The Basics
– K. J. Gillenwater
– Genre(s): Paranormal/Suspense Romance
– Publisher(s): Samhain Publishing
To Other Authors
– What are the three MOST important pieces of advice you would give to a brand new author?
- 1) Don’t stop writing! Finish something…a short story, an essay, or a whole book.
- 2) Turn off your internal editor. Your own mind will tell you your writing is terrible, your story ridiculous. You need to learn to turn off that editor inside your head and keep writing.
- 3) Write what you enjoy. Don’t follow trends. Don’t try to please some nameless audience. Writer a story that pleases YOU first, and there will be others that love it, too.
– What’s your favorite way to advertise?
- I think word-of-mouth advertising is the strongest kind of advertising out there. In fact, I just ordered a new book to read on the advice of a friend of mine. It was a kind of book I never would’ve picked up on my own.
– What hard-knock lesson did the publishing world teach you (can be your own experience or someone else’s that you learned from)?
- Just because you get a publishing contract doesn’t mean you’ll sell. You could be with the best publisher in the world and make only a handful of sales. A good book doesn’t always equal a lot of readership. It takes time, and usually several books, to build an audience.
For the Readers
– What are you reading, if anything, at the moment?
- I have several books on my nightstand. I’m the kind of reader who skips from one book to another, sometimes taking a long time to finish a book. Right now I’m in the middle of reading “Magic or Madness” a YA book, “Behind the Red Door” an historical romance by Jackie Barbosa, and “Duma Key” by Stephen King.
– Do you prefer ebooks or print for your reading pleasure?
- I would LOVE to read books in electronic format, but right now I don’t have an ereader. One of these days I’m going to reward myself with one. I’m the kind of person who reads in bed…and it’s really difficult holding up some clunky hardback book, or even a heavy paperback for comfortable reading. I think an ereader is totally my kind of thing.
– Name three of your all-time-favorite, read-them-over-and-over books.
- Mine would all be classics. “Jane Eyre” I’ve read several times as well as “Pride & Prejudice” and a few others by Jane Austen. Mostly, though, I don’t revisit a lot of books I’ve read in the past and enjoyed because I’m all about the surprise, and once I know where a plot is headed, it’s not as much fun to read it a second time. Some other beloved books are: “Rebecca” by Daphne DuMaurier and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” I also very much enjoyed reading “Like Water for Chocolate” in the original Spanish back when I was in grad school.
Idle Curiosity Compels Me to Ask
– What inspired you to be a writer?
- I’ve always liked words and writing. From a very young age I was a good speller and had a grasp of the language. I had a pretty good imagination, so I found the freedom in creating my own worlds to be a lot of fun. To tell you the truth, I don’t remember a time that I didn’t think about being a writer.
– What do you do immediately after finishing a manuscript?
- Think about the next one!
– Do you talk to your characters or your muse or both?
- Nah, I’m pretty ‘regular.’ Just a normal, workaday girl. What I do is spin stories in my head when I’m driving or in the shower. I just take a situation and think about where I can go with it or what kinds of characters would fit into that story. I play the ‘what if’ game with myself and see where it goes.
Promo Section
~ Most Recent Release ~ |
THE NINTH CURSE Samhain Publishing. ISBN: 978-1-60504-502-3 Blurb: Nine curses. Nine weeks to live. Joel Hatcher has inherited more than a family legacy. It’s a time bomb that’s ticking down to the inevitable: his own death. But the curse won’t die with him. Unless he can find a way to break the cycle, his younger brother becomes the next victim. In the throes of the third curse, the Painful Pox, Joel makes a last-ditch decision to seek the help of a young spiritualist. One look into Joel’s suffering eyes, and “Madame Eugenie” finds herself torn between doing the right thing and fulfilling her most secret wish—bring her husband Adam back from the dead. Joel’s cursed blood is the missing ingredient in her resurrection rituals, and Adam’s spirit whispers seductively that there’s only one way to get it: steal it. As Gen and Joel unearth his family’s past to track down a cure, they come closer to each other, and to a horrible truth. To live, Joel must lose everything. Including the woman he has grown to love. |
| ~ Coming Soon ~ |
| Currently, I’m working on a series of science fiction suspense books about a Navy linguist. That’s about all I’m ready to say there. My plans are to write 3 books. Right now, I’m in the middle of book number 1. |
Learn More
– Website – http://www.kjgillenwater.com
– Blog/Newsletter – http://kjgillenwaterblog.blogspot.com
Thanks, KJ!
Join me next week for Kimberley Nee.