About Kristie Cook:
Kristie Cook is a lifelong, award-winning writer in various genres, primarily New Adult paranormal romance and contemporary fantasy. Her internationally bestselling Soul Savers Series includes seven books, as well as a companion novella, Genesis: A Soul Savers Novella. Over 350,000 Soul Savers books have been sold, hitting Amazon’s, B&N.com’s, and Apple’s Top 100 Paid lists.
She has also written The Book of Phoenix trilogy, a New Adult paranormal romance series that includes The Space Between, The Space Beyond, and The Space Within. The full trilogy is available now.
Besides writing, Kristie enjoys reading, cooking, traveling, and riding on the back of a motorcycle. She has lived in ten states, but currently calls Southwest Florida home with her husband, a beagle, and a puggle, but spends many weekends with her three sons at UCF, cheering on the Knights.
What inspires you to write?
All kinds of things inspire me – a song, something said on tv, a dream, an overheard conversation… Inspiration can hit at the oddest times and from the strangest places. Sometimes it’s just seeing a person walking across the street and coming up with a story about them. I never know when inspiration will strike, but love when it does.
Tell us about your writing process.
I used to be a pantser, but when I was 3 books into my 7-book series, I realized I needed to plan ahead more so I could set up later plot-lines in earlier books, foreshadow, etc. I use beat sheets, Scrivener, and character sketch sheets to organize my ideas. Sometimes I’ll put the main ideas of each scene on an index card and just go through the cards to write. Every book is different, though. What works for one doesn’t necessarily work for the next. So I’m always changing my writing process. And once the characters take over and tell me their story, much of my planning goes out the window anyway. 🙂
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Yes. 🙂 When I’m heavy into writing but have to do something that’s not writing, my characters talk nonstop, either to each other or telling me their story. I have to take notes so I can use what they say later. When I’m stuck, I go to my characters and ask them “what’s up.” Usually, I’ve written something that’s forced and “not really what happened,” according to them. I’ve jumped the gun or made a character do something they’d never do, or something much better actually happens and they’ll tell me. Sometimes I have to pretend to sit down and have coffee with them and throw some interview questions at them to figure out what’s wrong. Weird as it sounds, I don’t really feel alone when I’m writing.
What advice would you give other writers?
If this is truly your passion and your dream, don’t give up. Keep writing. Maybe you’re still finding the right story or the right audience or just the right time, but just because things aren’t currently going the way you want them to, they will change. Everything changes all the time. It’s a part of life. So don’t give up, because you never know how close you are to seeing the results you desire.
Also, if you’re wanting to earn money from your work, no matter how much, you have a business. Treat it as such. Be willing and prepared to act as a business-person, from planning to investing to behaving professionally. It’s the hardest you will ever work in your life, but also the most rewarding (second only to parenthood).
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I submitted my book to agents in 2009, and although they liked the story, they said it wasn’t marketable because the main character is college-aged and “nobody wants to read about that age.” They wanted me to change her age, but that wouldn’t work for the story. So I took a gamble in 2010, before self-publishing was a thing, started a publishing company with a business partner, and we put it out in ebook and paperback formats. We had no idea what would come of it, but I’m glad we took the chance.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I believe it will settle some after all of the volatility over the last several years. Trad publishers are figuring out how to handle ebooks, the digital marketplace, and indies. Authors, whether indie, trad, or hybrid, are settling into their businesses, realizing they need to treat what they do exactly as that – a business. This means more focus on the long-term, not just the next release. I still believe it’s the best to be an author, and I can’t wait to see what the next 5-10 years bring.
What do you use?: Professional Editor, Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?: Paranormal Romance, Contemporary Fantasy, New Adult
What formats are your books in?: eBook, Print, Both eBook and Print, Audiobook
Website(s)
Kristie Cook Home Page Link
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
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.
