About Kathryn Meyer Griffith:
Since childhood I’ve been an artist and worked as a graphic designer in the corporate world and for newspapers for twenty-three years before I quit to write full time. But I’d already begun writing novels at 21, over forty-eight years ago now, and have had twenty-eight (nine romantic horror, two horror novels, two romantic SF horror, one romantic suspense, one romantic time travel, one historical romance, five thrillers, one non-fiction short story collection, and six murder mysteries) previous novels and twelve short stories published from various traditional publishers since 1984. But, I’ve gone into self-publishing in a big way since 2012; and upon getting all my previous books’ full rights back for the first time in 35 years, have self-published all of them. My five Dinosaur Lake novels and Spookie Town Murder Mysteries (Scraps of Paper, All Things Slip Away, Ghosts Beneath Us, Witches Among Us and What Lies Beneath the Graves) are my best-sellers.
I’ve been married to Russell for over forty years; have a son, two grandchildren and a great-granddaughter and I live in a small quaint town in Illinois. We have a quirky cat, Sasha, and the three of us live happily in an old house in the heart of town. Though I’ve been an artist, and a folk/classic rock singer in my youth with my late brother Jim, writing has always been my greatest passion, my butterfly stage, and I’ll probably write stories until the day I die…or until my memory goes.
2012 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *Finalist* for her horror novel The Last Vampire ~ 2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS * Finalist * for her thriller novel Dinosaur Lake.
What inspires you to write?
I've been writing now for over 48 years (not my age…I'm 70) and started very young. I loved to read as a child and when I began writing at twenty-one, I couldn't stop. It's who I am. The stories come into my head and I have to get them down on paper, or digitally. I believe writing is a calling and I am a storyteller; I cannot not write. Plain and simple.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
Dean Koontz
Stephen King
Michael Creighton
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Dan Simmons
Ray Bradbury
Robert Heinlein
Tell us about your writing process.
I'm a seat of the pants writer; always have been. I get an idea, usually it's a character or two first, then the story around them just comes to me. I don't outline. I get the beginning, some of the middle, but the ending almost always changes by the time I get to the end. My characters take over and tell me where they want to go; how they want the book to end.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
My characters speak to me all the time. When I'm writing the book it's like they're my friends and I am living in their world.
What advice would you give other writers?
Never stop writing. Never give up. Write what you like to read. Learn your craft: grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Read. Self-publish; learn how to advertise and market your books.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I was with traditional publishers for 28 years (1984-2012) and then in 2012 I decided to try self-publishing on Amazon, D2D, Smashwords and Google Play. I learned how to format and publish eBooks, paperbacks and audio books; advertise and market them. I make so much more money self-publishing than I ever did with legacy publishers. I will never go back to them.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
It is wide open. I couldn't make a living with the traditional publishers, I was a mid-level writer; but now self-publishing I see opportunities opening up everywhere. These days writers have so many more choices. If you write a good book then you will sell.
What genres do you write?: Horror, thrillers, romantic time-travel, murder mysteries, SF, romance, paranormal, supernatural.
What formats are your books in?: eBook, Print, Both eBook and Print, Audiobook
Website(s)
Kathryn Meyer Griffith Home Page Link
Link to Author Page on Smashwords
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
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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.
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