Kate Marie Robbins, a newly published author has joined us for the 6:30 p.m. spot. She has just published her first novel, which is a milestone in any author’s life. It sets the tone for anything else you write and it is a very exciting yet turbulent time. I want to wish Kate all of the success she can handle and thank her for participating!
Title: Indigo (Book 1 of the Indigo trilogy)
Author: Kate Marie Robbins
Genre: Fantasy
Blog: http://indigo-the-novel.tumblr.com/
Social Media connections:
e-mail: novakfan21@gmail.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/novakfan21
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/indigo.the.novel
Release Date: Tentatively set for the end of May.
Where to buy: When released, it will be on Amazon
Other Work: Two short stories: Cinder, and Flesh & Soul. Neither have been released yet.
Please provide a snippet from your most recently released book.
From Indigo:
“I don’t expect you to say anything. I just thought that you should know. No, that isn’t why I chose to help you. You needed help. I wasn’t about to let a fellow guard be punished because he doesn’t have a mind for battle strategy. I don’t expect anything in return from you. It’s enough knowing that my ideas will be used to keep us all safe from the Dark Warriors.” She turned away, to hide the fact that she was blushing. “It is getting late,” she continued, once she had regained her composure. “We both need to get some sleep, especially you.”
“Yes, of course.” Stupid, stupid, stupid. You cannot leave things like this. Do not walk out of this room without telling her the truth. I had to do it. After all she had done for me, all she was risking for me. I couldn’t lie to her. I just couldn’t. Could I?
I finished my wine, and stood, frozen in place. Somehow, I forced one foot in front of the other, moving towards her. She looked at me, nervous, confused. I don’t think she knew what to say or do at that point.
I pulled her into my arms, holding her gently. I swept the hair away from her eyes, her gorgeous wisteria eyes, and placed it behind her ears. I leaned in slowly, and kissed her, feeling her lips pressed softly against mine. They lingered there, as long as I dared. “You’re not the only one with secrets. Once this is all over with, I fully intend to marry you. To hell with what anyone thinks or says. That is, if you’ll have me.” It left her breathless.
I tried to pull away from her, knowing that I needed to go. I would need to sleep. She held onto me and wouldn’t let go. “Stay,” she pleaded.
Who was I to tell her no?
Mini Interview:
1 When did you first start writing? I started writing poetry at the age of 13. Indigo is my first novel.
2 Did you always want to be a writer? If not what did you want to be? I didn’t. For a long time I wanted to be a forensic psychologist. I actually went to college and got my bachelor’s degree in psychology, but upon finishing, I just wasn’t feeling it anymore. One day I heard a song and the story idea for Indigo just clicked. After that, I couldn’t see myself doing anything else.
3 What genre do you prefer to work within? Or do you mix it up? I dabble a bit in a few genres. Mainly fantasy and science fiction though.
4 Where does your inspiration for these stories (this story) come from? The story idea for the Indigo trilogy sparked from a song, like I mentioned in question 2. That song is “Hot Air Balloon” by Owl City. The opening lines of the song are: “We wrote a prelude to our own fairytale, and bought a parachute at a church rummage sale, and with a mean sewing machine and miles of thread, we sewed the day above L.A. in navy and red, we round the racetrack through your mom’s kitchen chairs, and fought the shadows back down your dark basement stairs, I lit a match and let it catch to light up the room, and then you yelled as we beheld an old maroon hot air balloon.” I thought it would make for an intriguing take on a fairytale, which is what I originally intended for Indigo. It was to be a children’s fairytale, but as I started writing, it progressed into something deeper and more intricate.
6 Do you have a certain routine you have for writing? i.e. You listen to music, sit in a certain chair? I don’t have a routine, other than as soon as I get an idea, I write it down immediately. Even if it’s just fleeting, maybe someday I’ll be able to put it to good use. I do tend to listen to music when I write, but I tend to listen to music all the time.
7 How do you come up with characters names and place names in your books? Most of my character names came from baby name websites. All of the place names came from color names, going along with the theme.
8 In your most recent work, who is your favorite character and why? My favorite character would have to be Ava, mostly because I can see so much of me in her. It wasn’t actually intentional, it just kind of happened.
9 Did you learn anything from writing your book? What was it? I learned to believe in myself. That you can pretty much accomplish anything, if you set your mind to it.
10 How did you/do you market your work? Mainly on facebook. I started out sharing it with my friends and around some of the book pages, and things progressed from there.
11 Favorite authors? L.A. Meyer, C.S. Lewis, Lewis Carroll, J.R.R. Tolkien, Bruce Coville, Franz Kafka, Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Lewis Stevenson. I’m a huge fan of the classics, obviously.
12 Have you ever suffered from a “writer’s block”? What did you do to get past the “block”? Yes, I have, many, many times. What seems to work for me is sitting down and having a chat with my youngest brother. I just start talking, trying to work things out verbally. He usually has suggestions for me. Sometimes not, but just vocalizing what is going on in the book usually helps me work out the details of what should come next.
13 What piece of advice would you give to a new writer? Just start writing, let it all come pouring out. The first draft doesn’t need to be perfect; it just needs to be written. (I read that quote somewhere, and it stuck with me.)
14 Are you working on anything new? If so, can you tell me about it? Once I finish Indigo, I’ll be working on a collection of poetry (yet to be named), as well as a science fiction novel called Distorted Reality, a murder/revenge story (also yet to be named), and of course, book two of the Indigo trilogy, called Roisin.
Tracee Ford 