drey: Hello, Kim! Welcome to drey's library, and thank you so very much for taking the time to swing by this month!
Let's get busy, shall we? When did you know you wanted to be an author? What were you doing?
Kim: I am one of those sad souls who always knew she wanted to be a writer. When I was a little kid I would take typing paper, fold it in half, draw a picture on the front and make a "book." It's true. I absolutely never had any other dream.
drey: Who/what inspires your writing?
Kim: Real life. My background is journalism - plus I'm nosy by nature - so I've gone through life asking questions. I'll ask the questions that no one else asks and I'll do this for friends, neighbors, and complete strangers. Love in Mid Air is the result of a series of journals I kept during the year following my own divorce... People just kept telling me their marriage stories and I kept writing them down.
drey: Tell us more about Love in Mid Air. What prompted you to write Elyse's story? Did you do any research for it, and if so, how/where?
Kim: Well I had all those journals and originally I thought the book would be nonfiction. That's my experience as a writer, nonfiction, and I was terribly intrigued by the statistic that nearly 2/3 of the time it's the woman who initiates divorce. That's so different from the cliche most people have in their heads - i.e., the man walks in, says he's fallen for a younger woman, and the wife is left surprised and bereft. But the reality is that the older the woman is, the more likely she is to be the one to initiate divorce. That grabbed me. What would make a woman who has a pleasant, safe, tolerable life suddenly decide she wants more - and be prepared to risk everything to find it?
drey: What do you indulge in when not writing?
Kim: I am a competitive ballroom dancer. Other than writing, it is my passion. I LIVE to tango.
drey: That is so cool!!!
drey: What is your favorite accompaniment to chocolate? mmmmm chocolate...
Kim: A nice red earthy wine like a barolo or a rioja.
drey: Electronic readers are becoming more affordable and available. There's been quite a bit of discussion about their impact on paper books, the environment, people's reading & buying habits... What's your take?
Kim: God bless anything that gets more people reading but digital books aren't for me. I'm old fashioned. I like the feel of a book in my hand....the weight, even the smell of the paper. And I don't think the rain forests are in danger because people are reading entirely too much literature - that just seems like a strange argument to me.
drey: I'm liking my nook quite a bit. And not for the rainforests, lol, but because I can bring tons of books with me without packing up the house!
drey: On the publishing side--what do you think publishers and authors ought to do about the digital revolution? Jump in wholeheartedly, and blaze the path for others to follow? Watch from the sidelines till there's some consensus on what the new business model is going to be for the digital age? Cross their fingers that this is all just a fad & will blow over soon?
Kim: Everyone's in shock. No one knows how much of an effect it will have. On one hand the writers are nervous because we get only a small percentage of a book's purchase price anyway and now, with cheaper books available digitally, we'll be getting a small percentage of an even smaller pie. The jury is still out on how much this will affect publishing but I did see one report that most of the books that are being read digitally are genre books - thrillers and such, kind of airplane books - and that literary and mainstream fiction is being less affected by the trend. I guess people who read literary fiction tend to be like me. Old fashioned, and content to just hold a book in their hands.
drey: What are you looking forward to next?
Kim: I am currently working on two more novels. One is a sequel to Love in Mid Air, ten years in the future and this time told from Kelly's point of view. The other is a book set in a suburban ballroom dance studio. I couldn't resist. There's just so much drama!
drey: Your favorite swear word is? *grin*
Kim: I tend to say "Fuck a duck" a lot.
Thank you for coming by, Kim! I hope April is a good month for you here on drey's library!
3 comments:
Great interview. I had to laugh though- I've never met another person who says f--- a duck other than me and now I have. lol. I can't wait for the sequel to Love in Mid Air Kim!
Hey Drey,
Thanks for hosting me as your author of the month. The questions were an absolute blast to answer!
Kim
Nice interview! I listened to Kim's interview on Blog Talk Radio and it was so much fun to hear an author who talks like me! I'd love to see her dance one day!
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