I enjoy interviewing other authors and finding out what makes them tick. Today I have Katherine Wyvern on the hot seat. 🙂 Here goes…
- Katherine, what first drew you to writing?
I was a lonely child, and I always had imaginary friends, with whom I would have complicated adventures in my head … writing was the result of that I think. The stories were there, why not write them?
- How long have you been writing?
Since I can remember, pretty much. Already in primary school!
- Have you always written in the romance genre, or did it take you a while to find your niche?
My first completed short stories, which I wrote in my teens, were mostly fantasy, but they already had elements of romance, and they became more and more sensual…
- How would you describe your writing style?
Poetic, for sure. I write a lot of poetry and some of that voice bleeds into my prose giving it a lyric feel. But I also write extremely explicit sex scenes and gritty, naturalistic dialogue.
- Who are your favorite romance authors?
Lauren Burka for her short stories MATE and Whip Hand. And Katerina Ross. All that I have read from her is perfect.
- What are the primary influences on your writing?
Antonia S. Byatt. Although it’s presumptuous to claim my prose is anything as good as her, there is no doubt her voice colored my “sense” of the English language (which is not my native language). And Patrick O’Brian. His prose is lush, moving, versatile, impishly witty.
- What is your writing routine? Please describe a typical writing session for us. What do you do when you sit down to write?
I usually start by rereading, editing and polishing previously written parts. I am a little obsessive that way, but it also helps me to sink back into the rhythm and flow of the story.
- What is the most surprising thing about you?
Tough one! I asked my husband, and he says, my 360°, full spectrum creativity. It is true that I am obsessively creative in a number of mediums … fine arts, crafts of all kinds, writing, photography…
- What are your writing pet peeves?
Haha! That’s a dangerous question! Explicit sex scenes where the sex cannot even be attempted to be believed (seriously, do not use porn for research!). Flat, humorless prose. And unnaturally scripted, artificial dialogue.
- Major milestones in your writing journey so far?
Having my debut novel, Black Carnival, published. And picking up writing again after a major writer block (four long years!), which resulted in my most beautiful lovestory ever, Woman as a Foreign Language.
- What are some of your writing tips and tricks? What triggers your story? Do you keep a notepad handy?
I can’t say I have much in the way of tricks or tips … I write in a completely instinctive way. Although I will polish a scene obsessively, the first draft of it must flow compulsively, or not at all. A story or even a single scene, can be triggered by the strangest little things, a dream, an actor or model that catches my fantasy and becomes part of my imaginary world, where stories are always churning… A notepad is a good thing because my poetic vein will sometimes scream out a few lines that must be written, must be written exactly this way, don’t you dare forget them…
But one thing I do try to keep an eye on is that every scene, especially dialogue, plays a role in forwarding the story. Characters chit chat, because real people do, but the chit chat must be sifted very carefully, not to let in any idle lines. And I always make sure that even the most explicit sex scenes contribute to the character’s building, tell us something about their personality and their journey. That is not necessary in Erotica, but in Erotic Romance I believe it is.
- What are some of the most important things you have learned as an author?
However well you write, you cannot please everyone. A book that has ten rave reviews will still get slammed by someone. It’s something you have to live with, even if it smarts.
You should not judge a book by its cover, but in fact we all do. A good cover makes a difference. Learn to work with your cover artist.
An editor’s job is to be a polite sort of asshole. Learn to take the criticism constructively, because that’s what your editor is for. (Love this one!)
Good reviews don’t necessarily mean good sales. Good sales don’t necessarily mean literary quality. You have to be philosophic about it all, or you will go insane.
- Writing vs social networking. How do you find the perfect balance? How do you find time to write?
I am not a terribly prolific writer. Once I am in a story it really takes me over, and I will make time for it come hell or high water. The garden goes wild, I stop reading, I forget to eat and drink, and I become mildly (?) crazed. I do set myself a daily word count goal, not so much to “crank out” a given number of words, but to make sure I focus and sit down and write every day, whatever chores might get in the way. But when a story is finished, I need a break before diving into the next one (because a story is very much a love affair with my characters, and I don’t want the next guy to be just the bounce-back guy). That is a good time to be more active on social media. If I were trying to publish a book a month it would not work, but it’s a good balance for me.
14. What is the most important thing you’ve learned, either in writing or publishing, or both?
Don’t leave your day-job yet! It’s very difficult to “make it” as an author.
- Any wise words to everyone out there?
Write from your deepest core. Write what you know. Write without filters or reserve. Pour yourself in it.
About Your Current Release:
- What inspired you to write Spice & Vanilla?
