K.N. Lee's Blog, page 70

An Interview With Author, Bridget Straub

Where are you from? Northern California. Oakland, to be precise. What inspired you to write your first book? I never know where these ideas come from. I think I was listening to Popularfrom Wicked and I began thinking about Glinda the Good Witch, and thought that would be a hard image to live up to, and out it came. I wrote it in three days, complete with accompanying drawings. Well, that’s the first published book. Do you write full-time or part-time? How do you balance your writing life with your family/work life? I write full time and to be honest it is incredibly difficult. I am a single mom to three kids and although my son is an adult, the girls are in their early teens and have very busy schedules. Add to that the fact that I am not yet selling enough books to pay for all of the expenses that come up, it requires sacrifices. That said, I can’t not write, and I have faith that it will soon pay off in a big way. What jobs have you held that influence your stories? I’ve worked in both childcare and as a photographer’s assistant.
Do you have a specific writing style? I’m finding that I write best in first person.
How did you come up with the title? Searching for My Wand was easy because it tied into the whole being named after the good witch theme. On a Hot August Afternoon is literally how the second book begins, and The Salacious Marny Ottwiler came to me while doing a collage.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? The message in all of my novels to some extent is that although we all go through hard times, a sense of humor and a little determination can bring about a happy ending.
How much of the book is realistic? I write contemporary novels about people in very real circumstances.
Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?  Obviously I have had children, so that is somewhat based on reality, and I have been around a lot of artists, so many of my characters are writers, actors or musicians.
What books have most influenced your life most? The reality is that I don’t read many novels. I find myself drawn toward biographies, but there have been exceptions. I loved The Witching Hour by Anne Rice
If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor? It might be Emma Thompson because she has a great sense of humor and I find her to be immensely talented.
What book are you reading now? I’m trying a collection of Dorothy Parker, but I’m hating the way she keeps referring to her characters as Mr. or Mrs. Whatever their names are. It makes it hard to relate to.
Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest? Bonnie Tractenberg wrote a book that was light and enjoyable, titled Wedlocked
What are your current projects? Have you got all day? I am currently pitching a ½ hour sitcom, I have three novels completed and in the editing stage, as well as three others in various stages of completion. I also have a musical, Room to Grow, that I wrote with Laura Hall (from Whose Line is it Anyway) that I am hoping to get produced.
Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members. There are many. Laura Hall and her husband Rick have been amazing and instrumental, not to mention they are great friends. Vicki Abelson’s Women Who Write is also an incredibly supportive community of supportive writers.
Do you see writing as a career? Oh yeah!
If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book? I am happy to say not one word.
Do you recall how your interest in writing originated? My little sister and I were the youngest of five kids and shared a bedroom through most of our childhood. From the time we were very little she would ask me to tell her a bedtime story. By eight, I was writing.
Can you share a little of your current work with us? This is the opening to an as of yet untitled novel. I just finished it last week but still need to edit:
“And so here I sit, all alone in an empty house. You’d think sitting here in a room stripped of everything that once made it personal and mine would finally make it seem real. It’s over. We have lost not just our home but everything in it, including ourselves. I look outside and see blue sky with a breeze gently blowing the leaves of the huge tree in the front yard. It was that tree that drew us to this house in the first place, and yet I don’t even know what kind of tree it is. Is it a maple, an oak? Who knows? I guess there is probably a lesson in that, something to do with taking the time to think before you leap.
I know I have to get up and walk away. It’s unavoidable, and yet I can’t bring myself to move. As soon as I walk out the door, I won’t ever be allowed back in. This part of my life will be over, and as quick as I have been to act in the past, I am now paralyzed. Before now, I looked forward to new beginnings. I deluded myself into thinking that change was always a good thing, but it’s not. It’s scary and uncertain, and I just want to go back to the way things were. I want to close my eyes and wake up wrapped in Bobby’s arms, surrounded by all of our stuff. The good, the bad and the ugly; I want it all back.
I wrote that almost six months ago. It was scribbled in a small notebook I kept in my purse, and after I wrote it I curled up on the floor and cried all of the tears I’d been refusing to shed for months. It was my friend Julie who came and found me. It was Julie who walked me out of there. She took me to the apartment she was sharing with her then fiancé Louis, gave me their bed, and told me I was welcome to stay with them for as long as I needed. I don’t think she’d ever dreamed that I would curl up into a ball and not move for the next three weeks. I was broken into a million pieces and there was no putting me back together.”
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? Not really.
Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work? I really don’t have a favorite. It’s strange, I know, but I get little bits from everything I read.
Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)? No. I would love to have the budget to travel more.
Who designed the covers? I did. I love designing the covers.
What was the hardest part of writing your book? I love writing so much that the hardest part is usually having to put it away.
Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it? I’ve learned not to try and control the story. Sometimes I think it’s going to be about one thing and it goes in another direction.
Do you have any advice for other writers? Don’t worry if at first every word is not perfect. Get it all down and then go back.
Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers? Just that I love hearing what they think.
What were the challenges (research, literary, psychological, and logistical) in bringing it to life? The internet is so amazing that research has become easy and something I no longer dread. What do you think about e-publishing versus technical publishing? My books are available as both e-books and paperbacks.  As for traditional publishing, I think it takes too long, and that at least for now, the benefits are few. Hopefully that will balance out again but for now I prefer to maintain total control of the books I write. Do you have an agent or publisher? How did you go about finding one? I do not although I do think an agent or manager might make things easier. Unfortunately it’s a catch 22. Most want you to sell first, but it is hard to get your foot in the door without representation. If you could live anywhere, where would it be? Right here in Los Angeles. There are a lot of places I’d like to visit but to live, this is ideal. If you could have any super power, what would it be? To be invisible. I’ve always wanted to be like Endora on Bewitched and be able to sit up in a corner observing with no one knowing I’m there.
For More On Bridget Straub:   bridgetstraub.com 
 http://www.amazon.com/Bridget-Straub/e/B006KEG0KE/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0www.twitter.com/bridgetstraub 

