Hello riders and readers. It's Sunday! And you know what that means...it is time to sit down with another talented author within the Fantasy Genre. Today I am sitting down with fantasy author Joanna White. We are going to talk about her journey thus far into the publishing industry and her upcoming Kickstarter that is going live in the next few weeks. Make sure to head over to her pre-launch page to check out her campaign for Warrior and click the NOTIFY ME ON LAUNCH button to get all the updates and the launch announcement. I hope you enjoy this interview and are ready for it to begin. Happy reading everyone :).
****
Author Interview with Joanna White
Hi Joanna. Can you please start things off by introducing yourself?
Hi! Of course. My name is Joanna White. I’m a self-published author who writes in multiple genres. My primary genre is fantasy, but I’m also working on military romantic suspense, science-fiction, and more.
What types of books do you write and how long have you been publishing?
I’ve been writing since I was ten years old, the summer before my 6th grade school year, but I’ve been published since 2019. I was trad published at first, then switched to self-publishing. My main genre is fantasy. That is where I’m most comfortable, but I’ve written in many different genres, like historical fiction, Biblical fiction, action, action & adventure, paranormal romantic suspense, romantic suspense, and military romantic suspense.
Click the graphic to check out Joanna's Valiant Series on Amazon!
Do you do a day job or anything else within the publishing industry as a side job?
No, I am a full time author, so I don’t have another job outside the industry, but I am an editor. I was a writing competition judge and host for several years, so I decided to start editing for clients because I saw a lot of indie authors like myself struggle to afford good, professional editors for affordable, reasonable prices, which is how I got into it. I keep my prices cheap and affordable for that reason. I also can’t shut parts of my editing brain off, so I do all types of editing. I also tried map design for a while but had trouble finding clients.
What kinds of books do you like to read? Do you write what you read?
Yes. My primary reason for writing started out because I wrote the kinds of books I wanted to read. Writing has always been a passion and hobby for me first before it’s been a job and career. My moods change, so what I’m in the mood to read isn’t always the same. Sometimes it’s military romantic suspense set in the real-world other times it’s romantasy. Recently, I’ve been reading a lot of romantasy, but I hate that they’re always full of spice and smut. But when I tried finding no spice romantasy, I couldn’t find any that were still as gritty or intense, if that makes sense. One thing spicy romantasy books do well is the male characters. They all have tragic, tormented pasts and the characters go through so much angst and feels, and I love that. It just isn’t as heavy in the no spice books I’ve found. And I also like huge fantasy plots outside the romance, so that’s what I started to lean into in my own writing. Of course, at the moment, I’m also writing military romantic suspense, which is my current writing obsession. And recently I’ve been reading through the entire Dungeon Crawler Carl Series. I also am excited about several indie books recently, like my author friend H.A. Pruitt and her book Elores and Sipora, a perfect combination of all the things I love to read. And there’s a ton more from other indie authors on my TBR. It’s growing so long, I’ll never have time for it all *sobs* haha.
Tell us about a day in the life of you…what makes you, you?
Well, I’m a full time author, and I’m a stay at home wife. My husband and I don’t have kids yet, but he still works and allows me to be an author full time, which is a huge blessing I know not a lot of other authors get. I spend a lot of time with my mom and sister, but when my sister is working, I’m at home working as well. When I’m working on a writing project, I try to write every day as much as I can, even if it’s a little, just to “show up” which helps my mentality.
At the moment, I’m planning a Kickstarter for my new Valiant book called Warrior, so that’s a lot of searching the threads for swaps, messaging authors, getting their info, scheduling that out, planning updates to reveal to my Kickstarter followers, doing updates when I have a new reveal to do, including author swaps in it, messaging them back.
I’m also doing a booth at a fall festival with my editor and author friend H.A. Pruitt, so that’s a ton of work. We made bookish themed candles, my sister and I did, so that required countless hours of research, buying supplies, hours making the candles, and buying other supplies for the festival. If I have editing clients, I usually edit a chapter a day as long as they aren’t long chapters.
Then, I’ve got at least three other books back from my editor of my own since I’m horrible at editing my own books (too close to the story), which has been pushed aside due to a lack of time. I’m also trying to post on my three main social media channels and post a good YouTube video once a week. I also send out newsletters every Saturday. I think part of me overcompensates for working at home and being a full time author. There are people out there who don’t consider what we do a “real job” so even though I know it’s just ignorance, that’s always stuck with me, so I tend to overwork myself and not have a good balance on the work-life balance since I work from home.
What are your favorite tropes to read and write? Are there ones you stay clear of? Why?
