Meet The Authors Showcase Edition #2 (2 of 3)

A showcase with @KitWulf

author of Shy Walking Shadows; Book 1 of the Blood Moon Series

1 What inspired the idea of your story?

Heh, that's a funny story actually. I've always loved the supernatural, Werewolves especially. My younger sister loves Vampires. I think the 'original' idea came from the movie 'Ginger Snaps' (Werewolf movie, if you've never seen, I recommend), on the whole sibling factor and trials they go through in an attempt to stay together. Why SWS was first started, it was never intended to become as big as it became, as it was just supposed to be a short story for my sibling. It just kind of...got out of hand and took on a mind of its own... 

2. What was something you struggled with for your story?

Aside from getting people to read something that's much longer than the norm you mean? Haha

My biggest struggle is the vocabulary I would like to use. I'll know the words, but at the points I want to use them, my mind goes blank or hits a wall. A total block of intelligence that forever gets on my nerves as it impedes my work on everything.

3. What has been the overall response to your story from your readers?

The feedback that I've received has left me in tears a few times, actually. Not because of harsh words, but the total opposite. Those that manage to get past those first 5-6 chapters and continue with it, have fallen in love with the characters and the way things play out. I've been told by a few that they weren't ones for the Were/Vamp genre, but they became entranced with how I worded everything and how it played out so smoothly in their heads. 

4. What did you enjoy writing most of your story?

Umm, that changes, really, since I bounce back and forth between two POV's. I think it'd have to more or less be the interaction between characters though. Well, some of them, as for others, I hate trying to do the dialogue x.x I especially love the interactions when characters are in animal form, as there is no speech, just body language and an inner dialogue of what the character is thinking.

5. Is your story a stand-alone novel or a piece of a series?

It was originally a short story, then it grew to a trilogy, now it's a series of I don't even know how many books yet, haha. I have quite a bit more planned, however, as well as a couple of branching off series'.

6. What would you like your readers to take away from your story?

Oh wow, I'm not sure. I guess that even when things look at their most bleak, you can make it through. That no matter the past you come from, it's up to you on how/what your future becomes. We all wish we could take events from our pasts back, or wish they never happened, but it's those events that shape who we are today. Those events make you stronger, harder maybe, but they give you knowledge of how to overcome things that others don't. 

7. What's a piece of advice you would provide to another writer, when it comes to focusing on their story?

Uhh, I'm really not the best person to ask this, heh. My focus is worse than a drunk squirrel hyped up on cookies. Hmm, I know some use music, but I can't do that as it does the opposite. However, listening to something inspiring beforehand, might work. I know watching a movie actually helps me, weirdly. Not during of course, but just before, as it gets my own ideas stirring. Setting also helps, the area you're in when trying to write. Being near an open window and able to look out into a wooded area is one of the best things for me, but each person is different. 

8. Does your main character share any similarities to yourself?

Uhh, yeah... She technically /is/ me or started out as when the story started out for my sibling. As things progressed in the story, things had to change for me to be able to do with the characters what I wanted without things getting weird. Kie is still modeled/based on me, or at least the person I wish I could be. Some things have changed/been altered, just as they did with Faline, but the 'barebones'...yeah.

9. What's something you believe would draw in new readers?

Heh, probably romance, judging by what I've been seeing. The whole atypical 'wolfboy-meets-girl' deal, or even Vamp romance, and while there is some of that later in my book...sort of...it isn't the focus or the point of my novel. It isn't a 'happy' love story, and that's what most are seeking in the Were/Vamp genre it seems

10. Do you have any future projects?

Oh yeah, probably more than what I should. The Blood Moon Series is the starter, introducing the Shadows world. From it will branch off at least two other series and a few stand-alone. It's also intended to span over the course of many years, at least one war, and the end of the world