Meet Patty Kilson!

Meet Patty Kilson the great author of the children's book Song of the Raven about life and death in the Alaskan wilderness.

To start off, tell us a little bit about your background:

Heather: How long have you been writing?

Patty: I have been writing since I was a senior in High School and took a "Writing for Children" class. Since then I took an additional class at the college level and a few workshops.

Heather: What started you writing for publication?

Patty: I had written three children's stories (one as the result of my class in high school) and wanted to know if they were good enough for publication. I sent one of them out several times but received nothing but generic rejection letters. At the time I didn't understand about researching for the most likely publisher and I doubt my proposal letter was as strong as I could have made it.

Heather: Do you have a set time when you write, or just whenever you get the urge?

Patty: I must confess that I only write when I get the urge. I am not a very committed writer. I go in spurts and will write every day for weeks, then stop for months. I often find that my artwork takes over my creative side for long stretches of time.

Heather: Who is your favorite author?

Patty: That changes as I read new books. Right now I really like J K Rowling because I love the Harry Potter series.

Heather: Have you ever had writer's block, and if so how do you get rid of it?

Patty: Yes I've had writer's block. In the past I've just kept writing sentences, kind of like brainstorming, until something comes to me. I've also stepped back from the writing and instead worked on something else like chapter structures, plot, or research.

Heather: What do you recommend to aspiring authors?

Patty: Keep trying. And get the honest opinions of your family, friends, co-workers, etc. I've found that although my mom loves everything I do, my sisters will be more honest and give me constructive criticism. I also paid for an editor to look at the first chapter of the book I'm currently working on. She gave me lots of suggestions such as how to make my writing more concise and how to avoid repetitive wording.

Heather: How do you invent your characters?

Patty: I haven't written any fiction so have not yet created characters. So far I have one Children's book published and have a factual story about my life living aboard a sailboat when I was in my teens currently at my publishers, waiting for the go ahead.

Heather: Some authors say that they feel as though his or her characters are real, do you feel this way, and what do you think about this?

Patty: I can only answer this from a reader's viewpoint. The characters I've seen others create are very much real to me. I've even found myself wondering what happens to them after the book is over. I'd like to be able to create characters like that!

Heather: Do you have anything in the works?

Patty: Yes. I've written a book about my life onboard the sailboat 'Carina'. I lived on the boat for three years with my parents and sisters. It is at the publisher's right now.

Heather: What would you say is the neatest thing you know?

Patty: I know what it's like to be perfectly happy in life. I've been through difficult times, but overall I love life.

Heather: What was your favorite part about writing your book?

Patty: My favorite part about writing this book was reminiscing with my sisters and parents and researching the places we had visited. I gained such a historical prospective after my studies.

Heather: Has music ever inspired your writing?

Patty: No, I'm not really a music person. I do have favorite music, but it's not something I listen to while writing. Although I did listen to a little reggae to get me in the mood for portions of my book about living in the Caribbean.

Heather: Do you like to write in complete silence or does it have to be noisy?

Patty: I prefer silence. I need to concentrate on sentance structure, flow of the words, and proper grammar.

Heather: Keyboard or pen?

Patty: Mostly keyboard but I carry a notebook when I'm writing so that I can jot down sentences, phrases and words that just seem to fit what I'm looking for. Then I review it later when I actually sit down at the computer.

Heather: What do you think is the hardest part about being an author?

Patty: I dislike book signings. For me that is difficult. I have a hard time "selling" my story. If people are interested I'm more than happy to discuss it with them, but I don't like to be pushy and shove my book into their hands.

Heather: What do you usually do while writing?

Patty: Drink tea or soda. I might also have a snack like popcorn sitting to the side. I often sit back and ponder sentences and words to see how they fit into my story.

Heather: What were the circumstances surrounding your decisions to become an author?

Patty: I have always wanted to do something that puts my name in print, whether it be artwork or writing. I enjoy both. I wanted to do something that would outlive me. My grandkids can take my book to school and say, "My grandma wrote this book."

Heather: Some people say that you need to live life before you write a book, do you think that it's experience that writes a book or imagination?

Patty: I think it's a combination of both. I have always been advised to write about what you know. The more you travel and live life, the more you will have to write about.


I like the colors of: autumn.

The sky is most beautiful when it's: wispy.
My favorite feature of a computer is: spellcheck.
Thing I love most in the world is: nature.
My favorite thing that has been available since the year 1960: computers!

If you want to learn more about Patty, you can check out her blog here - http://pakartalaska.blogspot.com/

One Lovely Blog Award

Earlier this morning I was so pleased to find out that I was sent the "One Lovely Blog Award" by none other than the wonderful Karen Coiffi-Ventrice at http://karenandrobyn.blogspot.com/ .

It was such an honor! Being a new, young, author, and having a new blog, why would I be chosen. But, I was, basically for those reasons, and it was just wonderful. It really made my day!

So, I suppose it's my turn to pass on the award. For those individuals I choose, just follow the instructions below.

The rules are simple:

1) Accept the award, and don’t forget to post a link back to the awarding person.

2) Pass the award on.

3) Notify the award winners.

Right away, I knew of one very inspirational person that I would send it on to: Vivian Zabel. Then I thought of someone whom makes quite a difference everywhere, Helena Harper. Then, Toni Andrews came to mind almost as suddenly as Carolyn Howard-Johnson came to mind, and here I'll tell you why I chose these people -

Vivian Zabel - Vivian is the most talented person that I know, as well as her awesome publishing and writing abilities she has had a fantastic life! And there are so many different occasions that I can think of where she has helped me get to where I am today. She is like a wikipedia of writing knowledge, one time I spent days looking for an answer, finally I asked Vivian and she had the exact answer that I was looking for. She's absolutely an amazing person, I could go on for hours...

Helena Harper - Helena is such a good friend, and a great person all around. She most certainly has what it takes to be the next #1 bestseller. She's a different kind of author and has a heart of gold.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson - Carolyn does so much going out and beyond what she has to. With so much on her plate, newsletters, books, writing, promoting, she always makes time to help anyone and everyone that crosses her path.

Toni Andrews - Toni is an inspiration to all authors out there, her book series is phenominal, she has talent, she has brains, she has it all, and even still she shows everyone that authors are "ordinary" people. She's friendly, strong, and has a really cool cat... LOL! Seriously though, Toni is an inspiration to all. Step aside, Toni will show you how it's done!