How did you conceive the idea for your latest novel?
My newest paranormal is actually the book I wrote from the time I was 13 years old until I was 35! I had hundreds of different versions, and it’s the only thing I’ve ever written that hasn’t been published. So I’m rewriting it as a background story for the book. It’s an interesting lesson in combining a tragic romance with an HEA. (Which you know is my style of romance!)
If you could describe your entire catalog of books in a single sentence, what would that sentence say?
Happily ever after with a crime and a ghost or two.
How many books did you write before you published/sold your first?
The year I was contracted I had written 12 books that year; obviously that was the pivotal year that began my amazing journey!
What is the best advice you have for aspiring and pre-published authors?
Believe all the good things people tell you about your writing (even if they’re trying to appease you). Don’t listen to the negative things you tell yourself. When you finish one book, quickly write another. Never edit while you write. Force the entire story out of you first, and then go back to begin to polish. AND don’t write the same story forever. Move on and keep writing.
What is your favorite thing about RMFW?
The people. I LOVE THE PEOPLE! Being a publisher and an author, it’s interesting that not all organizations want to work with you. But RMFW embraced all sides of my career and allowed me to share what I have learned. I love RMFW!
Share an interesting fact about yourself.
I became a second-degree black belt at 43! (Seriously, you can do anything you want to do!)
Bestselling Author Bernadette Marie is known for building families readers want to be part of. Her series The Keller Family has graced bestseller charts since its release in 2011. Since then she has authored and published over 30 books. The married mother of five sons promises romances with a Happily Ever After always…and says she can write it because she lives it.
Obsessed with writing since the age of 12, Bernadette Marie officially started her journey as an author in 2007 when she finalized a manuscript she’d been writing for 22 years, shelved it, and wrote 12 more books that year. In 2009 she was contracted with a small publisher in a deal that would eventually go bad. From that experience, she knew she could take control of her career, and that’s what she did.
A chronic entrepreneur since opening her first salon at the age of 20, Bernadette Marie established her own publishing house, 5 Prince Publishing, in 2011, so that she could publish the books she liked to write and help make the dreams of other aspiring authors come true too. Believing there is a place for the fresh author’s voice, she not only publishes but coaches others who wish to publish their work independently. She is also the CEO of Illumination Author Events and Services, offering smaller intimate author/reader events as well as author services.