Interviews

March 2018: Interview with Elise Noble

This time we're bringing to you Elise Noble, a successful author - not only on Wattpad but also outside in the big bad world of (self) publishing. In the reviews, you can get a glimpse of Elise's romantic suspense novel "Trouble in Paradise". Here, we would like to explore a bit further how Elise got to be where she is today.

Adultfiction: Which is where exactly? (this could be anything from the amount of books you have published, number of readers, books you want to bring out, whatever constitutes your success.

Elise :

I'm finally at a place where I can call writing my main job. I do still do some accountancy because otherwise I might never leave the house, but only part-time. Since I first started posting my work on Wattpad in August 2014, I've self-published twenty-two novels, four novellas, and a book of short stories, and I'm a lot happier with the balance in my life now.

Adultfiction: You have published HOW MANY stories? Wow, I'm impressed. And you still work? That puts me to shame, lol. But yes, writing is a serious business. Or can be. We'll come to that. Tell me, what genre do you write in? Why?

Elise:

I mainly write romantic suspense, everything from a fun mystery to a full-on thriller, but always with a happily ever after at the end. Occasionally, I write pure romance, but not often as I like killing people off (joke). Late in 2018, I'll be moving to the dark side with a paranormal romantic suspense series, and I'm looking forward to adding that string to my bow.

Why romantic suspense? Because romance and mystery/thriller have always been my favourite genres to read, so I love to mix them together in my own stories.

Adultfiction: So, romance is important. It still is the most sought-after genre, correct?

Elise: On Wattpad, I'd say romance and fanfic are the most sought-after genres, but in the big wide world, mystery/thriller is actually bigger than romance, dollars-wise. Romance has some of the most voracious readers, but they don't like to pay so much for their books.

Adultfiction: Ah that's interesting! I have some stats which tell me romance comes first, closely followed by the mysteries but both are very popular off and on Wattpad. So you're doing well on both fronts I would reckon?

ELISE: Romance is bigger by volume, but not by value. I'd recommend the Author Earnings reports if you're a geek like me who likes looking at stats. All of my books have romance, but the ones with more mystery/thriller elements sell the best, and probably have a broader cross-section of readers. Most importantly, I enjoy what I write.

Adultfiction: Choosing the right genre is important but it doesn't get you up there. I figure there is a lot, and I mean a LOT of work involved? How does a typical day of yours look like?

Elise: There's more work involved than I ever imagined. Turns out writing is the easy part!

Adultfiction: OMG. I feared that. Okay, I'm ready, tell me more.

On weekdays, I usually start at 7 a.m. and work out what I need to do for the day. That might be editing, admin/accounts, marketing, formatting, graphics, or a final read-through of one of my own books. And I nearly always spend some time chatting with fans, mainly in my Facebook group.

I also have to organise the awesome people who work with me - I have fifteen beta readers, two editors, a cover artist, three proof readers, plus around a hundred people on my ARC team.

If I'm having a writing (or mainly writing) day, I like to get 2-5k words done, depending on whereabouts I am in the story. Towards the end of a book, it's easier to write faster as I've got to know the characters by then.

I usually finish at around 7 p.m., but I'll take a break to walk the dog, and if my horse is at home, I need to look after him too (he mostly stays at a livery yard to give me time to work).

Adultfiction: That's a 12 hour day. But okay, you said you take a break. It still is a long day...

Elise: I think it's important to remember that if you're writing for a living, you need to treat it like a job. A fun job, but it's most definitely work.

Adultfiction: How do you get your inspiration? Writing at that level means you have to maintain a level of output? Have you ever run out of ideas?

Elise:

My problem is that I have too many ideas and not enough time to write them. I can't see myself ever running out. At the moment, I have four more Blackwood books planned, eight books planned for the Blackstone House series (I've written one), five planned for the Electi series (I've written two), plus a new four-book series. It'll take me a few years to get through that lot, and meanwhile, I'm still coming up with all these new books I want to write. I like to write a book every two months at a minimum, but in reality, I usually write a bit more than that.

Inspiration can come from anywhere. Buildings are good. I can walk around a place, decide it needs a story, and come up with one in my head before I leave. Joker in the Pack was inspired by the lyrics in an old Beatles song, "Eleanor Rigby." And I thought up the plot of 24 Hours of Trouble while riding my horse one evening.

At the moment, I'm playing around with an interactive story - I write a chapter, and then my readers pick what they want to happen next. I have absolutely no idea how it's going to turn out, but it's fun!

Adultfiction: This story is available on Wattpad, isn't it?

Elise: Yes, on my profile.

Adultfiction: If you don't write, what do you read?

Elise:

Strangely, I don't often read romantic suspense. I guess I'd rather think up my own ideas for that. I read a lot of romance, the dirtier the better, and a bunch of straight mystery/thrillers. I've also started reading more non-fiction, both for research and for fun. At the moment, I'm listening to the audiobook of Fire & Fury while I walk the dog, and it's hilarious.

Adultfiction: Would you have any tips and tricks for those among our writers of adultfiction who want to self-publish their stories?

Elise:

Work out your goals at the start. Do you want simply want to be able to say you've published a book and hold a copy in your hands? Because that's pretty easy and it won't cost much.

But if you want to actually sell books, gain readers, and more importantly, keep them, then you have to put out a professional product. And that takes significant investment, of both time and money. Don't underestimate the amount of work.

Adultfiction: Well, after reading this I would say we definitely have a benchmark. Thank you ever so much and good luck with your career. And if you need any support make sure to contact the adultfiction team. We do have some experienced critique partners and editors among the team.

Elise:

Thanks - it's been fun!