Twelve Weeks To Midnight Blue – Author Interview!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CONNECT WITH STEVE: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

AUTHOR Q & A

Once an idea takes root, how long does it take you to write it down? Do you use outlines?

KidVenture books are business adventure stories where kids learn about being entrepreneurs. I run my own small business so I’m constantly encountering scenarios that would make good plot elements. It’s an unexpected benefit of writing on the side: if I run into a difficult situation in the real world, I can take satisfaction in thinking: this would be great to work into my next book.

When I get a new idea, I jot it down in a notes document on my phone, so it’s quick and easy to capture it right away. So I’m collecting these ideas all year round, and then when it comes to summer, which is when I write the first draft, I start by creating an outline. And that’s very helpful. But then as I’m actually writing, I find the story goes in a different direction and, midway, I have to write a new outline for how the story will end. It’s one of the thrills of writing, seeing a story take on a life of its own. When I’m done with a first draft, I struggle with what to do with everything that was in the original outline that didn’t make it into the story. There’s a time of mourning, I suppose, as I let go of the original story. I console myself by saying maybe one day I’ll write a new story that comes back to the ideas in that first outline.

Which of your Published or Unpublished books is your favorite, and why?

That’s an impossible question to answer. It’s like asking a parent who their favorite child is. Each book has its own personality and memories attached to it. Twelve Weeks To Midnight Blue is the first book in the KidVenture series. I’ll always love it because it’s when the whole KidVenture concept came together. When I wrote the second book in the series, There’s No Plan Like No Plan, the characters and their world was already in place and it was a chance to really have fun with them, and go deeper into some of the problems I wanted them to explore. When I finished the second book, I really liked it. In fact, I liked it so much that I was intimidated and had to really wrestle myself into writing book three, because I didn’t think I could top it. I’ve just finished writing the third book, Through The Maize, and am working on final edits. And I love it. It’s a very different book from the first two. It has all the elements I love about the first two KidVenture books, but I gave myself freedom to do more with the characters and push the plot into uncharted waters.

How do you pick your character’s personalities or looks?

The main characters are kids and so a lot of their personality traits are based on my own kids. However, I try to be careful not to map each of my kids exactly to one character in the books. I don’t want my kids to think a certain character is exactly like them and therefore they need to act exactly like that character. I don’t want to box them in like that. So from time to time I change up the personalities. For example, even though there are two girls, Addie and Sophie, in the books, each of them has some character traits from both of my daughters. In fact, one of the joys of writing KidVenture is reading drafts to my kids and the pleasure they get in identifying moments or dialogue in the story they can trace back to their own experience.

The secondary characters in the story, i.e. the grownups, tend to be composites of people I meet in real life. There is a venture capitalist in the books named Mr. Dubois (the kids nickname him Mr. Dubious) who is tough, no-nonsense, and seemingly impossible to please. Some of the Mr. Dubois scenes are straight out of my own experience pitching to skeptical investors.

Lastly, what was your favorite book growing up?

I read a lot of science fiction as a kid. I loved Asimov’s Foundation Series. Science fiction at its best is a commentary on today’s problems, even though the story takes place in the future, and a way to imagine totally different solutions to challenges we face now. Another childhood favorite was Ender’s Game, which has one of the most memorable examples of out-of-the-box thinking to solve a complex problem.

Thank you Steve for letting me interview you so I and my readers could learn more about you and your series!
Sincerely, 
Kimmie – The Travelers Wife

TOUR GIVEAWAY

(1) winner will receive a $25 Amazon Gift card! (10) winners will receive a paperback copy of Twelve Weeks to Midnight Blue!

Be sure to check out each stop on the tour for more chances to win. Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway began at midnight January 25, 2021 and lasts through 11:59 PM EST on February 1, 2021. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US/CAN/UK/AUSTRALIA only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE

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