How a Kindle Book Happens: Two Interviews with Author LK Rigel

Rigel-on-KindleAuthor -- to a recent interview that she gave to David Wisehart, host of KindleAuthor.

LK Rigel interviews Space Junque's editor, bestselling novelist Anne Frasier

LK Rigel: Hi, Anne. The Kindle is bringing exciting times for both readers and authors. You're making some of your backlist available like Play Dead and my favorites, Pale Immortal and Garden of Darkness. Also, your Theresa Weir novels Cool Shade and Amazon Lily are now available for Kindle.
So here's the obvious question: Established, best-selling novelist edits unknown's Kindle novella. Why?
Anne Frasier: I edited a collection of short stories for a Halloween anthology coming out in 2011 which includes LK's Slurp. During that process, we found that we work well together. She wanted a professional edit done on Space Junque, and the timing was right as I was between edits in my upcoming memoir.
LKR: What was it like, working on a space opera romance -- isn't that a little different than your usual subject matter?
AF: That’s kind of funny, because I often tell people I’ve written every genre but science fiction. But storytelling is storytelling, so the genre doesn’t really matter as far as editing goes. I do think the story needs to hold the editor’s interest, which Space Junque certainly did. And I’ve always been a fan of things like Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Blade Runner, Firefly, and Dune.
LKR: Your collection of spooky stories, Deadly Treats, features work by twenty authors. How did you manage that?
AF: I love Halloween, and I thought a Halloween anthology would be fun to put together. I didn’t want to open myself up to a massive number of submissions, so I decided to make it invitation only. The stories are awesome. I think some are worthy of short-story awards, so I’m really excited about the book, which comes out in trade paperback September 2011 from Nodin Press.
LKR: What can you tell us about The Orchard, your memoir?
AF: The Orchard is about the twenty years I spent on an apple farm. My agent describes it as Mary Karr meets Rachel Carson because it deals with both familial issues and the environment. I suppose the biggest story is the story behind the book. My agent of twenty years refused to submit it and said it wouldn’t sell. In the end I left him because of The Orchard. I put the manuscript away, but two years later I found a new agent who loved it. She kept telling me it was a brave story, and that I should be proud of it even if it never sold. Those words gave me little hope, but in the end three major publishers were interested in buying it. It also comes out September 2011, so that will be an exciting month!
LKR: Thanks for letting me pick your brain, Anne. And let me say I'm so happy you agreed to edit Bleeder, the first full-length novel in the Afterworld series.
AF: Next time we'll turn the tables and I'll interview you.