Kim Elliott's Blog

The awesome co-hosts for the November 5 posting of the IWSG are Jennifer Lane, Jenni Enzor,Renee Scattergood, Rebecca Douglass, Lynn Bradshaw, and Melissa Maygrove!

November 5 question - When you began writing, what did you imagine your life as a writer would be like? Were you right, or has this experience presented you with some surprises along the way?

I didn’t have high expectations about making it big. High hopes maybe, but I always knew success was rare for authors. I did, however, have high expectations for my writing quality and quantity. I thought I could produce more volume than I have. The biggest (pleasant) surprise has been my readers. Quite a few people found my books, even without any paid advertising. I have some great reviews on Goodreads that motivate me to keep going!

The awesome co-hosts for the October 1 posting of the IWSG are Beth Camp, Crystal Collier, and Cathrina Constantine!

October 1 question - What is the most favorite thing you have written, published or not? And why?

A few years ago, I entered a Wattpad writing contest for Tim Horton’s “Coldbrew Challenge.” The grand prize was $500, a writing tablet, a $100 gift card, and various Tim’s swag. I wrote a meet-cute flash fiction piece, submitted it, and almost forgot about the contest. A short while later, I found out I’d won! It blew my mind. Someone thought I was a legit writer? Maybe I should take the leap and publish that book I’d been working on…

The second contest I entered was Wattpad and Hilroy’s “Start Writing” contest. The prize for this one was $1000. This time, I felt the pressure of my previous win. The prize money could pay for a lot of gorgeous book covers for my future work. I carefully crafted my flash fiction piece, the topic of which was how I’d been inspired to start writing my first novel, which I’d recently self published. I edited and tweaked and proofread a hundred times until I finally submitted it. Then came the waiting. I checked daily for the results. And I won again! The success gave me the push of confidence I needed to finish my trilogy.

I keep the memory of those two flash fictions in a little treasure chest at the back of my mind. When I feel insecure and afflicted by imposter syndrome, I cherish those contest wins. I may never experience success as a writer again, but I’m glad I have those memories!
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The awesome co-hosts for the September 3 posting of the IWSG are Kim Lajevardi, Natalie Aguirre, Nancy Gideon, and Diedre Knight!

First off, sorry I missed posting for August! Now that the school year is beginning again, things are getting back to normal with more structure in my schedule. I hope that will also mean more writing time for me! I have a book I've been working on that is about 10K words shy of being a completed first draft. I'm really excited about it, but I'm also nervous because this project will break new ground for me in a new genre. The story won't be related to any of my previous work, and I'll likely release it under a new pen name, so I can keep my current name dedicated to purely YA writing.

September 3 question - What are your thoughts on using AI, such as GPChat, Raptor, and others with your writing? Would you use it for research, storybible, or creating outlines\beats? 

I don't use AI for any form of writing or planning. I don't think AI should be used to replace human creativity or art. I use AI solely for research or as a search engine. For example, it is much easier to ask AI for a complete list of already-used superhero names containing the word "Red" than it is to search one name at a time through Google to see if a character name is unique.

​I'm posting a day early so I can say Happy Canada Day! July 1st is Canada's birthday, and the day is extra special to me because I became a Canadian citizen seven years ago today. Above is a photo of my citizenship ceremony. It was outdoors at a national historic site, and we were all eaten alive by mosquitoes, but it was a good day nonetheless! The news crew had their camera pointed right at me during the ceremony, so I couldn't swat at the bugs, LOL.

It makes me happy so see my kids growing up here on the west coast of Canada with so many opportunities and cultures to experience. They love their home as much as I do. I'm so grateful that my family and I get to live in this wonderful, beautiful country...the true north strong and free! The awesome co-hosts for the July 2 posting of the IWSG are Rebecca Douglass, Natalie Aguirre,Cathrina Constantine, and Louise Barbour!

July 2 question - Is there a genre you haven't tried writing in yet that you really want to try? If so, do you plan on trying it? 
Yes, there's another genre I plan to write. I have a first draft that's just over 50% right now. I'm hoping to publish in the fall, fingers crossed. However, I won't release this book under my existing pen name because doing so might alienate my current readers. I've talked about this before on my blog, so I won't go into further detail now.

The awesome co-hosts for the June 4 posting of the IWSG are PJ Colando, Pat Garcia, Kim Lajevardi,  Melisa Maygrove, and Jean Davis!

June 4 question - What were some books that impacted you as a child or young adult? 

"Impacted" is probably understating things. Books were my lifeline as a kid. I grew up in a damp, dark, unfinished basement in the middle of nowhere. There was no cable TV or internet...or bedrooms...or even windows. What was supposed to be a temporary situation while our house was being built over top of the basement turned into years of substandard living conditions. Thank goodness for the public library. Each week, I checked out a big stack of books into which I could escape. I read every Star Wars title they had. My favourite was the Jedi Apprentice series by Jude Watson. It followed young Obi-Wan Kenobi during his time as Qui-Gon's padawan. I also devoured the Young Jedi Knights series by Kevin J Anderson about Han and Leia's children. Those books were so much better than Rey and Kylo! 

I read a lot of fantasy, including Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. I read all of The Babysitters' Club, The Boxcar Children, I Spy, and the Mandy books. When I was old enough that my parents stopped monitoring what I was allowed to read, I jumped into Harry Potter with both feet. Twilight and The Hunger Games were some other faves of mine during my college years. 

