An Interview With Katie Jennings

The Reading Cafe is happy to welcome Katie Jennings as our guest today. Before we meet Katie, let’s find out more about her.

Nothing can compare to the exhilaration of discovering, at last, a mode of release for the imagination. Mine came, after years of struggling to visualize my creativity, in the form of written word. I found myself with my nose constantly in a book, absorbing the life of the characters and the beauty of the setting. It was intoxicating, to say the least, and the only thing I knew was that I wanted to give writing a shot, and take the thousands of characters and storylines in my head and put them down on paper, and form them into something real and compelling.

In truth, I’m just a girl from a small town north of Los Angeles, with an imagination for days and thank goodness a keyboard at my fingertips. And even though my husband thinks I’m a nerd and my mom is undoubtedly my biggest fan, at the end of the day I’m loving life and enjoying giving breath to the characters living in my heart, and sharing with others all the creativity I can harness.

I believe in true love, and I’ve always believed in happy endings. And that is just the beginning of the story

Now let us begin our Interview with Katie

Hi Katie.  Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions today. We are always looking forward to reading about the author behind the book. We will start will some background information.

TRC: Will you please tell us about yourself?

Katie: I am a huge nerd, first off.  I am addicted to reading romance novels and watching Once Upon a Time, and am a true Disney kid at heart.  I grew up in the northern Los Angeles area where I have lived all of my twenty-five years.  Writing is my passion, and is something I have been doing since I was in my early teens when I first got into Nora Roberts and J.K. Rowling, who are my biggest inspirations.

TRC: When and how did you become interested in writing?  Have you always liked to write?

Katie: I’ve been writing since I was in my early teens, when I discovered it was a fantastic outlet for not only my emotions, but my creativity as well. I mostly wrote short stories for fun, many of which I never finished because I’d get too excited to move on to the next idea. But in 2010, I decided it was time to finally try and write a full novel. I was a bit optimistic, as I plotted out for four novels as a series, but I was able to complete them…it is, without a doubt, one of my greatest personal accomplishments!

TRC: Would you tell us your process in writing your books?

Katie: First I take my idea and concept, and I begin creating characters. I heavily reference astrology as I develop characters, and focus on the details and background story of each in order to give them a realistic feel. Then I plot out each and every chapter, starting with main points I want to make and then fill in the rest. I leave very  little of my story up in the air, I like to have it all worked out beforehand before I start writing.

TRC: Was a Breath of Air your first book ever published?  What were the difficulties in getting your work published?

Katie: Yes, Breath of Air is my first completed novel that I published. I self-published it, so the process itself was actually very easy. Amazon has streamlined everything to where there is very little start up cost (if any!) and the time frame to get a new book up is literally just a matter of hours. Of course, I had to create my own book covers, pay to have my books edited, designed, and formatted. But I have learned so much in the months since I’ve published about how to market, promote, and sell my books. It’s been a wild ride, that’s for sure!

TRC: Will you tell us about the premise of your Dryad series?  How did you come up with the idea for this series?

Katie: The Dryad Quartet is a contemporary fantasy series revolving around the fictional land of Euphora, where beings inspired by Greek mythology exist to preserve the balance of nature and human life, and to protect the living from the evil residing in the Underworld. It’s a world where Mother Earth and Father Sky exist, secretly hidden from human awareness, and yet crucial to the creation and stability of their world. They are joined by those who control the elements, the Dryads, as well as the Fates, Muses, and Furies, all of whom play an integral role in preserving Earth and guarding those who inhabit it.

I came up with the idea as a process…it began with me knowing I wanted to write about people who could control the elements. I developed those four characters, the Dryads, and then expanded upon them by referencing Greek mythology and developing this whole new world.

TRC: You have a new series …The Vasser Legacy, which was released in August.  Can you please tell us the premise of the series?  How did you come up with this idea of a modern day Family Saga story? Also how many books are you planning for this series?

