Today I am joined by New Adult Author and SCBWI RA Kim Briggs.
Kim once smashed into a tree while skiing. The accident led
to a concussion, a cracked sternum, temporary notoriety as a sixth grader
returned from the dead, and the realization that fictionalized accounts are way
more interesting than just slipping on the ice.
An unhealthy obsession with conspiracy theories combined
with a love of travel and happily ever afters led Kim to write her YA novel, Starr
Fall, where a secret organization decides 17 year old Starr Bishop is not
only the model student, but the ideal assassin. While in hiding, Starr meets
dark, moody, and dead sexy Christian Evergood. Cue the swoon worthy music. But
it’s not all happily ever afters for Kim. Her NA novel, And
Then He, explores the dark and scary corners of the human psyche. Following
a night of innocent flirting with a handsome stranger, Tiffani finds herself in
the midst of a nightmare she can’t
escape. And Then He is available now through Amazon and other major book
retailers. Starr Fall, Book One, will debut November 2016 with Inkspell Publishing.
When she’s not doing something writerly, Kim can be found jumping into
snow drifts with her three kids, husband, and dog. She’s careful to avoid
trees.
When
did you decide to become an author?
For
as long as I can remember, I’ve written stories on scrap
pieces of paper, the back of notebooks, napkins, and sometimes I went so far as
to record them in a journal, but it never occurred to me that I should be a
writer or that I wanted to be a writer. Then I went to college to double major
in Environmental Planning and Environmental Studies with a minor in Geography—far, far away from anything writerly. In a required
English Lit class, I read Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman
Rushdie. One class period when the professor was espousing about literary
devices or something, I zoned off into space and wrote my first picture book. I’ll spare you the details of that story but the Writer
Seed was planted.
I
graduated, got a job as a surveyor and spent a lot of time in the woods running
water tests. Hours and hours were spent hanging out at the test site all alone,
so I read and wrote short stories on the covers of magazines and on napkins. I
got to the point that the moment I stepped into the woods inspiration for
another story struck and it wouldn’t get ‘unstuck’ until
I wrote it down. Soon the stories were following me home and haunting me into
the night, but still, I never considered adding writer as a job description.
I
got married, spent a little time working on that picture book idea from
college, bought the Writer’s
Market, figuring that maybe I could
send something in to get published, but I wasn’t
serious about it. I didn’t envision myself as a
writer, so I never sent out a single story. Instead I went back to school to
get my English teaching certificate and a Masters in Secondary Education with a
specialization in Creative Writing because I liked to read…and you guessed right, it still didn’t occur to me that what I really wanted to become was
a writer.
Then
I had a few kids, and while my youngest was a baby, I read Twilight by
Stephenie Meyer. I became obsessed with the book and needed to buy the
rest of the series. I went to Borders (RIP), rushed to the Twilight section
and noticed the sign: Young Adult. I thought to myself, “How can these books I love so much be Young Adult when
I am not a Young Adult?” I didn’t ponder the wonder of this category for long, because
I had books to read and reread. Unbeknownst to me, the Writer Seed took root.
After
my second pass through the series, (which was over much too soon I might add),
I had a choice between becoming a completely obsessed fangirl and rereading the
series for a 3rd time or move on. I moved on to Googling Stephenie Meyer.
(Okay, so maybe I was a little obsessed.) I discovered that she had three kids
about my kids’
age, and I finally had my “A-HA!!!!!!” moment.
The Writer Seed sprouted.
Shortly
after, the inspiration for Starr Fall, my YA contemporary hit me. I
worked through the storyline in my head, broke it into three maybe four books,
and scribbled notes in a journal. My husband bought me a laptop the night
before Thanksgiving, and so began my writing journey. I haven’t stopped, I haven’t
looked back, and I am nowhere near finished. I do however need a Kim clone or
two to help me finish writing all the books impatiently waiting their turn in
my arsenal.
Tell
us about your journey. How did you get your first book published?
My
journey from book to publication is very typical. No overnight success here,
and I’d like to note overnight successes are not, in fact,
overnight. Years were spent by the writer, reading and writing and preparing
for the moment his or her story grew wings. Anyone can come up with one, two,
or a dozen brilliant book ideas, but writing a story whether it’s 1,500 words or 150,000 words, takes time. Hours upon
hours, days upon days, weeks upon weeks, and usually months upon months, and
sometimes even years upon years. Overnight success is a common misnomer.
I
wrote the entire storyline of Starr Fall over five months—and when I say storyline I mean the entire 150,000
word arc of the series. Words poured out of me and my fingers tried to keep up.
After I finished writing the story, I broke it down into three books, did some
minor edits of Book One and queried it in June with some top agents, got some
nice rejections, if you want to call a rejection nice, ate some chocolate,
there might have been a tear or two or three, and then I decided to revise Starr
Fall. I was an English teacher, who preached revisions yet, I didn’t revise my first draft past grammar and spelling.
Yep, I committed Query Cardinal Sin #1: submitting work before its ready.
After
the 2nd revision, a little better than my first version but not much, I queried
again. Got some more nice rejections, ate some more chocolate, cried but not as
much, and went back to work. I decided to set Starr Fall aside, read
some more YA novels, and write a YA paranormal romance, because I love
paranormal romances. Four months and a revision or two later, I attended my
first SCBWI conference, actually my first writing conference EVER. I planned to
network, learn a lot, get an “in” with the agents, and sign my six figure book deal by
the end of the conference. **INSERT HYSTERICAL LAUGHTER HERE.** I did meet a
load of people, many of whom I am still great friends with and learned more
than I ever thought possible about writing, the writing process, and the ins
and outs of manuscript submission. I did not get a six figure book
contract, but I did meet my critique group INK Sister, Alison Green Myers, at
the SCBWI Saturday night social. We began meeting on a bi-weekly basis with
another writer, and once the first and second date chitters disappeared, our
writing ability exploded—and we both finally found the
courage to call ourselves writers.
