About Karla Brandenburg:
Karla Brandenburg is the author of contemporary romances with a supernatural flair, and winner of a Writer’s Digest award. She has been writing since 2002, and is a member of the Romance Writers of America. Raised on the gothic romances of Victoria Holt and the horror of Stephen King, she is an avid reader. Karla is a card-carrying cookie-holic, enjoys baking and travel. As a life-long resident of the Chicago area, she is also an avid sports fan, and at one time aspired to be a professional tennis player before she settled into a job with a public accounting firm.
What inspires you to write?
Traveling inspires me most of all. That and things I see in the world around me, or people I see bustling around. Most often it is a building, or a venue or a situation. For my Mist Trilogy, it started with a buck on the side of the road one winter morning. He was so beautiful standing there, the vapor of his breath clouding in the air in front of his muzzle.
Tell us about your writing process.
I start with a basic idea and I expand from there. Most times I write by the seat of my pants, but I have an idea where I’m going. I envision the conflicts, the resolutions. If I get stuck wandering, I stop and do an outline so I can see goals, motivation and conflict more clearly. With those established, the characters more or less take over.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I listen to my characters. They often take me on the journey with them, show me their story. I’ve had stories go a completely different direction after I got to know the characters!
What advice would you give other writers?
Practice makes perfect in everything you do. Learn the craft. Know the language and how to use it, but know when to bend it. Don’t write stilted dialog, people don’t speak that way. Learn passive voice and avoid it! Also learn how to use descriptive words rather than throwing in unnecessary adverbs or adjectives. i.e., he shouted rather than he said loudly.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I publish independently, largely because it gives me more freedom over the when and how to publish. I use professional editors and cover artists. Traditional publishers tend to stick to small pigeonholes. For instance, I have a new series coming out that deals with hauntings and ghosts. I pitched it to a traditional publisher who loved it – took it to the acquisitions meeting, and the buying committee turned it down because it wasn’t vampires.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
Wow. I’ve read a lot about this. Right now, people are advising indies not to go with traditional publishers until everything gets ironed out. Many famous authors are hybrid these days, retaining some of their rights for more control. I’d like to see the traditional publishers become more open minded, but if that doesn’t happen, I see many more well-known authors taking more control of their work.
What do you use?: Professional Editor, Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?: Romance, paranormal, suspense
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Karla Brandenburg Home Page Link
Link To Karla Brandenburg Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
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All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
