K.J Chapman – Fangirl and Geek

 

Today I am pleased to introduce author K.J Chapman to my blog. Welcome K.J!

Thank you for hosting me today.

So, K.J, in your own words you are a self-proclaimed fan girl and geek; a lover of everything science fiction, fantasy, and paranormal. Have you always liked those genres?

As a reader, I have found myself drawn to those genres, so it was only natural to want to write what I like to read. I enjoy the scope of writing in the science fiction and fantasy genres and letting my imagination loose.

You have written three books now, which is great. How long does it take you to write each book, and where do you get the ideas from?

Writing the first draft and editing takes me an average of ten months to a year. Zombie Playlist is a 25k word novella, but as I was writing it alongside other projects it took me about eight months. My current WIP, EVO Ghost, is book three in my EVO Nation Series. This book has taken me well over a year. I’m still not sure when I’ll finish editing, but I wanted the third book in the trilogy to tie up all the loose ends, round off character development, and offer an impressive finale. I’ve put a lot of pressure on myself and I think this has translated into a long process.

I can’t pin point an exact source of ideas for my narratives. They tend to weave together from various sources: snippets of dialogue, dreams, novel aesthetics boards. I’ve even created an entire character because I imagined a man with a scar cutting through his face. It is great fun to take an idea and watch it grow roots with backstory and history.

Does each story come to you almost as a whole, or in little pieces?

It depends on the story. Sometimes, I don’t even have a story, only a character. I’m a pantser, so if something inspires me, I’ll sit down and write to see where it leads. Plotting kills off creativity for me. It took me a little while to realise that plotting was the reason I wasn’t finishing my first drafts. That’s the great thing about writing: there isn’t a right or wrong method.

You say that your influences are Stephen King, JK Rowling, Dean Koontz, Anne Rice, Jane Austen, Markus Zusak, Alice Sebold, Charlotte Bronte, Daphne Du Maurier, Garth Nix, Brandon Sanderson, Patrick Rothfuss, Anita Shreve. Which one influences you the most, and why?

My biggest influence since my teen years has been Stephen King. I am in awe of his ability to genre hop and still create masterpieces that speak to the readers.

You were Obsessed By Books Best Urban Fantasy Author 2016. Congratulations! Can you please tell us more about that?

Thank you. Obsessed by Books is a fabulous, book blog. They hold indie book awards and ask readers to nominate their favourite books in certain genre categories. I was thrilled to hear that I was nominated as best urban fantasy author for my EVO Nation series. I was blown away when I was voted overall winner in that category.

You live in a beautiful area. Do you think that where you live inspires your writing?

I am a born and bred Cornish girl. I live in Cornwall, England. It truly is a beautiful part of the world. All of my books, except for my high fantasy book, Thrown to The Blue, have some reference to Cornwall. I didn’t really think about it when writing, but clearly, Cornwall is a big part of who I am, and that is reflected in my work.

I love the logo on your website. How did you decide on which logo to use?

Thank you. I designed the logo myself. My blog is called Writerly Bookish Stuff, and I wanted the logo to reflect the title. The book image fit the bill, and the logo was built around that.

You say that ‘inspiration usually comes from the strangest of places’. Can you tell us what the strangest place you received inspiration from was?

Carrying on from my answer to question one, some of my best inspiration comes from dreams. I have vivid dreams and nightmares. Is it bizarre to say that nightmares provide brilliant inspiration? I keep notes on my dreams, and even if I don’t recall them in their entirety, it’s great to look back on those notes and see if they still have the spark that first inspired me.

Your answers are really interesting K.J, so thank you for answering my questions. Good luck with the new book launch!

You can see more about K.J and her books here –

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31623187-evo-nation?ac=1&from_search=true

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31623198-evo-shift?from_search=true

http://ww.goodreads.com/book/show/32273178-thrown-to-the-blue?from_search=true

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35661635-zombie-playlist?from_search=true

https://twitter.com/KJ86CHAPMAN

https://www.amazon.co.uk/K.J.-CHAPMAN/e/B011L8QOM2/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1503332180&sr=1-

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14136313.K_J_Chapman