Why not an adventure into love

THE WORLD, THE WORDS, THE WORK OF OLIVIA GAINES, USA TODAY BEST SELLING AUTHOR

Editor of my high school paper, and I went on to college majoring in Mass Communications.

UPW: Was your love of writing as a high school or college student inspired by any particular writers, movies, music or educators?

Olivia is a USA Today Best Selling, Emma Award, and multiple award-winning author who loves a good laugh coupled with some steam, mixed in with a man and woman finding their way past the words of “I love you.” An author of contemporary romances, she writes heartwarming stories of blossoming relationships filled with heart and humor. The Technicians, The Blakemore Files, and the Modern Mail Order Brides, are one clicks for thousands of readers. When Olivia is not writing, she enjoys quilting, playing Scrabble online against other word lovers and spending time with her family. She is an avid world traveler who writes many of the locations into her stories. Most of the time she can be found sitting quietly with pen and paper plotting more adventures in love.

Olivia lives in Hephzibah, Georgia with her husband, son, grandson and snotty evil cat, Katness Evermean.

UPW: Few writers reach the USA Today best-seller list. How did it feel to have reached that level of sales? Was it a total surprise or shock to you or were you the beneficiary of a successful planning and marketing campaign?

OLIVIA GAINES: Yes, making the USA Today Bestseller’s list is hard to do, and what makes it even more of an accomplishment is that ‘the list’ is on hiatus. [The long-time editor of the list was laid off during budget cuts in December of 2022.]

As an author, especially and independent, or an Indie Author, it is difficult to say the least. When an author, indie or otherwise crosses the threshold to hit the list, it does change how you see yourself as a writer. Writing no longer becomes a hobby to you or the IRS, and from this point forward, it becomes about the craft of storytelling.

Yes, it took a hard-line approach to marketing, starting a year out on a title to get the sales in eBooks from Apple, Barnes & Nobel as well as Kindle on Amazon. The team closely monitored the pre-orders so when the book released, it was in the window to make the list and seeing it in print felt like winning a small lottery.

UPW: Where were you born and where did you attend your early school years? What are some of your childhood experiences that may have foreshadowed a career in writing?

OLIVIA: I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama and graduated from Ramsay High School. My English teacher, Ms. Nelson, I shall never forget. We were given a writing assignment to walk a five-year-old through tying a shoe. I was one of five students in the class whose instructions actually worked, but even then, I saw in myself, the humor in life creating a fire in my words to make others laugh. The success of that one story landed me a position of Assistant

OLIVIA: As I mentioned earlier, my high school English teacher lit the fire under me to tell stories, but I was in love with books long before the tenth grade. Growing up, most of the kids in my neighborhood chased the ice cream truck. I chased the book mobile. One Summer, realizing I’d read all the books in my elementary school library, and what Mr. Willie had on the book mobile, I took a bus downtown to the main library in Birmingham. In those walls Maya Angelou came to life as I found out why the caged bird sang. My imagination was set free as I rode down the great Mississippi River with Huckleberry Finn, shivered on the frozen tundra with Jack London, then spent the night in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City with E. L. Konigsburg’s, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. I knew, my job in life were to tell stories.

UPW: At some point you decided that romance and humor would factor hugely in your writing. Can you recall what circumstances led you to that decision?

OLIVIA: That question, is multi-layered answer. My sister Melanie was an avid reader of romances, I mean she devoured a Harlequin a day. I tried reading them, but the characters and scenarios were foreign to me. In 1988, I stumbled onto Julie Garwood’s The Lion’s

Lady which was the first romance book I read which was funny. I then began to devour everything she wrote, learning cadence, pacing, sub plots mixed in with a dash of action adventure. Those are the stories I wanted to write, but my stories would feature LaQuanda and TataLavisha from Compton.

The parts of my stories which make readers laugh the hardest are the everyday scenarios which are familiar. Friends, family and the fights at the cookout which are inevitable when certain factors are mixed in, connects with readers. It is in here; I found my niche and created my brand. I draw on my experiences as a young Army officer, my years as a faculty member teaching English courses, and the wonderful people I have met over the years working in various Fortune 500 companies. Those experiences I revisit and bring to life in my stories.

UPW: Tell us a little about how the concept of The Technicians, The Blakemore Files, and the Modern Mail Order Brides all came about.

OLIVIA: Funny you should ask, about those series. My Modern Mail Order Brides were hashed up on an annual writing retreat with two other local authors, one who, at the time, wrote traditional mail order brides. I put a spin on it, taking successful black women who’d broken through the glass ceiling, but had tired of the dating game and wanted to be married to a man who wanted to be married to them. I pair these dynamic women with men who live off the land, taking the fish out of water story to hilarious new levels.

The Blakemore Files, were in essence a fluke which became an international best-selling serial. A serial, not a series, because the stories were told in real time, each episode picking up where the last one left off. I took the concept of what if…added in a glass of Malbec and it went ‘a writing’ from there. The Blakemores are Mr. and Mrs. Smith, running through Central American breaking up human trafficking rings, but with an out of this world cast of characters that readers love. I ended up with a spin off of the series, and crossed the worlds of the Blakemores, with the Delgados and the Technicians.