Later
that spring, I attended a Highlights Foundation workshop with Harold Underdown
and Eileen Robinson called Kids Book Revision Retreat. Harold gave me the tough
love I needed to hear: my standalone YA Paranormal needed to be three.
Ahhh,
what?!?! But he was right, and it will be three books (at least) but Starr
Fall kept calling to me so I pulled it from the drawer, changed it to first
person, present tense, and workshopped it with my critique group (we weren’t the INK Sisters yet). I worked on my writing craft,
attended more writing conferences with Alison, first the Unicorn Writer
Conference and then the SCBWI Eastern PA Pocono Retreat where we met Donna
Boock, and voila’ the INK Sisters were born
and we’ve been meeting more or less biweekly ever since.
During
that same spring, I was cybersurfing and discovered a new category called New
Adult. Authors were self-publishing their books to Amazon, and audiences were
exploding overnight. I had this story idea about a reunion I had always wanted
to write but I didn’t want to write an adult
book. The characters and parameters of the story fit perfectly with New Adult,
and so, AND THEN HE, was born. From the very beginning, it was my
intention to self-pub AND THEN HE, and on my birthday, October 15, 2015,
I took the plunge, and I am so glad I did.
Meanwhile,
several agents and editors had the full manuscript of Starr Fall. Requests
for fulls ignites writer courage—you
know you’re on the right track when agents start requesting
fulls. At the end of December, Inkspell Publishing offered me a contract. My
husband and I talked through my options and decided that Inkspell Publishing
offered me everything I wanted in a publisher. Starr Fall, Book One is
scheduled for release November 2016.
And Then He is a New Adult book. What makes it New Adult instead
of YA or adult?
Young
Adult books cover protagonists between 14-18. Adult ranges from post-college,
20 somethings to 110 (well 110, unless you’re a
wizard or writing sci-fi). New Adult fills that niche between teenager and
adulthood. The main characters are between 18-24, and either college students,
recently graduated or decided college wasn’t for
them. The content is much more racy than Young Adult. There’s alcohol, sex, and an edgier feel to the writing.
**There are YA books out there that also contain these elements, but I consider
myself a gatekeeper. I do not add these elements to my YA novels.
These
characters are on the precipice of adulthood. They make mistakes. They’re flawed. They fall in and out of love. They are
human.
Was
there ever a point when you felt like giving up?
Sure,
the poison of self-doubt surfaces far too often, but that’s common among all writers, and creative types in
general. Our art is our greatest love and our Achilles heel.
A
typical writer day resembles something like this:
At
7:23 am, you read the paragraph you just typed, and it’s awesome, pure genius.
7:24
am, you delete the paragraph because it’s
garbage.
7:25
am, you rewrite the paragraph and impress yourself with your word choice.
7:26
am, you grab chocolate to celebrate and continue writing.
8:00
am, delete and start over.
AND
so on, and so forth.
The
key to successful writing is to keep writing, stop doubting yourself, and don’t hit the delete button. If you’re having a REALLY miserable day, read a book, go for
a walk, call your critique group and let them talk you off the writing ledge,
or contact me http://KimBriggsWrite.com and I’ll walk you through it.
Is
there anything about being a published author that has surprised you?
Other
than being a published author and holding my book in my hands? (I still pinch
myself.)
I
love getting new ratings and reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. These reviews
pump me up and fill me with inspiration. It’s weird
to have fangirls and fanboys Googling me, but it’s
reassuring that I made the write choice;)
Being
a published author is a lot of work, more work than pre-published, because you
not only need to keep ‘selling’ your book until the end of time, but you have to write
new books, keep up to date with the industry trends, dabble in social media
(which is really fun), read and review books, take care of your family, try to
function (mostly) in the non-writing world, and find time to go to the store
and buy chocolate and other food.
Any
advice you would give to a writer just starting out?
1. Be stubborn and persistent.
2. Work harder than anyone else you know.
At
my first writing conference, I heard that it takes 10 years to get a book
published. Be ready to go the distance by putting in countless hours reading,
writing, and developing your craft. Say goodbye to full nights of sleep.
3.
Join a critique group. Do it. They’ll help
you through the highs and lows. Check your local SCBWI for contact information.
4.
Join SCBWI (Society of Children Book Writers and Illustrators). The cost of
membership pales in comparison to all the benefits you can reap if you’re willing to put the time in.
3.
Call yourself a writer. You’re worth it. And if you ever
doubt yourself, contact me through my website http://kimbriggswrite.com or twitter @kimbriggs_write I’ll walk
you through it, cheer you on, and send you cyber chocolate.
Is
there anything else about you or And Then He that you would like to tell us?
And
Then He is free if you have Amazon
Prime or Amazon Unlimited. You can download a sample to see if you like it. At
$2.99, And Then He is a fabulous deal!!
And
let me know what you think, I’d love to hear from you!!
Thank you so much for joining me today, Kim. Good luck to you with both of your books. For more information about Kim and her books visit her website and sign up for updates: www.KimBriggsWrite.com. Chat with her on Twitter: @KimBriggs_Write
She shares writing love with her INK Sister Alison Green Myers at INK Sisters Write http://INKSistersWrite.Blogspot.com
