Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hello, I’m Elizabeth Knight and I am extremely dyslexic believe it or not. I couldn’t read and comprehend a book until I was in fifth grade after a few years of specialized help. The fact that I can sit here today and tell you that I have written ten books with more coming is crazy!
I never thought I would be an author or that it would be my full-time job. I went to school for cosmetology and it was a great fit for me over the years. then I lost my job and was stuck at home for months as I tried to find a new one. This led me to find some way to keep from going insane without a purpose. So I started to write this story that was playing like a movie in my brain and wouldn’t leave me alone. Low and behold I wrote a YA series and shared it to Wattpad and found that people actually like it!
I didn’t pursue anything with it until a few years later and a lot of people asking when they could buy my book. So I tried and failed to launch this series but I didn’t let it stop me, I learned a lot of what to do and what not to do. All valuable lessons like in any new endevor.
Fast forward to this last year once again I was trapped in my house unable to work. I had kept writing but didn’t really share with anyone other than my best friend and family. I will forever thank my bestie for giving me the kick out of the nest I needed to try and publish again. I chose a new genre- reverse harem – instead of YA and this time something magical happened… it worked! So from there I just went for it letting my ideas flow and now I have five series I’m writing, new amazing friends and a full time job!
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is title Defending Hope. It is the third book in my Hope series with one more to go before it’s finished.
This series is actually a lot of fun to talk about because it about werewolves, protective alpha men, and a strong alpha female who doesn’t take crap from anyone. Somewere along my journey I had written the first two chapters of this story and left it to chill in my work in progress folder. I was cleaning things up looking for something else and I re-read the chapters and remembered how much I loved the idea.
Now I was taking myself on a writing retreat just to clear my head and get out of my own space for a bit. As I drove that evening to my destination a gorgeous harvest moon sat in the sky and I watched it the whole two-hour drive. What could be more perfect to get you set up to write a shifter book?! So once I got to where I was going for the weekend I pretty much wrote the whole story those four days.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think it’s that unusual but others tell me I’m crazy. I write more than one book at a time. It keeps me from getting writer’s block, if I get stuck or frustrated on one book then I switch to another. It clears the brain and puts me working with a whole new set of characters and places.
Another thing is that I hardly plot things out. I have a beginning, middle, and end…the only thing that stays the same is the beginning. People always ask how many books will be in a series and I never know what to tell them because I don’t have a clue!
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Oh man, this is going to be a list! alright, I will stick with the authors that I don’t even read what the books about I just buy it…in paperback so I can have it forever.
Robin McKinley- Hero and the Crown, Blue Sword same world duet is one that I could read forever.
Ann McCaffery – Dragon Rider’s of Pern series both adult and YA are just amazing and the world she created is something I want to do someday.
Patricia Briggs – Just read her stuff you will never regret it!
What are you working on now?
That is a trick question I am always working on something. I typically give myself two months to have a book written and ready to go for sale. I know I’m crazy and have way too many stories in my head that demand to come out.
At this very moment, I am working on two books: Stroke of Luck – the third book in a series that I am writing with three of my best author friends. It’s a story about best friends that go to downtown Chicago for St. Patrick’s day and the chaos and shenanigans that happen.
The other is the second book in my Mercenary Queen series – Dragon Queen. This is a series about a woman who has been forced to live her life according to other people’s demands. When she gets the chance to break free from that she finds out her destiny is much more than she could have imagined…
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am very active on social media. Facebook is by far the best place I have found to keep in touch with my readers. Instagram is also another place I find that’s helpful to share snippets of what I’m working on and share teasers and trailers of upcoming books.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes I do! I love to take new authors under my wing because the thing you need most is to find your tribe!
I know not what you were thinking but when you have a group of people in the same boat you are or even further along it will change everything. When you need to bounce ideas off someone, talk you off the ledge of deleting everything you’ve written that day, or just to make you laugh. Family and friends are wonderful but as authors, our brains work differently and the problems we face they won’t really understand the same way another author would.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
You are not a pizza you can’t make everyone happy so don’t try. Stick with what you love and those that love it too will find you.
What are you reading now?
I am working through Phoenix Rising series by Harper Wylde & Quinn Arthurs
What’s next for you as a writer?
My goal is once I get a few complete series under my belt and I don’t need to release so quickly I would love to set up a new author coaching business. To help guild people through the twists and turn of editors, covers, advertising, those things that are so overwhelming when you first start
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
That is just mean!
Okay, I would bring:
The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley
Lola and the Millionaires 1 & 2 by Kathine Moon
Hawksong by Amelia Atwater-Roades
Author Websites and Profiles
Elizabeth Knight Amazon Profile
Elizabeth Knight’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile