"GOTCHA!
ERIKA KATHRYN
-GUEST AUTHOR-
G'day guys,
Today I welcome an author from Crete, Illinois, USA - Erika Kathryn. Welcome, Erika. Give us more information about you ...
TELL US A LITTLE
ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR WRITING JOURNEY.
I have been writing and dreaming of getting
published for as long as I can remember.
I am one of those people that put my career (and paying the bills) first
for many years and waited to have a family until now. I have been in the corporate world for a
little shy of a decade and am proud of the accomplishments I have made there
but now with the birth of my daughter about a year and a half ago, and self-publishing
Audie the Angel, I feel like my life is really just taking off and it’s the
happiest I have ever been!
WHEN AND HOW DID
YOU BECOME A WRITER?
I feel like I was born to write, although after
being in the slush piles for years it definitely makes you second guess
that. It started at a young age but
writing became a true passion for me in college. I have written four total novels now and
working on a fifth as well completed two picture books and countless
poems. The first novel I wrote all by hand
and I still have yet to go back and type that up…hope to someday!
WHAT DO YOU
ENJOY MOST ABOUT BEING A WRITER?
I love being able to travel and explore a new world,
set out on a new adventure, and getting to know new characters. Writing for me really takes me somewhere else. I am also an idea junkie. My passion is in coming up with new ideas
that people will gravitate to.
WHAT IS THE
HARDEST THING ABOUT BEING A WRITER?
The Query Letter because no matter how great your
work is it will usually never even be read if your Query Letter doesn’t catch
someone’s eye. I have always felt that writing is the easy part; it comes really
naturally to me. It’s the editing,
redrafting, creating a query, submission tracking, and marketing that gets
difficult.
WHAT WERE YOU IN
A PAST LIFE, BEFORE YOU BECAME A WRITER?
I must have worked in some aspect of making movies
because for some reason I have collected over 500 DVD’s and I can’t get enough
of them!
WHAT IS YOUR
GREATEST WRITING ACHIEVEMENT?
So far, self-publishing Audie the Angel. It is still a work in progress but I feel it
has made the biggest impact in my life and a step closer to achieving my
dreams.
WHAT ARE YOU
WORKING ON AT THE MOMENT?
I just finished a Chick
Lit book that I am now sending out to agents.
I am currently working on Audie the Angel: Volume 2! Personally I think it will be better than the
first instalment. It starts off right
where the 1st Volume left off; it is very fast paced. In the book, there is a plague that gets
spread by Dare Demons and it essentially creates accelerated aging and Zombies
on Earth. Audie and the Angel Army have
to find a way to stop the infected. This
book will dive into more of the relationship with Audie’s mother and also bring
to light the crush-triangle between Audie, Cave, and Luce. It should be juicy!
WHAT INSPIRES
YOU?
Easiest question to answer hands down! My amazing little daughter! She is unbelievably smart and so
beautiful. I’m sure all parents say this,
but she is pure perfection. Now that she
is in my life, everything I do is for her.
WHAT GENRE DO
YOU WRITE?
Fiction in Young Adult and Chick Lit.
DO YOU HAVE ANY
TIPS FOR NEW WRITERS?
Network with other writers! I was sort of a “Closet-Writer” for years, so
let others in on your journey, you may be surprised. There
is so much support out there and you meet so many good people who really want
to see you succeed by doing this, it is unbelievable.
DO YOU SUFFER
FROM WRITER’S BLOCK?
I really have never run into that problem. I am constantly thinking of ideas when I’m
driving in the car, eating, and even in the shower, so what to write comes easily.
For me, the block is finding the time to do it.
DO YOU HAVE A
PREFERRED WRITING SCHEDULE?
I get in front of my laptop every single night when
I’m in the midst of writing a novel.
After a long day of work, then playing with my daughter, feeding,
bathing, and getting her to bed, no matter how exhausted I am I try to write
what I can. And then on the weekends, as
soon as she hits a nap I am jumping into my book. I don’t give myself many breaks!
DO YOU HAVE A
FAVOURITE WRITING PLACE?
Absolutely!
Curled up in bed with my laptop is ideal for me—jammies included.
WHAT IS YOUR
GREATEST JOY IN WRITING?
Pretty much the whole package. From creating the concept, to the outline,
from the first chapter, to the last chapter and then getting to go back and
re-read what I have worked on. The whole
process is a joy to me!
