Inside the Mind of an Author
by Kat H. Clayton
If you had the opportunity to look into the mind of an author, what would you expect to find? What if I told you that an author’s mind was like a crystal ball and you could peer into its inner workings? If you were to ask for a glimpse, I think you might be scared of what you would see or at least be perplexed. But then again, that probably wouldn’t just apply to just an author’s mind. There’s good reason for why mind reading is something that only exists on the pages of a paranormal or science fiction novel.
I really couldn’t tell you what you would find inside the mind of any author you choose (note the whole mind reading thing again), but I can give you a glimpse into what you might find in mine.
If you didn’t know who I was, but someone handed you that crystal ball I mentioned a moment ago and said that it would allow you to see what’s going on in my brain, you would probably be terrified by what you would see. It would most likely reveal images of how to kill a person or how to almost kill a person, but bring them back from the brink of death. It also might show you images of a high speed chase or two as well. Without knowing who I was, you would likely conclude I’m a serial killer or at the very least a psychopath, drop the ball and run for your life. You wouldn’t have been so terrified if, before you had peered into that magical ball, that someone explained that I am a mystery writer. Then all the crazy images would make sense. You would sigh in relief knowing I wasn’t a maniac and that thinking of ways to kill off characters comes with the job description.
Inside my mind, I’m always turning over new ideas of how, when and what character isn’t going to make it to the next book. I’m also constantly churning ideas of where to put clues for my characters to find and what revelations to create next to keep my readers guessing the whole time. I’m a “pantser” (I write by the seat of my pants) and I don’t outline, so my writing thought process is from moment to moment, jumping from one thing to another without really thinking about what happens next beforehand.
These thought processes never really stop in my brain, so no matter if you pick up my crystal ball while I’m doing laundry, reading another novel, swimming or driving, I’ll be turning over some sort of scene and trying to logically work it out in my brain. For this author, the thought processes of my story never stop (except maybe when I’m asleep, but sometimes even then I dream about it), but you can rest assured that not all of them involve killing off characters.
The first book in The Kings of Charleston Series.
Casper Whitley is forced to move to Charleston, South Carolina where she’ll be the new kid her senior year of high school. Casper’s upset about the move until she meets the Roman family’s gorgeous son, Cal, but there’s a problem. A mystery surrounds him which can be summed up in one word…Kythera. Never heard of it? Neither has Casper until she finds the word tattooed on cars, paintings and all her new friends.
After Casper’s life is threatened, someone is forced to tell the truth about her parents, the Romans and Kythera’s motives for her being in Charleston. Once the truth is revealed, she must decide whether to protect her family and Kythera’s secrets or walk away from everything she has ever known.
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Genre – YA / Mystery / Suspense
Rating – PG13 (No sex scenes, some violence)
More details about the author
Connect with Kat H Clayton on Facebook & Twitter
Website http://kathclayton.com/
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