Author Interview – KC Freeman

1. Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?

I am definitely an original. During the revision process I sometimes try to conform or take suggestions from other authors to follow the tried and true story patterns, etc. but I found I wasn’t being authentic when I did that. The result was “not my story” as I envisioned it so I had a lot of re-editing to do to go back in and fix it. Now I stick with the story pinging around in my noggin and don’t try to put artificial parameters around it. In the end, I hope readers enjoy the story, but I had to realize early on that by going my own way I have to accept that I am not everyone’s cup of tea. Some will love the originality. Others won’t. And I have to be okay with that.

 

2. How do you select the names of your characters?

Sometimes the names just flow to my mind. For example, Greylyn just popped in my head as I wrote the character. Months later I was driving home from the dentist and passed a street I’d never noticed before – Greylyn Court. Maybe I saw it earlier and my conscious mind didn’t pick up on it at that time. Who knows? Sometimes the names are inspired by others, perhaps someone I could envision “being” the character. And sometimes I use the tried and true Google baby name search and try to pick sometime original or that has a name meaning connecting it to the character.

 

3. Does writing energize or exhaust you?

Honestly…it depends on the day, my mood, if I’m being rushed or if I’m feeling truly inspired and the story is just pouring out as my fingers fly over the keyboard. When the story is flowing, and I can go for awhile uninterrupted, then writing energizes me like nothing else. It’s an adrenaline rush. If I’m trying to force myself to write, or there’s a particular aspect of the story that I think should be written, but I’m not “feeling it”…exhausted!

 

4. What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?

Best money I ever spent as a writer…just bought dual monitors. Wow! What an improvement! I’m lucky that I have amazing writer friends who will help with editing. Even though I’m an editor too, a writer should NEVER rely on themselves to edit their own works. I strongly suggest to all writers…GET AN EDITOR! Not your mom. Not your best friend. Not your cousin’s roommate’s friend from summer camp. A legitimate editor who knows their stuff, and knows the writing style guidelines for their form of writing. For example, if you are writing fiction, you want an expert on the Chicago Manual of Style, not an expert on guidance for writing medical research papers.

 

5. What made you want to write about Greylyn and what can we expect for her next?

Greylyn’s story has been dancing around in my head since I was a teenager, but then I had to do the “practical” route of college, career that I had no interest in, and so on and so forth. When I found myself finally free to pursue what I wanted, the story popped back into my head and here we are. Book 2 of the series will be out (hopefully) by the end of 2020. If not, early 2021. Greylyn has a lot more adventures as she searches for clues to the prophecy and how to counter it, if need be. Kael will, of course, be close on her heels and prove to be quite a valuable ally as they battle supernatural entities trying to stop them and battle their feelings for each other. Will they succeed? Will their desire for each other doom them all? You’ll have to wait to find out.

 

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