Today's Guest Author: Lia London

I'm in the midst of a Pubslush campaign for my next novel Swim Season and need lots of help from friends, family, just about anyone who will give me a hand. This indie publishing business is hard - the hardest thing I've ever done. To relieve a little of the stress I've enlisted the help of several of my fellow authors who will answer a few questions I've come up with about high school and varsity sports, as well as publishing and marketing tips. They'll tell you a little about themselves and their latest project.  I'll visit their blogs and do the same. This helps all of us meet new readers, and helps my readers discover new books and writers they may not know of who have great stuff. Please take a moment to visit their links. And don't forget to visit my Pubslush page and see what's going on. No swimsuit required.

Today's Guest Author is Lia London.

Lia London grew up in a house full of books and teachers. Actually, she grew up in many homes, traveling to dozens of states and countries in Europe by the time she reached high school. Once settled in Oregon, she became a teacher and freelance script writer. She now home schools, leads a youth group at her church, and writes whenever she finds a free hour. Lia is also the creator and curator of Clean Indie Reads, home of flinch-free fiction, the best ever data base for clean books written by independent authors.

Most of us have strong feelings about our high school experience. Was yours a yay or a nay? 

My high school experience was kind of a mixed bag. I went to a very rich school where kids drove BMWs, yet I lived on the street between K-mart and the State Penitentiary in a tiny apartment with my single mom. For that reason, I always felt sort of awkward. I was definitely not in the “in” crowd.  At the same time, I excelled in music and English, earning a lot of respect within those departments.  It was almost as if I lived in two high schools: the one where I was a leader and admired, and the one where I was a nobody.  Over all, though, I’m glad I went where I went.  It was an excellent school academically, and I had opportunities there that many other schools did not provide.

Did you play sports in high school? If yes, which one(s) and how did it work out for you? If not, do you have children who play sports?

I didn’t play in high school although I had been into sports during grade school.  Because of aforementioned economic issues, I did not have the funds to pay for a lot of the sports stuff fees, and my mother worked full time and couldn’t shlep me to and from practices and games (like they did in the old days).  Prior to that time, though I had been an MVP on my school basketball team, a good volley ball player, and had just made the soft ball team when I broke my leg in a bike accident and had to find something else to do after schools. I chose choir, and that sort of changed my emphasis for the next several years.

Pubslush is a global marketing platform to assist authors with pre-publication publicity and sales. Do you have any key marketing tips for authors?

I’m certainly no great success story in that end, but the greatest thing I’ve done is to network with other authors.  In addition to getting help “spreading the word”, I have learned from my indie colleagues about how to improve my craft and make my books more marketable in the first place.  I tend to be conservative in my online presence, focusing on Facebook and Twitter, but trying to make real connections there.

Can you tell us about your latest project?

My WIP, due out within a month, is about a first year high school English teacher who is pursued by a hunky colleague with a bad womanizing reputation. In an effort to dissuade him, she announces she’s married, which leads to all kinds of problems down the road when she actually likes someone else and can’t date him because, y’know, she’s married. Her Imaginary Husband is as much about teaching and high school life as it is about romance. Many of the school-related incidents in the story actually happened to me when I was teaching or a student myself. Those were happy times, full of laughter as well as some very poignant moments. I hope I can bring those things to life for my readers.

 Where can we learn more about you and your books?

Please visit my website for updates on books. I can be followed on Facebook (a personal account, so I don’t respond to every friend request), Twitter, and Clean Indie Reads.