Today my Gentle Readers, I would like to introduce you to P. J. Mann. I’m excited for you to meet this fellow indie author, so let’s get to it. My questions/comments will be in BLUE and P.J.’s will be in GREEN.

P.J. I love your graphic on your Facebook and website. Thank you for coming to visit with me today. It’s always fascinating to learn what started off authors as readers. How did it begin for you?
What made me a reader was just the passion of reading since the elementary school. I loved the places I could visit without even the need of moving away from my room. Perhaps I started to read less when I started to be a writer, mostly it is a lack of time. Being an indie author means that I have to do all the marketing on my own together with trying and produce something new, and that is a full-time activity that leaves little time for the rest.

Self Publishing, they tell us it is hard work but we all think it will be different. I know how that goes myself. So what genres do you enjoy the most?
Mainly I like crime and mystery, but also comedy books or erotica.

When did you decide you were not content just to read the works of other authors and wanted to create your own?
I started to write since I was a teenager, but that was not something meant to be a professional work. Mostly it was to discharge frustrations and to analyze myself. The real turning point was a few years ago, when life seemed to be a downhill road, and I needed something to keep me from depression. That was the point when I started to write and left a bit aside the reading part.

I understand having little time for reading anymore. I am glad that you found an outlet for your thoughts and feelings. Do you have a specific genre you write for?
I prefer to dabble in several genres, but they have all something in common, which is a deep introspection of the characters.

So, you are self published, what brought you to make that decision? Were you always planning to self publish?
As I had my novel finished, including the polishing and copyediting process, I started to look for an agent, but most of them didn’t have time to take other authors, and most of the publishing houses didn’t accept unsolicited writers. I believed in my novel, and I want it to be published, so I self-published with CreateSpace by Amazon. I do believe I still have a lot to learn about being an indie author, but I am ready for the challenge.

I am certain you will accomplish your goals. When not writing, how do you spend your time?
Since I’ve lost my day job in December, I am now fully absorbed by marketing and writing. When I don’t do that, you can find me alone in the woods, recharging my inner batteries in connection with the nature. I love photography, and I do believe that it has a lot in common with writing. They are two different channels, but they both tell a story.

A long walk in the woods, communing with nature, sounds great about now. I agree that photography can tell a story as well as the written word. I understand you have one more passion, and a funny story to go with it. Tell us about it.
I love to travel, and I travel in the most unusual destinations one can find, from conflict areas to out-of-this-world places, even if sometimes I like to indulge in more “normal” tourist destinations. By traveling, I have been gathering most of the inspiration for my novels, as I have met very interesting people and cultures. Perhaps the funniest anecdote is the trip on the night boat across the Kivu Lake in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We were supposed to leave with the morning ferry, but it didn’t get the permission to sail (!)
Funny is that personally, I wouldn’t have given the permission either to the night boat, as it was something that barely could float, and it was mostly used to transport every sort of goods and livestock. It has been a long night, I can tell you, but it was worth, and many times I am thinking about Africa, and all the times, I miss it a lot.

Sounds like an exciting life you lead. Good luck in your travels and your writing. If anyone would like to check out P.J. Mann’s work, or keep up with her travels you can do so at the below links.

Website: http://paperpenandinkwell.blogspot.com
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/PJ.Mann.paperpenandinkwell/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PjMann2016
Amazon Author Page: amazon.com/author/pjmann
Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+PJMann

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