WHO IS YOUR
FAVOURITE AUTHOR AND WHY?
I’d probably have to say
Nia Vardalos because she is so incredibly talented and versatile and I would
give my left arm to be able to do what she has accomplished.
WHAT’S THE
GREATEST COMPLIMENT YOU EVER RECEIVED FROM A READER?
I’d probably have to say the best compliments I have
received are from my mother. Big
surprise there, right? But honestly,
making her and others in my family proud is an accomplishment in itself.
WHAT WAS THE WORST COMMENT FROM A READER?
I haven’t received any negativity yet, but I am open
to it. I have a surprisingly thick skin
and I use criticism to make myself better.
WRITERS ARE
SOMETIMES INFLUENCED BY THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN THEIR OWN LIVES. ARE YOU?
Absolutely! I
always write about places I know, base characters on people I know, and even on
events that have happened to me.
OTHER THAN
WRITING, WHAT ELSE DO YOU LOVE?
I also love watching movies, decorating has always
been a passion, scrapbooking, photography, and pretty much anything that allows
me to be creative.
DID YOU HAVE
YOUR BOOK / BOOKS PROFESSIONALLY EDITED BEFORE PUBLICATION?
I did not. I spent so many years working on this book
and going over it probably three thousand times that I didn’t feel I needed
to. For my newest project that I wrote
much quicker and haven’t edited myself enough I will probably get an editor if
I self-publish.
DESCRIBE YOUR
PERFECT DAY.
In no particular order it would be eating sushi,
watching a zombie movie, reading and playing with my daughter, Kathryn Kay, and
then curling up with my laptop to write to my heart’s content.
This is a tough
one—Maybe Ryan Reynolds because he is nice to look at, hilarious so he could
entertain me, and he’s very strong, so he should be able to hunt for food!
WHAT WOULD YOU
SAY IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO SPEAK TO WORLD LEADERS?
Your kids would love Audie the Angel!
WHAT ARE YOUR
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?
To make my lifelong dream come true and have one or
more of my books published by a big house.
WHAT FIVE BOOKS
WOULD YOU TAKE TO HEAVEN?
For this I would want a surprise and some diversity
to keep me entertained. So I would say
surprise me with any five (make sure at least one has Zombies in it!)
DO YOU SEE
YOURSELF IN ANY OF YOUR CHARACTERS?
My most recent Chick Lit novel I just finished, I
can’t reveal too much but let’s just say she’s the most like me.
DOES THE
PUBLISHING INDUSTRY FRUSTRATE YOU?
It’s a love-hate relationship! When you get denial after denial you
definitely feel like your head is hitting pavement, but then again…it only
takes one. One request for a partial or
a full and you are up on cloud 9.
DID YOU EVER
THINK OF QUITTING?
It truly has never crossed my mind and if that
thought even thinks about coming around, I will chase it away.
WHAT WAS YOUR
FAVOURITE MANUSCRIPT TO WRITE? WHY?
Definitely Audie the Angel because of all of the
adventure and fun it is. Also, it is an
ensemble cast of characters, so it was a blast to create their personality
quirks and humanity flaws.
HOW
WOULD YOU DEFINE ‘SUCCESS’ AS A WRITER.
To have an agent
sign you on and have others (besides your mother) believe in your talent and
ability to write.
WHAT
SHOULD READERS WALK AWAY FROM YOUR BOOKS KNOWING? HOW SHOULD THEY FEEL?
I always try to add humour to my writing, so no if
nothing else I hope they walk away with a smile.
HOW
MUCH THOUGHT GOES INTO DESIGNING A BOOK COVER?
A lot! So much of the book’s sales
depend on an enticing cover. I was
blessed enough to have met the sweetest, kindest, illustrator a girl could ask for that has a deep talent
for art, named Bobby Hammer. He created
the cover for me within three weeks’ time and really created the concept for it. I wish you could see it in-person because the
copy of it does NOT do it justice!!!
WHAT’S
YOUR ULTIMATE DREAM?
To be picked up
by an agent who believes in me and get published by a larger publishing
house.
ANYTHING
YOU’D LIKE TO ADD?
Just a huge THANK YOU to you, Clancy, for having me
here! Your blog is fantastic and I am
honoured to be a part of it! Thank you
and Happy New Year to all!
Clancy's comment: Great to have you with us, Erika. Also, best wishes to Bobby Hammer, your illustrator. Fingers crossed that you crack it for an agent and a publishing house.
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