Interview with YA dystopian/paranormal author M. Kircher

Today's guest is M. Kircher. She's touring her YA dystopian/paranormal novel The War Inside: Book One of the Horizons Trilogy.

M. will be awarding a $25.00 Amazon.com gift card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour, so if you'd like a chance to win, leave a comment below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit other tour stops and leave comments there, too.

Bio:

M. Kircher graduated with a B.A. in Fine Arts from Gordon College and is currently an author and artist. The War Inside is her first novel, but there are more to come including the second book in The Horizons Trilogy, The Gray Horizon, and Dreamcatchers, a futuristic twist on the legend of Rip Van Winkle. She devours YA, science fiction, fantasy, and romance on a regular basis and is immensely happy to pour her time and energy into creating stories for other people to enjoy. Bob Ross and J.R.R. Tolkien tie for her two favorite people of all time.

She and her husband write regularly for Relevant Magazine (www.relevantmagazine.com) and Simply Youth Ministry (www.youthministry.com). They also just had their first book published called 99 Thoughts on Marriage and Ministry, by Group Publishing.

M. Kircher lives in Connecticut with her husband, one energetic son, and a new baby girl.

Welcome, M. Please tell us about your current release.

My new YA paranormal/dystopian novel, The War Inside: Book One in the Horizons Trilogy, was released a couple of months ago and I’m so excited to share this book with readers. At different points it’s been in Amazon.com’s Kindle Top 100 Bestsellers for “Dystopian” and “Metaphysical & Visionary Fantasy.” It was also featured on http://mycrazzycorner.blogspot.com/ as part of their “2013 YA Blogfest.” And now we’re doing this very fun Virtual Book Tour with Goddess Fish Promotions, which runs from October 17^th – October 25^th. There have been a lot of fun and exciting things going on surrounding the release.

What inspired you to write this book?

I have always wanted to write young adult fiction, but never had the courage to get started. I thought, “What story am I going to tell?” My husband and I had, at that point, been writing blogs and articles for a couple of years about dating, relationships, and marriage. Those gigs got my feet wet with the publishing industry. And then we had our first book about marriage published and I thought, “Okay, now I know I can write a book.” But it wasn’t until a friend and I were having coffee one day and gleefully discussing all the new YA sci-fi and fantasy books that we were loving, that I actually considered writing a novel. My friend told me point blank, “You have to write a novel. You just have to.” For some reason, that was what I needed to get started. I went home, found some old story ideas I had written down, managed to finagle them together into a feasible plot, and then started writing. I haven’t stopped since!

Excerpt from The War Inside:

Viv shrieked again, and Thea grabbed her hand.

“It’s OK, Viv. There’s only one of him and three of us. You don’t have to be afraid.” But by this time, there was no mistaking the fact that the man had spotted the four people staring up at him from the beach. They watched as his head swiveled slowly in their direction.

Viv acted like she didn’t hear Thea’s reassuring words; she just stared at the man in horror. Thea peered at the figure more closely. Even though he was so far away, Thea sensed that something was off. What was it? The man shifted slightly, and the dim light around him changed. With a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, Thea realized why she was having feelings of déjà vu.

She had seen this thing before, and human he was most definitely not.

Her heart became a lump of lead inside her chest, and she stood frozen with fear. The man-creature was tall and thin, its limbs strangely elongated and its head twice the size of a normal human. It wore no clothes and had skin as black as night.

This was the creature from her dream.

What exciting story are you working on next?

I just finished a YA science fiction novel tentatively titled, Dreamcatchers, about a girl and her mother who can sleep for as long as they want and wander around in their dreams. The girl chooses to live her life out in the real world, but when her father is killed, the mother starts to lose her mind and sleep all the time. Enter a very cute, and very suspicious new boy and a nosy book editor who both manage to discover the pair’s secret, and everyone is off on an adventure through the world of dreams.

I’m also working on the sequel to The War Inside titled, The Gray Horizon: Book Two in the Horizons Trilogy. Book two will continue The War Inside story, but it will be told from the perspective of Caden. He, Thea, and the others will continue their search to rescue Viv from the shadows and use their light to heal the planet and reclaim it for mankind. (*Spoiler – There’s a death of one of the characters in this book.*)

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I think I first considered myself a writer when magazines started accepting proposals, and I actually got to see things I had written printed and circulated globally. It’s crazy getting things in the mail from places like Denmark or Spain, and seeing articles you’ve written printed in other languages. But before that I obviously had to take myself seriously or I’d never have put anything out into the world. You have to believe you’re a writer as soon as you write anything. It much easier said than done, though. Writers have to walk a fine line between listening to and learning from criticism, but yet believing in their work enough to keep putting it out there. I’d like to encourage other people who have a passion to write to just do it. Go ahead and start today, and keep learning as you go.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I currently write part-time because I have two little kids, one son who we adopted through state foster care in July, and one daughter who was born in June. I like to call it my “instant family.” We have child care set up for two days a week, so I work those two days and then whenever the kids are napping. It’s hard to juggle it all, I’m not going to lie. I love being a mom, but I love writing as well. It’s going to be an on-going process to carve out time for both writing/working and raising a family.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I don’t know if it’s actually a quirk, but I’m definitely not the normal, loosey-goosey creative person. I like making lists, meeting deadlines, and having everything organized. It drives me crazy to have stuff hanging around or unfinished. Because I’m this Type A weirdo I simply have to outline anything I write. All of my books, both fiction and non-fiction, have been thoroughly outlined from start to finish before I even begin chapter one. I totally deviate from the outlines, but having that structure already in place helps me get from one tricky part of the story to the next - without having a major “Oh no, I have no idea where this is going” freak outs.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Oh, geez. Didn’t we all want to be marine biologists? I’m pretty sure I spent a good part of my childhood wanting to work with the dolphins.

But honestly, I never thought about it that much because my nose was always shoved in a book. Before we had kids, I could read about ten books a week, and even now I manage at least two or three. So I think that even though art, painting, and creativity have been my main bents since I was a teen, there has always been this passion for stories and writing simmering in the background, just waiting to burst forth.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

I’d love to express my gratitude. We creative types live for our work to be seen. It’s part of what makes creating something so special and wonderful. While I know that not everyone has the same tastes, I’m just so grateful for those that take the time to read any of my books or writing. Thank you and I hope you enjoy!

Buy link at Amazon 

Ways to connect:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads |  Amazon Author Profile

Thanks for having me!

My pleasure!