An Interview With Carole P Roman

Today I am interviewing a fellow author, Carole P Roman, who writes childrens’ books and spends a lot of time being incredibly helpful to indie author in a variety of ways, whether it is cheerleading, offering advice or suggestions, or more direct, like giving us the opportunity to have our books in swag bags at awards shows – I have to admit, I loved knowing producers, directors and actors were potentially getting their hands on my book.

Welcome to ARCBookBlog, my little corner of the web, Carole, sit down and put your feet up, the tea will be ready in a few moments.

First off, tell me a bit about yourself:

Named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best of 2012 for her first book, award winning author Carole P. Roman started writing as a dare from one of her sons. Using an imaginary game she played with her grandson as a base, Captain No Beard was born.”Captain No Beard- An Imaginary Tale of a Pirate’s Life” has not only been named to Kirkus Best of 2012, it received the Star of Exceptional Merit, and won the Pinnacle Award for 2012. “Pepper Parrot’s Problem with Patience” Book 2 in the series, received 5 Stars from The ForeWord Review The Clarion Review. Strangers on the High Seas has won second place in the Rebecca’s Reads Choice Awards 2013. It has followed with six more books to the series. This year, Captain No Beard and the Aurora Borealis was named to Kirkus Best 2015. The entire cultural non-fiction series If You Were Me and Lived in… was named Best Series by Shelf Unbound.

And now a few questions

Me – How long have you been writing?

Carole – I have been writing since 2012 when my kids dared me to write a book.

Me – Is writing something you’ve always wanted to do?

Carole – I always dreamed of being a writer, but I thought I’d be more of an adult fiction. It never occurred to me to write for children. I love it.

Me – How would you describe yourself as a writer, a plotter or a pantser?

Carole – All three. Writing is fluid- it changes as our lives change. Sometimes the characters slap us on the head and say-“I’m not doing that!”

Me – Do you write every day?

Carole – I do some form of writing every day. I write articles for magazines and blogs. I write reviews. I even write letters to friends. I am always reading and always writing.

Me – What is your favourite genre?

Carole – I am a regency fan. Love the social codes and mores of Regency England. I do love to read history- so I read a lot of non-fiction.

Me -Is your favourite genre one you write in?

Carole – I love genre jumping in my reading, so I enjoy the same in my writing.

Me – If you could have written any book in history, what is it?

Carole – Shogun is my all time favorite book. It has the adventure, intrigue, romance and every time I read it, I learn something new about the characters and myself.

Me – What would you like to achieve with your writing?

Carole – I would like my non-fiction books to bridge the gap on confusion and misunderstandings between cultures and customs. I’d like Captain No Beard and my nursery series help children cope and adjust in certain situations. I’d like parents to write and say, I enjoyed reading your book the 400 times they requested it and I didn’t get bored. I’d love for a student to write and tell me, they finally understand about the flow and development of history from my historical series and they actually enjoyed learning about it. 

Me – Which of your books is your favourite?

Carole – Awww. That would be like picking children. Each book is both a piece of my heart and soul. Each was a part of my own life at the time and people who know me will be able to tell from the dedications.

Me – Tell me about your next release.

Carole – I have so much going on- If You Were Me and Lived on …Mars is taking students into space. Rocket-Bye, Can a Princess be a Firefighter and One to Ten are being released in hardcover. They are beautiful. If You Were Me and Lived in… the Ancient Mali Empire is being released. On the way to the end of production are If You Were Me and Lived in… Germany, Cuba, and the Ancient Mayan Empire. Well, that takes care of January. February is a whole different story!!

If you have a specific title you would like to promote alongside this interview, please fill in below

If You Were Me and Lived on…Mars

Join Carole P. Roman when she blasts off to colonize the planet Mars, in the newest book of her informative series. Learn about how life would be living on the Red Planet. Travel to Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the solar system. Look into the sky and watch Phobos and Deimos, Mars’ two moons. Discover what you would wear, and how the seasons change. See Mars through the eyes of an adventurous youngster like you and understand what life is like in a trip of a lifetime. Don’t forget to look at the other books in the series so that you can be an armchair traveler.

Book Release Date: January 9, 2017

Website: http://www.caroleproman.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarolePRomanAwardWinningAuthorAndBooks/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/caroleproman

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5854108.Carole_P_Roman

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Carole-P.-Roman/e/B008ZOXI0W/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

Nagivating Indieworld – An Honest Review

Navigating Indieworld

Julie A Gerber & Carole P Roman

Social media guru, Julie A. Gerber and award-winning author of forty-three best-selling, independently published books, Carole P. Roman, team up to travel the winding road of self-publishing, promoting, and marketing a book. Join these two self-help experts as they share their vast store of experience in an easy to read, comprehensive guide, complete with end of chapter checklists to keep an author on track. Learn the importance of a beta reader and the value of a good editor. Know what’s needed when preparing a list for choosing an illustrator. Compare the many ways to promote your book. Find out what each step can cost and where you can save. This guide takes new independent authors from the first draft, through publication and the complicated world of marketing. Included is a directory of resources to help get there faster. Navigating Indieworld will end up being the ultimate travel guide for writers on their journey to published author. Join us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/NavigatingIndieworld

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I was gifted a free copy of this book, not for review but because I have connected with Carole P Roman through Goodreads and she was kind enough to want to help me with my writing and promoting efforts. Having read the book, however, I just had to review it.

Julie Gerber and Carole Roman have done a great job of putting together a guide for anyone thinking of publishing a novel. The focus is on publishing as an independent, as the title suggests, but they also cover, briefly, getting published through a publishing house.

The book is organised into a number of different areas that encompass every conceivable aspect of writing and publishing a novel, and each one is written in a way that makes it easy to understand what is being said. Not only are the sections clearly written, they include examples where appropriate – I found the section on blurbs particularly helpful, it’s an area of writing I’ve always struggled with but seeing the examples enabled me to restructure my blurb into something that I feel is more appealing.

Having published in the past, I knew some of what was written about in Navigating Indieworld, and would have liked a little more detail to help me in the areas I didn’t know, such as social media – this is an area I’m uncomfortable with, so more information might not help me all that much, I’m actually thinking of paying for help – but for a new author this is a book I’d recommend reading this book so you know what you’re getting into and how to get the most out of it.

A guide to the indie world

All at sea when it comes to marketing and promotion?

Published a book but not sure where to go and what to do now?

You need help Navigating Indieworld

Social media guru, Julie A. Gerber and award-winning author of forty-three best-selling books, Carole P. Roman, team up to travel the winding road of self-publishing, promoting, and marketing a book. Join these two experts as they share their vast store of experience in an easy to read book.
Learn why you need a beta reader and the importance of a good editor. Make a list of what you need to do when choosing an illustrator. Compare the many ways to promote your book.
Navigating Indieworld will end up being your travel guide as you journey from writer to published author.
FIVE stars from ForeWord Reviews.

You can get the book on Amazon 0r Barnes & Noble