Hello riders and readers. Today is another day where I will be sitting down with one of my fellow authors. Her name is Alice Briggs. She agreed to come on her and let you get to know her in hopes of you finding her interesting enough to follow. Alice also has a Kickstarter going right now that you might be interested in backing if it is your cup of tea. She wants to talk about her life, career as an author, and her current Kickstarter Campaign. I hope you enjoy this interview and really consider following along with Alice on her journey in the future as an author. Also don't miss out on her Kickstarter, you can check it out HERE.
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Author Interview with Alice Briggs
Hello, I’m Alice Briggs, an author, artist, and book designer. I love combining story, art, and healing into an experience you can step into and be inspired by.
What book genres do you usually write in? How many do you have out?
Most of my published titles are nonfiction in the emotional and spiritual healing space, with over 35 titles. For fiction, I write immersive mysteries and adventures that give readers a feeling of curiosity and wonder as they're drawn into a world that feels warm and hopeful. I have three stories available through letters in the mail out now, and The Cursed Ring is my first in novel form.
I illustrate my books. I am also a fine artist, and developed a unique style for Annily, the heroine in The Cursed Ring. The artwork is part of the plot and I needed a more realistic style than my typical abstracted mixed media.
Weather permitting, I make tea and then go outside to work in my yard and garden. Then I come inside, make breakfast and journal for a while. I time block, but mornings are for writing or editing or artwork. After lunch, I have client work and then when that’s finished, it’s marketing and other business tasks. I spend my evenings off-line, mostly knitting or doing other handwork.
Do you have any companions that journey with you while you write? (pet or figurine, etc.)
Yes, I have four cats, but Captain Hastings and Miss Marple are the two most likely to be on my lap or right beside me as often as they can.
What are your favorite tropes to write?
I love strong characters who are active agents of change in their lives and the story. Powerful ordinary people who have extraordinary impact, something to be found sometimes because of the events of the past and their impact on the present. Found family in a place you’d want to visit and stay a while. And that good triumphs in the end.
You have a Kickstarter currently running…can you tell us about it?
The Cursed Ring is a contemporary fantasy mystery that begins in Scotland and follows Annily Edwards as she’s drawn into a centuries-old mystery surrounding an ancient ring. Her art becomes an unexpected key to unraveling what’s happening, pulling her into a hidden world of secrets, unusual abilities, and people who know far more than they’re telling her.
The Kickstarter brings Annily’s world off the page with beautifully designed editions featuring original artwork, along with the illustrated letters and ephemera that first introduced readers to her story. It’s designed to make reading The Cursed Ring feel like stepping into the mystery yourself.
I did. Annily travels throughout Scotland and England, and I traveled there for research. I could use many of my own photos as references for the artwork.
Annily is an artist, independent and creative, with a tendency to follow her curiosity even when it gets her into trouble. She notices things other people miss and processes much of the world through her art. She’s resourceful, sometimes impulsive, and willing to keep going when she doesn’t have all the answers. At heart, she’s an ordinary woman confronted with something extraordinary—and much of her story is about discovering that the things that make her her, particularly her creativity, may be more important than she ever realized.
What do you think is the hardest thing about using Kickstarter for authors?
It’s a mindset shift from selling a book to creating a limited time experience for your readers during the campaign. It’s difficult for me to be continually talking about the campaign without feeling like I’ve said the same thing a bunch of times. It’s high energy and it can take over your life for a bit if you let it. But I love it makes me think outside the book to all the other things I can offer to enhance the backer’s experience during and after the campaign.
I have ebook, paperback, and the special edition tiers and the printed version with Annily’s Letters. Throughout the adventure, she writes to her friend (you!) back home; they are a companion to the novel.
One, for Annily’s Letters a couple years ago. It was my first campaign, and I was nervous, but it was a lot of fun. I hadn’t finished the letters; I did it as a proof of concept, so that made post campaign a bit more hectic. I wanted to have the novel all ready to go this time to avoid that!
If you had advice for a first-time author using Kickstarter, what would it be?
Try not to overcomplicate the campaign and your life with tons of tiers until you’ve done one. While backers will find your project through the platform, most of your backers will come from your marketing efforts. There are great Facebook groups and books out there that will help you create a great campaign but you can keep improving it as you go. It’s a great platform to do something unique that you can’t really do anywhere else, so enjoy it!
I do; I have two other campaigns in prelaunch right now. While I enjoy writing, I loved creating the art, and the beautifully designed book as much, if not more. I’m creating the artwork for Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice & Sense and Sensibility, and a thematically compiled selection of Sherlock Holmes. I may also release more letter stories on Kickstarter.
What would you like to tell our readers and fellow authors about your journey thus far as an author? What advice would you like to give that you learned the hard way?
Start building your list and marketing your work now, the sooner the better. I’ve just done this and while it’s not optimal, it’s better now than never.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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