As you may know, I like to read fantasy books. Whilst reading one of these I was wondering how the author managed to create such successful books, so I decided to ask her. Sometimes you gain more from reading interviews about people from different lifestyles than yourself. Please allow me to introduce Kelley Armstrong!
Firstly, could you please tell us about yourself?
My name is Kelley Armstrong. I live in southwestern Ontario and I’m a novelist with three series right now—paranormal suspense, crime thrillers and young adult urban fantasy.
Why did you, and how did you go about it, start writing professionally?
I’ve been writing all my life, so this was my dream career. In my twenties, I started actively trying to improve my craft (taking courses, joining writing groups) then trying to get published. It took about five years from my first query to an agent until I got a contract, and it wasn’t for the first book I’d written.
You have had much praise for your books, my favourite being “Makes Buffy look fluffy” from the Daily Express, how do these make you feel? Do they help to keep you motivated?
Praise works a lot better than criticism. <grin> Seriously, though, while the praise gives me a confidence boost that can help me fly through a day of writing, the criticism keeps me from getting complacent—as long as it’s the constructive kind, which I can use to improve.
Who/what is your greatest inspiration when you write?
My greatest inspiration is the people I see around me. My books may contain supernatural characters, but they’re based on people I meet everyday, overcoming challenges of their own, without the boost of superpowers!
You have written many books about the paranormal so what made you decide to write a crime novel, Exit Strategy?
I love reading straight crime fiction, so when I was nervous about my paranormal books (this was back when only a couple were out and they weren’t exactly climbing the bestseller charts) my agent asked what else I’d write, if not paranormal. I said crime and she suggested I start one, just to calm my fears over the other books. Then they took off and a few years later, I returned to finish and sell Exit Strategy.
You have a very different viewpoint of the paranormal, especially of werewolves, than most other authors. How did you develop this viewpoint?
When I started Bitten, I couldn’t find anyone else who’d done werewolves as anything other than monsters (a book did come out while I was writing it, though!) That gave me a lot of freedom. I was pulling from mythology with very few fictional interpretations getting in the way. I went through the mythology asking myself “if werewolves lived in contemporary society, what parts of this would I find believable enough.” I’ve done the same with every other supernatural type. I avoid reading too much modern fiction before I create mine, drawing instead from myth and legend. That’s a lot tougher with vampires, which is probably why I do so little with them!
I read Dime Store Magic and Industrial Magic before I read Bitten and Stolen, do you think that this gives less meaning to the content of the books? How did you go about writing in a way that lets the reader pick it up no matter which book they start?
It’s a tough balancing act because you want to put in enough so that new readers don’t feel lost, but not so much that current readers are skipping pages, getting frustrated because they know all this already. It’s still a guarantee that someone picking up a book late in the series will know they’ve missed something. Hopefully that will prompt them to pick up the previous books after they finish that one.
All of the main Otherworld series books have been from the viewpoint of women, what made you decide to write from the male viewpoint for Men of the Otherworld and what challenges did you face whilst writing it?
Three of the four stories in that anthology were written a few years ago, as online offerings (I had to remove them when my publisher wanted to put out a book, but my proceeds go to World Literacy.) When I first decided to write e-serials, I asked readers what stories they wanted, and they said “the guys.” That was the overwhelming choice every time I did one. I was very nervous with the first one. When a writer switches genders for first-person narration, the results can be cringe-worthy! But doing it online gave me a safety net. No one was reviewing them and if I screwed up, readers could tell me in time to change things.
When you create characters, how do you plan them? Also, have you based any of the characters on real people?
All of my characters pull elements from people I know, but they’re all composites—none are based on one person. I start with a core character type, then build on it until I have a fully dimensional character that no longer fits squarely into that type.
You must have a manic schedule, how do you organise your time?
Very carefully! I like being busy, but sometimes lately it’s gotten busier than I like and I know I need to ease back. I have a general writing schedule plus daily schedules to keep me on track.
Have you ever had times where you thought yourself as a “failure”? If so how did you stop feeling like it? If not how do you keep yourself so optimistic?
Before I was published there was a lot of that. Even after, I’ve had my bouts, when the very first review I read wasn’t exactly kind and later when the publisher kept pushing off the release date of Stolen (because Bitten hadn’t sold well enough.) What keeps me going is looking at the worst scenario. What if I never get published? Would I stop writing? No. What if my first book was a critical bomb? Would that stop me from trying again with a sequel? No. What if my blend of paranormal fantasy never caught on? Would I give up and never try another genre? No. That’s what kept me going—knowing that even if I did fail at one thing, that wouldn’t stop me from continuing to try with something new.
All of your books have wonderfully designed covers, which always seem to match the storyline very well, who does this and how would one go about getting a book cover designed?
The publishers handle cover art—getting the artist and choosing a design. In the UK, I’ve been fortunate enough to have contact with the artist and be able to run ideas past him. I don’t have that luxury in the US, where I see the cover after it’s done. That’s more common. Covers are a marketing decision so they don’t necessarily want the author involved. We do weird things like expect the cover art to relate to the story <grin>.
How have your experiences as an author affected other areas of your life?
They’ve taught me to have more confidence in my abilities. For years, I was told that I could write, but when you get rejection after rejection, you can’t help but think everyone who says that is just being nice.
What advice would you give to somebody thinking about writing professionally?
My honest advice would be to not plan to write professionally. In other words, don’t set it as your one and only career choice, because it can take years to get published and, even then, being able to write full-time is rare. Better to save it as a dream, and get a job you enjoy, so if it does happen, it’s like winning the lottery—something you dreamed of, but didn’t count on. Of course, the difference is that, with writing, while you might hold it as a dream, it has to be one that you’re actively working toward—writing, getting feedback and striving to improve.
What was the best advice you have been given?
Sadly, what I remember most is the bad advice, and I got a lot of that—people genuinely trying to be helpful by suggesting changes to my writing that probably worked for them, but led to some serious frustration for me. The best advice, then, would be when someone told me to follow the dictates of my own story and not worry about conforming to anyone else’s rules.
If you could go back in time and tell yourself one thing, what would it be?
That I’d eventually succeed. I went through some miserable periods of not writing because I’d be too frustrated by rejection. Of course, if I’d known, I might not have kept trying to improve, so maybe that would have hindered more than helped!
What plans do you have the future?
Well, right now, my main plan is to slow down a little. When I started, I was doing my one book a year with very little extra (maybe a short story anthology request every other year.) Then things started picking up—more requests for stories, more opportunity to write outside my main series. At first, after all those years of dreaming of getting anything published, I was saying yes to everything. Even after I began getting pickier, the rate of requests kept escalating, meaning I found myself with more on my schedule than when I was agreeing to everything! Right now, I need to learn to say no even when something sounds like fun, and stick to the projects that I just can’t refuse.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
No, but thank you for the interview. Great questions!
I thought that was a really good interview, so I hope you thought the same! Please comment with your opinions, perhaps you want to ask her some questions yourself?
Shane
