WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:
Website: http://www.kathleenstone.orgTwitter: www.twitter.com/kstonewriter
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kathleenstonewriter
Thanks
for this interview, Kathleen. Congratulations on your new book! Would you say its been a rocky road for you in
regards to getting your book written and published or pretty much smooth
sailing? Can you tell us about your
journey?
Thank
you! My journey started in 1995 when I
spent countless hours writing and mailing query letters to agents and
publishers for my first novel Head Case. It was a disheartening and
disappointing time because all I ever received was rejections. I ended up
self-publishing Head Case in 2002 and its sequel Whiplash in 2003
because I believed in them that much, but I never recouped the money spent to
self-publish. Fast forward to 2016 and I’m ready to publish Haven, the
third book in the Head Case series, and Amazon has their own publishing
platform. I took that opportunity to retain the rights to Head Case and Whiplash
and reissued them under the new platform in 2018. In 2017 I became a full time
writer, and the freedom to write all day every day along with Amazon’s
publishing platform, made it pretty smooth sailing for my new book, Whispers
On A String.
If
you were to pen your own autobiography, what might the title be?
Great
question! Even though I’ve never had the
desire to write an autobiography (my life is far too boring), I have
entertained the title quite often. When I was a child my mom used to sing a
song to me that went, “Mares eat oats and does eat oats, and little lambs eat
ivy… a kid’ll eat ivy too, wouldn’t you?”
But in my child’s mind I didn’t hear the words the way they were
written. In my head I was hearing, “Mairzee dotes and dozee dotes and little
lamzee divey… a kiddle dee divey doo, wouldn’t you?” I know it sounds crazy, but my autobiography
title would be Mairzee Dotes and Dozee Dotes!
When
not writing, what do you like to do for relaxation and/or fun?
I
love reading, traveling, photography, concerts, and laughing with my family and
friends.
What
makes your book stand out from the rest?
Whispers
On A String
starts its first chapter with the title, 2011. It’s not written linearly, but
goes back and forth from the present, 2011, to the past, and all the chapters
are titled for the year the story takes place. I took a chance writing it this
way, but it worked out beautifully and many readers have told me it’s the
reason they couldn’t put the book down.
Can
you give us the very first page of your book so so that we can get a glimpse
inside?
2011
It was the kind of headache you
get when you've been out in the sun all day... the heat emanating off your
skull and the dull throbbing of drums that causes your stomach to go all
queasy. I could hear the buzzer for my apartment going off, then my
phone started ringing. I could barely focus my eyes as I poked my head out from
under the covers to see it was my friend Lonny trying to video chat with me. I
wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone, so I ignored it. Then the buzzing from
outside and my phone ringing started all over again. I decided that whoever was
buzzing my apartment could only be bad news, so I answered my phone instead.
“Hey Rooster,” Lonny said with his
crooked toothed smile, his eyes hidden behind a pair of aviator sunglasses.
“Lonny,” I groaned, barely opening
my eyes. “What time is it?”
“Seven o’clock.”
I wanted to strangle him. He
rarely woke up before nine in the morning… why was he calling me at seven?
I could hear the buzzing to my
apartment door continuing in the background and knew it was bad news.
Everything was bad news lately.
“Come on Rooster, wake up. I have a
surprise for you.”
I opened one eye to look at Lonny
smiling at me from my phone. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”
“I’m standing outside your door.
Don’t you hear me buzzing to get in?”
I jumped out of bed and grabbed my
head, the throbbing so intense it was as if someone hit me with a hammer. I
stumbled to the door and buzzed Lonny into the building, then began searching
blindly for some clothes. I managed to throw on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt
before he tapped on my apartment door.
I opened the door to see my best
friend standing in front of me, wondering how he managed to get to New York from California without telling me. I put on
a smile and pulled him into my arms, hugging him as tightly as I could.
If your book was put in the holiday section of the store, what
holiday would that be and why?
Great question! I would
have to say the Fourth of July, because the two main characters, Lonny and Roo,
share that day as their birthday, and this holiday has a lot of significance in
the book.
Would you consider turning your book into a series or has that
already been done?
I would absolutely LOVE my book to be a series! And it would have to be a series, as there is
too much going on and a movie wouldn’t be able to capture the full essence of
the story.
When you were young, did you ever see writing as a career or
full-time profession?
I always wanted to be a writer, but I could never picture it as
a reality. I was too fearful of putting my work out there, leaving me
vulnerable, raw and naked. It wasn’t until I was in my early thirties that I
took that first step toward publication, and as difficult as it was, I haven’t
looked back and now work as a full time writer.
I wish I’d done it sooner!
Did any of your books get rejected by publishers?
My first book, Head Case, was rejected by anyone and
everyone, and by some of the best in the business! I eventually self-published and haven’t looked
back. While it would be a dream come true to be published by a traditional
publishing house, I like the freedom of self-publishing. I make my own
deadlines, I don’t have to wait a year or two for a book to be released, and I
remain in full control of my work. I’m not saying that couldn’t change in the
future, however.
What is your view on co-authoring books; have you done any?
I’ve never co-authored a book before, but I was involved in two
short story anthologies with a great group of talented writers — Secrets,
Fact or Fiction I and II. I’m not opposed to co-authoring a book with the
right person or people, as I think it would be a fun challenge!
What’s next for you?
I am
currently writing the companion book to Whispers On A String. I say
companion as opposed to sequel because while Whispers was written from
the point of view of the female protagonist, the new book is being written from
the point of view of the male protagonist. His book, however, is being written
linearly, so there’s no going back and forth from the present to the past. I’m
hoping to have it published later this year, but I also have three other novels
in progress that need to be completed.
