Hello! Today with us we have the amazing Katie Marie! *Applause*
Angelina: Introduce yourself please.
Katie Marie: My name is Katie Marie. I’m a horror enthusiast and author. I’ve been writing since I was in my teens and have been published in several award-winning anthologies and magazines, and Brigids Gate Press recently released my Novella A Man in Winter.
Angelina: Did someone inspire you to become an author?
Katie Marie: My mum. The one thing that really inspired me to start writing was my love of reading. My mum used to read me horror stories as bedtime stories when I was young and it grew and grew until it became an obsession with the horror genre and reading.
Angelina: How long does it take for you to write a story?
Katie Marie: A long time. I tend to break my projects down a lot, I will plan out a novel and then write a chapter a week until that draft is done. Then I will put it down and pick up another project. Once that project phase is done, I will return to the original project, now having had a decent break from it, and pick it up for edits. Again, I break it down to a chapter or two a week. So over all it can take me a couple of years but that includes long periods of ‘We’re on a break’.
Angelina: Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
Katie Marie: I find inspiration in so many places; I find it when out walking, wandering around museums, reading interesting articles, watching YouTube videos, listening to music. Anything that mentally stimulates I will use as inspiration. Recently I was at the theatre watching a musical, one song explored not being able to see when we the audience knew danger was coming. That image resonated with me and by the time the interval had finished, I’d scribbled an outline into my phone’s notebook.
Angelina: What does your family think of your writing?
Katie Marie: They are pretty supportive. I’m not sure how many of them actually read my stuff but they are very kind when I talk about it and will pick up copies of my work when it goes on sale.
Angelina: How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?
Katie Marie: I have written a mix of novellas and short stories, I currently have four novellas out and a slew of short stories scattered through various anthologies.
My first novella is Grey Wings and sits very much outside of what I write today. It was a young adult urban fantasy style story.
Amenti was my second novella and it is still young adult but I was already branching into horror.
Firefly is my most recent experiment with epistolary fiction. A story told through documents, text messages, newspaper articles etc. It was a lot of fun to write, though the little judgmental voice in the back of my head often tells me no one will be able to follow my Janky story lol.
My favorite book is my third novella, A Man in Winter which tells the story of Arthur, whose life was devastated by the brutal murder of his wife, must come to terms with his diagnosis of dementia. He moves into a new home in a retirement community, and shortly after, has his life turned upside down again when his wife’s ghost visits him and sends him on a quest to find her killer so her spirit can move on. With his family and his doctor concerned that his dementia is advancing, will he be able to solve the murder before his independence is permanently restricted? A Man in Winter examines the horrors of isolation, dementia, loss, and the ghosts that come back to haunt us.
Angelina: Who’s your favorite character you created?
Katie Marie: Arthur is my favorite. He is an amalgamation of many people I had the pleasure of talking to and he’s my most grounded character.
Angelina: Who’s your least favorite character you created?
Katie Marie: That would be my very first protagonist, Jason, from Grey Wings.
Grey Wings is Aurelius’ story but on the advice of an editor I changed it to be more focused on the deuteragonist, Jason. I did so because he was going to be the relatable character, the character the audience would see them selves in. I changed him to reflect this and I never felt comfortable with how he turned out, or just how much focus he got. All the feedback I received from people at conventions and in messages was a love for Aurelius’ and I’ve always regrated making him take a backseat.
Angelina: Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?
Katie Marie: My readers are fantastic, they are extremely kind and inspiring. The ones who take the time to reach out to me, I treasure and appreciate it so much, often tell me they enjoy my characters, that the see themselves in them or people they know and love in them. I recently had someone reach out to tell me that A Man in Winter gave them a greater empathy for people suffering dementia, it removed their awkwardness and fear, to an extent, and replaced it with understanding. That was a very humbling thing to hear. My readers are fantastic, they are extremely kind and inspiring. The ones who take the time to reach out to me, I treasure and appreciate it so much, often tell me they enjoy my characters, that the see themselves in them or people they know and love in them. I recently had someone reach out to tell me that A Man in Winter gave them a greater empathy for people suffering dementia, it removed their awkwardness and fear, to an extent, and replaced it with understanding. That was a very humbling thing to hear.
Angelina: What do you think makes a good story?
Katie Marie: A good story is made up of good characters. Plot is important, theming is important, its all important but without good relatable, well-developed characters your story is always going to be missing an element of humanity that makes a good story a great one.
Angelina: Tell us about your WIP.
Katie Marie: My current WIP is called The House and is the Story of John. He’s having to move in with his mother-in-law after losing his job, as he and his wife have a baby on the way. Less than a week in the new flat and John dies. But there’s no rest as he has to figure out what caused his demise, and protect his wife and new born son from suffering the same fate.
Angelina: Thank you for hanging out with us. Please share your social links where readers can follow you.
Katie Marie: You can connect with me on Facebook at facebook.com/katiemariewriter or on Twitter @KatieMarieWrite. You can also visit my website, katiemariewriter.com to sign up for emails about new releases, short stories and blogs gushing about the horror genre.
See you next Friday with next Author – !
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