Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m Scottish, but have lived and worked in England since the 1980’s. I’m married, have two children, used to represent Great Britain in taekwondo, danced until I was forty and have degrees in Maths and Psychology and a PhD in Vision Neuroscience. I also have Multiple Sclerosis, which sucks. I’ve written three books to date, all of which I have self-published on amazon. The first, Kat by K L MacRae, is a story of hope, love, violence and revenge which follows an extraordinary period in kick-ass martial artist Kat Farthing’s life. The second and third books, written as Karen MacRae, are the first two parts of a fantasy trilogy following a young White Shaper called Anna as she learns to master her gift and attempts to bring down the greatest threat The Kingdom has faced in centuries.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The latest book is called A Shaper’s Birthright. It’s the follow-on to A Shaper’s Promise. The inspiration behind the series is my friend Ann Clark. Ann dedicated her life to healing others through reiki and reflexology and generally being a wonderful person. She lost her battle with cancer in early 2018 and I was struck with the thought that her early death was almost as if she had taken all her patients’ illnesses into herself. A Shaper’s Promise therefore begins with the death of Anna’s Healer mother thanks to her Healer’s well overflowing with all the pain and poison she has lifted from her patients’ bodies. The other things that inspired the themes in the Shaper books are my friend Ann’s ability to see auras (she’d been able to see them her whole life) plus my Neuroscience background. I decided that auras should be a little like a 3D MRI scan that surrounded every living thing, telling those who could Read them what the person was thinking, feeling and doing as well as how and where everything about them was controlled. Now imagine being able to reach into that aura with your mind and change it however you like… That’s what it is to be an Aura Shaper like Anna.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Other than obsession? Not really. I don’t think so anyway! I write most days, beginning with reading over what I wrote the day before and editing it. It means that some days I don’t seem to get much further forward, but there’s a lot less to do when the manuscript is finished!
What authors, or books have influenced you?
There are too many to mention, but some of my favourites are David Gemmell, Robin Hobb, Anne McCaffrey, Kyle Mills, Don Winslow, Ian Rankin, Robert Crais and R J Ellory. I tend to prefer easy-to-read, escapist fiction to anything deep and meaningful and that’s precisely what I write.
What are you working on now?
I’m about a fifth of the way through the final instalment of the Shaper series. The working title is A Shaper’s Farewell. It’s the book in which Anna and her friends will finally face Nystrieth, the Black Shaper who has taken control of the continent and is heading straight for The Kingdom and its big population of gifted.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m so new to this, I have no idea. Hopefully this one!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
I’d hardly call myself an expert, but I’d recommend starting with the right formatting; checking, checking, checking, checking and checking again for typos before you publish; never using ‘find and replace’ unless you’re certain it’s not going to cause a load of unnecessary work and never forgetting that there are hundreds of thousands of new books published every year so yours is unlikely to make you a fortune!
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Follow your heart and the rest will take care of itself.
What are you reading now?
Just finished a terrible book by a very famous author. It’s depressing how publishers will happily push the same old names despite the quality of work going down the pan 🙁
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’ve got the plots for two new Kat Farthing books more or less ready-to-go so, as soon as Anna and Nystrieth’s war is over, I’ll be delving back into the world of bodyguards, murder-for-hire and revenge. I love the character, Kat, and can’t wait to see what’s in store for her next!
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?
Frederica by Georgette Heyer (my go-to, feel-good book)
Legend by David Gemmell
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
The Last Detective by Robert Crais
No, I can’t do it… there are about a gazillion more I couldn’t do without!
Author Websites and Profiles
Karen MacRae Website
Karen MacRae Amazon Profile
Karen MacRae’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile