10 Questions with Kindra Sowder
1. Who has been your biggest influence as a writer?
I have a lot of influences when it comes to this series. I wanted to do something different, make a Dystopian that had not been done. The market is so flooded with them that breaking out of that mold can be hard. My main influences were Heroes, X-Men, and the like. It has even been called “Dystopian X-Men” by some readers. I also have a huge love for superheroes and decided it was time to write some of my own.
2. How did you come up with the concept of The Harvested and how many novels are you planning for that series?
The idea came to me one day to write a Dystopian series and the story evolved from there. I was also watching a lot of Heroes and superhero movies I could get my hands on. But, the basics of the story, all came from nowhere like most of what I write does. At this moment in time there are 5 planned in this series and, as I’m sure a lot have seen, there is a spinoff series titled The John Baker Chronicles: A permutation Archives Division, being written by Bryan Tann. The first book will be titled “The Invincible Heart project.” We are not sure how many there will be for this but I do have a short story planned based in the same world on a character that has nothing to do with Mila’s story itself. There is a story out in an anthology called “And the World Will Burn” that has an Emerson King origin story in it as well. I have a lot of plans for the entirety of this series because there are so many stories that can be told.
3. What current writing projects are you working on?
Now that is a loaded question. I am working on quite a lot. At current I am working on mostly co-authored projects as well as the 3rd book of the Permutation Archives series. And those projects are as follows: ‘Vindicta: The Liquidator Wars Book 1” (paranormal romance) with P. Mattern, ‘RotSalt’ (zompoc) with TJ Weeks, ‘Zombified: A Zombie Head Hunter Series Book 1’ (zompoc, sci-fi, fantasy, Dystopian) with actor from TWD Santiago Cirilo, ‘Ruination’ which is the first book of an offshoot from the end of the series The Initiative (that first book ‘Chasing Shadows’ comes out in January and is also paranormal romance). Next year I will be starting work on my first ever thriller with K.M. Cox. I also have a lot of other books planned out already that will be written once I get get the Permutation Archives books finished.
4. Do you prefer to write on your own or with another author?
I like both, to be honest. And don’t really prefer one over the other. I have found that having a co-author makes it easier for me to get more of my ideas out there when I don’t have the time to write the entire thing by myself. And, considering who I am working with on projects now, I love co-authoring.
5. What type of scenes do you most enjoy writing?
I love writing a good action sequence. They are my absolute favorite.
6. What made you start writing?
I’m not entirely sure. I know I came up with the story for the Executioner Trilogy at 15, and I had to get the story out. Was never able to stop after that and now I have plenty of stories to keep me busy.
7. What made you choose South Carolina as your residence and how does living in the South influence your writin
I can definitely say the move to South Carolina wasn’t my doing. My parents divorced when I was very young and my grandparents gained custody of myself and my sister. After my grandfather retired (he was born and raised in Laurens), we moved here. Being originally from Los Angeles, the adjustment was hard because it’s so quiet and, with all honesty, I still have SC.
8. What is your best quality as a writer?
I believe I have a few great qualities to be honest. One of them being that I am not scared to push the boundaries and make people question. I’m not scared to break the mold of what things were, and change them into something that will make people go ‘hmmmm’ while scratching their head because it brings up a very interesting point.
9. If you could pick one other author to collaborate with on a novel or story, living or dead, who would it be?
If I could I would choose the King himself. That’s a no-brainer. He is a heavy influence for my work as well as Anne Rice. Mira Grant lately has made an impression as well, but Stephen King for sure. I know I did the James Patterson master class and subbed my idea to him to work with him. I didn’t get chosen but it was still an amazing experience to learn from him.
10. If Hollywood was making a film adaptation of The Harvested, and the director asked you to cast the role of Mila, who would you choose?
Once I saw this question I have been struggling with this answer because I love and adore a lot of strong actresses. If I had to choose and only choose one it would have to be Jennifer Lawrence, for sure. If I could pick multiple and they could audition I’d go for her as well as Imogen Poots, Elizabeth Olsen, Chloe Grace Moretz, Margot Robbie, Julia Vloth, and Kelcie Stranaham. There are more but that would be a massive list.
