Author Interview: Keary Taylor

I am excited to have my first ever author interview, and it's with the awesome Keary Taylor, author of Fall of Angels Series: Branded and Forsaken, which are both fabulous reads, and her new release Eden. My shiny new copy is in the mail and I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Keary is an indie author who lives on a little island in Washington State with her husband and two young children. Along with being a full time wife and mother, she owns and runs the small golf course on the island with her husband. It's amazing that she finds the time to write, but she is currently working on the final installment of the Fall of Angels Series: Vindicated, expected 2012. I'm SO excited for that.

So, without further adieu, the interview:

You mention on your blog that you started writing when you moved to the island to help brighten your days a little. Has writing been something you have always wanted to aspire to?

I always loved to write since the 5^th grade. My best friend and I wrote an epic Harry Potter fan-fic of about 250 pages when we were 14. Being published sounded amazing but it wasn’t something I ever thought I would actually do.

What helped you to consider yourself a full fledged writer? Was it the completion of your first novel Ever Burning, or maybe your first sale from Branded?

I don’t think I really thought of myself as an “author” until the Branded blog tour back in November. It just kind of hit me that all these wonderful people were going to be introducing me as an actual author! It was such a weird but awesome feeling.

I can only imagine how awesome that would feel. As an Indie author, how confident are you about your final manuscripts before having them published? Do you ever get the perfectionist jitters?

That is one of the downfalls to self-publishing is that you don’t have an editor. I’m always worried that there are things I’ve missed but eventually you get to a point where you are just DONE.

Focusing on your newest book Eden, who was your favorite character to write?

Oh man, I don’t know if I could pick a favorite. I absolutely love Eve of course. And each character was amazing to get to know. Even though he doesn’t come in until the last half of the book and he’s not a major character, Royce was a lot of fun and we had a lot of witty bantered conversations in my head ;)

Is there a message in Eden that you hope readers will walk away with?

Even though it might not seem like it at first, Eden is completely a book about love. It’s about learning to love yourself and to accept yourself as you are. It’s about letting yourself love and be loved. And right now I have the song “All you need is love” from Moulin Rouge running through my head, lol.

Of the four books you have completed, which has been your favorite to write?

Eden. It was just so different and I had so much freedom with it! The future is such an amazing timeframe to write in!

What does your family think of your writing?

They are always supportive. They might think I’m a bit crazy sometimes but they are always supportive!

How do you find time to write with two small children at home?

5:45 AM, naptime, post-bedtime. Magical times.

Many athletes are superstitious about what they do, or don't do, before a big game. Do you have any set ritual before you start writing?

I don’t know if it’s a ritual or just a habit but I always turn on the playlist for the book I’m working on and I read through what I wrote last to get back into the groove of the previous scene.

Have you ever experienced Writer's Block? What tips would you give to someone who is currently experience it?

When I was working on Forsaken last year I suddenly got to a point where I felt like I literally couldn’t work on it anymore, and I was only 2 rounds of editing away from being done with it. Something just wasn’t working and it made me really depressed. So I pulled myself out of the Fall of Angels world for about 2 months and started working on Eden. It got my head out of the funk and when I finally dove back in, I realized the problem was that I needed to rewrite the first 2/3 of Forsaken, lol!

You run your own designing company, Indie Designs. Which would you say is your bigger passion, writing or graphic design?

Writing, no question. I need to write. I can’t NOT write. Thankfully the two kind of go hand-in-hand and I get to do both!

What advice would you give to aspiring authors out there?

Writing is going to be one of the hardest things you will ever do. But the feeling of pride and satisfaction you feel after you’ve edited “The End” for the fifteenth time is so worth it. If you really love it you won’t be able to give up, even if you want to.

Thank you SO much Keary for taking time out of your busy life for me. I look forward to seeing your future creations! You are a true inspiration for aspiring authors out there, particularly those with young children, like me.