Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m drawn to creating things as a way to sort of push back the darkness, so my house is littered with various creative endeavors: journals of conlangs and worldbuilding sketches, strings and beads and jewelry making supplies, paints and books and various musical instruments that I can nominally play if your expectations are low. I train animals and adore reptiles, and I enjoy hiking and playing Capoeira when I’m not writing. Ever since I was little I’ve been a storyteller, telling awful passive-aggressive bedtime stories to my older sister, writing a historical fiction serial in the high school newspaper, writing terrible fan fiction, etc. I’ve been serious about my writing for about seven years now, and my writing has grown by leaps and bounds as I’ve averaged a bit over 100k in stories through those seven years while learning to embrace my own style and to succeed at self-editing and editing from critiques and other feedbacks. I’m part of several writing groups, and am also a Writer In Motion. I’ve written 13 books over 50k in word count, but many of them are unedited and will remain so until I go back to pick them up again.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Windward is my debut, and the only book I have out right now. I wrote it as a break from my epic fantasy series, channeling some Indiana Jones and some Pern.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write pretty much anywhere and everywhere, eking out my writing time in between work and family.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I grew up devouring the Ender’s Game series, Andre Norton, Ursula K LeGuin, Foundation, and of course The Lord of the Rings etc. Since then, I’ve been influenced by Robin Hobb, NK Jemisin, Michael J Sullivan, and Brandon Sanderson.
What are you working on now?
My current WIP that I’m drafting is going by the working title “Songs of Fire, Songs of Water”. It’s the fourth in an epic fantasy five book series, and I wanted to bring the focus in on one of the characters. I’m not sure if I’ll keep the name or not for publication.
I’m also editing the first of the series yet again. I’ve been working on this story for so long I’m not even sure where the inspiration came from though it does play a lot with ideas familiar to Ender’s Game and Babylon 5, just in a fantasy setting, on an island, with Stone Age technology.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m pretty active on Twitter and I’m looking to slowly grow my reader base through interaction, organically.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write your heart out. Pour yourself onto the page and don’t worry about it during the drafting stage. If it didn’t come out right the first time, you can always fix it in editing. But you have to get the words out first.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
No emotion in the writer, no emotion in the reader.
What are you reading now?
I actually just finished The Dispossessed by Ursula K LeGuin, and I really enjoyed it. It was like going back to my roots.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Finish Book Four, and then draft Book Five in November for Nanowrimo, all while finishing edits for this final polishing round for the first book in the series.
Author Websites and Profiles
S. Kaeth Website
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