In the Limelight: Interview with Author HK Sterling/KD Rose
How long have you been a writer?
I've been writing all my life, but I just started publishing recently.
What motivated you to become a writer?
It's something that just came naturally. I write poems in
my head while traveling, make notes when I wake up from things I dream; have blank notebooks
everywhere imaginable so I have a place to jot things down when they come to me. Believe it or not I
*still* lose ideas. I fall for my own act that I will "remember it later".
What is your favorite thing about writing?
I live in an abstract world in my head so my favorite thing is
trying and sometimes being successful at articulating those concepts. Other times I can't because I just
can't seem to bring it down to earth.
What are some of the books by others that have inspired you?
All the old science fiction writers. Harlan
Ellison, Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick, Robert Heinlein. I would say Ellison's Dangerous Visions remains
my favorite, though all of Philip K Dick's books are favorites. I also get inspiration from music, art and
poetry. Oh, and when I was really young as a kid, I loved Agatha Christie.
Does anything else inspire you? Ie movies, music, etc if so, what?
Ha, yeah, I couldn't live without music.
There you have the intersection of words ( which I love), ideas, and music so it's a triple enticement.
Tell us about your latest book. What gave you the idea? My latest book ( releases June 13) is a sequel.
Though both books are standalones ( no cliffhangers) they relate to each other and have the two main
characters in each though from a different point of view. I wrote the first book "A Taste For Killing"
because I wanted a strong female lead, but wanted to show her inner insecurities as well. I wrote
the sequel "A Taste For Danger" in order to focus on the anti-hero from the first book, though both
characters appear.
Have you ever experienced what others call writer's block?
If so, what are methods you use to get up
and running again. Or, if you don't believe in writers block, tell us why. I have experienced it and I
do believe in it, though I understand why others don't. If you are used to being a wellspring of ideas
it comes as a shock when suddenly you aren't. I get over it by reading ( others books or poetry) and
listening to music. Also art. Anything that inspires you will connect with the creative part in you and
then that part will want to speak again.
What is your favorite genre to write?
If you write in multiple genres, tell us why you picked those
particular ones. With two different pen names, I write in multiple genres. There will be even more in a
year or two. I write in the genres I either love the most or come naturally. For example, I have a short
story ( called a Breathless Press Flirt) titled "Eyes Only". That story is a Russian Nesting Doll (http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matryoshka_doll if readers don't know what that is) to the extreme and I loved
writing that. And short too! I love economy of words.
In general writing in multiple genres keeps you from getting bored and let's you try out new things. You
never know what your creativity will find most fruitful.
What is your favorite character that you have written?
My anti-hero, Jack, in both "A Taste For Killing" and "A Taste for Danger" is my favorite.
What is it about that character that you love? Gotta love the bad boys with good hearts. I typically love
anti-heroes in general. Though I have to say, under my other pen name ( KD Rose) in Erasing: Shadows I
love a character this is a grandmother, but is in no way your ordinary grandmother. She is wise and wily
and full of secrets.
Where is your favorite place to write?
I am lucky in that my husband is an architectural millman so we
bought an old crappy house and made it into what we wanted. I got the office/library of my dreams
and that is what I write in. Though as I said before, I am liable to make notes all over. I think poetry is
probably the only thing I don't write in my office. That I tend to write outside and in novel places that
speak to me more.
Are you on social media?
If so, which ones do you find most valuable as an author? Yes, I am on all
the social media (Both pen names!) and it sucks the time out of your writing and life. LOL Right now,
Facebook is still most valuable but of course as an author, Goodreads as well and Twitter is more
valuable than one would think. Then of course there is your blogs and others' blogs etc.
Have you ever done in-person events or signings or do you stay pretty much behind the screen?
Pretty much behind the screen.
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Leave Reviews! ; )
BLURBS:
H.K. Sterling's
A Taste For Danger
Still licking his wounds over blowing it with the love of his life, detective Jack Heart finds
himself in over his head with corporate politics, treachery, and vipers of the female variety.
Under pressure to solve the case, Jack's taste for danger will place him and those he loves on a
collision course with disaster.
H.K. Sterling's
A Taste For Killing
Mystery and Romance blend together when competing detectives Carolyn Woods and Jack Heart
find they are surrounded by murder on every side.
Mystery and Romance blend together when competing detectives Carolyn Woods and Jack
Heart are both hired to solve the murder of Pete Wallace, only to realize they are working the
same case. To complicate things, Carolyn and Jack have an on again-off again relationship.
Then there is Evan Jones, a handsome architect— but he's also a suspect. Can Carolyn manage
to solve the case as more and more murders pile up? Will her relationship with Jack hinder
their investigations? And what about Evan Jones? He seems like the perfect man, but could he
actually be the murderer? One thing is for sure: someone close to both Carolyn and Jack has A
Taste For Killing.
EXCERPT FROM A TASTE FOR KILLING
He had six-pack abs, and I wanted to feel the carbonation. This one dressed like the
stereotype of a construction worker, down to the handkerchief he used to wipe sweat off his
forehead. I don't know if he or the hot day brought it out, but sweat poured off of me too. He
had no interest in me as a person, though. I was invading his territory. Still, I enjoyed the view.
For my part, I knew my clothes looked crappy. I didn’t have to wear uniforms anymore, but
my street clothes, well they were very—street. So there I stood, a turd in the sun in front of this
He pointed to a small trailer up a muddy hill. The supervisor I asked to see apparently
stayed in there. Stayed, as in never left. Great. Mud. Now I'd be a dried turd in the sun. Adonis
went back to digging and I started the trek up the hill. At least I came with boots. Steel toed.
Once I made it to the trailer, I heard an argument going on inside.
"Look, I don't care who you are. The plans are publically filed. Go get them yourself!"
Then I heard a voice I knew. Calm, cool, subversive. "Is there any reason you're being so
difficult? A man did die on your watch."
An encounter I hadn’t planned on. Well, at least not until later tonight. I knocked loudly
on the door and with my sweetest voice said, "Hello, boys. Am I interrupting something?"
"Great," groused the supervisor. "A party." He appeared to me like another stereotype,
puffing on a cigar over a fat jowl line and rotund stomach that threatened to overturn the small
desk he was behind. I guess there's a reason for stereotypes. He looked about four hamburgers
On a wooden chair in front of the supervisor sat Jack. A fellow independent detective, an
ally at times, a competitor...and my on and off lover.
"Well, well, well," he said smiling, but I could tell he wasn’t happy to see me. Not here.
It meant we were both working the same case. "Hello, Carolyn. Who hired you?"
"Girlfriend," he answered back.
We stared at each other. Complications.
A Taste for Killing is Available at the Following Book Vendors:
Breathless Press:
Amazon:
ARe:
Bookstrand:
Barnes and Noble:
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