Author Interview: Kayla Marie

Four years after her husband’s tragic and traumatic end, Ashley remains heartbroken and yearning for the man who left her behind. Desperate for healing and to break her teenage son’s newfound cycle of crime, she leaves the city for a small, sleepy town in southern Alabama hoping for a fresh start. There, she finds Wade, the charming, ever-genuine contractor who’s more than she bargained for.

Plagued by guilt when his younger brother goes to prison, Wade is consumed by his brother’s bleak future and his own personal demons. There’s no room for love and happiness in his world. That is, until the beautiful widow with sad eyes and a troubled teenage son moves to town.

If only her heart didn’t belong to her past. If only his past didn’t torment him. One great love can transform their lives. They need only to open their hearts.

Witty and heartfelt with just enough suspense and sizzle, Mended is a story of hope amongst tragedy and the amazing ability of love to heal the deepest of wounds

I am first and foremost a loving (and sometimes nagging) wife and a mom of a beautiful little boy, but when I'm not wrangling my toddler or covered in messes, I love to write. I'm currently working on the second book in my Sweet Home Dixie series. It's a series made up of standalone contemporary romance novels set in a small, charming town in southern Alabama. If you like stories with happy endings and warm fuzzies, check out my first in the series, "Mended." It's a heartwarming love story about hope amongst tragedy and the amazing ability of love to heal the deepest of wounds. You can find more information about me and my books by visiting my website at www.kaylamariebooks.com

Of course, after reading what the book is about and reading a little about Kayla Marie, I had to get an interview:

1. What authors did you dislike at first, but grew into?

The one that stands out the most is Stephen King. The first book I read of his was The Shining. But, I’m not a fan of horror and I was too afraid to even finished it (I was living by myself at the time, and also I’m a huge wuss.) After quitting partway through I thought, why is he so popular? Why do so many people like this? This is gruesome and horrible!

After a while I reluctantly tried him again. After failing to finish a good number of his books I eventually found a series of his that I really liked: The Dark Tower.

2. What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?

Probably studying Martin Luther King in elementary school. His speeches always got to me and I was always impressed by how his words could move a crowd and cause so many mixed emotions.

3. What's your favorite underappreciated novel?

Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty. I read this book when I was a teenager, and I remember thinking, “finally, someone who gets it!”

4. As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?

I’d choose a cat as my mascot because they are curious and playful and they don’t hide their emotions. Plus, cat memes are my favorite.

(Author provided me with this awesome cat meme for the interview. :) )

5. How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

I have two (both are unpublished and unfinished). The first story will probably never be published. I find that I never want to work on it because it too closely resembles my own life and insecurities. My writing time is my opportunity to escape the everyday hardships and stressors of my life. I see it as a lifeline, a way to unwind and take care of myself. So if I’m spending that time writing about something I live on a daily basis, it takes all the fun out of it and leaves me feeling overworked and downright cranky. And who wants to take their work home with him, to the shower, to bed and everywhere in between? Not me.

The second unfinished book is one that I am really excited about as it is destined to be the second book in my Sweet Home Dixie Series (a contemporary romance series of standalone novels.) This novel-in-the-making is what keeps me going when the work never seems to stop and my son soaked his socks in the toilet bowl yet again. I don’t know how long it will take me to finish, but working on it is a pleasure and I plan to publish it when it’s ready.

I’ve lost count how many short stories I’ve started, never to become anything other than one-pagers that pile up in my documents folder. Maybe I can turn them into something bigger eventually, but mostly their purpose is to help me practice my writing, exercise the creative side of my brain, and escape into new and exciting worlds.

6. What's the best way to market your books?

Figure out your target audience and focus your efforts on marketing your book to them. It’s important to take advantage of paid-advertisements and the social media out there (Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, etc.) to build your following, but keep in mind that too much self-promoting can be a turn-off to potential and current readers.

Word of mouth goes a long way in this business so I’ve found that supporting other authors and being generous towards potential readers go a long way. Don’t be afraid to give your book away for free in exchange for reviews, or trade books with a fellow author. Share the posts of fellow authors and help promote their books and accomplishments. Talk about books that you enjoyed reading or books you’re excited about.

Host giveaways and hold contests to create buzz and interest in your books. Ask fellow bloggers if you can do guest posts and offer other authors guest posts on your blog. Most importantly, be a respected member of the community because we are all in this together and most readers don’t read books only from one author.

If I’m being honest, I’m still trying to figure that out myself. I’ve read plenty of articles and books on self-publishing, marketing, promoting, etc. and so far the conclusion I have come to is if you want to sell books, you need to:

1. Write a great book

-A great book starts with a great idea, but writing a great book is all about execution. Take your time, write countless drafts, get people to read your work and give you feedback before you publish. If you can swing the cost, get your book professionally edited to add the polished feel of a traditionally published work.

