The Interview: Kimberly Killion
I now have more books on my TBR and TBB pile. Read all about Kim’s love of mythology and her upcoming romances. They sound delicious!
And remember, Kim will be posting a question and it will come from her interview, so be sure to read it!
How did your love of mythology influence your romances you write today?
I fell in love with mythology in college when I was ‘forced’ to take the class as a general elective. The teacher inspired me as well as the stories he made us read. Oedipus was the first story we discussed. In this work the hero unwittingly kills his father and marries his mother. My instructor described it as a tragic love story. But the writing I remember most has to be The Inferno by Dante. Wow! That guy could write. LOL. I love the drama and intrigue of the stories and strive to for a similar intensity in my own work.
Is there a specific genre, within or outside of historical romance that you haven’t tried but would like to? Why or why not?
I haven’t written anything outside of medieval romance, nor do I read much outside of historicals. However, while writing my current WIP, I decided I needed to read a work of horror as the villain in my latest WIP is a vile, perverse witch. I have always been a scaredy-cat when it comes to horror flicks, but I viewed this task as research. I really needed to read ‘The Exorcist’ or something similar, but I knew I wouldn’t sleep at night so I opted for ‘The Ruins’ by Scott Smith. OMG!!! I was terrified to the point I was physically nauseous. I did nothing for two solid days besides read this book. I gave it to a friend the next day because I didn’t want it in my house. That will most likely be the last ‘scary’ book I read ever, ever, ever.
Your two favorite authors are favs of mine too, Teresa Medeiros and Julie Garwood. Can you name your favorite book by each author?
Piece of cake. Heather and Velvet by Teresa Medeiros and The Gift by Julie Garwood.
You have a background in art. Does that help you in your writing, ie, imagining the setting of a scene?
Definitely. Since I’m a very visual person, I ‘paint’ the scene in my head before I write anything down. Then I add smells and sounds. It helps to have a clear image before I start in on the description. I even find pictures of my characters before I get started writing. This can be very time consuming as I tend to have a lot of characters. If you visit my website, http://kimberlykillion.com/hodcharacters.asp you can see the images I choose for the characters in Her One Desire.
What do you have coming up in the next few months?
With my debut release so fresh on the shelves, I am spending the majority of my time these days promoting the book. I have book signings galore, conferences, local presentations…the list goes on and on. My second book, Highland Dragon, is scheduled for release October of 2009, so I have a lot of time between books to write.
I am currently working on a medieval romance that is set mainly in 15th century Italy during the Renaissance era, but begins in a burial ground in Scotland. Taveon Kraig, a highland laird travels to Italy to recover an amulet that is said to hold the heart of a woman who cursed his clan. In Italy, he meets Mistress Viviana Gorini de’ Medici Martinus da Vincenza, a ward of Lorenzo the Magnificent who has already suffered the burden of the marriage bed twice and has no desire to wed again. Until…
You get a date with a ROMANCE HERO. Name one hero(yours or someone else’s), the book he is in and what you would do on the date.
The hero has to be ‘my’ Broderick from my debut book, Her One Desire. I spent months researching him and making him perfect. He makes me laugh. He makes my heart pound and he is damn good in bed. Where would we go on a date, you ask? His place for drinks. I always wanted to go to Scotland.
You married your HS sweetheart? Can you tell us what was the one thing that drew you to him?
I was 15. He was cute! Actually, my husband is a talker. People say he would give a woodpecker a headache, but he always makes me laugh. We stayed up for hours talking the first night we met. All night in fact—on a creek bank.
What is your favorite non-writing activity?
Sleeping. I rise between 3-4 am to write for a couple hours before I put the kiddies on the bus and then drive an hour to work where I teach graphic design at a college level. Most days I manage to squeeze in a workout before it is time to pick up the kiddies, eat, check 100-150 emails, maybe write a little if my brain has any juice left, before I settle into bed around 10-11pm. So sleeping would have to be my favorite past time.
Seriously, if I do anything for fun, it is on the computer. I like to ‘play’ in Photoshop and create things when my brain refuses to write.
Do your students know you write?
Yes. They are between the ages of 18-24. Most of them think it’s ‘cool’ to have a teacher who is a published author. Some tease me for writing ‘smut’, while others are oblivious to the fact that I write at all, and some just plain don’t care. I am the ‘old’ lady who isn’t supposed to know about sex, much less talk about it, and even worse, write about it in graphic detail. Oh my. What is great is when one of them actually reads the book and gives me ‘props’.
I’ve never read Julie Garwoods older stuff but I’ll have to check it out! You say you don’t read much more than historicals. If you do, what genre do you pick up?
