Today on the blog, I’ve interviewed my author friend Yuki Carlsson, who’s just released their novel Prison of Loneliness. I’ve talked to Yuki about their writing process, how they got started, their advice for beginning writers and more.
- Can you tell us how you started writing?
When I couldn’t write, yet, I glued together my first picture books with my own scribbles, and as soon as I could write, I created another book in which I was telling the story of a child living in the jungle.
Thereafter, I wrote mainly in my diary and came up with another story in my teenage years. However, my real writing journey only started when I went on a sabbatical from my job. A friend of mine and I wanted to write a fictitious vampire story together. The project did not work out, but I wrote my debut novel “Prison of Loneliness” instead and loved it so much that I quit my job and officially became a full-time author.
- What genres do you write in and why?
I write psychological literary fiction. At first, I was clueless about it. Roughly thirty book ideas lingered in my head. However, the plots ranged from romantic over fantastical to thrilling. Which audience would want that? And then I realised: the common denominator in all of my stories is the mental background and development of my characters. I, therefore, aim to appeal to an audience of all genders interested in psychology.
- How do you find inspiration for your stories?
Think about a walk in the forest. You might only see the path, but in truth, there are twigs and leaves, plants and mushrooms, foxes and mice. The world is full of treasures if you recognise their value.
It is the same with inspiration for stories. Our everyday life holds so much potential: a conversation with a friend, an experience we make, and observations of the people around us. I pick them up and they transform.
A premise idea starts to line out a plot. A character tells me their background. A topic wants to be regarded from all angles. All I do then is to put it together, and if I like the combination I can’t hold back my urge to write the story.
- What do you consider the best part of having a writing career? And what do you dislike about this profession?
I love the outlining, the writing and the editing. Often, I lose track of time and find myself saying “Just one more scene and I’ll go to bed” at 2 am in the morning.
However, my experience with book marketing was sobering. A best-selling book is that: a best-selling book, not a best-written book. And hence, a lot evolves around how much money you spend on advertising your work. Also, instead of recognising the value that we authors create, many people claim to want to read your book, but ask you for money to do so. “I’ll write you a review for only $40.”
I despise that. It makes me wonder about the trustworthiness of book reviews and how we can help readers make informed decisions about which book they want to read.
- Can you tell us about your latest project?
Prison of Loneliness touches on heavy topics that people avoid talking about: trauma, depression, loneliness, burnout and more. It also addresses differences in mentality between Asia, Europe and North America and brings awareness about the tense Japanese-Korean relation. It is, therefore, a rather tough read, but shows people that they are not alone and inspires their self-help journey through many metaphors and philosophical ideas.
- Do you have a writing routine?
Yes, I write every morning right after getting up before doing anything else. Only after an hour or two, do I have breakfast and a look at my phone. Through this routine, I avoid getting influenced from the outside and obtain steady progress on my books.
- Do you have a marketing routine?
I want to get a routine of being active on social media and reaching out to fellow authors for collaborations. But otherwise, marketing depends on the stage my books are at.
- What wisdom would you like to impart on writers who are only just beginning?
Think about whether you want to make writing a hobby or a business. The approach will be fundamentally different.
The latter can be overwhelming because of the flood of things you have to learn in parallel to establishing your internet presence, writing, editing, and marketing your book.
Think about it this way: other people study literature for several years and others study business administration. Establishing a writing business from scratch is like studying two majors while onboarding a new job and working in it full time.
My advice would hence be to start writing as a hobby and learn about story composition, writing rules, and editing first. Only then, think about a business model, and your target audience, establish a webpage, and an email newsletter. Thereafter, schedule and plan your book launch. One step at a time.
- What are some of your favorite books? Who are your fav. authors? Why?
Ironically, I don’t read much; I prefer to write.
However, some works really impressed and inspired me, among others: Goethe’s Faust and Werther, Hermann Hesse’s Beneath The Wheel and Steppenwolf, Exupery’s The Little Prince, and Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
What I love about these works are the beauty of the language, the depth of the message, and the timelessness of the plots. While my first novel is contemporary, I aspire to address timeless topics, too, and I want to continue improving my language.
- What are some non-writing facts about you that you would like to share with us?
I lived many years abroad and always try to expand my horizon and come to a better understanding of people, regardless of their cultural background, mentality, personality, gender etc.
In my free time, I learn about psychology, play piano, do extreme sports or converse with close friends.
- What’s next for you?
The first draft of my memoir is finished and going into beta-reading now. So next for me is editing my memoir, making Prison of Loneliness into an audiobook, and creating the concept for part 2 of the series.
- Where can we find you on the web?
You can find me almost everywhere, but I am most active on my webpage and Instagram:
https://amazon.com/author/yukicarlsson
https://www.instagram.com/yukicarlsson/
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/YukiCarlsson
@yukicarlsson
https://yukicarlsson.tumblr.com/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100084395569886
https://www.youtube.com/@yukicarlsson
https://www.reddit.com/user/YukiCarlsson
https://www.linkedin.com/company/yukicarlsson/
