Author Interview: Peggy Bechko

Self Published Authors is pleased to present to you Peggy Bechko, an author with tons of experience and success.  She's done a bit of everything and I'd say she's done herself proud!  Welcome Peggy! 

Author Name: Peggy Bechko (aka P.A. Bechko)

Book Title:  Cloud Dancer

Book Price: $5.97

Where can we find Cloud Dancer? 

Cloud Dancer - Kindle     http://amzn.to/ptlq8A

Cloud Dancer - Smashwords    http://bit.ly/mSefTW

Cloud Dancer - All Romance Ebooks  http://bit.ly/ozgQlc

 Tell us a little bit about the basis of Cloud Dancer and how you came to create it.

Cloud Dancer is set in the 16th century - the era of the Spanish arrival in what is now New Mexico.  The history of those times is brutal, war and conquest.  There were Indian alliances of which history takes little interest such as the more war like Apache connecting with the more peaceful Pueblo Indians after the Pueblos asked the Apache for help to learn to fight wars.  Since I live in New Mexico the history fascinates me and I plunged into research.  Cloud Dancer - the love between a Pueblo maiden and Apache warrior White Hawk was the result.  Their painful separation, joyful reuniting and their determination to be together despite vast cultural differences among their own peoples and the encroaching Spanish threat.

It sounds like you love to write in several different genres.  Which one is your favorite?

LOL, that's a loaded question!  My favorite changes, depending what I'm working on but I'll admit a love for Sci/Fi Fantasy and Paranormal in addition to the historic tale.  And I love screenwriting in addition to books.  It really teaches a writer to write tight.

 What do you personally feel makes a "great" author?

One who writes! Kidding, but just a little.  Writers must apply butt to chair and write or he/she is just a 'wanabe'.  It takes a lot of determination and a tough hide to persist and publish.  That, alone, is quite the accomplishment.  But on another level, it seems to me a 'great' author is one who can tell a gripping tale, hold the reader in the palm of his/her  hand and come through time after time with a great and satisfying ending that makes the reader want more.

I know that you're both a traditional and self-published author.  Care you share some insight into how you market your books?

Any way I can!   I use a lot of social marketing via twitter http://www.twitter.com/PeggyBechko ,  facebook (which still needs some work - need to figure that out some more http://www.facebook.com/profile-php?id+1458015997 ) , LinkedIn  http://www.linkedIn.com/in/PeggyBechko, write my own blog at http://www.PeggyBechko.blogspot.com and seek out places where I can place ads at reasonable rates.  I also look for folks such as yourself who enjoy giving writers a platform as well as book reviewers. Always looking for new ways to get the word out.

Have you grown as an author over the years?

Very much so.  I don't know a writer who doesn't.  Your work, the more you do it, takes on a life of its own and evolves.  My writing is much different now that when I began and my first novel was a western published by Doubleday when I was 22.

Are you working on a new book at the moment?

Yes - always!  Currently I'm about 3/4 through the first draft of my paranormal romance tentatively titled "Serpent's Tail".  I'm one of those writers who don’t like to talk much about the actual story in advance because it seems to expend some of the story-telling energy if I do.

What's one unique fact about yourself that your readers might like to know?

I started writing very young - about 14 and after a roller coaster ride of drafting my Godmother as reader, getting an agent and having the agency go belly up before a sale, I emerged through a stroke of luck with an agent from that defunct agency who sold my first Western to Doubleday and I was published when I was 22 for the first time.

Do you have any advice for people who are just starting out in the publishing world?

Persistence.  You've probably heard it a thousand times before, but persistence is the cornerstone of a writer's career.  Whether going the traditional route, trying to break into screenwrtiting or publishing and promoting your own work, persistence is the key.  You have to work at it every day, celebrate the good and learn to cope gracefully with the not so good. Learn from everyone you can, but don't expect any one person to give you the answers. You're on a treasure hunt, take what you can use and keep moving forward.

Author Bio:

Peggy Bechko , aka P.A Bechko  is author of fourteen novels that have been sold to major publishers in several genres;  western, romance and SciFi/fantasy: Blown To Hell, The Winged Warrior, Cloud Dancer, Dark Side of Love, Stormrider, Gunman’s Justice, Sidewinder’s Trail, Hawke’s Indians and more.   Published in hardcover, paperback, audio and Ebook formats, her  books have been published with Doubleday, Harlequin, Pinnacle and Thorndike Press as well as The FictionWorks (www.fictionworks.com)  online and others.  Her books have been reprinted internationally and currently Peggy is anticipating the release of her book, Stormrider,  by publisher Zorba in hardcopy edition on the Indian subcontinent in 2011 which will include publication in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal,  and Sri Lanka.

Her spec  screenplays have been optioned domestically and abroad, her screenplay titled Replica (formerly Spitting Image) climbed to a high ranking place in two well-known competitions while one of her short stories, Skykicker took two first place prizes in competition.  She’s also written a produced episode of a 1/2 hour animated series, Diabolik, for Saban Entertainment.

               

Peggy is also a ghostwriter having ghosted a full-length movie script, a screen treatment and a non-fiction book.  She’s published articles with her own byline (travel articles, articles on writing, biographical article) in a number of areas digitally and in hard copy.   

               

Over the years Peggy has taught writing in different venues as well.  On the ground she’s taught workshops locally.  Online, she’s taught Romance writing with UCLA Online Extension and she is currently putting together a new class to be taught online.    

Awards and Acknowledgements:

2011   - Finalist - Golobal Ebook Awards - Stormrider

http://bitly.com/9R0Gcn

·         Replica (formerly Spitting Image) placed in the quarterfinals of the Nicholl Fellowship in screenwriting

And

                semi-finals of the Writers Foundation sponsored America’s Best screenwriting competition.

·         2007: 

First Place

Writer In The Machine Short Story Contest – “Skykicker”

·         2003: 

First Place

Art Affair Literary Contest – Western Short Story – “Skykicker”

·         Judge for Western Writers of America’s Golden Spur award in 1980’s

International Editions published in:

                Germany

                Switzerland,

                Belgium,

                Italy,

                Brazil,

                New Zealand

                Australia,

                Holland,

                Great Britain

                Sweden

                Canada

                France

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