Tell us your name and then a bit about yourself.
C.J. Baty
C. J. Baty lives in southwest Ohio. Her heart however, lives in the mountains of Tennessee where she hopes to retire some day. The mountains have always provided her with inspiration and a soothing balm to the stresses of everyday life.
The dream of writing her own stories started in high school but was left on the back burner of life until her son introduced her to fan fiction and encouraged her to give it a try. She found that her passion for telling a story was still there and writing them down to share with others was much more thrilling than she had ever expected.
She has a loving and supportive family who doesn’t mind fixing their own meals when she is in the middle of a story. And a network of friends, who have encouraged and cheered her on in her quest of being an author.
One thing she has learned from life and she is often heard to say is: “You are never too old to follow your dream!”
When you are writing a book, which is harder? The first book in the series or the others after it?
I think it’s the others that come after. Especially if the same characters are in each additional book. It’s a little easier if each book has a different set of MC’s but theme continues through the series.
What comes first? The plot or characters
I’m a panster at heart so it’s always the characters for me. The plot is an idea that works itself out.
What author would you love to meet (Who is your unicorn author)?
I have had the amazing good luck to meet two of mine, Karen Marie Moning and Josh Lanyon. Both of which are truly amazing ladies. I’m also a huge Clive Cussler fan so meeting him would have been lovely. Unfortunately, he passed away in February this year.
If you could ask that author three questions about their writing, writing process, or books, what would they be?
1. I’d ask KMM how she continues to keep book after book in a series fresh and new.
2. I’d ask Josh Lanyon how she has continued to produce wonderful story after wonderful story in her long career.
3. I’d ask Clive Cussler how many hours of research he did before he wrote his stories. There are so many details and historical facts in his stories. It always amazed me.
What is harder? The blurb writing, naming the book, or naming the series.
For me, it’s that danged blurb! How do you condense an entire book into 5 to 10 sentences that will draw a reader to your story? I spend a lot of time rewriting a blurb before settling on one version and then I usually still doubt it.
What is your favorite memory so far as an author?
The moment a mom told me that she had purchased one of my books for her young adult son because he wanted to read about characters he felt a connection with. That floored me. Oh a close second would be the gay couple who were the first to buy a book from me at my very first book signing.
What is your definition of success?
When a reader says they love my story or my characters. Then I feel like a real author so that’s success.
What are your social links?
Twitter https://twitter.com/cbaty
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cj.baty.3/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cjbaty27/?hl=en
Website cjbaty.com
Blog cjbaty.blogspot.com
What are your buy links?
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/C.-J.-Baty/e/B00K2ISIQI?ref_=dbs_p_ebk_r00_abau_000000
Bookbub https://www.bookbub.com/profile/c-j-baty
Universal Link https://books2read.com/ap/nkNz6R/CJ-Baty