I have a lot of influences when it comes to this series. I wanted to do something different, make a Dystopian that had not been done. The market is so flooded with them that breaking out of that mold can be hard. My main influences were Heroes, X-Men, and the like. It has even been called “Dystopian X-Men” by some readers. I also have a huge love for superheroes and decided it was time to write some of my own.
2. How did you come up with the concept of The Harvested and how many novels are you planning for that series?
The idea came to me one day to write a Dystopian series and the story evolved from there. I was also watching a lot of Heroes and superhero movies I could get my hands on. But, the basics of the story, all came from nowhere like most of what I write does. At this moment in time there are 5 planned in this series and, as I’m sure a lot have seen, there is a spinoff series titled The John Baker Chronicles: A permutation Archives Division, being written by Bryan Tann. The first book will be titled “The Invincible Heart project.” We are not sure how many there will be for this but I do have a short story planned based in the same world on a character that has nothing to do with Mila’s story itself. There is a story out in an anthology called “And the World Will Burn” that has an Emerson King origin story in it as well. I have a lot of plans for the entirety of this series because there are so many stories that can be told.
3. What current writing projects are you working on?
Now that is a loaded question. I am working on quite a lot. At current I am working on mostly co-authored projects as well as the 3rd book of the Permutation Archives series. And those projects are as follows: ‘Vindicta: The Liquidator Wars Book 1” (paranormal romance) with P. Mattern, ‘RotSalt’ (zompoc) with TJ Weeks, ‘Zombified: A Zombie Head Hunter Series Book 1’ (zompoc, sci-fi, fantasy, Dystopian) with actor from TWD Santiago Cirilo, ‘Ruination’ which is the first book of an offshoot from the end of the series The Initiative (that first book ‘Chasing Shadows’ comes out in January and is also paranormal romance). Next year I will be starting work on my first ever thriller with K.M. Cox. I also have a lot of other books planned out already that will be written once I get get the Permutation Archives books finished.
4. Do you prefer to write on your own or with another author?
I like both, to be honest. And don’t really prefer one over the other. I have found that having a co-author makes it easier for me to get more of my ideas out there when I don’t have the time to write the entire thing by myself. And, considering who I am working with on projects now, I love co-authoring.
5. What type of scenes do you most enjoy writing?
I love writing a good action sequence. They are my absolute favorite.
6. What made you start writing?
I’m not entirely sure. I know I came up with the story for the Executioner Trilogy at 15, and I had to get the story out. Was never able to stop after that and now I have plenty of stories to keep me busy.
7. What made you choose South Carolina as your residence and how does living in the South influence your writin
I can definitely say the move to South Carolina wasn’t my doing. My parents divorced when I was very young and my grandparents gained custody of myself and my sister. After my grandfather retired (he was born and raised in Laurens), we moved here. Being originally from Los Angeles, the adjustment was hard because it’s so quiet and, with all honesty, I still have SC.
8. What is your best quality as a writer?
I believe I have a few great qualities to be honest. One of them being that I am not scared to push the boundaries and make people question. I’m not scared to break the mold of what things were, and change them into something that will make people go ‘hmmmm’ while scratching their head because it brings up a very interesting point.
9. If you could pick one other author to collaborate with on a novel or story, living or dead, who would it be?
If I could I would choose the King himself. That’s a no-brainer. He is a heavy influence for my work as well as Anne Rice. Mira Grant lately has made an impression as well, but Stephen King for sure. I know I did the James Patterson master class and subbed my idea to him to work with him. I didn’t get chosen but it was still an amazing experience to learn from him.
10. If Hollywood was making a film adaptation of The Harvested, and the director asked you to cast the role of Mila, who would you choose?
Once I saw this question I have been struggling with this answer because I love and adore a lot of strong actresses. If I had to choose and only choose one it would have to be Jennifer Lawrence, for sure. If I could pick multiple and they could audition I’d go for her as well as Imogen Poots, Elizabeth Olsen, Chloe Grace Moretz, Margot Robbie, Julia Vloth, and Kelcie Stranaham. There are more but that would be a massive list.
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