Don't Forget Me- A Poem

Don't Forget Me K.N. Lee
Darkness loomsCold hands doomI struggle to resist the knifeMy weakness daresGuilt clings tightDon't forget meAfter tonight...

In The Clutches of a Stranger-a poem

In The Clutches of a Stranger K.N. Lee
In the clutches of a stranger
Somehow I don't feel as thoughI'm in dangerHe has meI knowAnd he won't let me goMy head tells me to runSomething else tells me noIt's oddI knowBut this is a rare momentA gameMy life is about to changeIt will never be the same
Am I prisoner?Or am I willing?He looks at meAll insanity and maliceAnd it's strange that I find this...ThrillingFingers creep onto my thighAn evil grin and evil eyesI can't help myselfI laughSoft at first I triedI sweatBut I can't seem to fight the thirstI clutch his throatHe frowns and grabs my wristI laugh louderHe never expected thisHe seems confusedIt's expectedAfter such a...Ruse
Sharp teeth lengthen My heart beats with yearningIt took me a whileBut now I am learningI am a beast A creature of mythThis man thought to harm meI shake my head with a humorous lookHis blood smells so divineI lean forward and whisper"And now you're mine..."

An Interview With Author, Ksenia Anske!!

Where are you from?
From Moscow, Russia.
What inspired you to write your first book?
I became suicidal at 33, and, after not going through with it and recovering, did 2 years of therapy and decided to go back into my past, when I was 16 and wanted to kill myself, to examine why I wanted to do it. Siren Suicides, in effect, started as writing for therapy.
Do you write full-time or part-time?
I quit my career in Marketing last year to write full time. In fact, I remember a specific date I started writing full time. It was May 15th 2012.
How do you balance your writing life with your family/work life?
I adhere to a very rigid schedule. 7-8am getting up, coffee, kids. 8-10am social media. 10-2pm write (sometimes this lasts till 3 or 4pm), 3-5pm read (this occurs later if my writing went on longer), 5-9pm kids, home stuff, 9-12am blog, social media again.
What jobs have you held that influence your stories?
None, really. My life influences my stories.
Do you have a specific writing style?
Um, people tell me I do, but I don’t know!  They say a writer can’t tell her own style. I’ve been called “raw” and “direct” and “poetic.”
How did you come up with the title?
This took a while. I have gone through several titles, until it struck me that two main things I talk about when telling people about my book are SIRENS and SUICIDE. I put two words together, tweeted it, and people loved it. It stuck. Siren Suicides is the final title.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Yes. The message is that no matter how shitty your life is, it’s not worth taking it. There is love all around, if only you’re willing to open your heart to it. And that no matter how bad this life seems to you, we’re all in it together. Underneath this message, I also want to expose the problem of abuse, specifically of women and children, which is still a glaring problem in our society.
How much of the book is realistic?
Um, not sure what you mean by this? It’s urban fantasy that is set against the background of the city of Seattle, which I described very carefully, down to specific street names. In fact, you can trace the main character’s movements on the map, if you wanted to.
Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
The actual events are not based on anyone I know or anything I’ve seen. It’s all imagined. The emotions, however, are directly tied to my personal experiences. And certain aspects of characters are drawn from people I know, specifically the relationship between Ailen, the main character, and papa, her dad, are drawn in some respect from my own relationship with my father.