Everyone who has read several of my books knows that I love male characters. I don’t know why, but I prefer to write them over female characters, though I do write them too. But I love a male character with a tragic or tormented backstory and I love to break my characters like little glowsticks, tehehehe. I’m not a psycho, I promise. But in all seriousness, even though I’m a Christian author, I write a lot of dark and gritty stuff. I prefer to write characters in dark places going through really harsh or rough times because it isn’t all rainbows and unicorns. I lean into the whole morally gray antihero male character who has killed people or done horrible things and may or may not have a redemption arc. I love no spice romances but with all the yearning, angst and grit, and the more my characters can go through, the better. I love strong male characters, and lean into the forbidden romances and enemies to lovers sometimes but done correctly, not where they were already secretly attracted to each other from first sight.
Another odd trope that I’m not even sure is a thing is the male character who was experimented on. I’ve done that three … maybe four times already? I also tend toward building races and cultures that resemble either Native Americans (specifically the Lakota people) or Japanese, medieval/feudal Japan. I can’t help myself.
And I love strong female leads but done right. I hate the trope as it’s become in today’s books. Sara J. Maas does this in a horrible awful way where the female leads often do everything right, never go through a struggle, and demean the male characters to make them seem like baddies. A female character and even just a character in general can be strong in so many other ways other than having masculine traits. There’s nothing wrong with a woman who can fight—one of my favorite female characters I’ve ever written is Akari, a baddie female samurai character who fights well, but also still has her soft feminine side and her struggles.
You are a Kickstarter Author. How many Kickstarters are under your belt and what made you decide to try Kickstarter in the first place?
Warrior is in prelaunch right now and it would be my third. I did Immortal, a prequel to my Valiant Series in 2024 with the Omnibus and then Survivor, Valiant Book Seven last year in 2025. I started it because I saw the Kickstarter for Authors group, and I hadn’t been making a lot of sales or royalties for my books and wanted to give Kickstarter a try. When Immortal’s Kickstarter which was awful because I did it all wrong and had no idea what I was doing and combined it with the omnibus, did over $2k, I was like this is the most money I’ve ever made as an author even when I was trad published. And also, because I used to write on Wattpad where I got a lot of feedback and comments from readers who loved reading my stories on there, I missed that author to reader interaction in publishing and I feel like Kickstarter provides that again, especially with the recent updates to follower updates and stuff.
Right now you have a Kickstarter campaign in prelaunch for your book “Warrior,” which is a no spice medieval romantasy. Can you tell us about the book and the series it falls into?
Yes. Warrior is technically Valiant Book Seven, but you can read the series in any order, so if a person wanted to start reading the series with Warrior, they can. The Valiant Series is a series of epic fantasy interconnected standalones where darkness called Corruption is spreading from one world to another, so each book is about a different hero chosen to help stop it and their battle with Corruption until they all come together for sort of an epic fantasy version of the Avengers Assemble moment in the last four books, but no scifi or superheroes just epic fantasy.
Warrior specifically is, as you said, a medieval fantasy with a no spice romance in it. In a world where first born sons are conscripted into the army, Cynndra’s family has no sons, but she’s the eldest daughter. She’s forced to join the army, and she has to complete training or her family will be banished from the Empire. So, it’s sort of a Mulan meets Fourth Wing in a way but without the spice and with bonded animals instead of bonded dragons. Cynndra is surrounded by an army of men.
Who are the main characters in “Warrior” and what do you love the most about them?
Excellent question. First, there’s Cynndra. She’s kind and compassionate and a bit shy and scared, so I love that she doesn’t fit into the box of typical strong female lead, and it creates this really interesting character arc with her being in an army learning to literally kill other soldiers and how can she hold onto her kindness and compassion through that? In this world, people bond with animals when they’re young, so she’s bonded to a wise white female fox named Lyric who is there to help and guide her along the way. Lyric is a fun companion.Then, there’s General Rothan. He takes on a sort of more grumpy version of Li Shang, haha. He’s cold and closed off and a bit grumpy but he’s straightforward and no-nonsense, but he’s a good leader. The soldiers all admire him, and he’s a leader for a reason. He’s bonded to a snarky black male stallion named Iyro, who contrasts Rothan’s personality really well.Then there’s Cynndra’s squad. It’s a fun, perfect example of found family, camaraderie and brotherhood (which I’m a huge sucker for a good brotherhood trope). I released a mini character guide as a follower update a few updates ago on the Kickstarter page going over each one in more detail.
“Warrior” is the seventh book in your Valiant Series. Can you tell the readers why they should back this project or how they can get the first books in the series?
Well, all of the books will be available in the Kickstarter as eBooks and paperbacks, and then I also have an Omnibus of books one to five in eBook, paperback, and hardback. You can also read the series in any order, so people can jump right on in to Warrior if they want.
Also, if you want a book that’s like Mulan meets Fourth Wing but without the spice, set in a gritty medieval world with bonded animals, found family, brotherhood, and a really heart wrenching romance with all the angst and feels, and especially if you want to cry your eyes out, then that’s why you should back Warrior.
