Interview With Author Kit Mackenzie
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve always been an artist, and writing came to me when my children were very young. I have written many anecdotal articles and had them published in local and national newspapers & magazines. I’ve written a trilogy. Alias Jeannie Delaney began after my children were born and has kept going on and off ever since. Thirty plus years later I had completed the life story of my female hero and the one novel turned into a trilogy.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Alias Jeannie Delaney – Book 1 – Go West, Girl! is an epic western spanning forty five years of my protagonist’s life, beginning with her birth in New Orleans in 1865 and ending in Wyoming in 1910.
I’ve always been fascinated in the wild west, particularly by the women who took on male roles and thrived. I grew frustrated with TV westerns and western books because women were invariably portrayed as martyrs, wallflowers or victims. I wanted to write the novel I had always wanted to read, and I have! The first of the trilogy has been published on Amazon and has had good sales. I’m working on promoting it and I’ll soon be starting work on the second novel.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
None that I can think of, but I have been called pleasantly eccentric and I’ll take that happily!
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I read many novels when I was younger, and Daphne Du Maurier was my favourite. I’ve since read and enjoyed many others, and have looked at their writing styles while writing Jeannie’s story.
What are you working on now?
Promoting my first novel.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
As an artist, I’ve created my own promotional material on graphic apps such as Canva and BeFunky and I’m writing blog posts. Much of this goes onto Facebook, but I also share on most social media platforms. I post to my Facebook pages most days if I can, updating my readers on the work I’m doing.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep at it. If you really mean to publish a novel, just keep going. It’s hard but it could be worth it. Read, read, read. Anything and everything! The more you write, the better you will become.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
All the above.
What are you reading now?
Blogs galore. I’m subscribed to many, particularly creative art ones.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Keep promoting, work on the next two novels, and become rich and famous. Just kidding! But I seriously want to make as much of this as I can because I think I’m capable and know I have the perseverance and hug support of my family and friends.
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?
Non fiction. Paranormal (ghosts fascinate me), & art inspiration books.
Author Websites and Profiles
Kit Mackenzie’s Social Media Links