A Thousand Lives Reviews: Interview: Rachael Wade

Author Interview of the Week

Meet Rachael Wade, author of The Preservation series.

What made you want to be an author?

I don't remember my desire to be a writer ever being a conscious decision. Writing was something I naturally did since I was a kid, and as I got older, I just gravitated toward storytelling. I wrote songs and poetry for a while, and was always interested in screen writing--although I don't know anything about screen writing--but I never believed I could actually write for a living and make it a career. I thought it was just a dream, just a far fetched goal that wasn't realistic. To say that I'm thrilled I was wrong would be a massive, massive understatement.

Who has inspired you the most?

My biggest muses are my husband Dave and my best friend and mentor, Patricia. They inspire me in so many ways and are without a doubt within each of my novels. Dave is so animated and just makes me laugh to the point of tears, so I draw a lot of dialogue and character mannerisms from him, and Patricia is the reason I'm a writer. She taught me to believe in myself and was always the one to tell me I could. She made me see my own potential. I'm also inspired by Tim Burton and writers like Jennifer L. Armentrout, Sylvia Plath, Cormac McCarthy, and Guy de Maupassant. Music and film are my biggest inspiration.

Can you tell us about some of your earlier days of writing?

I grew up writing song lyrics and poetry. I began writing around 2nd grade with what I thought was a "screenplay" haha. It wasn't until my 2nd year in college, while I was pursuing a different career, that I decided to try submitting my poetry to literary magazines. When I received my first acceptance, I considered writing my first novel, which I ended up self-publishing, with no idea of what to expect. The rest is history. I dropped out of college and began working as a full-time freelance writer and worked on my novels on the side, until I was able to quit my freelance day job and write my own fiction full time.

How has your life considerably changed since you've been published?

For the first time in my life, I have a place where I belong. I didn't have that for a very long time. I've made amazing friends, found a community where I work with like-minded, passionate, and talented people, and that's allowed me to thrive. I make more money now than I ever did working my dead-end jobs, and I do what I love on a daily basis, in the comfort of my own home. I make my own schedule and can pay my bills doing what makes me happiest. It's all pretty surreal.

You're an Amazon best selling author! Congrats! How does that benefit your career and make you feel?

Thank you! It's an honor, for one...not a day goes by where I don't stop for a second and think, "wow, people are buying my books. They're reading what I wrote." To know that I get to entertain people all over the world and that I get paid for it is just crazy insane. Making some of the Amazon best seller lists has helped grow my readership and helped bring me some stability in the publishing industry.

You support wildlife protection and ending animal cruelty, two things that ATLR are huge supporters of as well. How do you contribute to these causes?

That's awesome you guys are passionate about those issues. Just last summer I created a blog that provides resources and petition information for a variety of environmental and animal advocacy issues, called Lights ON Outreach. I try to offer direct links to petitions that really need support, along with some basic info about particular causes for people who might not be aware of what's going on. I've found that a lot of people have no idea what damage we're doing to our planet, or what's in their food, or what happens to animals before they're killed to feed us. It really hit home that this is often the case while I worked for Sea World's Education and Conservation department. I was a public speaker, so I had to teach crowds about the animals and conservation issues at each exhibit. I can't tell you how many times a day I'd be speaking to someone, and they were genuinely interested, asking me about an animal, and when I answered their questions, they were completely blown away because they never knew such a problem existed. Some people didn't even know that a certain animal existed, or what it needed to survive. A lot of them didn't realize how we as consumers destroy so many habitats. To see the light in their eyes and that spark--that awareness--as they realized they wanted to protect that animal, wanted to preserve such beauty, really inspired me and I knew from then on that I wanted to do my part, no matter how small, to help provide people with the resources they need to help make a difference. That's what Lights ON is all about. It also runs on-going fundraisers for different organizations that I'm passionate about throughout the year. Right now the current fundraiser is highlighting Sea Shepherd Conservation. We're only 35% away from reaching our current goal. We also focus on feeding the hungry and other humanitarian causes, but conservation is the larger focus.

What has been the best experience so far on your journey as an author?

Oh, man. That's tough. I'd have to say doing my first in-person signing event. It inspired me to do a lot more events now. I just love meeting other authors, readers, and bloggers. It's like icing on the cake, meeting people who read your work in person, and meeting the authors and bloggers you fangirl over. It's one thing to chat on-line, but when you get to meet them, it makes it all very "real".

Can you give us some insight on any upcoming projects?

Sure. Right now I'm wrapping up edits for Carter's book, Declaration, the final book of The Preservation Series, which is very bittersweet because I will miss being in those characters' world. So that's coming out in October, and a novella addition to my paranormal romance series, The Resistance Trilogy, releases in August, called Unearthed. I'm currently working on Always and Foreverland, a New Adult romance, and The Replacement, a darker drama that will be out some time next year.

What advice can you give to any upcoming authors?

Believe in yourself. As cheesy as that sounds, seriously, believe in your ability. Recognize that writing is a business as much as it is an art, and if you are going to publish independently, know that you will have to wear many different hats--entrepreneur, marketer, and sales person, just to name a few. Take it seriously and invest in professional cover design and editing. If you don't have the money, find a way to make the money. Don't sacrifice quality if you want to sell books or be taken seriously. Make selling your books a business, a full time job. If you can't quit to write and market your books full time, set up a schedule to write and market in your free time. Get up at 6 am every morning to write if you have to. Where there's a will, there's a way.

Thanks so much, Rachael for interviewing with us! Don't forget to follow her many outlets below!

Rachael Wade Website

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