Author Bio:
Born in San Diego, Lived all over the place — London, Honolulu, San Antonio, Austin, El Paso, Reno, Kansas City, Houston, Los Angeles — I aimed to be an artist, got sidetracked into film, where I did storyboards and wrote screenplays no one wanted to produce, and began writing novels to get my stories told. I currently live in Buffalo, NY.
What inspires you to write?
My characters. I don’t choose them; they come knocking at my door asking me to help them express themselves. I use all sorts of methods to do that. Anger. Frustration. Love. Needing to understand. Fulfilling a dream, wish or desire. Hope. Despair. Everything.
Tell us about your writing process.
An idea forms and the characters appear to work with it. I have no idea where I get some of these things or why they choose me, but once they take hold, I cannot escape them until they are done and everything is as good as I can make it. I don’t care where it leads, and that means a couple of my books have been banned by Amazon, Kobo, you name it. My books can be brutal and poetic, sometimes in concurrence…but I don’t think they’re ever boring.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
OMG, we fight. You want to know how I work with my characters as I write? Read my book, “The Lyons’ Den.” That’s probably my most autobiographical work. We talk. We weep together. We argue. Sometimes they refuse to respond to me until I acknowledge what they want…even when they won’t tell me. It’s psychotic, true, but it works.
Who are your favorite authors?
Tolstoy. “Anna Karenina” is a lovely book, near poetry. And “War and Peace” is phenomenal. I also like Sinclair Lewis, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, early Steven King, and love Guiseppe di Lampedusa’s “I Gattopardo.” (The Leopard.) Umberto Eco is also elegant.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I self-publish. I published my first few books through others, and “The Lyons’ Den” is done through another publisher, but I like having the control of self-publishing. I use my art background to build the covers and have control over the price charged.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
People will always buy books in tangible form, but e-books are a permanent part of publishing now. It’s more democratic, in many ways; one no longer has to get approval from a publisher to get your work out there…but that can also be a detriment, because 90% of the work published could have used the scrutiny of a good editor and demands of a publishing house that’s out to make it as sales-worthy as possible…and that has the resources to get it noticed.
What genres do you write?
Mystery-suspesne, drama, crime, dark comedy, fable, thriller
What formats are your books in?
eBook, Print
Website(s)
Kyle Michel Sullivan Home Page Link
Link To Kyle Michel Sullivan Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on Smashwords
