Advice to Take Your Main Character in Book's Lead- Grant Her Bravery & Piracy

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Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:00:00

Welcome to Author Express. Thanks for joining us today. I'm Shawna Rodrigues, one of your hosts and the founder of Authentic Connections Podcast Network, which makes this podcast possible. This podcast is where you discover the voice behind the pages of your next favorite book, and I'm excited about the author we have for you today.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:00:22

And today is an extra special Wednesday because today, we are celebrating the 1-year anniversary of Author Express. We have spent the last year bringing to you these conversations with someone who might be your new favorite author, after you had a chance to get to know them a little bit better and hear the voice behind the pages. We are going to revisit today our very first episode, the one that started it all. And you get to reflect back on this conversation with Sarah Branson. Before, she had completely released her full series. And now you can go to the show notes and be able to order all of the books and have them at your fingertips. So, come along for this reflection back to where we were a year ago and the gratitude, we all have for the year we've spent together getting to know a multitude of incredible authors, and we're glad that you're here to set sail with us on another year of Author Express and getting to know your next favorite author.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:01:33

Sarah Branson has been a midwife for close to 30 years. She's helped families welcome their little ones into their arms in the hospital, at a birth center and at home. So, naturally when she began to write her fiction series, she wrote a post-apocalyptic tale of action, adventure, revenge and romance featuring pirates. Pirates of New Earth is a 4-book series of strength and resilience set in the future that follows Kat Wallace through her life as she moves from a traumatized enslaved young woman to become a leader who seeks to end human trafficking.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:02:08

Kat Wallace has been described as one of the best heroines you'll find in contemporary sci-fi. Hers is a story of trauma, survival recovery, and above all, empowerment. Book 1, A Merry Life and Book 2, Navigating the Storm are available now with Book 3, Burn the Ship launching in November. We'll talk with Sarah today about Kat, why pirates and her writing process that typically starts with large piece of paper on the wall and multicolored Sharpies. Welcome, Sarah. I'm so glad you're here today.

Sarah Branson [: 00:02:38

I am happy to be here, Shawna. This is very exciting.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:02:41

I am so excited to learn more about Kat. Before we get to that, tell me more about you. Tell me the most interesting thing about where you are living right now.

Sarah Branson [: 00:02:49

The most interesting thing about where I'm living right now is that I'm not going to be living there much longer because we put our house up on the market this last week.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:02:56

Oh.

Sarah Branson [: 00:02:57

We're in Mystic, Connecticut. Beautiful, beautiful. Gorgeous.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:03:01

I've actually been there because of the Mystic Pizza. So, I had to go there.

Sarah Branson [: 00:03:04

That's right.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:03:05

Exactly.

Sarah Barnson [: 00:03:06

And all kinds of beautiful things. There's the Mystic Seaport and the Mystic Aquarium, and it's lovely there. We've been there for about 3 years. We were in Maryland before that. We are travelers. We do intend to move. We had a great big house, and it was wonderful during COVID. All the kids and grandkids could come and stay there, and it was perfect. But now that's done, and they have moved to different places. So, we're going to go downsize and do something fun.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:03:27

That is so exciting. I love it. So, if you could live anywhere in the world, which does not have to be where you move to next, we can give you some room.

Sarah Branson [: 00:03:35

Yes.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:03:35

But anywhere in the world, where would you live?

Sarah Branson [: 00:03:37

Well, let's see. We're going to stay in Connecticut because my husband's got a job there.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:03:42

Okay.

Sarah Branson [: 00:03:42

And one of us has to have one.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:03:45

Details. Details.

Sarah Branson [: 00:03:46

Details. Anywhere in the world. I love the Pacific Northwest. Even though we raised the kids in Northern Michigan and we were there for close 20 years, we still consider ourselves displaced Oregonians. So, I don't know, maybe there, but I really also like traveling. So, I think I would love to be able to, you know, hop around. I'd love to go overseas. For all the times, all the places I've been overseas, we really haven't done a lot in Europe, but I think maybe that'll be this next year or 2.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:04:14

Who knows?

Sarah Branson [: 00:04:14

Well, 3 or not. We'll find out.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:04:17

You like to leave that option open. Let's see.

Sarah Branson [: 00:04:19

That’s right. That is always true for me.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:04:23

There you go. So, I'm excited about your series and the next one coming out is Burn the Ship. Correct?

Sarah Branson [: 00:04:29

Burn the Ship. That’s correct.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:04:30

Yes. So, thinking of that, do you want to start with it and where your idea came for that book, or where did your ideas come for the whole series? Where do you want to start?

Sarah Branson [: 00:04:38

Well, I really think I have to start with the whole series because when I look at my 0 draft that I did, it truly was, you know, kind of a stream of consciousness about Kat Wallace and her life, and it really did cover the first 3 books, kind of. It didn't really have the full ending that this series will have. So, in looking at it, I have to not just look at A Married Life, and Navigating the Storm and Burn the Ship and Blow the Man Down, but I have to kind of look at the whole arc there.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:05:08

That's why there's so many Sharpies.