About WHISPERS ON A STRING
Thanks
for this interview, Kathleen. Congratulations on your new book! Would you say its been a rocky road for you in
regards to getting your book written and published or pretty much smooth
sailing? Can you tell us about your
journey?
Thank
you! My journey started in 1995 when I
spent countless hours writing and mailing query letters to agents and
publishers for my first novel Head Case. It was a disheartening and
disappointing time because all I ever received was rejections. I ended up
self-publishing Head Case in 2002 and its sequel Whiplash in 2003
because I believed in them that much, but I never recouped the money spent to
self-publish. Fast forward to 2016 and I’m ready to publish Haven, the
third book in the Head Case series, and Amazon has their own publishing
platform. I took that opportunity to retain the rights to Head Case and Whiplash
and reissued them under the new platform in 2018. In 2017 I became a full time
writer, and the freedom to write all day every day along with Amazon’s
publishing platform, made it pretty smooth sailing for my new book, Whispers
On A String.
If
you were to pen your own autobiography, what might the title be?
Great
question! Even though I’ve never had the
desire to write an autobiography (my life is far too boring), I have
entertained the title quite often. When I was a child my mom used to sing a
song to me that went, “Mares eat oats and does eat oats, and little lambs eat
ivy… a kid’ll eat ivy too, wouldn’t you?”
But in my child’s mind I didn’t hear the words the way they were
written. In my head I was hearing, “Mairzee dotes and dozee dotes and little
lamzee divey… a kiddle dee divey doo, wouldn’t you?” I know it sounds crazy, but my autobiography
title would be Mairzee Dotes and Dozee Dotes!
When
not writing, what do you like to do for relaxation and/or fun?
I
love reading, traveling, photography, concerts, and laughing with my family and
friends.
What
makes your book stand out from the rest?
Whispers
On A String
starts its first chapter with the title, 2011. It’s not written linearly, but
goes back and forth from the present, 2011, to the past, and all the chapters
are titled for the year the story takes place. I took a chance writing it this
way, but it worked out beautifully and many readers have told me it’s the
reason they couldn’t put the book down.
Can
you give us the very first page of your book so so that we can get a glimpse
inside?
2011
It was the kind of headache you
get when you've been out in the sun all day... the heat emanating off your
skull and the dull throbbing of drums that causes your stomach to go all
queasy. I could hear the buzzer for my apartment going off, then my
phone started ringing. I could barely focus my eyes as I poked my head out from
under the covers to see it was my friend Lonny trying to video chat with me. I
wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone, so I ignored it. Then the buzzing from
outside and my phone ringing started all over again. I decided that whoever was
buzzing my apartment could only be bad news, so I answered my phone instead.
“Hey Rooster,” Lonny said with his
crooked toothed smile, his eyes hidden behind a pair of aviator sunglasses.
“Lonny,” I groaned, barely opening
my eyes. “What time is it?”
“Seven o’clock.”
I wanted to strangle him. He
rarely woke up before nine in the morning… why was he calling me at seven?
I could hear the buzzing to my
apartment door continuing in the background and knew it was bad news.
Everything was bad news lately.
“Come on Rooster, wake up. I have a
surprise for you.”
I opened one eye to look at Lonny
smiling at me from my phone. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”
“I’m standing outside your door.
Don’t you hear me buzzing to get in?”
I jumped out of bed and grabbed my
head, the throbbing so intense it was as if someone hit me with a hammer. I
stumbled to the door and buzzed Lonny into the building, then began searching
blindly for some clothes. I managed to throw on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt
before he tapped on my apartment door.
I opened the door to see my best
friend standing in front of me, wondering how he managed to get to New York from California without telling me. I put on
a smile and pulled him into my arms, hugging him as tightly as I could.
If your book was put in the holiday section of the store, what
holiday would that be and why?
Great question! I would
have to say the Fourth of July, because the two main characters, Lonny and Roo,
share that day as their birthday, and this holiday has a lot of significance in
the book.
Would you consider turning your book into a series or has that
already been done?
I would absolutely LOVE my book to be a series! And it would have to be a series, as there is
too much going on and a movie wouldn’t be able to capture the full essence of
the story.
When you were young, did you ever see writing as a career or
full-time profession?
I always wanted to be a writer, but I could never picture it as
a reality. I was too fearful of putting my work out there, leaving me
vulnerable, raw and naked. It wasn’t until I was in my early thirties that I
took that first step toward publication, and as difficult as it was, I haven’t
looked back and now work as a full time writer.
I wish I’d done it sooner!
Did any of your books get rejected by publishers?
My first book, Head Case, was rejected by anyone and
everyone, and by some of the best in the business! I eventually self-published and haven’t looked
back. While it would be a dream come true to be published by a traditional
publishing house, I like the freedom of self-publishing. I make my own
deadlines, I don’t have to wait a year or two for a book to be released, and I
remain in full control of my work. I’m not saying that couldn’t change in the
future, however.
What is your view on co-authoring books; have you done any?
I’ve never co-authored a book before, but I was involved in two
short story anthologies with a great group of talented writers — Secrets,
Fact or Fiction I and II. I’m not opposed to co-authoring a book with the
right person or people, as I think it would be a fun challenge!
What’s next for you?
I am
currently writing the companion book to Whispers On A String. I say
companion as opposed to sequel because while Whispers was written from
the point of view of the female protagonist, the new book is being written from
the point of view of the male protagonist. His book, however, is being written
linearly, so there’s no going back and forth from the present to the past. I’m
hoping to have it published later this year, but I also have three other novels
in progress that need to be completed.
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