We caught up with the brilliant and insightful HM Thomas a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

HM, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

My parents did so many things right, probably the whole time thinking they were doing it all wrong. When it comes specifically to my writing, I have to credit my parents for instilling a love of the written word in me. Except for the newspaper, I don’t remember seeing my parents do much reading when I was growing up. Still, that never kept them from reading to me. Every night my dad would read to me before bed. And my mom made sure that my little bookshelf was stocked with books. My parents also always encouraged me. My mom, especially, encouraged me to submit my writing to be published. I kept putting it off because I didn’t think my writing was good enough. In 2013, she was murdered. In the months following her death, reading and writing became my way of healing. Almost a year after she died, I submitted my first novel – The Right to Surrender – to a publisher to be included in their anthology. Several months later, I received a letter stating that instead of including my story in their anthology, they wanted to publish it as a stand-alone novel. I’ve been writing and publishing steadily since then.

HM, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a Contemporary Romance and Romantic Suspense author. I am both traditionally and independently published. I find that I enjoy indie publishing better because it allows me to tell the story I want to tell in the way I want to tell it. When traditionally publishing I often felt that my voice was getting edited out of the story, and I was being urged to take the characters in a direction that didn’t fit my vision. Indie publishing has allowed me the opportunity to take more control over my books and how they’re delivered to readers. I’m still struggling and still learning, but I’m loving every minute of it.

My novels are character driven. I’ve been accused of putting my characters through hell. I admit that it’s true, but I promise they always get their Happily Ever After.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I was very lucky that the first time I submitted a Romantic Suspense manuscript it was accepted. I thought that meant my work was done and I would just submit to this publisher forever. Wrong! Not long after they released my novel the entire publishing company went under. I was given back the rights to my book, but I had no idea what to do with it. At the time, I didn’t know anything about self-publishing, and agents and other publishers didn’t want anything to do with an already published manuscript. I started researching agents and publishing companies and submitted my novel numerous times. Amid the ever-arriving rejection letters, I tried to stay positive and push through with new stories. Finally, I got a request from an editor that I’d submitted to in a pitch contest. I’d had these before and they’d never panned out, but I gave it a try anyway. Soul Mate Publishing offered me a new contract on my original book but told me I’d have to do some rewriting. An author never wants to hear that they have to rewrite, but I really wanted this book out in the world, so I signed. Turned out the rewrites were minimal and made the story stronger in the long run.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I’m a pantser. For those not in the writing world, a pantser is the name we give to writers who don’t outline their stories, they just dive right in and fly by the seat of their pants. I’ve been a pantser my whole life, in almost every aspect of my life, and it’s served me well. Until it wasn’t serving me well enough. When I was only writing for myself, not having a game plan for my stories or my career was fine. Once I started being more deliberate in my writing and publishing, it didn’t work at all. I had to become a plotter.
Now, before I begin a novel, I sit down and make an outline. I write brief summaries of each scene so I know how the story should progress. Often there are still gaps in the story and I try to just move on and let ideas for the gap marinate while I focus my energies elsewhere. Most of the time this works, but sometimes I do end up having to force a scene for the time being just to keep the ball rolling. I’ve also started planning out what books I want to release and when I want to release them, so I can plan for writing, editing, marketing, and publishing.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hmthomaswrites.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hmthomas_author/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hmthomaswrites
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorHMThomas
• Other: https://www.facebook.com/hmthomaswrites https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19797388.H_M_Thomas https://hmthomaswrites.eo.page/3v24z https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B07ZS1Y9X7

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