I was stuck in my writing career. I had a book traditionally published in 2002, but the press declined the next novel I offered them. I had a novel sitting in a folder on my computer that I thought would NEVER get published, but I thought it deserved to because it had gotten so much positive attention years earlier, when I was going through the Creative Writing program at San Francisco State. So I read about Mark Coker and Smashwords in 2011 on SFGate, the online news site for the SF Chronicle. I thought.... hmm.

Something about the way Mark Coker talked about the process made sense to me. So I took the leap and published my novel "The Leaving" in May of 2011. I published it on Kindle a few months later. And then things took off for me when I started publishing shorts on both platforms.

Starting with Smashwords was a good choice for me. I got a bit sucked in by Amazon's platform when I started making quite a bit of money there (it didn't last, though!). I find that I have to carefully navigate through Amazon's constant changes, some of which don't seem to have indie authors' interests at heart. Smashwords is more like a fair parent, who says "this is what I will do for you" and then delivers.

Ah... good question. I love when I can get into a "flow" state when I write. It usually happens with fiction, and the pleasure is so strong that I can easily write 5,000-plus words during a writing session. But the downside of that is that I don't do it often. I only do it when I am very strongly pulled to do it. And all the writing advice out there tells you not to do that.

I also love it when someone tells me that they "get" what I write, they find it powerful, or they were affected or helped by it in some way.

The people who sincerely enjoy my work mean a lot to me. I am thrilled to get a good review from someone I don't know at all. Probably the most delightful fan experience so far was a young woman who took a photo of herself with my novel "Time of Grace," which is about two young women falling in love in 1916 Ireland. I had sent her a signed copy of the book, and it was a lovely way to thank me.

But I think I would have to be way more famous (which, frankly, I feel ambivalent about) to have a lot of "fan" experiences. Since I write a fairly eclectic body of work, I know that not everything I do will have broad appeal.

I've also noticed that my fans tend to come from smaller towns, or out of the way places. I really like that.

I always go back to two English writers, Virginia Woolf and E.M. Forster. They both had a great impact on me.

I also love Iris Murdoch's novels, particularly "The Bell," "The Sandcastle," "The Sea, the Sea."

I was hooked on Anne Rice's books for a number of years. I remember requesting "Interview with the Vampire" in my college library in the late '80s because it wasn't available in Irish bookstores (those were the days when you had to hand the librarian a paper slip!). Anne Rice seems like the godmother of a lot of writing that's become mainstream today.

In terms of contemporary writers, I'm always reading and sampling. In terms of really satisfying "big" novels, I loved Sarah Waters' "The Paying Guests" and Hanya Yanagihara's "A Little Love." And I've just discovered Tana French.

If it's a sunny day, it helps :) No, seriously, I find that despite life's many difficulties, I really love life in a way that I didn't ten years ago. It really seems worth it to hang around and see what's around the corner...

I enjoy cooking, hanging out in the garden on a sunny day, catching up with the news. I do spend a fair amount of time on Twitter :)

I grew up in Ireland in the '70s and '80s (after being born in Southern California and living there for two years). I have to say, it influenced my writing in a big way. First of all, I was soaking in the way everybody around me spoke (which seemed a little foreign). And later on, I loved British television in particular, where there were a lot of serious dramas. I seemed to spend a lot of my life there listening, especially as I was an introverted child, and an only child for nine years.

If my writing seems a bit "formal," I think it's because of the English/Irish influence. I suppose that environment formed my mental state to a large degree, although when I was there I craved to live in a more open and progressive culture. But lately I've found that the openness of American culture has its downside--I mean the violence and instability that I notice every day. The lack of community bothers me.

There were some good things about growing up in Ireland. I sat in front of the fire reading on winter nights; we didn't even have central heating till I was 13! In some ways it was an almost Victorian childhood, with all that goes along with that.

I started early, writing "books" in my teens in hardbound notebooks, but my first real piece was a downbeat autobiographical piece called "Gypsy," which I wrote when I was 21, a few months after I moved to the United States from Ireland. I think I connected to my voice then. The funny thing is, "Gypsy" has never been properly published...

I attempted one novel that I put aside and then I started working on "The Leaving" when I was about 22, and that novel took years to write.

Then in the mid-’90s I started being published in anthologies from queer publishers like Cleis Press and Alyson, which felt like a big thumbs-up to me as a writer. It was very exciting.

My desk is an absolute mass of clutter! My monitor sits in the middle, a modem and phone to the side. On the other side is a cup for pens, then some miscellaneous papers kept in place by a paperweight. I have a weekly planner right in front of me and a daybook to the side. My mouse sits on a lovely mousepad that looks like a Persian carpet (www.MouseRug.com). I keep my stapler and some coasters nearby, as well as Post-its. Within arm's reach, sitting on top of my Mac tower currently, are a Webster's dictionary and the Chicago Manual of Style...

