Interview With Author Maggie Kirton
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve written far too many books to count. Many of them sit silent and ignored in 3 tall filing cabinets. I’ve published a 2-book Memoir, a 4-Book Fantasy series, a disturbing Horror novella, many Short Stories, Poetry, etc. The list is endless. Not everything I’ve written has earned the right to be published. That’s a tidbit of wisdom every author should know and accept.
Regarding talking about myself, that’s difficult for me to do…
I’m a happy and content wife, a mother, a sister, an aunt, a grandmother, a daughter, and a friend. My immediate world is an 8×8 office with a desk, a computer, and far to many craft items which I use when I’m working out a plot or simply need a break. I enjoy painting, beading, sewing, working with leather, gardening, working with wood, and creating things with cement. I enjoy helping other authors achieve their dreams. I’m a child-abuse advocate.
However, I am a writer first and and foremost.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Sagaman Kessler 4-Book Fantasy Series, based on a single storyline. It was inspired buy a previous version of a children’s book I wrote whose narrator is ‘The Keeper of the Word’ and ‘Guardian of the White Forest’ — he is a turtle. I’m unsure how or when the switch was made, but obviously at some point Sagaman Kessler was born as a high fantasy novel.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes, I have writing habits! I like to write by candlelight and by hand with a ballpoint pen in a notebook. I’ve experienced writer’s cramp that worked its way clear up into my shoulder. In those early days, my writing was horrid, unreadable, and no publisher would touch it — but I was learning my craft at the time which made it all worth while. Today I use a keyboard and although the words come into my mind faster than I can type them out, I still burn a candle to stay grateful by remembering that it all began as a dream when I was only 3 years old.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
In order of preference, Gibran, Twain, Dickens, Tolkien, Homer, Bronte, Tolstoy, Austen.
Fairytales written by the Brothers Grimm were the reason I write-their words were the seeds which fertilized the dream.
All the rest I’ve mentioned are those who kept the dream alive.
What are you working on now?
I enjoy writing in different genres. I’m currently working on two books, the original children’s book mentioned above, and a psychological thriller.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
The Book Khaleesi.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
My advice to new authors is to read the books written by those who created sharp corners and wild curves on the narrow and less-travelled path of Literary Excellence. Read the Masters’ works and then read them again. And again. Discover what they did to change the landscape of creative writing. They all have one thing in common which can easily be applied to any genre: they broke the rules.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I’ve ever heard came from my Grandfather. I read a poem I’d written to him when I was seven or eight years old. He cried when I finished reading it. He pulled me onto his lap and he made me promise to never stop writing. I took his advice and here I am.
What are you reading now?
The Chronicles of Aveline by Ken Fry.
What’s next for you as a writer?
What’s next? I don’t think it will be any different that what it is now. I’m a writer. I will continue writing.
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?
If I was stranded on a desert island I would bring 4 of the biggest, thickest, 100k-pages-per-notebook available on planet earth. If I’m not permitted to bring ink, I will improvise and find a way to fill every single empty space between the covers of those notebooks with the sound of my words. When I run out of empty pages, I will enjoy writing words in the sand along the beach.
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