What books have most influenced your life most?
Russian fairy tales about Baba Yaga, Pushkin’s tales when I was little; One Thousand and One Nights tales, Alice in Wonderland, and, later, books by Chekhov, Bulgakov, Nabokov, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Astrid Lindgren, The Headless Horseman by Thomas Mayne Reid, which was my first “horror” story, and then Stephen King. I devoured him. Most recently I’ve been completely smitten by Fight Club and am absolutely in love with Chuck Palahniuk’s work. And, of course, I’m a potterhead. I love Harry Potter.
If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
Stephen King through his ON WRITING book. Virtually. And Michael Gruber is my actual mentor and neighbor. He wrote over 25 novels and gives me invaluable advice. We meet ever so often to chat literary stuff.
What book are you reading now?
ORLANDO by Virginia Woolf
Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
Yes. Hugh Howey and his WOOL. My recent favorite.
What are your current projects?
I’m finishing BLUE SPARROW, book of my tweets, this week, and am starting on ROSEHEAD, my 2ndnovel, next week. It’s about a preteen girl who, with the help of her talking whippet, discovers that her grandfather murders women and turns them into roses.
Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.
Do you see writing as a career?
Yes. I wanted to do this all my life, ever since I started writing a diary and poems at 15. Just never had the guts to admit it and finally do it.
If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
No. It was 1 year out of my life, and it’s perfect that way it is, with all its imperfections.
Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
Yes. I went to a lecture by a prominent writer in Moscow House of Book Lovers (as best I can translate its name), and he said that it’s beneficial to have a diary, to be able to look back at your life and see how pointlessly you have spent it. I went home and 5 days later started a diary.
Can you share a little of your current work with us?
I believe I did above. ROSEHEAD is my next novel. After that I will be writing IRKADURA, a novel that Michael Grueber, my mentor, suggests I should write. It won’t be fantasy, it will be literary, based on my childhood in Soviet Russia. The main character is Irina, or Irka, for short, and she can’t talk, so everyone calls her a fool, which is DURA in Russian. Hence the novel title, IRKADURA. After that, I want to write a sci-fi novel. After that, we shall see!
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Yes. Every day I battle fear of starting. I have this anxiety of not being perfect, not writing anything worth reading, and it’s draining sometimes. I hope it will diminish with years.
Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
Stephen King. He is an absolutely genius story teller. I also love J.K. Rowling, Chuck Palahniuk, Haruki Murakami, to name a few more.
Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?
Not yet! I plan a book tour, once SIREN SUICIDES is published.
Who designed the covers?
My daughter will design them. They’re not done yet.
What was the hardest part of writing your book?
Going into my personal pain every day. Making myself do it.
Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
Yes. The simple fact that I can, actually, write.
Do you have any advice for other writers?
Don’t listen to anyone who says you can’t write, can’t make money writing. It took me so long to believe in myself, please don’t repeat my mistake. Don’t write to be published, to make money, to be famous. Write for therapy, for yourself. Write to feel happy. This is when people  will notice your work and will read it. Because they will feel connected with you. We all share the same pains.
Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
I love you! Every single one of you. You make my life. You make me want to write more for you.
What were the challenges (research, literary, psychological, and logistical) in bringing it to life?
Just the act of sitting down every day and doing it was the biggest challenge of all.
What do you think about e-publishing versus technical publishing?
I don’t understand what it means! I have yet to go through the drill of self-publishing, so I’m sure I will learn a lot.
Do you have an agent or publisher? How did you go about finding one?
I have 3 agents interested and sent them my work, and I have 1 publisher interested. But I think I might go ahead and self-publish, because my readers want my book now, and it takes up to 2 years for the book to appear in the stores if I go traditional route.
If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
London.
If you could have any super power, what would it be?
Be able to fly.
For More On Ksenia Anske:


My picture and bio: http://www.kseniaanske.com/bio/
Blog: http://www.kseniaanske.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kseniaanske
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ksenia.anske
Google+: https://plus.google.com/109572538028745590669/posts
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/kseniaanske/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/kseniaanske/
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kseniaanske/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/10221719-ksenia
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A19ELGT118RK4J?ie=UTF8&ref_=cm_cr_yc_pdp
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/kseniaanske