Author Bio:
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?
Life and love. Experiences and 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 your writing process.
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, though. 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?”
I don’t create character sketches, but I do create a basic profile I can refer back to during drafting
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I’ve heard of this phenomenon – writers talking to their characters, but it’s not something I 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.
Who are your favorite authors?
As a child – anything fairytale. Golden Books were my thing. Teenage years switched to the Sweet Valley High series, and matured into books by Virginia Andrews, Jackie Collins and Anne Rice. Nowadays, some of my all-time favorites are Dan Brown’s, Angels & Demons, Sally Beauman’s Destiny, Harold Robbins, A Stone for Danny Fisher, and Bryce Courtenay’s, Jessica. I also loved Elizabeth Hunter’s, The Scribe.
I read across genres.
I admire authors I have come to know and work with too, and I am grateful for every experience I’ve had with these special people.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
From the start I decided the independent way 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 author… 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.
What genres do you write?
Urban fantasy, Paranormal romance and Dystopian fiction.
What formats are your books in?
eBook, Print
Website(s)
Kim Petersen Home Page Link
Follow Kim Petersen On Amazon
Author’s Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
All information is provided by the author and is presented as it was submitted so you the reader get to hear the author’s own “voice” in their interview.