Sarah Branson [: 00:05:10

That's why there's so many Sharpies. And, you know, because I am new to the writing process as, you know, as far as writing fiction goes, my 0 draft was a beautiful piece of work as far as I was concerned. It had all these great words and all this great adventure. It didn't have a plot though, which was apparently is clutch. And,

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:05:30

is that a thing? Is that a thing?

Sarah Branson [: 00:05:31

Yeah. In marketing a book, people tend to like plots.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:05:35

Oh, okay. Okay. Good to know.

Sarah Branson [: 00:05:37

So, I have been over the last 2 years kind of, on a fire hose of learning about the writing process and craft and have, you know, gotten to a place now where I have a very nice overall narrative arc for the series and nice little narrative arcs for each book as well.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:05:54

Oh, beautiful.

Sarah Branson [: 00:05:55

Yeah. So, it's been working out very well.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:05:56

So, where did Kat first come from? Where did this idea come from?

Sarah Branson [: 00:06:00

You know, Kat kind of showed up in my car as I was commuting. I was working at the Nurse Center in Danbury, Connecticut, which is about an hour and a half away from where I live. And I would go there and I would stay there when I was on call. And it was during the depths of COVID, and I was driving, and I love listening to podcasts. I love listening to books. I was going to date myself and say books on tape.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:06:22

On tape. You're laughing.

Sarah Branson [: 00:06:24

Audiobooks. But then, you know, eventually, sometimes you want to turn the music off and just kind of think and be there. And at some point, in kind of that make believe world that we sometimes get into, Kat showed up and had this story. And that was always the sticking point for me for writing was I didn't feel like I had a story to tell.

Sarah Branson [: 00:06:47

And suddenly, there was a story. There was a character who had a rich background and a rich story, and I basically just kind of followed her. And not everybody does that. A lot of times people create their characters. But, yes, I created my character, but I also just kind of let her take the lead and see where that would go, and it went really marvelous places.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:07:09

Nice. She was a leader. She's already taking places.

Sarah Branson [: 00:07:12

She definitely is.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:07:15

That's wonderful. And so, the arc of the series, you mentioned there's a 4th book.

Sarah Branson [: 00:07:20

Yes. There's a 4th book, and that'll be the conclusion of this series. Blow the Man Down is the title of that. Let's Kat have an opportunity to have a face-to-face meeting with her past enslaver. And she's been working towards this goal for a while, and so, she will have an opportunity to see if she can fall into the right balancing place.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:07:40

That's incredible. Yes. And your books, you guys, I know it's the podcast, but her, the covers are just gorgeous on her books. I love them. So, they definitely capture. They give the mood and the feel to it, and they also have that ability because it’s sci-fi and, like, this woman's empowerment is such a unique combination of bringing those two together.

Sarah Branson [: 00:07:58

It definitely is. It definitely is. Sometimes I really feel like either I have 1 foot in each camp of sci-fi and women's fiction or I'm standing outside the camps before going like, no. No. No. In sci-fi, it's, you know, you can't possibly have a woman who's going to be this strong leader. And, you know, in women's fiction, it's like, there's not a lot of sci-fi aspects, genre crossover with it.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:08:23

But that's some of the most exciting stuff is when you get behind it.

Sarah Branson [: 00:08:26

And this and the story really is, yes. It's action. Yes. It's adventure, and there's some really fun action and adventure. But it really is about Kat and about her moving from being this traumatized young woman to being powerful. And not just powerful in her professional life, but powerful in her personal life because that's been a hard journey for her.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:08:46

In discovering herself. And it sounds like, so, your timeline, you sound like during the pandemic, you've been able to because I'm looking at 2 books, you guys, and there's a third one coming out. So, you’ve been moving very quickly with that.

Sarah Branson [: 00:08:58

Indeed. You know, it has been fast moving. And part of that is by design. No one really wants to wait a year between books in the series anymore. We live in the age of bingeing Netflix. So, once I had that 0 draft that had essentially the first 3, it has been, you know, not necessarily easy, but I've been able to keep the pace going.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:09:22

You found the flow. Yeah.

Sarah Branson [: 00:09:25

You know, I did go ahead and quit my job as a midwife so I could finish it out.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:09:29

That was exciting.

Sarah Branson [: 00:09:30

And, you know, just jump in with both feet. And I have the good fortune of having a 2nd income in my house, so that works out. So, that's been wonderful. 1st book was really written while I was working as a midwife. And then the 2nd and the 3rd and the 4th will be now as a professional author.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:09:47

That is so exciting. I love it. That is. I know. And it's great you have the 2nd income and you have that support, but that's still a huge decision.

Sarah Branson [: 00:09:54

It is.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:09:54

I'm still very excited for you.

