Hi L.N. Thanks for joining us!
What is your latest project?
I am currently working on The One I Trust – the first in a new series, which is a spin-off of my original Chop, Chop series.
Sounds fun! Now for some quirky questions...
Have you ever fallen in love with one of your characters?
I love most of them, but I especially love Marco from the first stand-alone book in my series, entitled What I Want. Marco was
born with a severe cleft palate and symbrachydactyly (missing most of his fingers), but he never lets his birth defects define him. When he falls in love, he finds that he may not be able to have the woman of his dreams—and it has nothing to do with how he looks, but rather with what God wants in his life. Like most of my books, this character has to come to a place of acceptance and surrender before his problems are resolved.
I love most of them, but I especially love Marco from the first stand-alone book in my series, entitled What I Want. Marco was
born with a severe cleft palate and symbrachydactyly (missing most of his fingers), but he never lets his birth defects define him. When he falls in love, he finds that he may not be able to have the woman of his dreams—and it has nothing to do with how he looks, but rather with what God wants in his life. Like most of my books, this character has to come to a place of acceptance and surrender before his problems are resolved.
What is the best place for dreaming up your storylines?
Usually in bed when I’m falling asleep at night.
Usually in bed when I’m falling asleep at night.
What is your favorite snack while writing?
I don’t usually eat while I’m writing—it distracts me (and I get distracted enough as it is by Facebook and the like!)
I don’t usually eat while I’m writing—it distracts me (and I get distracted enough as it is by Facebook and the like!)
How do you feel about pen names?
I wish I had considered a pen name before I began publishing. “Cronk” can be spelled beginning with a “K” as well, so it’s harder for people to find me when they’re told verbally how to look me up. I can’t imagine what I would have come up with if I’d tried to pick a pen name though!
I wish I had considered a pen name before I began publishing. “Cronk” can be spelled beginning with a “K” as well, so it’s harder for people to find me when they’re told verbally how to look me up. I can’t imagine what I would have come up with if I’d tried to pick a pen name though!
What is the most not-true-to-self writing or marketing idea
you’ve considered (or done!)?
I thought about having a big hair-cutting event where people with long hair (myself included) all chop off their hair and donate it to a charitable organization (because two of my characters do this in my first novel, Chop, Chop). That theme, however, is really not what the book is about and such an event would have just been a very hard-to-put-together publicity gimmick that likely would not have attracted many new readers.
I thought about having a big hair-cutting event where people with long hair (myself included) all chop off their hair and donate it to a charitable organization (because two of my characters do this in my first novel, Chop, Chop). That theme, however, is really not what the book is about and such an event would have just been a very hard-to-put-together publicity gimmick that likely would not have attracted many new readers.
How are your books different than the millions of other
books?
First of all, I write the way most people actually think and speak—not the way that is necessarily “proper”. Sometimes I take flak for this, but most readers comment that my books are an easy read and that the dialogue especially feels very natural. Secondly, I am very sparse with my descriptions (of places, people, clothing, etc.). This is because I always skim over those portions of other books when I myself am reading because I usually find them boring and unnecessary. If you find yourself reading any kind of a description in one of my books, you’ll know that it is important somehow (in general, my books are usually very tightly written). Finally, I take pride in the fact that I write novels that draw others closer to God, but are not preachy or predictable. Many times my readers are people who do not consider themselves to be “religious”, and no matter if they’re religious or not, they’re usually taken in a direction they did not expect to go.
First of all, I write the way most people actually think and speak—not the way that is necessarily “proper”. Sometimes I take flak for this, but most readers comment that my books are an easy read and that the dialogue especially feels very natural. Secondly, I am very sparse with my descriptions (of places, people, clothing, etc.). This is because I always skim over those portions of other books when I myself am reading because I usually find them boring and unnecessary. If you find yourself reading any kind of a description in one of my books, you’ll know that it is important somehow (in general, my books are usually very tightly written). Finally, I take pride in the fact that I write novels that draw others closer to God, but are not preachy or predictable. Many times my readers are people who do not consider themselves to be “religious”, and no matter if they’re religious or not, they’re usually taken in a direction they did not expect to go.
What one question has no one asked you about your
book/character/writing life that you wish they would?
Why don’t you try to get an agent or publisher?
Why don’t you try to get an agent or publisher?
So, why don’t you try to get
an agent or publisher?
After I wrote my first novel, Chop, Chop, I diligently researched how to get published. I learned that I needed to go to a conference and get appointments with publishers and agents to convince them to make my book one of the three or four that they were going to sign on that year. Between the time that I signed up for my first conference and the time that I actually attended, I learned about the importance of building a platform and how publishers were going to be looking at what I was going to be doing to sell my own book (not at how good my book was). I wondered—if I was going to be doing all of the work anyway—why should I waste my time trying to convince a bunch of publishers that my book was good when I already knew that it was? I went to the conference with a new mindset to self-publish, and everything that happened while I was there affirmed that I was making the right decision. It is certainly one that I have never regretted!
After I wrote my first novel, Chop, Chop, I diligently researched how to get published. I learned that I needed to go to a conference and get appointments with publishers and agents to convince them to make my book one of the three or four that they were going to sign on that year. Between the time that I signed up for my first conference and the time that I actually attended, I learned about the importance of building a platform and how publishers were going to be looking at what I was going to be doing to sell my own book (not at how good my book was). I wondered—if I was going to be doing all of the work anyway—why should I waste my time trying to convince a bunch of publishers that my book was good when I already knew that it was? I went to the conference with a new mindset to self-publish, and everything that happened while I was there affirmed that I was making the right decision. It is certainly one that I have never regretted!
Thanks, L.N.!
L.N. Cronk's latest book What I Want is now available.
Feel free to leave a comment or question for L.N.
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