It could all be so much more efficient and streamlined. But there you go...

On the wall just above my desk I've hung a number of colorful images. One of them is a calligraphic piece by Thich Nhat Hanh. It's a circle and within it he's written: "Breathe. You are Online."

I think the images are to remind me that there's life outside my desk, outside my computer screen.

"Connecting the Dots: My Midlife Journey with Adult AD/HD" is about my belated discovery in my forties that I have inattentive ADD, and the steps I took to get evaluated and treated. I also uncover a family history of the condition (I believe both my parents had it!) and I look back at my childhood in 1970s Dublin to see clues for the disorder.

Women tend to be diagnosed much later in life because when estrogen levels drop, symptoms get worse. Also, girls with ADHD are much less hyperactive than boys; their ADHD manifests as a mental restlessness or dreaminess.

I hope it's a useful book for people on their own journey to finding answers. It's a disorder that affects every aspect of life: work, relationships, self-identity. I'd love to write more about ADHD in future in greater depth. UPDATE: Look for "Connecting the Dots" in audiobook format, available now at your favorite library or store (Audible, Scribd, Apple, Google Play, Biblioteca, Nexstory, etc.)!

I read a lot of M/M romance, which is a delicious genre that didn't use to be as widely available as it is now. Authors like Harper Fox, K.J. Charles, Josh Lanyon...

I like nonfiction a lot too, particularly biographies.

I struggle with that one. I have been able to build up a following on Twitter (my handle is @gabriellawest) and I share my blog posts on Facebook and Twitter. But I am not a great marketer. And like most indie authors, I think it takes up too much time...

I do think that making certain titles in my catalog free has helped me, particularly on Barnes & Noble and Apple. I also found a good, solid designer early on who does premade covers—shoutout to Dawn at Bookgraphics.net—though I haven't used her for everything. But I used her for my first erotic short, "The Doge's Daughter." From that I have to conclude: Men's bare chests on covers sell books :) It's important to realize that subtle covers don't really work when it comes to ebooks.

BookBub has been a godsend in recent years. I also like Fussy Librarian for promotions.

I copyedit/proofread for independent authors at Edit for Indies: http://editforindies.com. My tagline is "Polished, accurate editing with a fast turnaround."

An M/M romance called ELSIE STREET, which was published on Amazon September 5th, 2015. In his review, Shannon Yarbrough wrote: "West embraces location. You'll find yourself loving San Francisco just as much as her characters and wanting to visit there if you haven't already. She also writes romantic scenes quite beautifully and leaves just enough of the details up to the reader's imagination." ELSIE STREET is now available at all ebook stores for either free or for 99 cents.

Get the sequel to Elsie Street, THE PULL OF YESTERDAY, available now in all stores! Book 3, RETURN TO CARLSBAD, was released on Apple, BN, and Kobo in late October 2018, and will concentrate on Aaron's story (3rd person POV) as he falls for his therapist, Marc, and takes a leap of faith on love.

In September 2017, I published a medieval romance set in 13th-century England called "A Knight's Tale: Kenilworth." The main character, Will, is a squire in training to be a knight and the other, Stephen, is a chaplain's clerk (yes, they're both boys!). The book spans about five years, and takes place mostly at Kenilworth Castle, where the Earl of Leicester, Simon de Montfort, pursues his highly personal struggle against his brother-in-law King Henry III in the Second Barons' War, which ended tragically in 1265. Will is torn between his love for Stephen and the Earl's second son, Simon, whom he serves as a squire and begins to develop forbidden feelings for. In a time of war, Simon is not one to let scruples stand in his way.

Book 2, A KNIGHT'S TALE: MONTARGIS, was released in March 2018. The action moves to France, where the widowed Lady Eleanor de Montfort has retreated into exile at a Dominican convent with her young daughter. In a peaceful, near-idyllic setting, Will and Stephen deepen their love despite moments of jealousy, but Simon has other plans for Will. Book 3, THE KNIGHT'S RETURN, was published in 2022 and ends the trilogy, following Will and Stephen's return to England with the young Eleanor de Montfort, who is to marry the Welsh prince, Llywelyn. But their ship is intercepted and Will, Stephen, and Eleanor are held captive at Windsor...

Elsie Street is now FREE in all stores.

My queer pandemic romance, Once You Are Mine, is 99 cents on Smashwords for a limited time only. Check it out!

Yes, I do have a low-volume mailing list! All I need is your name and email address. Sign up at the Mailing List tab on my site, gabriellawest.net.

(You're also always welcome to follow me on BookBub, or Amazon if you prefer, for notifications of new releases and sale items. For BookBub, go to https://www.bookbub.com/profile/gabriella-west)