Author Interview: Kim Petersen

About the author:
Kim Petersen is a USA Today Bestselling Author, author of The Ascended Angels Chronicles, and co-author of the Stone the Crows series. Her debut novel, Millie’s Angel received a gold award in the 2017 Dan Poynter’s Global eBook Awards.
Based in Australia, Kim forces herself out of bed in the wee hours to walk the oceans roads of the NSW sleepy south coast town where she lives with her family. She is always grateful she did because she thinks there is much to be said about those small hours. She loves to explore the meta-physical aspects of life, and the universal bonds of love and friendship – then find expression through creating works of urban fantasy, paranormal and dystopian fiction. Sometimes, she drives too fast because it feels good to be reckless 😉

She loves empty beaches, summer storms, big shady trees, and music – not necessarily in that order. Reading books is an obsession, and great movies and Netflix can be a satisfying pastime when it's time to tune out to the world. Mostly, she loves to ponder anything mysterious and beautiful.

What inspires you to write romantic fiction?
Life and love, the universal strings that bond us. A wild imagination that loves to come out and play. Mostly, there’s an inner voice inside of me driving me to keep going, to tell stories that give people hope and remind them to believe that all things are possible. Through story we can help make the world a better place.

Tell us about how you write.
I do outline, and thanks to working closely with Story Grid editor and author, J. Thorn, I have learned to use the 5 Story Grid writing commandments developed by Shawn Coyne. That’s not to say it always comes easy, but I try and stay true to the Story Grid outline process and make sure every scene has a polarity shift.

Once I have an outline in place, I don’t always strictly follow it. Sometimes story and characters just want to go on a different path that might even surprise me – but that’s what I love about the creative process, the bouts of inspiration that seem to emerge from someplace outside of yourself, and you’re like, “wow, where did that come from?”

Do you listen to or talk to to your characters?
I’ve heard of this phenomenon – writers talking to their characters, but it’s not something I actively practice. My process involves talking to the universe and trusting the creative energy to flow through me and into my work. If I ever feel a little stuck with anything, I’ll walk away and relax with the whole idea, let it brew undercurrent. The right ideas always reveal themselves to you if you can do that, trust the process.

What advice would you give other romance writers?
Honestly, I’m not your typical romance writer, so any advice I could offer wouldn’t necessarily be only for romance writers. I would advise another writer willing to listen to keep an open and mind and be ready to learn. We never stop learning. Be inquisitive, be enthusiastic, want more for yourself and be willing to make mistakes, because we learn the most from our failures. And surround yourself with good people you can trust and accept you for who are, even when you screw up. Those kind of people aren't always easy to find in this business.

How did you decide how to publish your books?
From the start I decided the independent route was for me, mostly because I don’t have the patience to wait around for others to decide the outcome of my life. When I want something, I want it now. I’m not always sure this works in my favour, but damn, I can make things happen when that burning desire flames inside of me. Having said all that, I wouldn’t be completely averse to working with publishers either – I don’t mind the idea of hybrid authors… guess I’ll see where my path takes me. I’m open to new experiences.

What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I listen to podcasts and read articles about this. Honestly, there are times when the latest publishing predictions send my pulse racing and my heart thumping – doom and gloom seems to sit over the horizon. You hear stuff like, “You have to be doing more than just writing,” and “You need other income revenues linked to the business,” not to mention the predictions surrounding the future of book subscriptions. Prognosis enough to get any independent author a bad case of the sweats! The thing is, you can choose to worry about that stuff or just push it aside and move on – a lot of what could happen is out of our control. For me, I love writing and creating books, so I focus on what I love and stay excited about the future of publishing.

Which romance sub-genere(s) fit your stories best?
Paranormal Romance

My books are available in the following formats:
eBook, Print