Sarah Branson [: 00:09:56

And it was completely worth it to jump in with both feet like that.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:10:00

That is. I think when you give the universe directions saying I'm going for it. There's, like, the things that fall into place for that. It's going to match up.

Sarah Branson [: 00:10:06

And I think it's about following your passion as long as you possibly can.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:10:10

Yes.

Sarah Branson [: 00:10:11

And, yes, you do have to pay the mortgage. But, yeah.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:10:15

Yes. Definitely. So, what surprised you the most about diving into the writing?

Sarah Branson [: 00:10:21

A couple things have been really surprising. One, when I first started the process, it was like, I mean, I am a person of the age where I assume that the way you got a book published is you got an agent and the agent got a publisher and they did everything for you. Well, that doesn't actually happen. They don't do everything for you. And I thought I do not want to do marketing. I do not want to do PR. But I also don't want to wait and wait and wait and wait. So, I was thinking about hybrid publishing, and I talked to this wonderful book coach, Martha Bolan, who has been just like a guiding star for me. And she said, those are great hybrid publishers you're talking about. They're very reputable. She said, but, honestly, the way you're talking, you could do this yourself for half the cost and really just keep control of everything.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:11:09

Mm-hmm.

Sarah Branson [: 00:11:10

And, you know, that kind of hit my button thereof, keep control of every? I mean, that's a that's someone who had a, you know, their own business as a home birth midwife. Me being in control of things is really nice. And it's nice to be able to go in because people look at the covers and go, oh, these are great covers. You know, does your publisher let you have some input? I was like, absolutely, my publisher does.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:11:32

I know my publisher. I make sure my publisher makes the right decisions.

Sarah Branson [: 00:11:35

Exactly.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:11:37

Yes. And that's such an important thing with the way publishing is. There's a lot of books that probably don't make it to the light of day because they're waiting for an agent or they're waiting for this opportunity, and sometimes publishers and publishing houses and agents are, like, trying to follow trends.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:11:52

And you don't always get to find your way, so it's so exciting to, like, find the books and find the voices. And so many books, even going to books like, Twilight in different places, these unique so unique, right, that when they happen, and people don't relate to the book deal. Like, The Martian. The Martian was a book. But, like no. He did it all himself and put it out there and then somebody else grabbed onto it. Because they were this unique way of doing things and there's not an easy place to find for those, and you could waste so much time looking for the place instead of grabbing on and making this happen. And finding the place and the audience for these books. I'm so excited, Sarah, that you made this happen. You had a great book coach that really helps you figure out that path.

Sarah Branson [: 00:12:31

Yep. Yep.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:12:32

That is so wonderful. I love it. I'm getting goosebumps.

Sarah Branson [: 00:12:35

It’s been amazing.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:12:37

That's wonderful. Where is the best place for folks to find you and find your book?

Sarah Branson [: 00:12:41

It's sarahbranson.com. Www.sarahbranson.com. And in there, you could find all the links for social media, and you can find the links to buy the books. And events of where I'm going to be doing author signings or anything like that.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:12:56

Wonderful. We'll have that in the show notes, but go ahead and spell it because I do believe I think I know where the letters are, but we want to make sure all the letters are in place.

Sarah Branson [: 00:13:02

My name, Sarah Branson, SARAH BRANSON.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:13:09

Perfect.

Sarah Branson [: 00:13:09

.Com.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:13:10

And what book or story inspires you the most?

Sarah Branson [: 00:13:14

There's a lot of books and stories that inspire me. Surprisingly, I don't read that much science fiction. I do. I like Andy Weir. I do like, like, The Martian and Hail Mary. I also like, I like character driven stories. So, Craig Johnson's books with Walt Longmire and Louise Penny's books of the mysteries, I love those because I love the characters and the ensemble characters that are there. So, when it comes to the books that I really like, I like any book that has a strong lead character that then has a wonderful ensemble, which pretty much is what I have done in my books.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:13:51

That works. We like that. Character driven's good. And do you have any closing words for our listeners?

Sarah Branson [: 00:13:58

If you want to follow your dream, follow your dream. Find a way to make it happen. And this has been a wonderful experience for me to be able to step into this. This time last year when I was at the women's fiction conference, I felt strongly like an imposter, and now I have a 3rd book coming out soon. So, I feel very, very happy about that whole thing.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:14:19

Making it happen. I love it. Thank you. It was a delight to get to chat with you and get to meet you, Sarah. Thank you for coming on here.

Sarah Branson [: 00:14:24

It was lovely talking to you, Shawna. Thank you.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:14:26

Yes. You're one of our authors express. So, we got to hear you express and change you very quickly. That's perfect.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:14:43

Thanks for joining us. I hope you take a second to give us a review or a couple of stars on your favorite podcasting platform, and we'll be here again next Wednesday. Follow us on Instagram at Author Express Podcast to see who's coming up next. Don't forget. Keep it express, but keep it interesting.