Please give a warm welcome to author Brooklyn Cross

Tell us a bit about yourself…

I am a Canadian country girl through and through although I love to travel the world and experience other cultures, taste new foods and meet amazing people.
One place I have not been to yet and would love to go is Thailand.
I work a full time job, own a small business and write every free moment I can.
I am an animal lover and wanted to be a veterinarian when I was a small child, but never would’ve made it through that much school.
I rescue dogs and nothing brings me more peace then going for long walks with them.
I’m a little addicted to my coffee… okay a whole lot addicted.
I sing about as well as my dogs and my dancing is not much better so it’s a good thing I chose to write.
I like pretty much all music but have a thing for drums and bass guitar. I could listen to that all day.
My favourite food is anything in the dessert family 🙂
I love action movies but can’t watch horror.
If I could pick any one person I’d like to meet it would be Dwayne Johnson.
I like to make people laugh and have no problem doing crazy stuff to cheer someone up.

Have you always wanted to become an author?

I have always enjoyed writing and reading for as long as I can remember, but no I didn’t consider a career as an author until much later in life. My goal was to be an Olympian and to one day stand on a podium for my country and to train and teach full time. That was my dream and it was my sole goal until my mid twenties when I had to give up the dream because of reasons out of my control. Once that dream crumbled, I was left drifting from one job to another feeling unsure who I was or what I wanted. I started writing again as a form of therapy and the idea to become an author continued to bloom from that moment.

What was your inspiration for your current book/series?

I am currently working on book 4 in my series The Righteous. This series just sort of came to me when I was brainstorming for a dark and twisty short story. The characters started talking and I jotted down how I saw the entire story playing out and who I wanted my characters to be. My inspiration for any story comes from many locations. Friends, family to personal life experiences and real life issues in the world. I happen to work full time in an industry that I see the best and worst of people. That leads me to questions like what if? Such a simple question and yet so powerful.

Do you have any quirks while working?

Coffee, and music, I think that’s my only quirk. I like to have a coffee at the ready, even if I don’t drink it, and I have to have my headphones charged. Those two things that are my comforts while I focus.

What are your hopes for the future?

My ultimate goal is to be able to write full time. It’s a tall order but, I genuinely love creating worlds and characters that I can share and people fall in love with as much as I love them. As for what I will be working on over the next year. I have the remaining four books in The Righteous series to complete by the end of 2022. I have a joint project with six other very talented authors that I’m very excited about releasing in April 2022 and an anthology piece called Burn With Me that will launch in March. If I can swing it I will release the first book in my paranormal/supernatural series fall 2022. Lots of other projects that are on the calendar for 2023 as well. I may dip my toe in a few genres that are new and exciting for me to explore.

Do you have any advice for new authors about the publishing world?

There are so many things that I have learned the hard way during this process. The first thing I’d say is if there is one thing to focus your money on, it would be editing. Make sure you pay for someone that is not only a copy text editor, but someone who you can work closely with. Someone that will do developmental editing, and give you honest feedback, it will only make you better at your craft. The second piece of advice I’d give, is write from your heart, and make sure that the emotions, character arcs and world building are as clear to those reading as they are in your mind. A beta or arc team is very helpful for this process. Lastly, I’d say to remember not to compare yourself to any other author or their journey. We are all on our own journey and our paths are all very different and that’s okay.

Do you have anything to say to your followers?

To those that have read my work and love it, I’d like to simply say thank you. Each one of you makes me smile, and keeps me going more than I can put into words. From the amazing reviews, to sharing my books on your feeds or creating spectacular edits, you blow me away. I appreciate each and every one of you and your support, it genuinely means the world to me. Being an indie author is tough, but it is because of followers like you that make all the blood, sweat and tears worth every moment of it.