Writer Wednesday - Author Angela Murray

Can you please tell us a little about yourself? 

My name is Angela Murray a single mother of three adult children and one grandchild. I reside in Birmingham, Alabama. My children are Brian (27), Christopher (21) and Brianna (19) – grand-daughter Ivyanna(5). I recently retired from a 27 year job with a major insurance company. I attended Virginia Union University (Richmond) in 1982 for business administration. 

When did you first begin writing? 

I began writing poems and short stories in the fifth grade. My mother divorced my father, joined the military and left my siblings and me with her mother. So I wrote as an expression to deal with the pain and separation. In 1993, I challenged myself after reading the novel ‘Mama’ by Terry McMillian to write a full manuscript. I was a single mother with my second child and each morning I would wake up at 3 am feed my newborn and write until 5 am for three months before I had to get ready for work and drop my two kids off at school and daycare. I completed Friends, Enemies and Lovers in three months. (This book is still unpublished—working on publishing by the end of 2014—handwritten and need to be typed/edited). 

When did you finish your first book and what’s the title? 

My first published book is ‘Lies and Deceit’ and it was published as an eBook on April 13, 2014 on kindle publishing on Amazon and a month later added as a paperback. 

What genre do you write in and how did you choose that genre? 

I wrote in Urban fiction/drama. I had been reading several books in this genre and seen that many readers were enjoying this type of writing. So I took 3 months and wrote this book. Most of the writing wasn’t me and it was hard at first to write some of the things that I wrote about in the book. 

Do you write full-time or do you have another profession? 

Since I’ve retired I’m writing full time. I have plans to publish at least 3-4 books a year, do seminars on self-publishing, offer teens opportunities to enter contest to win a free publishing of their novel on ebook and I’m currently writing a children’s series about sharing, respect, grief and coping with peer pressure. This children series I plan to connect with camps, daycares, schools, and other organizations to market and teach about each subject. (prior to writing and publishing my first novel, I’ve written 5 other books that will be published soon) 

How do you market your work? What avenues have you found to work best for your genre? 

I first started out marketing with word of mouth, family and friends. I use social media, but I’ve learned that authors need to put a face with their book. So attending events, hosting events, traveling and talking about my book everywhere I go helps. Hosting events, getting with book clubs and setting up tables at events help. 

What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment? 

The toughest criticism was said that I was too old to write and nobody knows me so I wouldn’t succeed. The best compliment was “Never give up on your dream, follow your heart, believe in your passion and pursue your dream to the fullest.”  

Reviews are important for authors. How do you go about requesting reviews?

I first started out asking the people that purchased my book to leave a review after reading. I offered free books for reviews and that didn’t work out well. I held contest for people to purchase the book at a discount, read it and answer questions about the book( and then asked them to rate the book on a scale of 1-5.) 

Let everyone know where they can find you and your books. 

Facebook (angelia murray)
Instagram (rico1436)
Grand Royale Publishing: http://www.grandroyalepublishing.weebly.com/ 

Do you have any advice you can give to aspiring writers? 

The advice I give to aspiring writes is to believe in yourself first, research the market (publishing, marketing, copyright, editing etc) learn everything about your craft, learn to deal with criticism, failure and issues because you will face obstacles. Be prepared to hustle and have long nights/ early mornings of working and to never give up because of a NO –keep pushing and working on your writing it will eventually payoff.