INTERVIEW with EDITOR TRACEY WEST

Today I would like to welcome Editor Tracey
West from Liquid Silver Books. (clapping hands) Thank you for being here Tracey
and agreeing to do this interview with me.

Why don't you start by telling us about yourself?

I’m married,
a Mom of three and love everything to do with publishing. Well, okay, the long
hours can be grueling but there’s always a new story to read, new author to
discover, so sometimes I have to pull myself away from the computer.

I’m an avid reader
even away from my online jobs. More
times than not, I can’t sleep without reading a chapter or two from one of my
favourite authors. My husband just built me a full wall of bookshelves…yeah,
those are already full, so now what?? LOL
I have a few thousand books that I can’t part with – some say that’s
kinda crazy, but hey, it keeps me out of trouble. J

Can you tell us a bit about your
childhood? Your favorite memory?

I grew up in
the country, on a farm with many animals, a garden and a lot of land to
explore. I had two loving and wonderful parents, as well as two older brothers
who taught me a lot about sports and drove me crazy.

Favourite
memory, simply sitting on my father’s lap every chance I had and watching TV
like that, reading the paper with him or just cuddling.

What is your favorite drink and food?

Favourite
food…just one? LOL I love
Italian and Mexican food. I love Caesar salad and Quesadillas especially. My fave snack food is sugar snap peas.

I’m an
addict for French Vanilla Cappucinos.

How long have you been an editor?

I’ve been an
editor for about nine years.

Have you always worked for Liquid
Silver Books?

I’ve worked
at Liquid Silver Books all those years and have edited for multiple authors on
the side for just as long.

What drew you to becoming an editor?

The love of
the process and having the chance to work with creative authors to make stories
shine always keeps me editing.

What is your typical day like?

Since I have
multiple online jobs – mainly Editor & Acquisitions Director at LSB, etc.,
I have to split my time. Morning starts
with answering emails, personal & business, and adding new submissions to
the database to read. Checking the LSB forum for anything new, responding to
any posts there.

Editing – I
usually begin that later in the afternoon when I’m fully alert. LOL I try to
stay focused on each story until close to dinnertime. I take most of the hours
that the kids are home from school until their bedtime with them, so it’s not
until around nine p.m. that I’ll work for a couple hours at the computer
reading submissions. I go to bed, get up and begin the process again. J

What is the easiest and hardest thing
about editing?

The easiest
would be working with and developing a camaraderie/friendship with each author.
I’ve been so blessed that every author I’ve worked with has been exceptional
and brilliant, and just a dear to work with. Also, getting hooked on their
characters/stories that usually turn into a series is pretty easy for me.
*cough cough* It’s an easy thing for me to pick a secondary character then
hound the author for their story. So
far, it’s always worked. J

The hardest
would be saying goodbye to characters/series that the author (and I) feel are
finished. I get very invested when editing, the stories/characters become my
own, the authors become important to me. To say goodbye to any of that is
sometimes hard.

What is your guilty pleasure?

Hmmm,
Reality TV. It’s ridiculous stuff to
watch but I do it anyway. In my defense,
though, it’s created a lot of family TV time that I wouldn’t normally have. I
think there’s too much crap on TV (ie: cartoon comedy) that I won’t allow my
kids to watch, so my daughter and I love the dancing shows, challenge shows
like Survivor, and more. There’s just not enough family shows these days like
there were when I was younger.

The show
that I’m addicted to and watching on DVD, since I am a couple seasons behind,
is True Blood. I watch an hour of it
before going to bed (have to make sure the kids are asleep!). It’s my hour of relaxation.

What do you look for in a book?

Whether my
personal reading or acquiring for LSB, stories must have well developed
characters, with depth and explosive chemistry that pull me in, make me love
and/or identify with them. I don’t want
stories that are too reality-based but I do like there to be a realness to the
story that pulls me in. There has to be imaginative and fully realized plots, and
vivid and evocative settings. Romance, Romantic Suspense and some Paranormal
are my three personal favourite genres.
I also love stories with Ménage a Trois sub-genres.

What are the most common mistakes an
author makes?

Showing
instead of telling, passivity, info dumping that slows the story down too much.
Rushing the pace and interaction between the characters, as well as lack of
depth in character and plot.

If you were granted three wishes by a
genie, what would they be?

For my
children to live in a peaceful world, have long, healthy lives and find the
happiness like I have had since meeting my husband and having children.

If you could go anywhere tomorrow,
where would it be?

Ireland. I’d
love to go, see where my Grandfather’s family came from, stand where they might
have once stood, and just see the beauty of the country.

What word or phrases tingles in all
the right places for you?

Chérie. I
love that French word.

I love when
a man is descriptive in what he wants to do to the female. I like to hear the
words, let them wash over me, be the female he’s speaking to. I love it. J

What's the sexiest thing a man has
ever done for you or said to you or both?

Oh my hubby,
he’s the most wonderful man! He gives me the best massages ever. He has magical
hands and just gives me goose bumps. By the time he’s finished, I’m a puddle of
goo…and seduced! It’s simply sexy when
he just wants to take care of me.

Follow me on Twitter

Visit Liquid Silver Books