2. Tell people about your book (Which is a job in and of itself)

-Marketing your book is a full-time job that never ends. That being said, there is a fine line between getting word out about your book and being annoying and overly-promoty (yes as an Author I often make-up words). The best thing you can do is be generous and supportive of your fellow authors. Don’t be afraid to give your book away for free or gush about another author’s work on your own social media. We are all in this together and good relationships and word-of-mouth goes a long way in this business.

3. Never give up.

-If you want to be a best-selling author, that isn’t going to come without a lot of work on your part. Making yourself known is hard work and takes constant effort. Even if you manage to get a decent following, the work isn’t over. The world changes quickly, and with changes you need to be willing to adapt. But if you define realistic goals and you are willing to work incessantly for seemingly-small rewards, than everything will workout and you might just achieve the dream you never thought could become reality.

7. Do you view writing as a kind of spiritual practice?

Definitely. Writing is a great way to gain insight into myself that I otherwise might overlook. It’s also a great outlet. For example, if you have a loved one that has an annoying quirk that grates on your nerves, writing it into one of your characters is highly satisfactory. Often, it can add humor and make your characters seem more human. Plus, once the attribute is embedded in one of your charming and likable characters, the once-annoying trait doesn’t seem so annoying anymore.

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

I go on a lot of baby-name sites and choose ones that I like enough to be willing to name a real person after. My first novel, Mended, is set in Southern Alabama, so to choose names for those characters I read through thousands of names on an official list of southern surnames and looked at sites that listed southern baby names. By the way, some of those southern names are so adorable, I just might have to use one of them for real if I have another baby.

9. Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with good or bad ones?

I’ve just published my first book, so I tend to check back often to see if any new reviews are up. So far there aren’t many, and luckily no bad ones yet. I get excited when I see a good review or someone tells me directly they love my book. A good review makes me feel like all my hard work was worth it because it means I’ve written something that can be enjoyed by others.

But, I’m pretty nervous about reading my first bad review. Getting a bad review that greatly decreases my book’s star rating is one of my recurring bad dreams. I’m fine with criticism as long as it’s constructive and I can try to improve from it. It’s the book bashing and the offended readers that I worry about most. That being said, I understand not everyone is going to like my book and bad reviews are just a part of this business. It’s best not to dwell. Take what you can from bad reviews and move on.

10. What was your hardest scene to write?

I had a really hard time writing the love scenes in my book, Mended. I was unsure of how much detail I wanted to provide. Did I want the book to be steamy or sweet? In the end, I went with something in the middle. What kept me on the right track was thinking, “would I be okay with my Mom reading this?” So I went into as much detail as I could without feeling like I had to avoid people’s eye contact at the next family reunion.

11. What one thing would you give up to become a better writer?

Watching tv.

12. What is your favorite childhood book?

I grew up with the Harry Potter books, and to this day those are the books I can continue to read again and again. If I had to choose one that was my favorite reading the first time around, it would be Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire.

13. Does your family support your career as a writer?

Yes, very. My husband has been with me every step of the way, and although he has never been a fan of reading romance novels, he read every draft of my novel, Mended (at least six of them), with a smile on his face and great feedback to offer. Plus, he made my website for me!

It was harder to get my three-year old on board because having a career meant he no longer got all of my undivided attention. I did my best to work mainly when he was asleep, but that can’t always be the case. He’s able to cope with it some days better than others, but overall I think he’s getting better at respecting my designated “work” time and takes full advantage of my “him” time.

My parents are great supporters as well . They give me plenty of feedback when I ask (lots of which is ego-boosting positive feedback) and they do their best to promote my book to all of their friends. My dad, who hasn’t read a book since he was in high school, actually finished reading Mended in about a week (which I’m still very impressed with) and doesn’t hesitate to tell everyone how proud he is of me.

14. How long on average does it take you to write a book?

Mended was my first book and is a little over 94k words. It took be about three months of writing 30+ hours per week to write the first draft and an additional four months to write the five or more later drafts and make edits.

15. Share one little known fact about yourself.

I revealed a little of this earlier in the interview, but I don’t cope well with anything horror. In high school, I went to see “The Exorcist of Emily Rose” in theatres and to this day (11 years later) I still freak out if I wake up at 3am because that’s what time the demons always came to possess people in the movie. I wake up thinking I’m going to turn on the light and see Emily Rose contorted on the floor next to my bed and the demons are going to come for me.

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