Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Since childhood I’ve been an artist and worked as a graphic designer in the corporate world and for newspapers for twenty-three years before I quit to write full time. But I’d already begun writing novels at 21, over forty-two years ago now, and have had twenty (ten romantic horror, two horror novels, two romantic SF horror, one romantic suspense, one romantic time travel, one historical romance and three murder mysteries) previous novels, two novellas and twelve short stories published from Zebra Books, Leisure Books, Avalon Books, The Wild Rose Press, Damnation Books/Eternal Press; and I’ve self-published my last five novels with Amazon Kindle Direct and my dinosaur novels are my best-sellers.
I’ve been married to Russell for thirty-six years; have a son, James, and two grandchildren, Joshua and Caitlyn, and I live in a small quaint town in Illinois, which is right across the JB Bridge from St. Louis, Mo. We have three quirky cats, ghost cat Sasha, live cats Cleo and Sasha (Too), and the five of us live happily in an old house in the heart of town. Though I’ve been an artist, and a folk singer in my youth with my brother Jim, writing has always been my greatest passion, my butterfly stage, and I’ll probably write stories until the day I die…or until my memory goes.
2012 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for my horror novel The Last Vampire-Revised Author’s Edition ~ 2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for her thriller novel Dinosaur Lake
*All her Audible.com audio books here:
http://www.audible.com/search/ref=a_mn_at_ano_tseft__galileo?advsearchKeywords=Kathryn+Meyer+Griffith&x=17&y=16
Novels and short stories from Kathryn Meyer Griffith:
Evil Stalks the Night, The Heart of the Rose, Blood Forge, Vampire Blood, The Last Vampire,
Witches, The Nameless One short story, The Calling, All Things Slip Away, Egyptian Heart,
Winter’s Journey, The Ice Bridge, Don’t Look Back, Agnes, Before the End: A Time of Demons, The Woman in Crimson, Human No Longer, Four Spooky Short Stories Collection, Scraps of Paper, Dinosaur Lake, Dinosaur Lake II: Dinosaurs Arising
My Websites:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kathryn-Meyer-Griffith/579206748758534
http://www.authorsden.com/kathrynmeyergriffith
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/889499.Kathryn_Meyer_Griffith
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What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Dinosaur Lake II: Dinosaurs Arising
It’s a sequel to a thriller, Dinosaur Lake, I actually wrote over 20 years ago and two years ago revised, updated and self-published…my first ever self-published novel after 15 traditionally published with different publishers over the years since 1984. Now I have 6 self-published novels plus thos 15 and almost all 21 are now in Audible audio books.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
No. I like to write on my laptop on my sofa watching TV and with a cup of my homemade chocolate coffee besides me. Not so weird, huh?
What authors, or books have influenced you?
The classic horror authors like Anne Rice, Dan Simmons, Stephen King and Dean Koontz. I also like Joe Hill, his writing reminds me of his father’s. Lately, though, I can’t seem to find any new horror writers I really love, but I’ll keep looking. I like the traditional horror where it’s the story and the characters that count, and believable motivation for what they do or don’t do…not profanity, graphic gore or sex. And I want excellent writing. Writers break the rules if you must, but keep me interested enough to continue reading.
What are you working on now?
I’ve began the second sequel to my 2014 Epic EBook Awards *Finalist* novel Dinosaur Lake and Dinosaur Lake II: Dinosaurs Arising, Dinosaur lake III: Infestation and I just self-published my revised sequel to my murder mystery Scraps of Paper, All Things Slip Away , with a stunning new cover by Dawne Dominique. After that I plan on finishing (I wrote half of it eight years ago but set it aside) the long awaited sequel to my 1994 Witches and the second in my BEFORE THE END series, A Time of Demons (now also an audio book with a great narrator! at Audible.com). After those more horror novels and stories. If I have the time left.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Giving my Kindle eBooks away free on Amazon and posting about them all over Facebook and Goodreads and all my writer/reader loops.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
First, you’ve got to love the genre you write in. I’ve always been crazy about the supernatural…ghosts, vampires, the dark side of human nature, good versus evil, the end of the world stuff. Stories that scare me but also have the best of human nature in them along with the bad. Truth is, most of my books combine many genres: adventure, paranormal, suspense, horror, mystery and romance. My actual genre is a mutt genre. Publishers still don’t know how to label me. I was known as a horror writer in the beginning but in the last 40 years I’ve written and published many genres. The only thing I don’t write is the formulated historical romances or explicit erotic novels. Not into those at all.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Keep writing, never give up…AND DON’T READ YOUR OWN REVIEWS, ha, ha.
What are you reading now?
A few spooky novels on my Kindle by Indie authors…
What’s next for you as a writer?
I want to finish up the last two of my 20 audio books (I’ve been doing them through ACX the last year and a half) and then to write another novel. And after writing for traditional publishers for over 30 years, I want to keep self-publishing and learn more about it and how best to promote myself. Next year I begin getting 15 of my previously published novels from my publisher and will self-publish each one. Lots of promotion.
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?
The Bible
A book by Ray Bradbury
Three books by Stephen King
Author Websites and Profiles
Kathryn Meyer Griffith Website
Kathryn Meyer Griffith Amazon Profile
Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile