Kendare Blake Interview

Please describe your creative process. How do you go from idea to completed novel? 
Honestly, it's different every book. Anna Dressed in Blood came about simply because I hadn't written horror in a long time, and I wanted to play Silent Hill 4, but was too scared. With my new novels, the Goddess War trilogy, it started from a short story I wrote years ago. And the novel I'm going to write next, started from a random idea.

What are the challenges and rewards of writing for young adults?
The biggest challenge I think is the stigma that still surrounds it. Like there's still the idea that it's not real writing, or complex writing, or even good writing. The biggest reward is the enthusiasm of the audience, and also the freedom to write whatever. YA readers are an open minded bunch. And they're not all young adults.

What are you working on right now?  (Your web bio mentions that you love Greek mythology.  Will we see this in future works?) 
Yes, Greek mythology is the basis for my next book, ANTIGODDESS. Thank you for mentioning this. I need to update my website. I suck at that. Right now I'm working on the last book in the Goddess War trilogy, but since ANTIGODDESS doesn't come out until September, I can't say much about the last book. The series is about dying Greek gods in the contemporary world. They're dying in strange and disturbing ways, and their quest for answers leads to a war between them, with mortal teens caught in the middle. Most who are reincarnated heroes from days gone by. Think Achilles and Odysseus.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors? 
Read. And then...write. A lot. Try out different styles until you find your own voice. And then read some more, and learn something from everything you encounter. That's kind of broad, but you have to always be growing.

List five things that are on your writing desk right now.
An empty Mountain Dew bottle that is not mine. A copy of Caitlin R Kiernan's CONFESSIONS OF A FIVE CHAMBERED HEART, my hair clip, a map of Thunder Bay that I use as a mousepad now, and a notebook where I take notes for the current project.

What are you reading right now?
Right now I'm digging in deep to Joe Hill's NOS4A2. It's supremely fantastic so far. Also so far, the most Kingy of his books, if that makes sense.

Thanks, Kendare!