AN INTERVIEW WITH SKYLAR SHOAR
Thank you so much for having me here today. I live in England with my husband and two sons and I write under the pseudonym, Skylar Shoar. My favorite TV show is Friends and I’m a huge chocoholic.
Are you happy about being an Author?
Being an author has been an aspiration since I was a teenager. I love the freedom of expressing thoughts and emotions through words. There’s something really special about reading a story and getting so lost in a world the author has created. I wanted to do that. Life can be brutal at times and creating a fictional escape for readers is an honor.
Writing has also introduced me to an amazing writing community. I’ve made some amazing online friends and the support from them has been beyond anything I could have imagined.
What's your motivation as an author and what have you learnt from writing books?
My motivation is to bring to life characters that are just like us, imperfect, flawed, and faced with real-life situations. The characters from my debut duology, The Us Duology, are far from perfect but I tried to develop them as much as possible. I hope readers will relate to them and learn from their experiences.
What have I learned? Well… that I like to break rules haha. When I sent my final manuscript to my editor she set out to chop about 10,000 words. But I fought for my words and we compromised. The Us Duology is longer than most books in the romance genre but I wanted to tell the story in a specific way.
I also learned that it’s never too late to follow your dreams. It took me many years before I was brave enough to publish but I took the leap and did it. And I’m so grateful for all the support I’ve had along the way.
As an author , what do you think are the positive things about your writings?
I want my characters to show that it’s okay to be flawed. It’s okay to make mistakes, to behave immaturely at times, but it’s equally important to own up to those mistakes. In life, there will always be people who try to put us down or tell us that we don’t have what it takes.
The Us Duology is about two people who fight for what they want; against all odds, they find strength in each other. Every person has the ability to succeed, but many don’t believe in themselves enough to take the risk. I hope the Us Duology will inspire readers to go for it… whatever it may be – a new job, a love interest, a hobby… the list is endless.
Which book or e-books have you published and which are in pipeline?
The Power of Us and The Perseverance of Us form the Us Duology and they’re available from Amazon. Both books are available in Kindle Unlimited and Paperback. The Us Duology is an emotional, passionate, and immersive story of two people who face more adversity than they probably deserve. My aim with this duology was to write it in such a way that readers feel connected to the characters, Cassidy and Harly. I want readers to join Cassidy and Harly on their emotional journey and be a part of it as if they were walking alongside them.
I’m currently working on a romance novel with a sci-fi twist called Touch. This is another risky move because I’m writing it solely from a male perspective. This is quite unusual in the romance genre so I’m excited and petrified at the same time haha. But hey, it’s how I envision the story being told so I have to follow my gut and hope readers will enjoy it.
I’m also working on a fourth romance novel called In Our Dreams. It’s still very early days so I can’t say too much but I can divulge that there are dreams involved – as you probably guessed from the title.
What's your advice for budding authors?
Do it! Write, write, and write. The best quote I’ve ever read is: Write without fear, edit without mercy. That is so true. My advice would be to get the story down first. Don’t worry about the logistics in your first edit. Once you have the story down, you then go back and fix what you need to. And this can take several rounds.
I’ve been blessed to find a handful of amazing critique partners who worked with me on the Us Duology. I can’t stress enough how valuable a critique partner is. Once you’ve gone through a round of critiques, you should then be ready to work with an editor. Again, finding the correct editor is crucial. I was so lucky to find Leo at TheBooks Savant. For any authors needing a committed editor, check her out!
Do you believe in "Writer's Block"?
Now, this is a tricky question and there are certainly some interesting views on this. I do believe in Writer’s Block to a certain extent. But I think it depends heavily on your personal circumstances at the time. At the end of the day, authors are human too. We have busy lives and families.
For me, I have days where I can sit and write for hours on end with no issues. Other days, I have other commitments that dominate my attention and if I’m going through a particularly emotional time in my life, then it can go both ways. I can lose myself in writing and pour my emotions into words.
Other times I struggle to focus because I’m too preoccupied with other thoughts. So for me, it’s not about Writer’s Block as such. It’s about being in the right headspace to write and deliver a story in a way that’s worthy of my characters.
What are the problems that you have faced in your Author journey?
Once I got over the initial self-doubt the writing part came naturally. When it came to editing it was stressful because my editor was tough on me (and rightly so) so I had to fight for my words LOL. As I already said, I was told my books are too long which is why I always knew I would self-publish. I wanted to tell the story a particular way. Once the books were published the relief I felt was overwhelming. But that only lasted a short while.
Because now comes the tough part… marketing. There are so many fantastic authors releasing books every single day that for a newbie like me, it’s so difficult to get your name out there if you don’t have endless amounts of funding. But I must say, the community I have found on Instagram has been FANTASTIC. To all the bloggers, bookstagrammers, readers, authors, and friends who have supported me, I cannot thank you enough. You’ll never know just how much it means.
What Genre of Books do you create and Why you chose it ?
I’m a hopeless romantic all the way so there was never any doubt that I would write romance. A good romance story is truly the best medication when you’re feeling low. It just provides a sense of hope that whatever is happening in the world at the time, love is possible. And let’s face it, love makes the world go round.
If you could tell something to your younger writing self , what would it be ?
Don’t wait so long to do it! For years I pushed aside the notion to write because I didn’t think I could do it and I always found an excuse to put it off. Then one day I just decided enough is enough. I have a story to tell and I want to share it with the world. So I did. I sat down one day and I started writing Cassidy and Harly’s story.
Where can people contact you ?
There are several ways to contact me and I’ll list them below.
https://www.skylarshoar.com/
https://www.instagram.com/skylar_shoar_author/
https://www.facebook.com/skylarauthor
Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want ?
I tell the story the way the characters need it to be told. Like us, the characters are unique, they have their own personalities and it’s important to stay true to them. I was told that my books are too long, that I use too many adjectives, that I need to tweak some things in my writing style.
And yes, I did alter some things as suggested by my editor but for the most part, I wrote the Us Duology from the heart. I still have a lot to learn and I’m sure I will do that through readers’ reviews. I will certainly take on board any feedback received because, at the end of the day, I write not only for myself but for the readers. And I’m so grateful to each person who reads my books.
