Interview: Kate Hawkings, author of The Sphinx Project!

Kate Hawkings is a 22 year old who grew up in Auckland, New Zealand and now lives in the UK. She is releasing her début novel, The Sphinx Project on the 28th of February! So keep an eye out for it! It sounds like it is going to be an amazing book!



Read this great interview and then connect with Kate with the links I've provided at the bottom.








Authors say that they put a bit of themselves into their characters. What part of you has gone into your main character, Michaela?

To be honest, I don't think Michaela is too much like me at all... There are some minor similarities in our personalities, but not many... the biggest is probably her obsession with ice cream.



As fiction writers we are constantly pushing ourselves to be better. How do you keep yourself motivated?

I guess most of it comes down to a desire to prove myself... I'm quite competitive, so the just naturally pushes me forward. I also love writing, so I'm not exactly swimming against the current.



If you were going to commit the perfect murder, how would you do it?

Hmmm *puts on crime writer hat*.... I'd probably do it in Rotorua, New Zealand... or somewhere else with a lot of geothermal activity... I wouldn't want to get too personal, and I wouldn't want to leave any evidence (such as blood spatter) so I'd probably poison them. I'd wrap them in plastic and drive them to one of the remoter geothermal areas and drop them and any evidence into one of the deepest, hottest, geothermal pools... There is the question of chopping them up though, because they'd probably deteriorate faster in smaller pieces with a greater surface area... But then there's the possibility of leaving blood … and I'd have to get rid of all my clothes and the cutting implement... I'm also wondering if the bubbling mud pools would be more suitable than the water...



When did you consider yourself to be a writer?

This is a tough one, because even now with the book due out in the next few days I feel awkward saying I'm a writer. I guess it would have to be when I first got the manuscript back from my editor. That's when it started feeling real.



Did you have a playlist while writing? If so, what were the main songs that stuck out?

Yes, I have several depending on my mood. However, that is a question I'll be writing at lengths about later in the blog tour, so I can't go into too much detail here.



If you could compare your writing style to any writer, who would it be?

I'm not a hugely technical writer, and I just can't make myself look at my work and compare myself to others in that way, it makes me feel uncomfortable.



Do you have any more self-publishing plans for 2012?

If so, do you mind listing them? Yes I do, but after The Sphinx Project I refuse to set and release dates until I get the final copy back from the editor.



Has your vision of The Sphinx Project changed from how you had originally planned it?

Oh yes, hugely. When I began, The Sphinx Project wasn't even on the cards. I wrote a completely different story, using the same characters, but decided I wanted to go more in depth about what happened before that. The original story is still on my computer, and I have plans to rewrite it as the third book in the series.



Everyone has a reason for self-publishing. What's yours?

There were so many reasons, but ultimately I wanted to see what I could do it by myself. I got to try my hand at so many things I usually wouldn't have any control over.




What one piece of advice would you give to writers who are looking to self-publish?

Research. I don't care who you are or what you know, you need to know what you're getting into. There's so much more to it than you think.




What did you think?

Are you going to be buying The Sphinx Project?


Now, let's not forget to connect! <3



Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KCHawkings

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kchawkings

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3319171.Kate_Hawkings

Blog: http://www.katherinehawkings.blogspot.com/



-Joseph




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