Ask the Author: Kat Michels
Answered Questions (12)
Kat Michels
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Kat Michels
Hands down, I would want to go to go to the world of Harry Potter, but post-books and only if I could be a witch instead of a muggle. Because what would be the point of going there if you were a muggle? Once there, I would definitely want to fly on a broom and travel by floo network. The truly dorky side of me would get a kick out of cleaning my entire house - including baseboards - without ever having to get up off the couch. I'm sure cleaning with magic would eventually lose its novelty, but man, that first time would be awesome! Did I mention I'm a dork?
Kat Michels
Loath as I am to admit it, I was not a big reader when I was younger. I read what was required of me for school or the summer reading program at the library, but no more. Books were often chosen because they contained the correct page count for an assignment, with little regard to their content. In 7th grade, I read The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye because it was so long, I could be done with the semester's reading assignment after one book. I didn't even know what it was about when I opened it and read the first page. Ironically, it was the first book that truly enveloped me in a story and made me fall in love with sweeping historical dramas. Looking back, that is probably where the kernel for historical fiction was planted.
The only other book that truly stands out to me is, A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf. I read it in college and was completely absorbed in the concept of alternate truths, which was sparked specifically by her discussion of Shakespeare's sister. What if she had been the brilliant writer in the family? What if she had tried to pursue that career? Would we have even a tenth of the canon that we do today, had the author been a woman instead of a man? I was fascinated by the 'what ifs.' I already had a love for history, and reading her words opened up a whole new angle of exploration.
My final influence came not from an author of books, but a screenwriter. Years ago, I was reading an interview of Joss Whedon in a magazine and came across a piece of advice that has stuck with me. He said, "Give your audience everything they want, but in the worst possible way." Again, I was fascinated, and even today that is something that I think about when I sit down to write.
The only other book that truly stands out to me is, A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf. I read it in college and was completely absorbed in the concept of alternate truths, which was sparked specifically by her discussion of Shakespeare's sister. What if she had been the brilliant writer in the family? What if she had tried to pursue that career? Would we have even a tenth of the canon that we do today, had the author been a woman instead of a man? I was fascinated by the 'what ifs.' I already had a love for history, and reading her words opened up a whole new angle of exploration.
My final influence came not from an author of books, but a screenwriter. Years ago, I was reading an interview of Joss Whedon in a magazine and came across a piece of advice that has stuck with me. He said, "Give your audience everything they want, but in the worst possible way." Again, I was fascinated, and even today that is something that I think about when I sit down to write.
Kat Michels
It had actually never occurred to me to write a children's book, until I had written my first children's book. I am an accidental children's book author. I wrote my first, Children Have Got to Be Carefully Taught, as a baby shower gift for my sister. But everybody that I showed it to, wanted a copy, so I published it. Then came 10 Cheeky Monkeys where I played around with vocabulary and rhyming and discovered an outlet for my poetic yet silly side. My upcoming children's book - Monsters in the Night, due out October 5, 2017 - I really used as an opportunity to play around with a much more complex rhyming scheme and poetic structure. Plus more vocab, because I'm a huge word nerd and want to share that passion with future generations.
Kat Michels
When I'm reading for pleasure my tastes run toward historical fiction, fantasy and young adult. I live in this world everyday, so when I read I like to enter a different world. That being said, what gets me excited about a story is when an author can paint the world of their book so vividly that I can picture every aspect of it in my mind. I'm willing to overlook mediocre writing or shaky plots as long as the world-building is fantastic. Suck me into your world and you've got me till the end. Young Adult books are my guilty pleasures. They read quickly, often have better writing than adult books, and sometimes are downright silly. Sometimes you just need to read about a giant peach smashing some nasty aunts.
Kat Michels
Probably the greatest mystery in my life, is who was my mother? When I was two, she was diagnosed with progressive degenerative Multiple Sclerosis, which meant that she was sick for my entire childhood and died when I was 20. I never knew my mother the person, only my mother the patient. I don't know if it would make a good mystery per se, but definitely an alternative reality story in which she was never sick and I got to find out who she was. I don't know if that would be interesting to anybody other than me, though. :)
Kat Michels
Knowing that I have the ability to fully and accurately express my feelings and thoughts. That I have the power to put words on a page that can soothe or incite. It is a great responsibility and one that I do not take lightly.
Kat Michels
I've never really thought about that. For me writing is a compulsion, it's just something I do and have always done. Certain ideas will inspire me to pick up a pen, but I've never had to seek out inspiration.
Kat Michels
The inspiration for my first children's book came because I got a song from a musical stuck in my head, but as I didn't know all of the words I started making up my own. The inspiration for the novel I'm working on came standing in the gift shop of the White House of the Confederacy Museum looking at a booklet about female spies in the Civil War. Inspiration strikes anywhere and everywhere, I make sure that I'm open to receive it.
Kat Michels
My second children's book is at the illustrator, so I've started work on book #3. I am also working on an historical fiction novel set during the American Civil War and a short non-fiction book about historical women and their great deeds.
Kat Michels
Write everyday. Even if you don't have anything to say, even if you throw it away as soon as you're done, you need to write every day. That is the only way to improve your craft.
Kat Michels
I do a free write where I sit down and start writing the stream of consciousness that's going through my brain. Whenever I get blocked it's because my mind is busy focusing on something else. I can usually get that worked out during the free write, which then frees me up to work on my pieces. If that doesn't work, a large glass of wine!
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