Lynda Hilburn writes paranormal fiction.  More specifically, she writes vampire books.  After a childhood filled with invisible friends, sightings of dead relatives and a fascination with the occult, turning to the paranormal was a no-brainer.  In her other reality, she makes her living as a psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, professional psychic/tarot reader, university instructor and workshop presenter.  Her first novel, THE VAMPIRE SHRINK, will be released by Medallion Press (October 2007). 

Welcome to Beyond the Books, Lynda!  Can we start out by telling us whether you are published for the first time or are you multi-published? 

“The Vampire Shrink” is my first print book. I have sold a short story under my own name to Wild Rose Press (epub), two shorts under a pen name to Wild Rose Press, and a novella under my pen name to Loose Id (epub). 

What was the name of your very first book regardless of whether it was published or not and, if not published, why? 

“The Vampire Shrink” is my first full-length novel. It will be released by Medallion Press in October, 2007. My first sale was a short story to Wild Rose Press (epub). That story is called “Diary of a Narcissistic Bloodsucker.” So far, I’ve been able to sell everything I’ve written (knock on wood!). If that particular story hadn’t sold, I would have been happy to post it on my website as a “free” story. 

For your first published book, how many rejections did you go through before you either found a mainstream publisher, self-published it, or paid a vanity press to publish it? 

For “The Vampire Shrink,” I accumulated a huge file folder filled with rejections from print publishers and agents. I had lots of requests for the full manuscript, but what kept happening was that – after reading the first 3 chapters and getting an idea about where the book was going – several people were disappointed that the book didn’t follow the path they assumed. My book is a little quirky: it blends lots of genres. By the time I sold to Medallion and accepted representation from my agent, my book had been rejected so many times I had to hold the folder together with large rubber bands! I had fewer rejections for my short stories. “Diary of a Narcissistic Bloodsucker” was the most challenging to sell because it’s a humor/satire w/romance elements. The first epub I sold it to went out of business. The second decided it needed a happy ending in order for them to publish it, a third decided the same, then Wild Rose Press enthusiastically bought it.  

How did the rejections make you feel and what did you do to overcome the blows? 

I had some very low times. I thought my book (The Vampire Shrink) was good, and I kept running up against other peoples’ expectations. Everyone wanted me to change something to make it more like what they envisioned. One agent said something along the lines of “This is great. Wonderful writing. Now make it “Stephanie Plum does vampires.” Everyone compared mine (because there’s humor in it) with a very popular light vampire series and mine isn’t quite that light. So they were disappointed. I think I just had to wait out the huge wave of vampire stories. I’ve been reading vampire stories forever. It isn’t a trend for me. Luckily, I had wonderful critique partners who gave me ongoing pep talks and lots of cyber hugs. Sometimes I just gave up for a little while, slinked away and pulled the covers over my head. But then I always found my enthusiasm and began submitting again. 

When your first book was published, who published it and why did you choose them? 

I had submitted to Medallion right at the same time I found my agent. He subbed the book to his list of editors and had the same reaction that I’d been getting: “Yeah. Great writing. Good story. Now change it.” At the same time, Medallion contacted me, saying they loved the book just as it was. It felt great to be appreciated. Mine is the only urban fantasy they have in their publishing line-up. 

How did it make you feel to become published for the first time and how did you celebrate? 

When I sold my first short story, I told everyone I knew. Nagged them into buying it. It was lots of fun. I signed the print contract with Medallion Press back in December, 2006 and had a long time to begin promo. My book actually showed up today as “in stock” on Amazon.com. I hadn’t expected that to happen until October. It’s very exciting and terrifying. I go back and forth between feeling frozen with fear and jumping up and down. Very crazy-making! I can’t help myself: I tell my friends every little thing that happens along the publishing path. 

What was the first thing you did as for promotion when you were published for the first time? 

I joined lots of email loops, looked for free ways to promo and put the name of the story in my email signature. I signed up for “author days” on various loops, both just by myself and with larger author groups. Those were great fun. When I sold “The Vampire Shrink,” I did more of the same, plus I had a new website designed, I had great postcards made (bookmarks will come when I raise more money) and I started scheduling book signing events and conference appearances. So much promo, so few hours in the day! 

If you had to do it over again, would you have chosen another route to be published? 

I had envisioned “The Vampire Shrink” being purchased by a NY pub, but that didn’t happen. I’m happy now with the way things worked out. Medallion Press is a successful, growing, medium-sized independent press and they give my book the attention it needs to thrive. 

Have you been published since then and how have you grown as an author? 

I signed a contract with Medallion Press to publish the second book in my vampire psychologist series, “Dark Harvest.” That book will come out next October (2008). I hope everything I write gets better as I grow as a writer. I am also hoping to be invited to participate in anthologies. I enjoy reading them, and I’m sure I’ll love writing a story for one. I thought I’d write more paranormal erotica under my pen name, but I’m finding that I don’t have the ability to write “hot” enough to really have great sales numbers in that genre. 

Looking back since the early days when you were trying to get published, what do you think you could have done differently to speed things up?  What kind of mistakes could you have avoided? 

I would have focused on trusting my voice much sooner. I think I let other peoples’ opinions and notions about writing rules have too much power for too long. I kept trying to fit into existing boxes, when that was never going to work for me. The sooner a writer finds her voice and writes consistently in that voice, the better for all concerned. But, of course, I didn’t know any better. Before I started writing fiction 4 years ago, I wrote nonfiction for years, and the “rules” are very different. I caught on quickly, but still spent a lot of time trying to do what other people wanted me to do instead of following my intuition. I also discovered that someone can follow all the writing rules and still not write a good book (and vice versa).  

What has been the biggest accomplishment you have achieved since becoming published? 

Finding the courage to actually tell people I wrote a book, and showing up at book signing events! I’m an introvert, and those kinds of things are challenging for me. (On the Myers-Briggs test I’m a INFP – the most socially-challenged of the lot!) 

If you could have chosen another profession, what would that profession be? 

I have a tendency to do all the various things I like to do. In addition to writing, I make my living as a licensed psychotherapist, certified clinical hypnotherapist and professional psychic. I have a short attention span! I also used to sing in rock and roll bands. I really miss that!! 

Would you give up being an author for that profession or have you combined the best of both worlds? 

No. I don’t give up anything. I just keep adding on! Life is too short to just choose one thing! 

How do you see yourself in ten years? 

Hopefully, with a lot more books on my website. I want to write several more books in the vampire psychologist series, I want to go back and write more in the world of the novella I sold (“Undead in the City”), and then probably something involving the psychic realm and another dealing with psychology/metaphysics in some way. Having lots of money would be nice! grin 

Any final words for writers who dream of being published one day? 

As every author tells you: never give up. Persist. Get tougher skin. Learn all the writing rules, then adapt them to your own situation/style/voice. Follow your intuition. There are so many outlets for publication now, you can feel much more confident that you’ll sell. Keep putting one foot in front of the other (one word after the other) and someday your dream will come true. 

Tags: Beyond the Books, author interview, paranormal fiction author, Linda Hilburn