Mike Hartner was born in Miami in 1965. He’s traveled much of the continental United States. He has several years post secondary education, and experience teaching and tutoring young adults. Hartner has owned and run a computer firm for more than twenty-five years. He now lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with his wife and child. They share the neighborhood and their son with his maternal grandparents.
His latest book is the historical romance, I, Mary.
For More Information
- Visit Mike Hartner’s website.
- Connect with Mike on Facebook and Twitter.
- Find out more about Mike at Goodreads.
About the Book:
Mary Crofter’s first trip on the water was just after her first birthday, when her parents came from her birthplace in Kilwa to Portsmouth. She’s been on several trips from Portsmouth to London and other places since. She loves the water and the water seems to love her. Can she survive on the water? Will people ever take seriously a GIRL as a sailor? Will she ever come off the water? If she does, will the lure of the ocean draw her back?
For More Information
- I, Mary is available at Amazon.
- Pick up your copy at Barnes & Noble.
- Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.
Q: Welcome to Beyond the Books, Mike. Can we start out by telling us whether you are published for the first time or are you multi-published?
I am multi-published. I, Mary was released on July 14, 2015, and is the third book in The Eternity Series.
Q: When you were published for the first time, which route did you go – mainstream, small press, vanity published or self-published and why or how did you choose this route?
I started with self-publishing because the first three books were part of a series called Hartners in America about my family genealogy, and that was not mainstream. I stuck with self-pub when I began The Eternity Series.
Q: How did it make you feel to become published for the first time and how did you celebrate?
My first book in The Eternity Series was I, Walter. This was the first book that I had written specifically for the public, and it had been edited and vetted by some of the best people in the industry. I was very pensive about how the public would react, and it took me several weeks before I, Walter’s were pinchable … i.e. I believed they were real.
Q: What was the first thing you did as for as promotion when you were published for the first time?
With I, Walter I tried many things with promotion. I tried Facebook posts, tweets, virtual blog tours, news release wires, radio promotions, an the list goes on.
Q: Since you’ve been published, how have you grown as a writer and now a published author?
I think that I’ve been growing into my own as an author, and trying new things. I, Walter was 90% male voice, and I think I did a good job of getting his story told. But when I, James came last year, his story necessitated a 50/50 male-female voice. And now, Book Three,
I, Mary was an attempt at a 90-10 female voice. It’s probably closer to 70-30, but Mary is the first attempt to write from the female perspective.
Q: What has surprised or amazed you about the publishing industry as a whole?
The publishing industry is in flux right now. It’s opening to allow indie publishers, and self-publishers. And because of that, there are a lot of people that are watching their livelihood become much more difficult to justify. I think this cycle of change will be with us for the next ten or more years, and watching the iterations is the most amazing, because it teaches us how industries and people evolve.
Q: What is the most rewarding thing about being a published author?
Listening to the reviews and the comments from people who have read The Eternity Series.
Q: Any final words for writers who dream of being published one day?
Write, write, write. Write what you are passionate about. And in the words of a friend and author Rachel Thompson: “Write what you want. You don’t need to justify your writing to anyone.”
Beyond the Books 