Indie Author Spotlight, Episode 39

Another Monday, another Indie Author Spotlight! My name is Sadie Dennis and I am so excited to be continuing this series after Jennifer. I'm a lover of all things literature and can't wait to dive deeper into the literary community with all of you! With ultimately the same goal in mind I am taking every opportunity to meet new

and interesting people in the literary community, like today's guest Nick Osborne.

Make sure to check out their website and socials, which are linked below, so you don't miss out on any of their future work. I was very pleased with the opportunity to meet Nick. I know you will be too.

Hi Nick! Thanks so much for meeting with me today. Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I'm Nick and I'm a writer from the Austin, TX area. After years of toying with the idea of writing a novel, I finally accomplished the feat last year. I've since written two more novels and roughly twenty short stories. Writing has become therapeutic for me and helped me overcome some mental health challenges this past year. I don't have fancy credentials to share, but that's my favorite thing about writing; anyone can do it. When I'm not writing, I'm with my wife, our three kids, one dog, and two rabbits (one is a Flemish Giant—biggest rabbits ever!).

Tell us about your writing style.

I don't necessarily write for a specific genre, though my writing ends up with psychological thriller/horror vibes. I want readers to be like “OHH” when they finish a book of mine, so I guess you can say an unexpected twist. There's also a heavy focus on mental health issues. That's definitely an important piece of my writing and a goal of mine is for anyone struggling to know they're not alone. Most of my writing is geared towards adults, though some is suitable for young adults.

Tell us about a project you’re proud of and link it. 

Always my first novel, The Vanishing Act. But I'm most proud of my short story collection titled Everything Is Fine. It’s fourteen stories, totals over 80,000 words, and I wrote the entire thing in just over a month. Those stories came out so naturally, it was the closest thing to feeling like magic. It's unpublished, but there's some info and snippets on my website here: https://www.theauthornick.com/books/everything-is-fine. An honorable mention is my short, thirty minute read of short stories titled DON'T PANIC!. Three stories filled with psychological dread. That one I self published and it is available as an ebook and paperback via Amazon: https://a.co/d/046AIwBy 

Spill the tea, what are you currently working on?

I'm in-between projects. I just finished and am currently editing my third novel, preparing its query deck. My next project will probably be another short story collection. I only have high level ideas, though it's planned as four stories and each one will be about an individual working underappreciated jobs, appropriately titled Underappreciated. The stories are meant to highlight how we take these portrayed insignificant jobs for granted. Grocery workers are one example. No one really appreciated them until COVID in my opinion, as a former grocery worker, and I feel like that's dwindled since we've gotten back to the norm. So, my goal is to raise awareness on how actually significant these jobs are.

What is your biggest/best piece of advice for other Indie Authors?

Just write. That's it. I know it's basic, but writing even sometimes as little as fifteen minutes a day, I've seen the growth in my own writing. Use everyday life as inspiration. I've had a one sentence exchange in real life turn into 1,500 words in a book. The smallest interactions can be significant if you're paying attention. A sign I saw on the side of the road gave me inspiration and I came home to write three chapters. Observe your surroundings. And just write.

Who is your favorite Indie Author? 

I buy books that sound good, I shamefully can't recommend an indie author - that's something I'll change. But here's some indie book shops I love in the Austin area: BookPeople, First Light Book Shop, Lark & Owl, Black Pearl Books (RIP) and not so small, but still honorable Half-Price Books.

Where can someone find your work, social presence, etc. drop some links. 

I don't do social media, probably causing me more harm than good to promote myself. But I have a website: www.theauthornick.com 

If you want to know more about Nick, check out his 2nd interview over on The Writer's Workout Substack - https://writersworkout.substack.com/p/nick-osborne-second-interview

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