It is really a spill-over from my previous release, Woman as a Foreign Language. I really wanted to write about a gender-fluid character because gender-variance is something I can relate to personally and because despite the stigma society puts on it, it has in fact a heartbreaking beauty to it. I am enchanted by anyone who can be gracefully and convincingly gender-fluid, and I wanted to put this wonder into words, but also explore the emotional challenges that go with it.
2. Have you always been interested in transgender romance? If not, what piqued your interest enough to write this novel?
Yes and no. There was a transgender character in my debut novel, Helenay. But she was not really central to the story. However, the curiosity was certainly there. What sparked a more specific interest on the topic was seeing Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl, and discovering some beautiful androgynous models who made me immediately want to write a character with that mixture of male and female traits. Spice & Vanilla in particular was inspired by something that a friend of mine said (about himself), “an angel with a bit of a devil inside”. It made me want to write a story about a character that is constantly on the fence of… anything really. S/he is gender-fluid, bisexual, a truly sweet, kind person with a few dark sides, and a switch to boot!
- How long did it take to write?
Beginning to publication, it was almost exactly six months.
- What was your inspiration when writing this story?
The main character’s stunning androgynous looks were inspired by a gorgeous German model and actor, Paul Boche. He has a history of gender-queer roles, so I am not the only one who sees that in him! Other aspects of the story, especially in the personality of the other two characters, Di, and Hugh, are partly autobiographical.
- What was the greatest challenge when you wrote this novel?
This might sound weird, but, the weather, lol. I live off-grid and the weather last winter was so grey that I often struggled to have enough power to work on my laptop. It was awfully frustrating. From a more writerly point of view, I certainly had a problem keeping Raphael, the main character of the novel, apart from Julian, the main character in my previous release. The first idea for Spice was for it to be a prequel to that book, and when I decided to make it a story about a different character, I had some trouble making him indeed a different person. But finally Raphael took a life of his own, and brought me to unexpected places!
- What are you working on right now?
A very difficult story called A Muse to Live For. Difficult because it keeps changing characters’ genders, POV, tense… it’s like trying to nail jelly to a wall! It is a spin-off from Spice & Vanilla, but it’s set in Victorian London, rather than contemporary. It’s the story of a painter who lost his will to live and paint, and the woman (?) who becomes his muse and unleashes his creativity again.
- What is it about these characters and their story that appeals to you?
I can relate to the painter’s predicament, because I have been in the doldrums, creatively for a long time since 2013 or so … and then something happened that made it all come back again … a muse’s power is both exhilarating and terrifying. I want to write about that, because there is an immense well of dark, passionate emotion in it.
- What can your fans expect to see from you in the near future? More of the same or an entirely different type of story?
Who knows? A Muse to Live For is part of the same loose series as Woman as a Foreign Language and Spice & Vanilla, and at its core it pivots on the same topic. After that, I have no idea. Indeed the muse is all-powerful, but unpredictable!
Thank you so much for the interview, Lorraine, it was wonderful to talk to you! 🙂
Thank you, Katherine, for such a wonderful interview. 🙂
Find Spice & Vanilla at Evernight (blurb and spicy excerpt): https://www.evernightpublishing.com/spice-vanilla-by-katherine-wyvern/
Or on Amazon (blurb and very spicy free sample!): https://www.amazon.com/Spice-Vanilla-Katherine-Wyvern-ebook/dp/B07CWFZYFS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525683799&sr=8-1&keywords=spice+Vanilla+Katherine+wyvern
You can also find an exclusive (relatively vanilla) excerpt on my website, here:
See what Katherine is up to on:
Katherine’s Blog: https://katherinewyvern.blogspot.fr/
Katherine’s Website: http://meetingivory.wixsite.com/katherinewyvern
Or follow her on Instagram @katherinewyvern
I have entered that age when looking at beautiful male models in their prime probably makes me a cougar, ahem.
Almost all my heroines are short: that’s because I look at the world from hobbit level. Being so small I am three times more concentrated (read: obsessive) than anybody I know. I am exhaustingly creative in writing, arts, crafts… Sometimes my brain gets friction burns from hurtling at such speed from one universe to the next.
I love animals, plants, and occasionally even people.
Like Highlander, I come from a lot of different places. I was born in Italy but lived here and there and consider myself simply and deeply European. I love Europe passionately, its antiquity, its diversity, its quirkiness. All my books are set in Europe, or alternate versions of it!
I have been writing since I can remember. The first word I ever wrote was not my name but “lupi”, that is the Italian for “wolves”.
I hope you have enjoyed Katherine’s story. Stay tuned for more of the same as I introduce other authors in future. In the meantime…Happy Writing!