1. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Well, this is always where I clam up. Who am I? What do you actually want to know about me? Well, I'm simple. I grew up living a simple life. But, now, everything's so . . . complicated. I love writing. I love my family. I love nature. I want to spend all my time around these things. Instead, I commute fifty plus miles every day (one way) to get to a job that is nowhere near fulfilling (sorry, coworkers. I love you all.) I spend 90% of my day fantasizing about being elsewhere: in Encardia, in Longboat Key Florida, in Deerfield Massachusetts, on a different planet (yes, these are all settings in my books). I commute home, rush kids all over the freaking state of Virginia for all their ridiculous (but needed) activities and appointments, hurry through dinner, bath times, reading stories to the kids, waving hello to 'the man'. Somewhere in there I decide to write . . . usually after the kids are snoring and I feel that I should probably be doing the same.
I am crazy.
I am tired.
I am a mother, a wife, a writer.
Writers are nuts.
2. Describe your book ‘Wilde's Fire (Darkness Falls)’ in 30 words or less.
ONLY THIRTY? That's several wasted words right there. Wilde's Fire is like a nightmare on acid, like a cold shower in the dark, like finding love for the first time.
3. What was the hardest part of writing your book?
Writing the book wasn't hard. Editing the book is what changed me. Anyone can spit out 80,000 words and have some semblance of a story on the page. But then I had to read it objectively and take other people's opinions and make it better. Since Wilde's Fire is the first book I've ever written (well, ever completed), I didn't know who to trust: me or everyone else? And the problem was: EVERYONE had different OPINIONS.
So I had to sort through their opinions, my opinions, their knowledge of the book world, my knowledge and compromise on EVERYTHING. Writers must learn to do this. They must learn to trust the readers who take the time to beta read or critique their work. They must learn to step back and accept the help offered, but never, not once, should writers feel pressured to change their words for someone else's vision. It usually helps to know who you are, what kind of writer you want to be, what kind of people you want to influence before writing. Know your audience and know what you want to tell them before you stick fingers on the keyboard (I really wanted to say pen to paper, but that doesn't actually work for all writers).
4. What books have had the greatest influence on you?
Where the Sidewalk Ends (Yes, I realize this is poetry!)
The Hobbit
The Hunger Games
Maggie Stiefvater (All of her books have some sort of magical element that attracts me to the words on the page. It's like she laces her words with crack. So, it's more her than the books that influence me.)
Alice in Zombieland (A newer book that I've recently read that has my insides on fire with excitement. I love the way this author uses voice to compel readers to turn page after page after page...or tap their Kindle.)
5. Briefly share with us what you do to market your book?
Currently? I think I'm on vacation from marketing Wilde's Fire (and the other two books in the series). I did so much, so, so much to market them. And I saw fantastic results. But I really had to pull away to focus on future books, and oh won't you just LOVE those?! (Yes, yes you will. I'm telling you your future right now!)
In the past? I ran contests, guest blogged all over the Internet, created a trailer for the book, ran sales (freebies), spent more time on social media than I care to admit, stalked my Amazon sales ranks like the best kind of junkie there is. I just . . . DID. Did whatever it took to get my name and book in front of people.
6. How do you spend your time when you are not writing?
Pssh! Read entry number 1. WHAT TIME?! No, but seriously, aside from working and running my kids all over the state of Virginia, I raise chickens, attempt to garden, and love walking my three acre property with my two Australian Shepherds (best dogs ever!).
7. What are you working on next?
Shattered Secrets is my newest book. Working on a deal to get that bad boy released to the public. It's . . . AHHHHMAZING! Here's the tagline: Hogtied, kidnapped and stuffed in a trunk, seventeen-year-old Abigail Nichols learns her boy problems mean nothing compared to killers who take RPG too far.
While my agent is working to strike a deal between me and the great NY publishers, I've dreamed up a new story called CHARMING. It's a coming-of-age thriller that is painful, gritty, and full of soul crushing hope. Yep, I said SOUL CRUSHING. I'll leave you to stew on that one.
<3 Krystal Wade
Shattered Secrets - Hogtied, kidnapped and stuffed in a trunk, seventeen-year-old Abigail Nichols learns her boy problems mean nothing compared to killers who take RPG too far.
