Hi Kathryn, thanks for popping along today. I’m dying to get started, but I’m parched, so naturally, I need to know what I can offer you. Tea or coffee?
I love both, but especially coffee. Lipton tea with honey, though, is nice on a cold winter’s day or when I have the flu.
Oh, it’s the worst when you’re all bunged up and your brain is too fuzzy to write. I get really frustrated, what about you? What’s the hardest part about writing?
To keep writing book after book, year after year–45 years now–through all the good and bad things life throws at you. It’s a delicate balance.
Sure is. Keep on, keeping on, I say. So how do you do it? Are you a Planner, a Pantster, or a Plantster when it comes to writing?
I’ve always been a Panster. I start a book first with a character or two and a thin plot…then the books forms as I write it and the characters tell me who they are and what they’re going to do. I’ve written 26 books and 12 short stories like this.
That’s an impressive number! With that many titles have you stuck to one genre or do you genre hop?
I have always combined genres. Early in my career the traditional publishers didn’t know what to do with me. My first book Evil Stalks the Night, 1984, was tagged an Occult novel, though it had mystery and ghosts in it, too. Most of my novels, whether they are horror or murder mysteries have a touch of romance, adventure, suspense, mystery and sometimes something supernatural. In the beginning, 45 years ago, I was labeled as a horror writer…but these days I merely call myself a storyteller.
How do you find inspiration?
I’ve never really needed to find it…I’ve always been able to create stories. But I will say, my childhood, people I knew growing up, family and friends, and the past itself have sometimes inspired me to weave memories of them into my tales.
Sticking with the theme of inspiration, who inspires you?
The masters…Stephen King, Anne Rice, Dean Koontz, Ray Bradbury and Rod Sterling.
So, if you had to be one of your characters, for the rest of your life, which would it be?
That’s easy. Amanda, the good white witch in my Witches and my Witches II: Apocalypse novels. She has great powers and a talking, magical cat called Amadeus.
Ooh, I like the sound of Amadeus! My husband is allergic to cats which makes having them difficult for us. I’d love a magical cat that doesn’t trigger his allergies! Speaking of magical things, Freeze ray or time machine?
Time machine. I’d go back and change things that hurt either myself or humanity in some way, if I could; witness and report on events people want to know the truth about.
That would be noble work, especially reporting about people whose stories have become clouded in mystery/misinformation. I’d imagine it as emotionally draining too though, a place to rebalance and rejuvenate would be helpful with that type of work. Where would be your ideal place to write?
Outside on a covered deck or a gazebo in the middle of a flower garden, with a soft breeze around me; my laptop, a cup of coffee and chocolate on the table beside me. I love the outdoors.
Me too, I live on the edge of the Black Forest so I’m lucky when it comes to the outdoors. Whenever I get stuck with an idea, a quick walk sorts it out. I’ve plotted some of my favourite stories whilst out walking. Which is your favourite one of your books?
My personal favorite is A Time of Demons and Angels, an apocalyptic end-of-days novel, but it has never sold well; though it has been called my greatest book. On the other hand, my Scraps of Paper and the rest of the Spookie Town murder mystery series and my Dinosaur Lake series sell very well.
Thanks for joining me today, Kathryn. With Halloween around the corner, the Spookie Town books sound great and I can’t wait to find out the secrets of Dinosaur Lake. If you want to know more about Kathryn Meyer Griffith and her books, you can follow her here :
All Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s books can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/ld4jlow
All her Audible.com audio books here: http://tinyurl.com/oz7c4or
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KHIXNS
Blog: https://kathrynmeyergriffith.wordpress.com/
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