World Of Writing - Author Interview
Karen King - UK-based blogger and prolific author of gripping psychological thrillers, emotionally trippy romances and many children's books drops in to speak about her experiences in the realm of writing. She has a total of 14 adult books and many children's books - all available on Amazon, of course. Karen tells us that she started her writing career "working for many different children’s comics", which I find intriguing. You may have already seen some of her short stories in a few different women’s magazines. Currently here books are published by Bookouture and Headline; she now tends to write writes both psychological thrillers and romance novels.
Drop by her website: https://karenkingauthor.com and to find her online go HERE
Keep an eye out for her upcoming romance The Spanish Wedding Disaster is published by Headline on 26th June and a thriller - The Mother In Law is published by Bookouture on 29th July.
Q: Looking back on your long and productive career, do you feel that you choose writing as a profession, or did it choose you?
A: It definitely chose me! I’ve written stories and poems since I was a child, but I had no aspirations of writing as a profession.
It was a hobby. I had planned on being a nurse when I left school but got married and had children early.
I carried on writing and sold a few short stories and articles to teenage and children’s magazines.
Later I thought I’d like to be a teacher and was about to start teacher training when I was offered regular work writing for a children’s magazine.
I decided to take the opportunity and from that date wrote for a living (and later taught writing too).
Q: What are common mistakes authors make? (And how to avoid those mistakes)
A: The most common mistakes I noticed when I was a writing tutor were:
1. Not finishing the story. A lot of authors start writing a story then get despondent half-way through and give up. My advice is to plough on, get that first draft down, then you have something to edit and improve on.
2. Settling for their first draft. The first draft is simply that, a first draft. You then have to revise, refine, rewrite until it’s your very best work before you send it out to the publishing world.
3. Not reading through their work. Put your work away for a week or two then reread it. You’ll be amazed at how many errors and typos you will pick up.
4. Not reading the agents/publisher’s guidelines. Always check the submission guidelines on agent or publishers websites and make sure that you adhere to them correctly. If they ask for 50 pages, only send 50 pages. If they only publish crime thrillers don’t send your historical romance hoping that they will be swept away by the brilliance of your writing. They won’t and your work will be rejected.
5. Taking rejection or criticism personally. There are many reasons why an agent or publisher won’t take you on. None of them are personal. Yes the quality of your work is important but so is whether they already have enough authors in your genre, whether your work fits into their publishing schedule, whether they have similar work in the pipeline (you’d be amazed how many authors come up with similar ideas). None of the reasons are personal. Similarly, not everyone will enjoy reading your book. You will get bad reviews, it’s all part and parcel of being an author. Concentrate on the good reviews and don’t respond to negative criticism.
Q: What are your greatest obstacles and motivators when it comes to writing?
A: The greatest obstacle when my children were little was family life. There was always a child needing attention, a task that needed doing. Now that my children are all adults, and I’m living in sunny Spain the greatest obstacles are that it’s so tempting to go for coffee with friends, have a swim in the pool, go sightseeing with my husband Dave.
Q: What are common mistakes authors make? (And how to avoid those mistakes)
A: The most common mistakes I noticed when I was a writing tutor were:
1. Not finishing the story. A lot of authors start writing a story then get despondent half-way through and give up. My advice is to plough on, get that first draft down, then you have something to edit and improve on.
2. Settling for their first draft. The first draft is simply that, a first draft. You then have to revise, refine, rewrite until it’s your very best work before you send it out to the publishing world.
3. Not reading through their work. Put your work away for a week or two then reread it. You’ll be amazed at how many errors and typos you will pick up.
4. Not reading the agents/publisher’s guidelines. Always check the submission guidelines on agent or publishers websites and make sure that you adhere to them correctly. If they ask for 50 pages, only send 50 pages. If they only publish crime thrillers don’t send your historical romance hoping that they will be swept away by the brilliance of your writing. They won’t and your work will be rejected.
5. Taking rejection or criticism personally. There are many reasons why an agent or publisher won’t take you on. None of them are personal. Yes the quality of your work is important but so is whether they already have enough authors in your genre, whether your work fits into their publishing schedule, whether they have similar work in the pipeline (you’d be amazed how many authors come up with similar ideas). None of the reasons are personal. Similarly, not everyone will enjoy reading your book. You will get bad reviews, it’s all part and parcel of being an author. Concentrate on the good reviews and don’t respond to negative criticism.
 |
| https://www.amazon.co.uk/Karen-King/e/B0034P6W7I |
Q: What are your greatest obstacles and motivators when it comes to writing?
A: The greatest obstacle when my children were little was family life. There was always a child needing attention, a task that needed doing. Now that my children are all adults, and I’m living in sunny Spain the greatest obstacles are that it’s so tempting to go for coffee with friends, have a swim in the pool, go sightseeing with my husband Dave.
The greatest motivator is a deadline. I’ve been contracted for most of my writing work, and there’s nothing like a contract deadline to make you sit down and actually write even if the sun is shining and your friends are having a pool party.
Q: What is your favorite memory in your career as a writer?
A: I wrote children’s books until a few years ago and used to visit schools to talk about my work and run creative workshops to encourage children to write their own stories. They were great fun, sometimes we acted out the stories, sometimes we made them up as a group with each child participating, other times I gave a story starter and asked the children to finish the story. I was always amazed by how imaginative the children were. Sometimes a teacher would come and tell me that one of the children had never written a story before but had now covered a whole page with their writing, or that another child who was usually reluctant to take part in class activities was now acting the part of an alien with gusto. Those are my favourite memories.
Q: How do you feel about your publishing journey so far?
Q: What is your favorite memory in your career as a writer?
A: I wrote children’s books until a few years ago and used to visit schools to talk about my work and run creative workshops to encourage children to write their own stories. They were great fun, sometimes we acted out the stories, sometimes we made them up as a group with each child participating, other times I gave a story starter and asked the children to finish the story. I was always amazed by how imaginative the children were. Sometimes a teacher would come and tell me that one of the children had never written a story before but had now covered a whole page with their writing, or that another child who was usually reluctant to take part in class activities was now acting the part of an alien with gusto. Those are my favourite memories.
Q: How do you feel about your publishing journey so far?
A: It's been quite a journey! Writing for a living means you have to keep an income coming in and I turned my pen to writing comic strips, photo stories, articles, activities, plays, jokes, picture books, fiction and educational books in the early years of my writing career.
It’s been challenging, and there are times I’ve written books and for various reasons they’ve never got to print (luckily I was always paid as it was commissioned work) or the brief has changed because the book has been sold overseas and the text needs adapting for that. I’ve always been flexible, willing to work to tight deadlines and to have a go at anything that kept the work flowing in. As a ‘jobbing author’ I never expected to be famous, or rich, and my name often didn’t appear on my work, so I didn’t suffer the disappointment many new authors do when the book they’ve slaved over for months or even years doesn’t do as well as they hoped. Now I’m lucky enough to be working for two wonderful publishers and write romance novels and thrillers.
Q: What do you do when you are not writing?
A: Socialize, go sightseeing – there are some gorgeous quaint villages in Spain as well as spectacular mountains and valleys – read, watch television, swim in the pool.
~~~
Q: What do you do when you are not writing?
A: Socialize, go sightseeing – there are some gorgeous quaint villages in Spain as well as spectacular mountains and valleys – read, watch television, swim in the pool.
~~~
Discover Our Books on Amazon: https://amazon.com/author/lillianbrummet
Find us online via these landing pages:
~~~
Thanks so much for having me over on your blog. xx
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you too for joining us here on the blog ! ...very glad to have had you as a guest :)
Delete