Welcome to TRB Lounge. Today, I'd like to welcome Kate Trinity, author of It Is The Demon In Me, for an author Interview.
Hello, Kate. Thank you for being here today.
To keep writing and maybe, one day, possibly, fingers crossed, have a book made into a movie.
Andy McNab, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett. They all have a very different voice and unique way of approaching their story. But they all write stories that take you into the action and make you want to keep reading.Tell us about your book?
It is the Demon in Me is the first in a trilogy about a young woman, Deanna, who has to make big decisions about her future. Only, they're not simple decisions like where shall I go to college, shall I get a job or go on vacation this summer. They're much more complicated than that, with much more devastating consequences if she chooses wrong. And she has the added complication of being a witch whose powers have been kept bound by her parents coven.
A long time. I wrote it by hand during a time when I was suffering with depression. So, there were days when I hated the very idea of getting up and writing. On other days, it was like therapy. And then when I was done with pen and paper I had to type it up on my very ancient, slow, argumentative, computer.
I'm writing a script. I began writing the story as a novella for a competition and half way through realised it would work much better as a movie.
It chose me. I wrote the story as it came to me with no thought as to what genre it might fit into.
I don't think I ever decided to become a writer, I always just wrote. There was a point (quite) a few years back when I suddenly thought 'I am a writer'.
It's a compulsion. A story begins to form in my head, and over a couple of days it grows, and then I have to write it down so I can stop thinking about it.
Music sometimes suggests a story, other times it could be something I'm reading, or something I've seen whilst out and about. It's often from a 'what if…' question that my imagination runs away with.
I used to prefer to write by hand but as my typing has gotten better it's much easier to go straight to the computer. Occasionally I'll make a story idea note on my phone. Or start an idea for a story with pen and paper but I rarely write the whole thing by hand any more.
Music. A great way to deal with writer's block is to compile a playlist for the scene you're trying to write. One that makes you feel the way you want that scene to feel. Then listen to it whilst thinking about the characters in the scene. Don't try to write it at first, simply listen and think, eventually the words start flowing again. I don't think it's something you can force your way through. But if it goes on and on, lasting for days, I think you have to ask yourself some questions about what you're writing. Maybe it's not the right thing or if the direction you took earlier in the story was the wrong one.
Learn about the story arc. It makes plotting easier and helps you get into your reader's brain. I wish I'd known about it when I first started writing stories but it's taken me a while to appreciate all of its intricacies.
Thank you, Kate, for all your lovely answers!