Author Spotlight – Bobbi Johnson Holmes

In an effort to introduce my readers to other authors and their work, every week I run an Author Spotlight, sharing information about an author, their work, and how they go about writing their books.

How does a young girl living in a typical American suburb, doing all the things that young girls do, like hanging out with her friends at the mall, going to the soda shop, and gossiping about boys, cope with finding herself as a teenager commuting to school by herself across the Colorado River in a leaky boat? If you’re Bobbi Johnson Holmes, you take it in stride and enjoy the adventure.

Bobbi spent her early years living a typical young girl’s life in Covina, California, until her parents purchased an isolated, run-down resort on the California side of Lake Havasu called Havasu Palms. What a change it must have been, learning to cope with limited telephone service, rattlesnakes and scorpions, and few of the conveniences of modern-day life she had grown up with.

But for Bobbi, a born storyteller, it was all fodder for her creative mind. She used her life experiences to do everything from running a small town newspaper and a gift shop to becoming one of the most successful authors I know. Her first self-publishing project, Great Grandmas’ Recipe Book was a collection of her great grandmother’s favorite recipes. Created using a copy machine, it was intended just for her family. However, it was the first step toward a successful self-publishing career that any would-be author would envy.

A conversation with Bobbi:

When did you decide to become an author and why?

My writing journey started as a storyteller – I loved making up stories in my head. In the 6th grade I wrote a play for our class that the sixth graders performed.

How long have you been writing, and what was your first book?

I am 71- I wrote my first book when I was fourteen years old. It was a mystery written from the perspective of the family dog.

What genres do you write in?

Since 2014 I’ve been writing a paranormal cozy mystery series, Haunting Danielle, under my married name, Bobbi Holmes. Book 38 in the series comes out May 2026. I have also written romance and a family saga under the pen name, Anna J. McIntyre. I write nonfiction under my full name, Bobbi Ann Johnson Holmes.

How many books do you have out?

I currently have 50 title if counting correctly. But I have an autobiography coming out later this year, and I will probably put out two Haunting Danielle books this year.

Are you trade published, independent, or a combo?

I am technically hybrid, as I self-publish all my print and eBooks, yet my audiobooks are trade published by Tantor Media and Dreamscape. Tantor publishes my Haunting Danielle audiobooks and has already purchased the audio rights to book 38, which comes out next month. And Dreamscape Media published my Coulson Family Saga, which is a five book series under my Anna J. McIntyre pen name.

What is your writing style? Panster or plotter or?

Both, which I know, sounds like an oxymoron.

Do you write more than one book at a time?

No. I recently finished my autobiography, Write On: An Author’s Journey, but I have put the book aside while I write and then publish the 38th book in my Haunting Danielle series. I will come back to the autobiography in June and finish the edits and rewrites.

How much research is involved in your writing?

It depends entirely on what I am writing. I used to write a lot of nonfiction, my favorite being articles/books on local history. I have always enjoyed the research process. But, even when writing fiction, it seems I’m always googling something during the process.

Where do you write? Do you have a home office, write in a coffee shop, or what?

I write in my home office. I can’t write when there is another person in the room with me. No music on when I write, no TV. I could never write in a coffee shop. Actually, I have two offices, one in our house, and one set up in our family barn, which is another building on our property. I only use the barn office in the summertime.

Do you use any programs like ProWriting Aid, Grammarly, or ?

I use ProWritingAid, but only to help with grammar and punctuation, and to catch words I might overuse. I don’t use all the program’s features.

How do you promote your books?

In my early years of writing for a living, I was doing more non-fiction. I started self-publishing fiction around 2011, and a year or so later I started advertising those books with companies like  BookBub, EbookreaderNews, Amazon ads, and some other sites. I believe those early ads helped gain traction for my McIntyre books and my paranormal cozy mystery series.

During that time, I started a newsletter with reader subscribers. I try to send out a newsletter every two weeks. I also have a blog and several social media accounts. But, in the last five years I haven’t done any advertising with those sites from my early years. I probably should, but life distracted me. I still do my newsletter, try to maintain some social media presence, and while I have a blog, I’m not dedicated to it like my friend Nick Russell.

What are your writing goals, long and short term?

When I started my Haunting Danielle books, my goal was four books a year—now it is two a year. My short-term goal is finishing my current Haunting Danielle book and Write On: An Author’s Journey.

I am also in the process of publishing hardback copies of all my books, beginning with the Haunting Danielle books. Last year I opened an online-author store. Initially, I intended to sell my eBooks and print books directly from the site. But I have since changed my mind and will only be selling eBooks directly from the site, yet I will offer links where they can purchase directly from my printer, so I’m not involved with the delivery of the books.

Any advice to new authors or someone who wants to become an author?

It is possible to make a living as an author, yet naïve to assume it will happen with your first book, or even your tenth. I recognize I started making money early on because it was a different time, a different opportunity. Plus, the cost of living was much less back then. However, my income didn’t really soar until I published maybe book 18. And I suspect, had I stopped putting out new titles, my income would have slowed down. While there is never a guarantee, it is within the realm of possibility, if you are willing to keep writing…and writing…and writing.

Did you know that you can find all of my books and sign up for my free author’s newsletter on my website at www.nickrussellbooks.com?

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.

Thought For The Day – If a nation loses its storytellers, it loses its childhood. – Peter Handke