Sonnet O'Dell in the Author Spotlight

I would like to welcome Sonnet O’Dell into the Author’s Spotlight.   Sonnet is awaiting the release of her second book entitled Whispers in a Dead Man’s Ear.  The release of Sonnet’s romance/paranormal novel is scheduled for August 2014.

Hello Sonnet. Thank you for joining me today. How did you come up with the idea for Whispers in a Dead Man’s Ear? 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the musical. My favorite song was the one by James Masters, in which he sings, “Whisper in a dead man’s ear it doesn’t make it real” and it got me to thinking. Soon I had the idea for a vampire therapist and what kind of man he would be. The story evolved from there.

I love vampire stories.  Whom is your book published through?

My book is published through Eternal Press. It’s a small close-knit team with the main offices in California. They have a good online presence and are so friendly.

How long did it take you to write your current novel?

It actually didn’t take that long. I wrote it over two weeks while I was on a writing break in France. Sometimes stories just grab me like that, that I don’t stop until I have it down.

Who reads the drafts of your novels?

No one reads my stuff, but me until it reaches the submission stage. I always liked the idea of a beta reader but I find I can’t take the criticism and it strains the friendship. You also read so many stories about books being leaked online by people authors trusted with a preview or draft copy.

Share a pet peeve of yours (related to writing or otherwise).

People who write negative reviews for attention and for the sake of being negative. I can understand if perhaps the book wasn’t for them – but they still read it from cover to cover, there must have been something they liked about it. If I start reading something and I don’t like it, I usually don’t finish it, but neither do I rush to a computer to slate it to anyone who will listen to me. People need to strive for a balanced approach because they wouldn’t like it if someone did that to them.

For example, there was someone who had a copy of my book that malfunctioned. Rather than report it to the provider or even contact me about it, they wrote the book off and slated it. I would have happily provided them a working copy for a fairer view if they’d simply asked.

I don’t understand why people enjoy hurting others.  Other than unfair reviews, what is the most challenging part of writing a book? 

Actually physically sitting down and writing the story. I work all day at a computer for my day job and coming home to sit at another can be bad for my eyes – also I get easily distracted by Facebook and games. I tend to write things out by hand to type up later, but it means being in one position for a long time and very often cramp in my wrist. You go through a lot of pain for your writing sometimes.

Facebook often diverts my attention from writing, which is why I am always behind schedule. What are your current projects?

I’m always working on my series – The Cassandra Farbanks Books, but they only have three more to go until the series conclusion. I just finished the first book in a new trilogy I’ve been working on and have the idea for another. On top of those, there will always been my one-off short romance novellas like Whispers that I do.

Yesterday we introduced readers to your new book on www.writergirlkatie.wordpress.com.  Today, readers learned a little background on your writing style.  If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you a few silly questions.  Readers enjoy meeting the person behind the book.  Tell me something about yourself that might be funny to others? (other than writing)

I don’t like to do things in odd numbers. Everything has to be even. Smarties for example, after splitting them by color, there had to be an even amount, so I can pair them into twos to eat. My brain is wired a little strange I guess, but it was suspected when I was younger that I might be on the cusp of Asperger’s.

I think most of us have our quirks.  I count money twice before handing it over to another person.  :}  As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

When I was very young I wanted to be a fairy princess, but alas, I was born mortal and had no magical powers, darn the luck. Later, I wanted to be an archeologist but talked myself out of that because I don’t like wading through dirt and all the good stuff.  Instead, I decided I would create my own worlds in which I could be a kick-ass fairy princess or discover a massive treasure lost for centuries. However, trying to tell your career office that you want to be a writer is akin to stuffing their ears with dynamite – they have no pamphlets for that.

Ha!  I still want to be a fairy princess.  Like you, I lack magical powers.  Is there anything else you would like to say to your readers?

If I have any lol. I’d like to hear more from them. There is nothing I would like better than to hear their thoughts about my books. I’d love to know which characters they like or hate and why. I’d like to know if they’re looking forward to the next book. A writer is nothing without his or her readers.

I wish you the best of luck with Whispers in a Dead Man’s Ear.  I look forward to release.

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If you would like to step into the author’s spotlight, contact Katie McKnight through Facebook at www.facebook.com/katiemcknightauthorpage or through her website (www.katie-mcknight-author.com).