a collective of children's story writers
Where did your love of books/storytelling/reading/writing/etc. come from?
I grew up surrounded by books. My mother is a big reader, and her book collection is huge, and mine isn’t far behind. Wherever I go, my books go too. My husband is resigned to the fact that every time we move, half the boxes are filled with my books! Ever since I can remember, I’ve been a voracious reader. I even liked reading the novels you had to read for English at school. (That’s when I discovered Jane Austen.) Some books in my collection I’ve had for over 40 years. I loved Enid Blyton as a child, particularly The Wishing Chair, and because I desperately wanted a pony, I also have quite a few novels featuring horses. I also loved The Borrowers series by Mary Norton (she also wrote Bedknob & Broomstick, the novel the Disney movie is based on), and anything by KM Peyton (she wrote the Flambards series, a family saga which begins just before WWI) and Leon Garfield (my favourite of his is Smith, about a pickpocket in 18th century England). These are books I read again and again. As a kid, all I wanted for birthday and Christmas presents were books, and nothing much has changed!
What is your favourite genre to write? Why?
I love fantasy and mystery, but there has to be humour as well. I can do drama, but everything I write, even if it’s not a funny book, has elements of humour in it. I really enjoy writing YA, although I have also written some adult novels – as in for grownups, not R-rated!
How long have you been writing? And what have you written?
I’d always enjoyed writing stories when I had to do it for school, but it was only when I was about 19 doing my secretarial course at TAFE and learning to type that I began to think about writing stuff when I didn’t have to. My friend, Isa, and I, banging away on manual typewriters, wrote some truly terrible romance stories featuring us as the heroines and tall, dark, handsome heroes who fell madly in love with us. My heroes usually looked like Tom Selleck, as I had a huge crush on him as Magnum PI. That was a TV series in the 80s. Boy, I’m feeling my age now! (There was something about typing on a manual typewriter that made the whole writing process more – I don’t know – real.
So, I’ve been writing for a long time, but I only started thinking of myself as a writer when I completed a correspondence course in crime, mystery, and suspense some years ago and got some great feedback from the tutor (I finally completed that novel many years later– see below). When I moved to Queensland after my first marriage broke up, and my children were still quite young, I joined the Gold Coast Writers’ Association and a few years after that, the Ten Penners. For the Ten Penners’ anthology, Fan-tas-tic-al Tales, I wrote a poem, a fairy tale, and a novelette. That was in 2009. But I always wanted to write a novel. In 2011 I attempted NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) for the first time and failed miserably! But in 2012, I did it! I “won” by successfully completing a 50,000-word novel in the month of November. It was such a buzz that I’ve done it successfully every year since. In fact, in 2014 (my most productive year), I finished my adult novel started during my writing course (Camp NaNoWriMo in April), and another stalled YA novel (during Camp NaNoWriMo in July), and then wrote another one from scratch in November. Phew. I don’t really know how I did that! I self-published my 2012 NaNoWriMo novel, Shadow of a Soldier, in 2013, and I’ve recently published my second novel, The Players, which I first drafted during NaNoWriMo 2013. It was a mess though, so it’s taken me all this time to find the story my characters really wanted to tell me! So now that one’s finally been released into the wild, I can concentrate on my other six drafts that have been patiently waiting for me to set them free.
In 2017, the Ten Penners released another anthology, Mystery, Mayhem & Magic. I wrote five stories, all featuring my (then 14-year-old) stepson, Kai, as the “hero”. Everyone in my family plays a part, even Winnie, our dog (who has now sadly crossed over the Rainbow Bridge). Each story is loosely based on something that really happened but with a magical twist. They were great fun to write, and I think Kai quite enjoyed having a starring role. I’ve also written four stories for our new anthology, Backyard Beasts & Curious Capers, which will be released soon.
Of your own work – do you have a favourite? Why is it your favourite?
I would have to say that my favourite character to write about is Kylie Cooper, a teenage witch. I first wrote about Kylie in Fan-tas-tic-al Tales (she was the main character in my novelette), and I’ve since written three more Kylie adventures, although she is 17 now rather than 13. There’s magic, a bit of romance, and hopefully, lots of humour!
What is your favourite genre to read? Why?
I love fantasy and science fiction, mystery, and family sagas with deep, dark secrets. My three favourite Australian authors are Kate Morton, Kimberley Freeman (aka Kim Wilkins) and Liane Moriarty, who all write brilliant, page-turning novels with secrets at their hearts. I also love Jasper Fforde, Neil Gaiman, Diana Gabaldon, Charlaine Harris, Janet Evanovich, and Sue Grafton. I have a huge collection of YA novels and lots of books from my childhood that I still re-read (see question 1 above). Recently I also read (or listened to) all 41 novels in Terry Pratchett’s wonderful Discworld series – what an incredible body of work that is. I absolutely love the characters of Death, Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, Tiffany Aching, and Sam Vimes. A newish favourite is the Nevermoor series by Jessica Townsend. Absolutely brilliant. There are so many wonderful stories out there. This is, of course, just a small sample of the authors I read, and I’m always discovering more…
Do you write full-time? If not, what are your other jobs?
It is my dream to write full-time, but unfortunately my finances don’t allow it at the moment. I’m just waiting for that six-figure advance… Sigh. My day job is as a legal secretary. At least I get lots of typing practice!
Have you ever won an award/s or been shortlisted? What was it for?
I once won a runner-up prize in a nationwide Mills & Boon short story competition!
Do you belong to any professional organisations? What are they and how do they help you?
I’m a member of the Gold Coast Writers’ Association, Queensland Writers Centre, and Sisters in Crime. Most of my close friends outside work are people I met through the GCWA. It’s strange sometimes at work when I talk about my writing to think that it’s not “normal” for most people to write stuff in their spare time! I love being a part of the local writing community and have always found that other writers are always willing to share their knowledge and help you along the way.
Would be writers should read and write as much as possible – do you have any other advice?
I have had quite a few people say to me that they are sure they could write a book if they “had the time”. Well, if you really want to do it, you must find the time. We all have other commitments, but nobody is going to do it for you. Also, don’t edit everything as you go, or you’ll never finish. Get your first draft down, and then go back and fix it up. You can’t edit a blank page. I’ve found NaNoWriMo invaluable for this – you have 30 days to write 50,000 words (that’s 1,667 words per day), and you don’t have time to mess around. Since I first achieved it in 2012, I feel like I’m letting myself down if I don’t do it. It’s a bit of an addiction, to be honest! In 2016 I had lots of personal and family stuff going on, but I was still determined to get to those 50,000 words. There were so many days I missed, and it seemed like an impossible task – but I did it – in 15 days. Of course, I don’t know yet how good those words are, but I’ve got 50,000 of them to work with! I’ve now written over 600,000 words during NaNoWriMo and Camp NaNoWriMo.
What projects are you working on at the present?
I’m waiting on feedback for my YA novel (Kylie Cooper #1) from my three trusty Beta readers before launching it into the world, and working with my fellow Ten Penners to finish Backyard Beasts & Curious Capers. Then I’ll be focussing on Kylie Cooper #2! I’m also trying to blog more regularly (which is not going very well so far…) so please click on the link below if you want to follow me there!
https://katharinerpepperauthor.wordpress.com
If you would like to check out my novels (or even buy them!), you can find more information and links on my website (link below):