Kendra Radke - Interview

Q: Please introduce yourself.
A: I have a lot of names.  Mom, writer, author, blogger, K.E. Radke, one who eats too much, but we can stick to Kendra.  Not a popular name, but it’s hard to forget when you’re usually the only one.

Q: What are you working on now?
A: Zombies! And the sequel to Dead Man’s Hand. I finished my third book in October and am currently procrastinating before I go through a line by line edit. So I decided while I procrastinate I’d kill a bunch of people in the mean time. I actually found an awesome pinterest meme about authors killing off characters that I wish I could share right now. If you have time look me up Keradkebooks, its under the board: bookish truths.

Q: Why did you decide to write your current work?
A: The zombie book was this year, to pinpoint it exactly probably in September. It’s an impulse write. Does that make sense? I suffer from word vomit and when I get an idea it has to be written. Good, bad and the ugly words all have to put on the computer. The sequel to Dead Man’s Hand was always in the works, just a matter of typing it up. 

Q: What genre do you usually write in? Do you typically write novels, short stories, poems, etc.?
A: Oh gosh! Um, do I have to pick one? Dead Man’s Hand is a mystery/comedy/thriller. Nirvana is and urban/fantasy. My newest book I finished is a dystopian. Zombies is . . . there’s some many genres now I haven’t researched what zombies would go under. I want to say it’s a dystopian. I can honestly say I think the genres I could never write in is horror and erotica. I just don’t think I have the imagination for scary scenes, and writing the word penis makes me laugh. 

Q: What have you written in the past?
A: Whoops I think I might have answered this question in the question above. I’ll tell you I have more books coming. Three more fantasies, all different ideas that should be outlined but are not. I think I might be sweating now thinking about all the writing I have to do in the future.

Q: How long have you been an author?
A: Officially, three plus years. And when I say officially, I mean the moment I decided to publish and started researching query letters and self publishing and all the boring stuff authors don’t want to do.

Q: What made you want to become an author?
A: Word vomit. I cannot expressed it in any other way except for the fact that I have these character’s and ideas that consume my thoughts until they are safely written down, whether by hand or typed.

Q: If you are currently supporting yourself from writing alone, how long did it take you to get to this point since you began seeking to make writing a full-time career?
A: I don’t support myself by writing alone. I’m still learning all the different marketing tools and creating an audience. They (whoever they are) were not lying when they said you devote half your time to writing and half your time to marketing. I have a very dry, sarcastic, sense of humor that not everyone understands, so marketing can be hard. It’s all very boring information, please feel free to skip over this answer.

Q: Have you self-published, traditionally published, or both? If both, do you prefer one over the other? Do you have any advice for authors seeking your chosen method of publication?
A: Self-published. I like my stories being mine. I like that I get to have the final say. I like my characters the way they are. I like control. If you go the traditional route be ready for the rejection letters. My best advice for every writer is to be ready for those nasty critics. I call that a stepping stone. You are not a true author until someone hates your work. Let me tell you why, they dissected your book up into parts that they hated and explain every tidbit that made them want to rip it apart. Right? They love to hate your book. That is an accomplishment in itself. The best villains are the ones we love to hate. So remember that, because in order to truly hate it, they must have really been into the story. And after you cry and drink yourself into a stupor, you look in that mirror, right into those blood shot eyes and say to yourself, “I’m a fucking great writer.”

Q: Do you have any advice for beginning authors? (Please answer even if you are a beginning author yourself.) For example:  How do overcome writer’s block? What marketing tactics have you found to be the most effective? Any advice at all.
A: There was advice for writer’s block on facebook, it said to make your muse come to you when you’re ready to write. To train it for your benefit. It seemed really inspirational at the time and I thought it would be helpful for this question but as I’m writing this out I think it sounds kind of stupid. I get random ideas throughout the day. Most of the time for a book I don’t consider myself to be working on, but I’ll write it all out. I know a lot of writers carry around notepads to write down their random thoughts. I just use the quick memo on my phone. Bouncing ideas off other writers is the best way to get rid of writer’s block, in my opinion, or putting it all away and go for a walk. Clear your head, look at nature, relieve the pressure, breathe, maybe eat something and take your dog.

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A lot of this humor is in my books too!  https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=kendra+radke