Katie: The Vasser Legacy is a series that focuses on the rise, fall and resurrection of the prestigious Vasser Hotel family. It's a story filled with deception, passion, murder, and ambition set in glorious Manhattan in New York City. In book one, When Empires Fall, we see the family deal with the realization that one of their own is a killer, and watch as they struggle with both personal and professional battles.

In the case of When Empires Fall, it was one specific song that I have loved since I was very young that inspired me to write this book.  The song is called “Raoul and the Kings of Spain” by Tears for Fears.  While I didn’t pull my plot line from the song, this basic idea of “the seventh son of the seventh son comes along and breaks the chain…” is what got me, as did this question posed in the song, “can we ever hope to seek asylum from the bounds of faith and family?”  I knew that I wanted to write a novel about a very large, prominent family, an empire of kings in America, well respected and renowned for generations.  Until the seventh son of the seventh son broke the chain, and shattered the family to pieces.  This is a key, underlying component of When Empires Fall, and the cornerstone for the drama and suspense that ties the entire story together.

TRC: When Empires Fall is the first book in The Vasser Legacy series.  Can you please give us a brief description of this story?

Katie: When Empires Fall introduces readers to the prestigious Vasser Hotel family and the newest generation of heirs who run the main hotel in New York City. There’s the strict, cautious older brother, ambitious playboy second brother, and the secretive and powerful younger sister. All three play a crucial role in the book as we see how they deal with the shocking truth that one of their own is a killer, and witness the fallout of their hotel empire. Along the way, they discover love, wage battles with each other, clash with the press, and fight to maintain their reputation.

Links to purchase When Empires Fall:
Amazon / Barnes & Noble / The Book Depository

TRC: You wrote Fantasy with the Dryad series, and now with the Vasser Legacy series you have written a modern day Family Saga drama.  What made you decide to go a different direction, and is there a preference to which genre you prefer? 

Katie: While I enjoyed writing the fantasy series, I truly found my comfort zone with drama and contemporary fiction. I had never intended the Dryad Quartet to be YA, but as people have read it over the last few months it has taken on that characterization given its mild content (no explicit scenes, only some violence and cursing, etc). I much prefer writing a novel geared toward a more adult audience, not necessarily because of explicitness, but because of things like history, business, politics, drugs, murder…things that younger readers may not find as interesting. These are the topics that fascinate me, and therefore it was fun to explore them in the Vasser Legacy novels.

TRC: What are you currently working on?

Katie: After I finish the final Vasser Legacy book, titled Rise of the Notorious which is due out Spring 2013, I want to try my hand at writing a dark paranormal novel, with both horror, mystery and romance themes woven in. It will focus heavily upon ghost hunting and the techniques used (which fascinate me!) and will center on four main characters: a ghost hunter, his tech-savvy sidekick, a skeptical doctor, and a soulful medium. It’s going to be a very fun book to write, and I cannot wait to delve into it sometime next year.

TRC: Who is your muse?

Katie: Florence + the Machine, hands down. Her music is incredible, and she’s a fellow Virgo like me so I feel an even greater connection to her lyrics and way of singing. Her music envelops and intoxicates, hammering emotions into you until it’s hard to breathe. That’s really the best way I can describe it, and many scenes and character ideas for me have spawned while listening to her music.

TRC: Would you like to add anything else?

Katie: I have a newly redesigned website that showcases all of my books and has lots of fun goodies such as wallpapers for the computer and smartphones. I invite everyone to check it out at www.katieajennings.com.

LIGHTNING ROUND

Favorite Food:  Cheeseburgers

Favorite Dessert:  Coldstone Cake Batter ice cream

Favorite Author:  Nora Roberts

Favorite Movie:  When Harry Met Sally

Favorite TV Show:  Once Upon a Time

Milk or Dark Chocolate:  Milk

Who is your favorite fictional character (not your own):  Severus Snape from Harry Potter.

Thank you, Katie, for answering our questions. The Reading Café wishes you the best of luck with When Empires Fall.  Keep us informed about your upcoming releases. We look forward to working with you again.

Katie: Thank you for having me!