I always had a good relationship with books, and I've tried to pass that on to my kids. So far, they love to read. I hope someday they'll want my old copies of Jedi Apprentice! 

The awesome co-hosts for the May 7 posting of the IWSG are Feather Stone, Janet Alcorn, Rebecca Douglass, Jemima Pett, and  Pat Garcia!

May 7 question - Some common fears writers share are rejection, failure, success, and lack of talent or ability. What are your greatest fears as a writer? How do you manage them?

Wait, there are writers who fear success? I fear failure, but success is the dream! I suppose I do fear friends and family reading my books and talking to me about them, so maybe that counts as fear of success. I don't mind strangers picking up my book, but with people I know, I feel the need to warn them off or apologize. 

I fear that any new idea or inspiration might have already been done. I hate it when I get an idea, run with it, and then discover an existing book that is eerily similar. I fear being accused of plagiarism! It's like that old adage: there is nothing new under the sun.

Most of all, I fear that no matter how skilled I become, I won't be able to find readers for my work. Self promotion feels impossible, not to mention expensive! My kids are getting older, so I'll be going back to work soon. My writing time will run out, and if I haven't built a reader base, that will be it for me. This feels like a depressing way to end the post, but then, it's a downer of a topic to begin with. I look forward to seeing everyone else's answers, so I won't feel so alone in my fears! 

​The awesome co-hosts for the April 2 posting of the IWSG are Jennifer Lane, L Diane Wolfe,Jenni Enzor, and  Natalie Aguirre!

April 2 question - What fantasy character would you like to fight, go on a quest with, or have a beer/glass of wine with?

I decided to go with three answers that won’t get me killed. As much fun as Harry Dresden or a dragon would be, I’m sticking to safer choices. 

Fight: Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings
I wouldn’t win, but he’s an honorable guy and wouldn’t kill me. He may even teach me a few sword fighting moves.

Quest: Merry and Pippin from The Lord of the Rings
We wouldn’t get much done, but it would be a good time!

Beer: Hermione from Harry Potter
She’s so knowledgeable, and I’d love to pick her brain on a thousand different topics.

The awesome co-hosts for the March 5 posting of the IWSG are Ronel Janse Van Vuuren, Pat Garcia, and  Liza @ Middle Passages!

I’m doing it! As promised, I’m finally revising my first book. The first chapter was even worse than I recalled, but I’m motoring along now. I’m going to feel so much better when my edits are done, and I can re-release! The next thing on my to-do list is going wide with my books. I’ve had them in Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited program, but I plan to pull them out and list them elsewhere. To do that, I’ll need to purchase actual ISBNs instead of using Amazon’s. This has always been the plan, but it feels daunting. I guess part of me never believed I’d finish the trilogy and get to this point. I hope I can manage it!

March 5 question - If for one day you could be anyone or *thing* in the world, what would it be? Describe, tell why, and any themes, goals, or values they/it inspire in you.

This is a tricky question because the possibilities are so broad. I guess I’d choose to be a large bird so I could fly for a day. Large so nothing would try to eat me! Maybe I’d choose a golden eagle…or a Canadian goose. They can be vicious! I’ve heard them called cobra chickens, which seems an apt name.

​The awesome co-hosts for the February 5 posting of the IWSG are  Joylene Nowell Butler, Louise Barbour, and  Tyrean Martinson!

February 5 question - Is there a story or book you've written you want to/wish you could go back and change?

As I’ve said before, I want to re-edit my first book. I made rookie mistakes, and I know I can do better with the skills I’ve learned in recent years. I still plan to tackle it, but I need to use my old computer with MS Word for consistency. I’m afraid if I use my Mac I’ll accidentally have different formatting. It’s important to me that all fonts, spacing, margins, etc match perfectly with the other books in the trilogy. Using my old dinosaur computer is a pain, so I’ve been procrastinating. I’m in a bit of a transitional phase now. My to do list is: edit book one, try out some paid advertising on my completed trilogy, and then move on to phase two… 

Phase Two
I’m writing something in a new genre that I plan to publish under a new pen name. I don’t think my current readers would be interested in my work in progress, and I wouldn’t want to alienate any of them.  I’m going to go wide this time, not stick to Amazon. I intend to make my own simple covers and publish as ebooks only, no print versions. On that note, does anyone have a recommendation for a graphic design program? I like Canva because it’s free, but there are so many complicated rules about licensing. I don’t want to shell out money for Adobe Illustrator, but I’m looking for something like that where I can make covers from scratch. 

Has anyone ever tried starting over with a new pen name? I’m intimidated by the amount of work it will take, but I don’t want to write YA forever.

The awesome co-hosts for the January 8 posting of the IWSG are Rebecca Douglass, Beth Camp, Liza @ Middle Passages, and  Natalie @ Literary Rambles!

Happy New Year! 
I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays! My new year’s resolutions are to edit and re-release my first book and go wide instead of sticking to Amazon.
Do you have a resolution?

January 8 question - Describe someone you admired when you were a child. Did your opinion of that person change when you grew up?

There were people I loved and respected, but I don’t know that I ever admired any real life person. All my admiration was saved for fictional characters. The one I admired most was Captain Jean Luc Picard. ​Open-minded, brave, and cultured, Picard represented the best of humanity. I wanted to be like him when I grew up. I already knew plenty of Shakespeare, I liked tea (earl grey, hot), and I loved the idea of exploring the universe. Being the captain of a starship…now, that was freedom! My opinion hasn’t changed. My life may look nothing like Picard’s, but inside, I’m still trying to become more like him.