Wednesday, January 3, 2018

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: KC Hunter



Tell me about yourself. What got you started in writing?

 I started writing from a very young age in middle school. I used to create my own books out of folders with a hole puncher and do illustrations for the cover. Later in life, after drifting away from it for a while, I found my creative inspiration again and started dabbling in writing fantasy stories and horror shorts in my 30s.

Tell me about yourself. What got you started in writing?

I started writing from a very young age in middle school. I used to create my own books out of folders with a hole puncher and do illustrations for the cover. Later in life, after drifting away from it for a while, I found my creative inspiration again and started dabbling in writing fantasy stories and horror shorts in my 30s.

How do you schedule your writing time? When do you write?

I write whenever I can. The best times are late at night when the world is quiet and I can focus on nothing but the word. No promotions. No 9 to 5. No distractions.

How and where do you write? Do you prefer a laptop or some other method of getting your words down?

I write either on my laptop in the kitchen or on my main PC setup in my office. I type really fast so it’s way easier than longhand.

What's your favorite part of writing? Your least favorite part of writing?

My favorite part of writing is when the story starts to flow, especially dialogue. For instance, in The Brothers Locke, there are identical triplets: one is mute, one is legally blind, and the third is hard of hearing. It provides for some rather unique conversations. Plus, they all have different personalities which are accented by their disabilities and abilities.

My least favorite part is editing. Again, I type really fast so going back through and finding all the spelling errors is a pain but an absolute necessity as an indie author.

How did you come up with your book idea? How long did it take you to write your book?

I’ve had many of these ideas since I was a teenager. Right now, there are six series in my head. Plus, I just invented one called Kana Cold who is a young Asian female paranormal investigator (think Indiana Jones meets Jessica Jones in personality). That came from watching a bunch of those weird “Top 10” videos on YouTube about creepypastas, unsolved mysteries, cryptids, etc. etc. I thought “there is so much material here for a bunch of thriller/paranormal/mystery type of stories. I guess I’ll write it!”.

The Brothers Locke took a while to write as I was teaching myself to write in a different style, so about three months for the first draft. Recently, I’ve been writing a lot faster.

Get the Book on Amazon

What types of marketing do you do to promote your writing?

I run the spectrum. Last year I took Mark Dawson’s course for self-publishing and since have used Facebook ads, personal communication on Twitter, my own mailing list, promotional lists like FreeBooksy and Robin Reads, Amazon ads, and BookBub’s ad platform. I’m in the process of narrowing those down to the ones that work best for me.

What are you currently working on? Do you have a new book out?

Kana Cold will hopefully be out in February or March. I’ve had a fantastic time doing the research into these weird stories that are all over the internet and adapting them to a narrative that works.

Do you have a project on the back burner? Tell me about it.

I have tons of projects on the back burner. There’s the Dorian Delmontez series which I will start writing after Kana Cold. The Brothers Locke is a bit of a prequel to Dorian Delmontez so the foundation has already been laid. I want to do a serial or short fiction episodic series of novellas in the space opera/sci-fi genre. And there’s a trilogy I’ve had in my head since I was thirteen that is part Lord of the Rings and part Clive Barker’s Imajica that at some point I need to write.

So, there’s plenty in the head that needs to find it’s way onto paper and the screen.

What would you tell a beginning writer who wants to publish but doesn't believe he/she has enough talent?

First and foremost find the confidence in the story that you want to tell. No one else will believe in you if you don’t. I always go by the motto “There are at least 20,000 people who will like the story that you like. It’s your job to find them and let them know about it.”

You won’t start off as skilled at characters as King or as imaginative as Barker or as endearing as Rowlings, but you will progress through each book and find your own style and voice. Write more, write often, and learn from each book you finish.

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