Book Name and Description:

Forest of Ancestors (The Guardians Series) Contemporary Fantasy/Magical Realism/Slight Gore

The Grimoire Prophecies (Book 1) – Urban Fantasy/Magical Realism

Dog Soldiers (Short Story) Horror/Fantasy/Gore

All above have been published and under the Pen Name: K. A. Denver

 Fallen (Angelic Realms Reverse Harem Series (Books 1 – 4) Fantasy/Romance/Humor

Publish Date TBA

Published under the Pen Name: Kate Denver

Interview Questions:

What gave you the idea for Dog Soldiers?

Well I had to write a short horror and as I love shifters it was a no-brainer. I have a stronger male voice in writing and it usually overpowers my feminine one. So I decided to embrace that, pick something that felt ultra-masculine and so I went with the military approach.
I like the idea that shifters mixed with military training could be an explosive and deadly combination.

What got you into writing in this genre?

This may sound weird. I don’t like watching blood gore and guts in horror. I prefer to watch jump scare horrors or reality horror where the fact that it COULD happen is creepier and scarier than anything gore could achieve. BUT I love to write about it. I love describing how it feels, smells, tastes, and the sensations it evokes as it trickles over the skin, down the throat or euphoria experienced as the perp watches an arterial spray of blood as the throat has been cut. Call me weird hahaha

How long have you been writing?

I have been writing since I was a teen, it started with fan-fiction (I would write StarTrek Fan-fiction…don’t judge me). Then life took over and I got married, had a family, and I let it slip to the sidelines for a long time. A few years ago, I decided to take the plunge again and began to research serial killers. I was planning a book on a serial killer with the ability to feel the actual fear and feed of it. The killer then mentally linked with a lady on the other side of the world and became fixated with her.

Well, after nearly 8 months or so of research and outlining I began to write. I got roughly 50K words in (slightly more or less, menopause brain has robbed me of the actual count) my computer got the ‘Blue Screen of Death’ and all was lost. The outlines, the research, and the story. It put me off writing for about 4 or 5 years. I only began again when my husband was diagnosed and undergoing treatment. When not caring for him and the kids I would write to relax. An opportunity to put a short story out for a Facebook event came along and so Forest of Ancestorswas born. It was originally meant to be a short, but it was so well received that I expanded it and created a whole universe.

What is your favorite book (other than your own book, of course) and why? What book disappointed you and why?

I love the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J. R. Ward. It ticks all the boxes for me. There is romance (not the flowers and hearts kind), danger, violence, blood, gore, and bloody great character development.

I don’t get disappointed. I see each book as a learning experience so even the bad are good.

How do you think you’ve evolved creatively?
I made the decision to stop writing for myself and to begin to write for others. By that I mean I researched top selling genres, then I dug a little deeper in that genre to find what sub-genres had hungry readerships. Horror is brilliant, BUT it is difficult to get a footing as a female and a newbie. Fluff sells.

So, I decided I would write what sells so that I could earn enough that would allow me later in my career to write for passion.

When I began to write I just got an idea and expanded it. Now I get an idea then I research if that topic already belongs to an already overly saturated market. If it does then I outline and shelve it with a ‘To Be Used At A Later Date’ tag on it. If it doesn’t then I begin to research the genre to see what keywords are needed and what format is most popular. When I have all that then I plan out my chapters and sit down to write.

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?

The ability to read objectively and take notes is key to a writer in my opinion. Take a classic and see WHY it is loved. The ability to read the market, and by that I mean being able to see what your genre love and why they love it then factoring that into your work.

I think just getting words on paper is key and only worry about editing when you get to the end. I would also suggest that you decided what type of writer you want to be. There are two types, and neither are wrong, they are just different. You either write for the love of it and to get your stories out there for a sense of achievement. Or you write to make a living and to make it your full-time job. To do that you have to write to market and sometimes that means writing a genre you may not necessarily enjoy reading but that you understand and are good at writing.

I want to make a living as a writer, it is hard, but it is achievable.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received from another author?

Do not read your good reviews, only read the bad ones to see if you can learn from them. Just write your stuff and get it out there. Oh, and on troll reviews that are posted not because they honestly didn’t like your work, but because you have triggered them in a Facebook post or a Twitter post…I was told… FUCK ‘EM! Hahahah gotta love that.

What piece of your own work are you most proud of?
That would be my first published work. Forest of Ancestors. I wrote it during a very difficult time in my life. I was dealing with my husband’s illness, my children, a business that had to be closed so that I could look after my husband and all the financial stress that came with it. Writing was an escape; the characters became my way to connect to something that was so far removed from what I was dealing with that I didn’t have to think about it for a while.

Eli and the gang were my anchors and I appreciate that.  

What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Decide why you are writing. By that I mean decided if you are going to write and not publish (doing it as a creative outlet) or if you are writing to make a living from it. If it is the latter then you need to accept and appreciate that it will be a long road and that you are going to need to research. There are many decisions you will have to make from this point. Like traditional publish or self publish. Write for your own passion or write to earn a living. Take it slow or write to market.

Do what you feel sits right with you. There is no right or wrong in these choices only what is right or wrong for you.

bio:

I write under the pen name of K. A. Denver and I am the author of Forest of Ancestors, Book One in The Guardians Series, The Grimoire Prophecies and Dog Soldiers.

I am married to an Irish King, I live in a large castle on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Irish Sea made from Tayto Potato Crisps, with my two children, two dogs, and a leprechaun. This is where I spend hours coming up with ideas and concepts for new stories and plotting ways to kill off people I don’t like in my next novel.

All of this might be true, or some of it might have been made up.
You can find out which it is by visiting my blog or my Facebook page.

Links:

Amazon UK: K A Denver Author Page

Amazon US: K A Denver Author Page

Blog: K A Denver’s Writng Blog

Blog: Weirdly Paranormal with Kate Denver

Twitter: @k_a_denver

Facebook: K A Denver Author Page