Rachel Amphlett, bestselling crime and thriller writer from Brisbane, Australia, was at Kobo HQ earlier this fall as part of an international author tour. Rachel spoke to Mark Lefebvre about:
- Rachel’s re-introduction to writing after a long lapse and the underlying concept for a story that just wouldn’t let go
- The wonderfully inspirational Christmas gift from Rachel’s husband Nick and his keen words of advice on how to deal with that story (which became the novel WHITE GOLD)
- The Italian publisher who approached her wanting to purchase Italian language rights to that first published novel
- The mindset shift that requires discipline on a daily basis in order to hit the daily word count first thing before all the other business and marketing tasks take hold
- The necessary step of turning off the wifi and putting her phone in another room when it is time to be serious and get down to writing
- The Gantt chart Rachel uses to outline and stick to her twelve month pre-planned publishing schedule
- Her latest book, the November 2017 release HELL TO PAY and how it wraps up an underlying sub-plot that had been developing over the previous three novels in the series
- How emails and feedback from readers around the world have helped Rachel to “up” her game when writing the books in her two series
- The decision Rachel has made to use British English versus American English for different books depending on where they are set
- How Rachel’s Canadian audience on Kobo was established well before any of her other international audiences started to grow
- How being in Kobo Plus in the Netherlands and Belgium have helped Rachel sell more books in those territories than ever before
- Her advice for beginning writers, which include “don’t give up” and “do your homework”
- Nick’s advice for the spouses of writers