completely valid! No story is for everybody, and I appreciate the honesty. But when my books are out there in the world and they find the people I wrote them for, I often cry happy tears. To know my words touched someone else, the words I myself fretted and cried over for years, that is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever experienced in my life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.elliemaureen.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie__maureen/
• Other: Email list sign up

  https://mailchi.mp/b04af77d5f6a/the-hideaway-signup

Image Credits

Emilie Taylor