The Technicians are near and dear to my heart. After watching John Wick, I began to think, what if, the other assassins in The Continental also got married, but didn’t leave the life. The entire crew, from the people who cleaned up the bodies, to the dispatchers, are given a story in my world of the Technicians. By book five in the series, I’d mastered the concept, and earned the Emma Award for Blind Copy. I recently wrapped up book ten in the series, closing out my first crew of Technicians in the Southeast, the Directions. A crew of ten specialized technicians, including a sniper, a tracker, a poisons expert and a femme fatale. Mr. Exit, in Blind Copy specializes in Human Resource terminations, but what if, the bad guy, wasn’t so bad after all, he simply does a job not many have the stomach to handle. I wanted him to have love as well, plus a family.

UPW: To the aspiring writers who are reading this, is it enough to write a book or maybe two and then wait for the sales to roll in?

OLIVIA: I often ask writers who say they want to write fulltime, what does that author life look like in their heads. There are some writers who get lucky with that book deal, writing one book that blows up, setting the author up for a sweet life. Normally, you are well into the fifth of sixth book before gaining any national attention. A working author is constantly writing, creating, and preparing the next book for market. A working author is also not sitting back waiting on anything, you have to work. It doesn’t matter if you have a book deal with a publishing house, a PR team, or a virtual assistant; you have to work your business. This means podcast interviews, book signings, social media and more.

UPW: Is talent, alone, all that is required to become a successful writer?

OLIVIA: Talent will get you in the door, but hard work earns you a seat at the table. If you want to eat well, sitting at the table is not enough. A successful writer has a series that is the bread and butter of the author’s brand. Just like a cola company, there is the major brand, but the company also makes other flavors of sodas, because not every drinker wants the sweetness or caffeine of a dark cola.

The same concept can be applied to authors. Highly successful authors, once established will have more than one brand. Nora Roberts, famous for her romance books also writes as J.D. Robb as a crime thriller novelist. My sugges- tion to any new writer, master your genre first, then branch out to other genres, mixing tropes and filling in the gaps between what is out there already and what is missing.

On top of the writing, a successful writer has to understand social media. Posting daily of buy my book wears thin, really fast. Readers want to see a day in the life of an author, go backstage into the writer’s lounge to see the workspace and the building of your writing world. Today’s authors must have a website, and at least two social media channels that work for their genre and demographic. Long gone are the days of a simply writing a book and going out to sign copies for the fans.

UPW: Should aspiring writers also study salesmanship and strategic marketing?

OLIVIA: Any business, no matter how large or small, should understand the market in which they are trying to break into and make a dent. There are now websites out there to help guide the new author, or refresh the author facing new challenges in publishing. Sites such as All Author. com and Kindleprenuer.com list tons of strategies and resources to guide the author in making budget conscious decisions for their brand.

UPW: After writing over 100 books, what keeps you planning for even more?

OLIVIA: I like to eat; quiet mouths, and quiet keyboards don’t get fed, so I have to work. I love my job and what I do, because for the first time, I’m doing what I enjoy the most. I have an entire wall painted in chalkboard paint so I can see my year, plot out stories and plan the next great adventure into love. My technicians have more bad guys to handle and my brides have only covered 15 of the states in America. I look forward to hitting the road to seek new corners of the country to set my stories in as well as the stories which are set right here in Augusta.

UPW: Tell us about your involvement in a local Writers Group and how can our readers get involved.

OLIVIA: Currently, I am the Vice President of the Authors Club of Augusta. The Authors Club of Augusta was founded in 1928, one of the oldest cultural organizations in the CSRA. Past members include Louise Shivers, Starkey Flythe, and Edward Cashin. Present members include award-winning and best-selling novelists, poets, children’s authors, essayists, academic writers, and screenwriters. Many of our members have been nationally published and recognized. We are actively recruiting new members, but it is a private group, open by invitation only. Interested members should email us at authorsclubaugusta@gmail.com, with their name, genre, and website.

We are planning to feature our members at the Arts in the Heart this year with readings and book signing in our tent. So, keep watch for more info, which is coming soon.

UPW: When is your next book ready for the market and what’s the title?

OLIVIA: Believe it or not, my next Mail Order Bride is coming out this month on the 18th of April, where we head to Marked Tree, Arkansas for some Down-Home Cooking. Each of the Mail Order Bride book titles are a play on words for what the states are famous for, like Georgia is On A Rainy Night in Georgia, Kentucky is Bleu, Grass and Bourbon, see what I did there, but his name is Bleu.

Down Home Cooking is available on all eBook retailers and will be available in paperback as well. My latest Technican book came out in Janaury. You can read any of these books as a stand alone, but the series of each are addictive. https://amzn.to/3I21mGN https://books2read.com/u/bMN75A

Learn more about Olivia Gaines’ books, upcoming releases and join her bibliophile nation at www.ogaines.com

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