Author Interview: Kim Smith

The Basics
– Kim Smith
– Genre(s): Mainstream Fiction
– Publisher(s): Red Rose Publishing

To Other Authors

– What are the three MOST important pieces of advice you would give to a brand new author?

• 1. It’s your dream. Don’t give up on it.
• 2. Writing is like a box of chocolate. You never know what you’re going to get. Be happy with what you find.
• 3. Nothing is worth doing if you don’t do it right, so learn about your craft and apply the lessons.

– What’s your favorite way to advertise?

• Through social networking sites, and Yahoo Groups. I belong to a ton of them and have made some awesome friends.

– What hard-knock lesson did the publishing world teach you (can be your own experience or someone else’s that you learned from)?

• That it’s MY work out there. I have to present it in the best possible light and I have to be in control of what happens to it (when it is within my means to do so). When I had to pull my book from a publisher who was not actively working for me, it was a hard lesson to learn, but a good one to learn. No one cares about my work as much as I do, and I have to care about it a lot.

For the Readers
– What are you reading, if anything, at the moment?

• I just finished the awesome non fiction book Escape into the Open by Elizabeth Berg. It is the best book on inspiration and encouragement for a writer that I have read yet.

– Do you prefer ebooks or print for your reading pleasure?

• I have more print books but only because I am new to the ebook world. I am slowly building my ebook library. Now all I need is an ebook reader!

– Name three of your all-time-favorite, read-them-over-and-over books.

• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
• The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich
• All of JA Konrath’s books, the Jacqueline Daniels series

Idle Curiosity Compels Me to Ask
– What inspired you to be a writer?

• My mother. She wrote a simple autobiographical story and wanted to see it published one day all of her life. She never made it. When she passed away in 1999 I promised myself that either HER work or mine would one day see a reader’s gaze.

– What do you do immediately after finishing a manuscript?

• I take a break from all things computer related that I can. I usually won’t do much more than read or watch movies.

– Do you talk to your characters or your muse or both?

• Yes. Dang muse! She is so troublesome at times. She and I talk a lot as we walk around the lake at the local park.

Promo Section

~ Most Recent Release ~

A Shannon Wallace Mystery: Book 1 Kim Smith Mainstream Fiction: Mystery/Suspense ISBN: 978-1-60435-276-4 Cover Artist: Shara Azod Editor: Lea Schizas Word Count: 73,190 Release Date: December 18, 2008

~ Coming Soon ~

Book two in the Shannon Wallace Series is lovingly entitled Buried Angel and it is going to be submitted in 2009.

Learn More
Website – http://www.mkimsmith.com
MySpace – http://www.myspace.com/mkimsmith
Blog/Newsletter – http://writingspace.blogspot.com and the newsletter, Southern Mysteries with a side of GRIT is available for sign up on the website
Blog with three other mystery and suspense writers at http://murderby4.blogspot.com
Yahoo Group:
For cozy writers and readers
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/acozyhome/
and for local authors in the Memphis/North Miss. Area
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/olivebranchwritersgroup/

Thanks for that interview, Kim!

Join me next week for an interview with Aline de Chevigny.