Dear Readers and Writers,
Welcome to my mailing list!
Special thanks to those that took part in my giveaway on Instagram. It was the first post that I ever promoted, and I am glad that it reached book addicts like you 🙂 I’m doing my best to get more copies in, so I can give away a few more. Please bear with me if I haven’t contacted you directly about it yet, but I will.
Since this is an introduction, I’d like to tell you a little about myself:
My name is Paula—I’m of Chinese descent, born and raised in northern Germany. I moved to England at the age of 18 and completed high school and university there. My majors were in English Literature and Creative Writing. (As you see, I opted for my passion! Though, making a living as a writer isn’t easy!) After spending a total of eight years in England, I headed to Canada on a work and holiday visa in 2013. I’ve been living here ever since. ^_^
In 2018, I finally self-published my fiction novel Heart Like A Hole, which I’d started writing around 2006. The book was inspired by a short story based on a writing exercise. Our teacher asked us to connect our protagonist with an object. I chose to write about a female doctor and her encounter with a bloodstained plaster.
Depending on how far you are in the book, you will notice that the short story became a chapter in the novel. 😉 The writing and research took me about three years, whereas the redrafting and editing process took me over five. It took me long to realize that there was no shortcut around book designing and hiring a professional editor. Therefore, it was a huge learning curve that required patience and planning. (My tip is never to skip that editor!)
If any of you has self-published a book before, I’d like to hear your experience. Please share. Which was the biggest challenge that you had to combat? I think there’s nothing more beneficial than learning from each other. I will eventually share a blog post on my self-publishing experiences.
Overall, I’m excited to hear what you think of this book. I did warn a few of you that it was a dark story. I am highly inspired by transgressional fiction authors, such as Chuck Palahniuk and Bret Easton Ellis, and weird fiction by Ottessa Moshfegh. However, I do my best to be subtle and coherent.😊
Now, I’d like to get to know you guys a little bit more:
1) Where are you from?
2) Who is your favourite author?
3) Which book changed your life?
4) Are you an indie writer or a bookworm? (Both?)
5) What are you currently writing? / What are you currently reading?
Feel free to message me about anything–I look forward to hearing from you all. Having said that, you are by no means obligated to stay on this mailing list. If, for whatever reason, you’d like to unsubscribe, please let me know. This is very new for me, and so is my website. My primary goal is to connect with fellow writers and literature enthusiasts, as I’d like to learn about who you are, what you like to read, what inspires you, etc. I’m not a pushy person, just so you know. 😬
Again, I’m super excited to have you here, and I look forward to hearing from you! Feel free to follow my site or blog, I will return the favour!
All the best and stay safe,
—
Paula
IG: @paulacdeckard
Paula C. Deckard 