Coffee & Convo welcomes L.K. Watts, author of Secret Confessions of a Backpacker: My Adventure Down Under.
Tell us a little bit about your Memoir.
My book is about what it’s really like to travel in a foreign country. I had a working holiday visa to travel Australia for a year, and I also spent two months travelling New Zealand , although I couldn’t work there. My book is a memoir as supposed to a travel book, because I am too open and honest for it to be classed as travel. It’s a real candid book, dealing with emotion as well. I wanted to write a book about travelling which isn’t in the travel genre. I wanted to write something from a backpackers perspective rather than just from a tourist point, as travelling is about so much more than meets the eye.
What do you think readers will enjoy most about Secret Confessions of a Backpacker: My Adventure Down Under?
If people read my book, they would probably agree that travelling isn’t always like what other people think it will be like. It’s not always about lying on sunny beaches drinking cocktails, or dining out in fabulous restaurants every night. Travelling can be quite tough sometimes. I ended up sharing my sleeping space with people who had only just come out of prison, or a psychiatric hospital, several times. I even met someone who developed an unhealthy interest in me, and asked me to be the mother of his children, even though he never knew my name! On the other hand, I really do not regret going to any of the places I have been to because I really have had some fantastic times, and met some lovely people, despite the madness! I think people will enjoy my book because I am so open and honest about things. I think that factor is what people will enjoy the most.
Where can we find your Memoir?
You can find it here: http://smashwords.com/books/view/54060
Tell us a little about yourself.
My travelling days started when I was twenty, I am now twenty six. In that time I have travelled Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Mongolia, and Canada. I am now engaged with my own house and two dogs, so I can’t travel any more. Instead, I am doing what I have always loved doing: writing. I am working on my second book, which is about travelling Canada on the same visa as I had while I was in Australia.
Why did you decide to become an Indie author?
Because that’s the way our future is going. Everything is mostly electronic these days, and now traditional publishing doesn’t seem to be moving forward much. Being an indie, you have greater control over your books, and greater distribution prospects too. If I was signed up to a small publishing house in England my books probably wouldn’t have a global audience like they do on the internet. There’s also more freedom and the turnaround time is faster. If you want to upload a book as an ebook, it just takes a couple of hours to do on the internet. If you’re waiting to be published in the traditional sense, you’re looking at around eighteen months.
Any future writing plans you wish to share with us.
After I have written my next book about travelling Canada, I am looking into writing crime novels or chick lit. This is definitely what I want to do with my life so I will always write, even if I do have other jobs. I want to write about something that occurs in life, and crime certainly does. Chick lit appeals to me because I like writing humour so hopefully I should be able to write something worthwhile. Sibel Hodge is a great writer in that genre, I can’t wait to read more of her books. I will always present my work professionally though whatever genre I write in. There’s nothing more important than a book that’s professionally presented. I know there are people who can’t afford the luxury of paying a copy editor, but I always think it’s so important to get another pair of eyes to look over your work.
Thank you so much for being here today, Laura.
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Lili Tufel
