Today I have the pleasure of talking with Lesa, an awesome indie author and shameless pantser! Lesa’s Amazon page is full of space kitties, a rare sampling of humor, inspiration, and feel-good fiction that stands out in today’s dark and gory market, and I absolutely love the refreshing reprieve.
Let’s get started by a look into your publication process as an indie author. It’s a controversial question sometimes, so I’d love to hear if you proofread/edit all your own books, or do you get someone to do that for you?
LM: I self-edit, and trade with critique partners, then re-edit, and send to beta readers, then I <sigh> edit again, then finally hire a professional to do a light edit and proofread.
That sounds like a lot of work, but I’m really glad you get your books in tiptop shape before handing them off to a professional. It saves time, money, and lots of headaches!
I noticed you use your real name, but have you ever considered a pen name?
LM: I considered using a pen name, and went so far as to make up a lovely one, Lydia Larimore. I used it so much trying it out on different sites I now think of Lydia as my nickname. But then I thought “Why should she get all the credit?” 🙂
Then I tossed around the idea of going with L.A. McKee (because I love the sound of that) vs Lesa McKee, but Lesa McKee won.
I completely get that. A pen name can be tempting, but it certainly would feel like someone else is getting all the credit!
Next question is about marketing. Do you feel giving away books for free works?
LM: Other writers swear it works for a myriad of reasons. I believe them, I just personally don’t like the idea. I mean giving away your work … Ahhhh!
That said, I will probably do free short promos at different times. I’m planning to set my first ebook in the series at $0.99 anyway (which is almost free), and the rest at the $2.99 price.
I think free promo is a great idea. It’s a nice compromise and still gives a good marketing boost!
I notice that you’re part of a myriad of other authors working together with your Space Kitties Anthologies. Have you considered starting your own Street Team?
LM: I’d like to do that in the future, once the timing is right, and if the books go over well enough. A writer needs to believe in their work, but they need those passionate fans to believe in it too. If I get a chance to start one, I’d like to name it either Operation Space Team or Operation Street Team. What’s your vote, Alyssa? 🙂
Oh man, I’m terrible with names. But, in your case, Operation Space Team would seem most appropriate!
Concerning your writing, I notice authors gearing their work towards younger writers generally tend to stick to one point of view. Do you do that as well? Or do you play with multiple points of view?
LM: I usually use one point of view, but not always. The Operation Space Cats series has only one pov, my MC (main cat 
) Tebbs.
I wrote a couple of other short stories using one pov, a survival fantasy story, Sky, and a wolf fairy-tale, Blood-prints. That said, I’m working on a Christian historical romance novella series “Bridal Falls,” and it will have multiple point of views.
That sounds so exciting! I’ll be sure to follow you on Amazon so I get notified when they are released!
Let’s wrap up today’s interview with an inspirational question, since you’re an inspirational kind of gal. What motivates you to get up in the morning?
LM: Life! It’s a beautiful gift. We’re only given one life, and I want to squeeze all I can out of it! 🙂
I couldn’t agree with you more, Lesa. Thanks for taking the time out of your day to stop by the AJ Blog!
Lesa McKee grew up at her Grandmother’s knee, listening to the French folk-tales her animated Grandma Ida shared. A love of stories was born and her imagination took off!
She’s now living her dream as a Christian Indie writer of feel-good fiction, including a short story series of far-out space cats, titled ‘Operation Space Cats’. These purrific feline adventures are filled with faith, friendship & fun!
You can learn more about Lesa by checking out her blog, following her on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest!
A.J. Flowers 