About Wendy Knuth:
After playing video games with her children, Wendy Knuth was inspired to write a book about zombies for kids. She hopes that humans of every age will enjoy reading this book as much as she loved writing it. Wendy is happily married to an old, bald guy, and they live in Arizona, where they continue to raise their two zoners.
What inspires you to write?
What inspires me? All sorts of things. Things children say, applying twists to ideas I get from television or online news, and pulling ideas from people’s personalities. I really enjoy a subtle nuance as much as outright sarcasm. I also enjoy the challenge of knowing that there must be a way to make the story or characters or conversations better, and then make it happen.
Tell us about your writing process.
I start out with either an idea or a funny title, and then work from there. I use Word and start placing information at various points on the page, farther down or up depending on where I think it would be good in the story. The information is very rough and often will be moved, deleted or rewritten as I see fit. There are points in the process where I take a break for a day or two to stew on things, whereas I won’t look at my work so I can come back with a fresh take on the material. This process is probably a lot like my desk – it appears very cluttered but I know where everything is.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
When I hear my characters speaking, I am listening to my children’s voices in my head and how they would say something. I do speak to my computer screen whether or not family members are present. As I write this, it sounds slightly disturbing so I’m glad to hear I’m not alone! Lately I find myself talking about zombies often. I really hate distractions such as music, the phone ringing or people speaking to me, but oddly enough I have no problem with the television droning on in the background.
What advice would you give other writers?
If you enjoy writing then write. Get lots of feedback! Then rewrite. Sometimes you think you are making a point that is actually being missed. Other times a reader might be confused about something. For children’s books, get feedback from kids and adults as they both can see things very differently.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
When I first looked into writing, I was discouraged by the lengthy and tedious process of looking for an agent who then submits your idea to a publisher. I have read numerous books to my children as they were growing up and many were not so hot, even though they were from big publishers. I was also very concerned about relinquishing any control of the artwork. I had a vision of these zombies and I wanted it to be carried out. I decided to go with createspace mostly due to the cheapest price of the book for author purchases, as well as Amazon’s large presence in the market.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think it is an interesting time with the cheap availability of ebooks. I imagine there will be a push and pull going on as more indie authors emerge and as ebooks take up a larger and larger share of the market. What will happen to print? Hard to say but I speculate that more and more copies will be sold directly online. While it is hard for me to imagine reading to children, cuddling up in bed with an electronic device, I believe that the coming generations might soon consider it the norm.
What do you use?: Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?: Children’s Fiction
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Wendy Knuth Home Page Link
Link To Wendy Knuth Page On Amazon
