Today at FAR, we have the pleasure to spend some time with Kallysten.

Kallysten, thanks for being with us today. You have a nice website and some nice books out. The readers would love to know, who really is Kallysten?

To start, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I’d be glad to. Early in October, I will cross the big 3.0 – and honestly, I can hardly believe it. I think passing years stopped registering with my mind some time after I turned 18, which would coincide quite well with the time I met the handsome man who became my husband. Being thirty also means I’ve now been writing with the hope to find readers for half my life. That’s also hard to believe sometimes: seeing how antsy I become if for some reason I don’t open my word processor and write something on any given day, it’s difficult to imagine a time when I wasn’t writing at all. In the interest of full disclosure I should also mention that I’m French – although I hope it doesn’t show too much in my writing!

I thought your book, Over The Edge was great. Why not tell the readers a bit about the trio, Lisa, Brett and Leo, and what transpired you to write this story?

Thank you, I’m always so glad to hear a reader (or reviewer!) enjoyed one of my stories! Lisa, Brett and Leo emerged from a throwaway sentence in my first published novel, CheckMate. The main characters in that story found themselves in a dancing club at some point, and out of the blue I added a line about the owner of the club having two vampire lovers. That line stayed at the back of my mind for almost a year – who was this owner, and how had he ended up with two vamps in his life?

I finally wrote a short story to answer that question, On The Edge, and that was how Lisa, Brett and Leo came to life… as a manner of speaking for Lisa and Leo! Brett is the human of the trio, and the workaholic owner of the club On The Edge where humans and vampires come to mingle. He’s in love with his business partner, Lisa, a vampire who uses the club to find willing prey to feed without ever killing. One night, she comes across Leo in the club, an old lover who was turned a short time after Lisa by the same vampire. She doesn’t hesitate about inviting him into her – and Brett’s – bed, and her determination to push them together transforms the jealousy of both men feel about having to share her into fiery lust for each other.

Over The Edge picks up the next morning, where the short story ended, and shows how the three of them adapt after that first night and when a series of murders takes place around them. It also deepens the relationship between the two men, and deals with Lisa’s feelings for each of them. It took me a few months after completing the first book to realize that Lisa, Brett and Leo weren’t done with telling me their story… and now that Over The Edge is out, I’m beginning to suspect there is more to tell about them yet…

Do you feel as if the characters live with you as you write?

Definitely. When I get the idea for a new story and start thinking of the characters, they take a life of their own and play out the story in my mind, the same scene playing out a dozen times until each word or action is just right. Writing is the only way to get them to quiet down and move on…to the next scene!

Do you have to go through many drafts/edits to get it polished just right?

Even though I know I shouldn’t, I review the story even as I write, re-reading previous parts, tweaking here and there, making notes of parts that I should change, add or delete, so that it’s really an organic process. There rarely is a point when I think “OK, the first draft is done, let’s get to work on the second draft”. Edits depend on the story, and either my editors will be happy with minor tweaks or they will nag (and as well they should!) until they think every problem has been address. I’ve come to trust their judgment as I’m sometimes too close to the story to be objective, but in the end we always agree (or we have so far!) about when a story is ready.

What is the hardest part of creating a book? Surviving the editor? Promoting? The last chapter?

For me, it’s definitely the promoting part. Ask me to write or rewrite and I’ll be happily typing away all day – and night – long. Ask me to toot my own horn and tell people why my stories are worth reading, and I freeze. Not that I don’t think they are; I just wasn’t raised into thinking my own accomplishments are something I ought to talk about. Just doing this interview is a painful process… but don’t worry, I’ll survive! :P

How do you keep your ideas fresh and imaginative?

That’s the million dollars question, isn’t it? As much as I’d like to believe there are unexplored ideas out there, ready for me to pluck them out, I have to face the daunting idea that millions of books had already been written by the time I found my muse, and it is quite likely that someone, at some point, wrote a story that resembles in some way the book I’m currently writing and whose plot I’m so proud of. The only thing I can do is write as well as I can, breathe life in my characters so that they jump off the page (or screen), and let them seduce the readers with their words and actions.

Is any book you have written, your personal favorite?

Such a difficult question! Each of them has a special place in my mind and heart because of different reasons, but I guess the stories I go back and revisit have to be my favorite ones. Like On The Edge, which I needed to expand on with a sequel. Or my Out of the Box series, which grew from a one shot to a projected series of ten short stories because I just couldn’t let go of the characters.

I’m also very fond of the monthly series I post on my website, Aria & Will. I’ve been writing it for a year and half, now, without definite plan or outline, and I enjoy very much the way the characters have dictated the pace of the plot and romance.

Can you share one lesson you’ve learned since becoming a writer that you feel can help others who are looking to become full time writers?

The one lessons that what most important to me was to realize that there’s always time for self-doubts later. If I let myself critic every sentence even as I write it, I end up with very little writing, and a lot of frustration. If I turn off the internal critic, write and write and write some more, then go back and look at what I’ve produced, I might end up having to rework, reword, or even throw out a lot, but I’ll still have accomplished more than if I had agonized over every word.

How much time do you spend doing research for a story?

I can be very impatient when I get an idea for a story, and I rarely spend as much time as I should researching before I start. I don’t despair to learn better, though!

How long did it take to find the right publisher for your works?

A year and half… the third time was the charm! I consider myself quite lucky to have been invited to join Alinar Publishing. Maria (who writes as Candy Nicks) and Felicity Heaton are tremendously talented ladies, and I feel privileged to be working with them. In the world of e-publishing where a lot of the communication between authors and publishers, if not all of it, depends on emails, it is nice to receive regular notes from them, about ideas, promotions, how sales are going or what the readers are saying. It is just as nice to feel like I’m being heard when I have concerns or suggestions. I can’t say I felt that way before finding Alinar.

Do you have another website, other than http://original.kallysten.net that you would like to share?

This website is where I gather everything – excerpts, free stories, my blog, and recently the trailers I’ve started making for my stories.

My “home away from home”, however, is the Alinar website. In just a year since the company was launched in October 2006, more than 50 stories have found a home on Alinar, quite a few of which are offered as free reads to give a taste of each author to the readers. And since the entire catalogue will be discounted for two weeks after October 6th for the anniversary sale, it might be a great time for your readers to check out Alinar!

If you could be any animal which would you be?

A cat, definitely.

If you could go back in time, where and when would you go and what is the one thing you would bring with you?

It’s probably not what you were looking for, but I’d go back to the day I first met my husband and I’d take a camera :P

For Fun: Camping in the mountains or going on a ski trip?

I’ll take the ski trip, although it’s been a good fifteen years since I last put on skis and since I was never that good, I’d probably break a leg or something!

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Now that is an easy one. Chocolate! In fact, give me chocolate in any form and watch me glow. The darker, the better.

Which room in your home would you say is your favorite?

The office/computer room. I can stay in there for hours without realizing how much time has passed – and do so quite regularly. It’s not so much about the room itself, or what’s in it, but more about what I do in there and how much joy I get from it.

Kallysten, thank you for sharing time with us today. I wish you the best with all your books and upcoming releases.

Much thanks to you, Linda, and to FAR for this opportunity. Considering my phobia of promotion, this interview wasn’t as hard as I expected it to be, so thanks for making it so much fun!

Interviewed by: Linda L.