What kind of world did you create within the Valiant Series? What kind of magical world or creatures coexist within the pages?
Because each Valiant book takes place on a different character’s homeworld, I’ve created many worlds. One, from Rogue Book Five, is a world made entirely out of water. Another, from Samurai Book Three is a world that was inspired by feudal Japan. In the later part of the series when the characters all come together to battle Corruption, they’re traveling across many worlds, so I started creating many of them.
Each world is different and unique. One has shapeshifters divided into clans by what they shapeshift into, including dragons and wolves. Another, in Remnant, Valiant Book Eight—you’re getting a special sneak peek here, by the way—is an industrial world inspired by and kind of set in the 1920s, but outside the city lies a wilderness they’ve been destroying. The MMC in that book, Rayth, has magic where he casts runes and the runes are filled with magic that comes from his wings, and he uses them to cast spells and fight, which is pretty cool.
What is your overall goal that you are aiming for with your crowdfunding project?
With Warrior’s Kickstarter, and all of them, I hope to raise not just enough money to cover the cost of the Kickstarter itself, delivering the goods to the backers, but to cover the costs of editing the next books in the series and art for future books which I can then use in their Kickstarters. Obviously, the main goal is to find a lot of readers who want to read Warrior and who get interested in the series. I’m working on building a fanbase on Kickstarter, so I’m hoping that works.
What advice would you give to an author that is doing their first Kickstarter campaign?
My main piece of advice is get on the Kickstarter for Authors Facebook group and read through all of the resources, including buying Anthea L. Sharp’s new book about it. It will help you with all the research and best prepare you for launching your first. And then just try it. If you don’t make it, there’s no harm, especially if you don’t spend much money on your first until you know how things will work and stuff.
Do you plan to use Kickstarter in the future? How do you plan to include it in your publishing business?
Yes, I plan to use it for all my books as long as it stays “in.” We authors have to stay on top of what’s working, and for me this has been more successful than anything else I’ve tried. I love using it to do a prelaunch for my books. I am hoping to start my military romantic suspense book series next alongside finishing up the Valiant Series and more.
Please share anything you would like our readers to know about your or your Kickstarter Campaign for “Warrior…”
To save her family, Cynndra must become a warrior.
Cynndra Morevold is the eldest of two daughters in a world where having no sons is a disgrace. With her father sick and dying, she is forced to join the army in place of a first-born son. If she fails to complete her training in one year, her family will be banished from the Empire.
No woman has ever succeeded.
Training is overseen by General Rothan, a battle-hardened commander with a snarky bonded horse and a reputation for ruthless discipline and a past carved by grief. Cynndra struggles through the harsh training with her faithful bonded fox, Lyric, as a guide and strength to get through.
When training becomes civil war, Cynndra forms friendships that give her strength, and she must decide who to become as she faces the battlefield. In the quiet spaces between battles, she finds love, drawn to him by shared grief and fear of loving again.
The war will try to harden her. To save her family and survive what’s coming, Cynndra may have to sacrifice what the man who loves her is fighting to protect.
Also, if you follow the campaign, you’ll be able to vote on the campaign and help create the kind of campaign you’re interested in and see all the art, Chibi art which everyone is loving a lot right now, and all the reveals before anyone else.
****
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joanna White is a Christian Author and fangirl. Hunter and Shifter are the first two books in her debut series, called the Valiant Series. She writes Fantasy, Science Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Historical Fiction, Nonfiction, and more. Her short stories have been featured in several anthologies.
She graduated from Full Sail University with a BFA in Creative Writing For Entertainment. Ever since she was ten years old, she's been writing stories and has a deep passion for writing and creating stories, worlds, characters, and plots that readers can immerse themselves in. In 2020, she reached her personal goal of writing a million words in a year. Most of all, Joanna loves God, her family, staying at home, and being a total nerd.
To stay updated and find out more about her novels, where her inspiration comes from, games, giveaways, and more, visit her website at: authorjoannawhite.com
Follow Joanna at the Following Links:
****
COMING SOON TO KICKSTARTER!
Warrior
A No Spice Medieval Romantasy
Deluxe Hardback & Art
Mulan meets Fourth Wing but with no spice and bonded animals instead of bonded dragons in this military romantasy.
****
I would like to thank you for reading Joanna White's interview. It was a pleasure having her on my blog and look forward to featuring her again in the future. Please do take some time to check out her books over on her Amazon or her Kickstarter for Warrior.
Did you enjoy this post?
If you want notifications when our blog has new content please head over to the sidebar menu and subscribe. You can subscribe through the RSS Feed Option or the Follow Me Button. Either way will get you notifications when you sign-up. Until next time.
~ Katie
No comments:
Post a Comment