Featured Author Interview – Nicole Jaffe’

ARH – We are pleased to welcome Nicole Jaffe’ as our Featured Author for this week.  Jaffe’ is the self-published author of the short story Magical Dreams (2011) and a book of poetry Lost in my Head (2010).  When not working on her writing, this 27 yr old author is a freelance writer working from her home in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Thank you for joining us today!

NJ – Thank you. I am honored to be featured on this website.

ARH – Please tell us a little more about yourself.

NJ – I am twenty-seven years old and I currently work from home as a freelance writer. It does not make me much money but I love my work and I love helping people. I was also born with Cerebral Palsy and I am in a wheelchair. I am also gay and not legally but happily married to my partner of three years. Both of these aspects of my life have made my life challenging but never boring. I feel that these two aspects of my life have made me more open and accepting of differences and made it possible for me to look at the world and see things in a different way than most people. I feel that every since I was born, I have taken the path less traveled.

ARH – How did you get started as a writer?

NJ – My physical limitations and special needs are probably how I got started writing. Sometimes I could not play outside like other kids or do things the way that most kids my age did. This is why when I was younger, I would sit in front of the computer and create characters that could do all the things I dreamed about and through the characters I could have these experiences as well. It was very exciting for me to create worlds where anything is possible and I loved it from the start.

ARH – Tell us more about Lost In My Head and Magical Dreams.

NJ – Lost in My Head is a poetry book I self-published in 2010 and is kind of my biography about how I struggled through different aspects of my life and got to where I am today. Magical Dreams was created after I discovered the religion Wicca and found it to be an inspiring and very interesting way of life. I found that there were many negative views of Wicca and Paganism out there because many people do not know what it actually is. Even though I have just started my journey discovering Wicca and my place within it and I am by no means an expert, I wanted to create a story that would interest people and maybe shed more of a positive light on the religion. I also wanted to combine my love for fiction and the paranormal and touch just a bit on GLBT issues. I hope my book accomplished these goals.

ARH – Why did you choose to self publish?  What kind of response have you received?

NJ- I self-published because I am a new writer just starting out and I really just wanted to get my message out there to people that might be able to relate to or enjoy my stories. I also self-published because I like the freedom and challenge it has provided me. When I first self-published last year, my book, Lost in My Head was mostly just purchased by family members and friends. However, since publishing Magical Dreams I have advertised more and received more feedback and support from various readers. It has been an exciting and rewarding experience.

ARH – What inspired you to write these books?

NJ – Lost in My Head was inspired by different events in my life and Magical Dreams was inspired by my new knowledge and respect of the religion Wicca. I have also always wanted to write stories that combine my interests and aspects of my life that I am passionate about. My personal interest in Wicca inspired Magical Dreams.

ARH – Do you have more book ideas for the future?

NJ – I would love to write a novel since right now mostly all I can manage to write are short stories. I actually want to write a sequel to Magical Dreams because I want to explore the characters more and see where the story will take them. I also want to write another book of poems someday and perhaps an autobiography or a book on GLBT issues and challenges.

ARH – Are there any publishers interested in this project or are you planning on self-publishing again?

NJ – As of right now, I have not thought about submitting my projects to publishers but I would love to if the opportunity were to arise. I like the freedom of self-publishing and will most likely self-publish again.

ARH – As an author, what do you think is the most important piece of advice that you would give an unpublished writer?

NJ – As a self-published author, it is my responsibility to format my book, edit it, publish it, and also market the book to the public. I would say that the most important advice as a self-published author is to have a marketing plan in place for your work even before you publish it. This will save you time, money, and help you to get your work out there to as many people as possible. As a writer, having people see and like your work is very important and is difficult to do without a good marketing plan.

ARH – Where can we go to learn more about you and purchase your books?

NJ – I have an author’s page which features information about me as well as my books and where to purchase them. That page can be found here: http://www.nicolejaffeauthorpage.wordpress.com.   Lost in My Head can be purchased through: www.wordclay.com and Magical Dreams can be purchased through wordclay.com as well as through the Amazon Kindle Store as an e-book.

ARH – We appreciate you spending some time with us today Nicole!  We wish you continued luck with, and with your other future writing endeavors.