Let's welcome this month's author, Kelly Ilebode. Her titles include
In Search of Grace; the Manor at Echo Lake Trilogy -
Dragan's Redemption,
Aaron's Revenge, and
The Legacy;
Kelly and the Angel; and most recently,
The Turning Point.
So, Kelly, let's get to those questions:
1) What were your favorite books growing up?
I struggled with reading in my
early years. So much so, I was under the
misguided impression that I hated books.
My fourth grade teacher told me that it was not the fact that I hated
books; I just hadn’t read or felt for characters in the books I was
choosing. He handed me The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander—I
was hooked. From that moment on, I
devoured books. I think I read almost
every Nancy Drew book and I became (still am) a huge J.R.R. Tolkien fan having
read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings so many times. Terry Brooks’s Sword of Shannara Series is another favorite. My foster mother, having very little money,
had a hard time keeping up with my appetite for new books. One summer she found an old library that was
closing and bought over 100 Harlequin romance books for 10 cents each, which I
then read over and over again.
2) Now
that you have, let’s say—some life experience, what would you tell your younger
self?
I would tell her to relax. I look back at my younger self now and
realize she was a very uptight, insecure person. I would tell her that it all works out in the
end whether she worries or not. Life is
too short to wait for anything.
3)
Describe your typical day.
My days start early and are
long. I am up between 5:30 and 6:00 a.m. It starts first and foremost with the coffee—then
the pets (they know that until they small coffee, Mom won’t talk to them.) Coffee in hand, I answer emails and check the
social media sites—then I write. My laptop
is always on and open, so that I literally find pockets in my day to put fingers
to keyboard. Not the most productive but
with three extremely active kids and a household to run, that is how I work. I would love to go to bed by 9:00 but usually
it is around 11:00.
4)
Who is your favorite character in your books?
Aaron Reynell in Dragan’s Redemption/Aaron’s Revenge/The
Legacy. He is the most confused
character, yet he has the courage to be open enough to “find himself.”
5)
What do you do when writer’s block shows up,
settles in, and makes itself comfortable?
Knock on wood, it has never
happened. My issue has been finding the
time to get the voices out of my head and onto paper.
6)
Do you find yourself pulling details from “real
life” or does your imagination rule the roost?
I am so into my writing and some
of the characters have a bit of the world around me, but not always with the
intent of being there. I am not sure if
an author can separate themselves completely, can they? It is the life experiences that we live and
breathe that breathe the life onto those blank pages.
7)
What was the first manuscript you wrote (even if
it never saw the light of day)?
The Messenger (the first book in a trilogy) that I started to write
for my children. It is officially done
but I consider it still in the works, and now my oldest daughter is helping me
fine tune it.
8)
Have you ever pursued traditional publishing? Or
did you go straight for indie publishing?
Ah, the wide, wonderful dream of
traditional publishing. After more than
one hundred query letters (the majority with no response), I chose to go the
self-publishing route as Indie publishing was my Plan B. It was nerve wracking in the beginning but
now, no regrets what so ever.
9)
What Works In Progress are brewing? Any target dates for publication?
Kelly and the Angel – The Flight
of the Sparrow; October 2014
10)
How can fans reach you?
Facebook: Kelly
Ilebode, Author
