Author Interview: Valerie Bowen

Self Published Authors is thrilled to introduce you to Valerie Bowen, an author who has dared to broach a subject that most people want to shy away from.  Your book, Toremented For the Sake of Amelia sounds amazing! 

Author Name: Valerie Bowen

Book Title: Tormented For the Sake of Amelia 

Book Price: ebook $2.99 paperback $12.00

Where can you book be purchased? barnesandnobel.com for the nook, amazon.com for the paperback and the kindle, smashwords.com all ebook formats and lulu.com for paperback and hard cover

Book review:  Kandi Naef writes: I just finished "For The Sake of Amelia Tormented" and if my 8 fingers were thumbs then I would give you,10 thumbs up!!!
I absolutely love this story line and I literally can't wait to read the next two books in this series.
You are now added to my "Favorite Author List"!  When can I get part 2 and 3 of the series?
 Excellent read!  Well done Valerie :)

How would you describe your book? Drama with strong elements of suspense and romance.

What is the main thing you want your readers to bring away from reading your novel? I would love for the reader to grasp the concept that no matter how dire a situation may be there is always hope. 

Which Character is your favorite and why? There are many characters in this novel that are strong and likable, but I would have to say my absolute favorite would have to be Kyle Talbot. He is willing to do what ever it takes to keep Amelia safe. He has unconditional love for Amelia and at times goes way overboard. He is a strong man that is not afraid to show his emotions (happy, sad or controlling). He goes way overboard with his protection which forces Amelia to go to drastic measures. 
 

What made you write this particular novel?  I initially began this project as a one book project.  I wanted abused women to realize their situation is not completely hopeless. I also wanted to get the point across that if you don't possess the strength within yourself to escape from a dangerous situation you will positively end up dead. In this set of novels I show the reader abusive men most always feel they own women and they can do whatever they want to do for their warped enjoyment. It takes strength to overcome evil, you have to be strong and depend on yourself to escape the madness. With the love of good friends and their strength you can overcome your fears and live the life you have always dreamed of living.

How have you progressed in your journey as a writer? Although this is my first novel, I do feel I have grown as an author. With all the writes and rewrites I have done to complete this book and to make the characters absolutely life like. I have had many compliments from readers stating the characters were like friends; this to me was the best compliment a writer can get. To make your characters believable and to make the reader connect with them is a feat in itself. When the reader explains they hate a character (villain) then that also makes me feel good as a writer. I have completed three other novels and find the Amelia series is somewhat like a baby to me. 

Have you had a good experience with self-publishing? Although this is my first novel I have self published, I felt the process was easy. I formatted the e-books myself through smashwords.com which by the way has a great step by step guide. I also chose to format the book myself as a paperback on lulu.com which also was very easy. All the work of self formatting has resulted in the final cost for publishing to be $0.00. I have learned with a little work you can save money and it also made me feel better about my project.

Do you have any other books in the pipeline? As a matter of fact I have the final two manuscripts completed for the Amelia series. Inhibition should be published sometime in January of 2012. Retribution, the final installment of the series is also completed and should be published in the spring of 2013. I also have just completed a novel for young adults titled Faerie Wishes, this is a novel that teaches the importance of being happy with your life. It also teaches that not every wish turns out the way you have planned, sometimes they can kill you. I know that may sound morbid, but in this novel no one actually dies, but one does come close. It also teaches the importance of love and having the strength to do the right thing to save the life of someone who is your world. 

Any words of wisdom for future authors? Don't get discouraged! Not everyone likes every book. What is good to you may not be good to me. We each have our favorite authors and authors we wouldn't read if they were the last books on earth. Enjoy your writing, believe in yourself and mostly have fun. I believe if you read your book after you have set it aside for a few weeks/months and go back to it, you can look at it through clearer eyes. If you can't see the setting in your mind, change it. If you can't picture the person in your head add more detail. This is my description of a whipping, I have worked this through until I could almost feel the pain she was going through: ...Each snap of the whip tore through her fragile skin as if it was a razor, causing blood and tissue to spew across the barn as it was pulled back and readied for the next lash. The blood gushed from her small body causing a pool to form around her. She slid in the pool of sticky liquid as she frantically tried to crawl away. Ray growled, “Whore”. He snapped the whip repeatedly until her back was completely raw and she was huddled in a pool of deep red blood. Tears flowed freely from her eyes as she silently cried not willing to give him the satisfaction of hearing her screams. He demanded, “Get up, bitch,” The pain was excruciating as she tried to appease the madman towering above her. She wearily knelt in the pool of the sticky wet liquid. With one hand on the concrete floor and the other still tied to the rope she lost consciousness.

Author Bio: I was born in the beautiful state of Maine where most of the novel takes place. I now live in Connecticut with my son Matthew and my daughter Janeice. 

book