Bobbie Dunham asked Kallypso Masters:

I love your books and have read all at least 3 times, thank you for the great read. my question is Why do you take so long to finish writing your books? I'm having withdrawals

Kallypso Masters Ahh, a very good question! I am not someone who plots or writes to a formula, so I have to write when the characters are "speaking" to me or I'm inspired to write a scene because otherwise, it would come across as flat (and dull). I don't write every day, but since I started the last book I am averaging about 530 words a day. There was a time when I did nothing but write for seven months (and I mean 12-18 hours a day, no life, no family, nothing but write), but, of course, I couldn't sustain that without becoming an automaton. I envy the authors who can write anywhere, anytime, and stick to a rigid schedule of getting the words out with thousands of words a day, but I don't think my books would remain as beloved as they are if I did anything but write the way that works for me. My goal is to release one major novel a year (an epic length novel of 140,000 words or more--and the last two were many more words than that). I know my readers who go through withdrawals often go back and reread the series (one person has literally reread them 90-something times) and they often find things that they missed when they devoured the books the first time or two.

I was thrilled to listen to Diana Gabaldon speak recently. She is also writing an epic saga (only hers revolves around one couple) but she hasn't put a book out in three years and her fans were avidly waiting for its arrival. I don't think mine will take that long (she writes MUCH longer books than I do), but seeing the devotion of her fans equals that of mine, I know true fans will be willing to wait for a story well told, when I decide it has been edited well enough to be ready for you to read it.

I'm not good at guessing how long it takes to finish a book, tho, so I won't give release dates unless I'm within a few weeks of releasing and know that I can make the deadline because it has been through all the rounds of editing I require before publishing.

I appreciate your patience and the patience of all my readers, because I, too, want to know how these story lines will evolve. (I don't know ahead of time what will happen, so they surprise me just as they do you!)

Thanks for the question!

Kally

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