Moira Katson

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a transplant to Minnesota from rural Massachusetts, and I live at the edge of a
(sadly non-enchanted) forest with my husband, toddler, and two rescue
German Shepherd mixes. From childhood through college and some tough
times in early adulthood, I’ve been remarkably lucky in the communities I
found, and in the friends and family who encouraged me to shoot for the stars.
Now I have my writing, ScribeCount, and too many side hustles to name!
Between my pen names and my ghostwriting, I’ve written about 50 books. I’ve
actually lost count (plus, it depends if you think novellas count).

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
A Sundered Throne is the manuscript I’ve most recently worked on, about a fantasy world
trying desperately to end the various wars and spats between human factions
before an otherworldly invasion gets underway. I don’t think there was any
specific inspiration – it was actually the combination of two different story
ideas, both of which I had played with in different configurations on their own.
It really took on a life of its own, and it has been pushing my writing skill to the
limit. One of my favorite things about it, I think, is that it’s serious and has a
very epic scope, but I really leaned into some of the ridiculous humor of people
being people, having imposter syndrome and wondering if they’re doing the
right thing, all of that.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I tend to write my blurbs before
even the outline. One of my most frustrating author moments was struggling
mightily with the blurb for my first book and realizing, after all of the writing,
that the blurb was so difficult because the book itself was fundamentally flawed
in the arc. Not only do I not want that to happen again, it’s actually way easier,

for me, to write the blurb first and then build up the backstory than it is to
distill an entire book into a blurb.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
I would say the big ones are Madeleine L’Engle, Tamora Pierce, Patricia C. Wrede, Robin McKinley, Cyteen by CJ Cherryh, The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, and the Tiexcalaan series by Arkady Martine

What are you working on now?
Actively, I’m working on 3 series – Sundering
and Light & Shadow under Moira Katson, and the Dragon Corps under Natalie
Grey. I’ll be finishing up Natalie’s Shadows of Magic series next year as well. I
also do ghostwriting, and I’m on the founding team at ScribeCount, which
helps authors see their daily sales without going to a bunch of sites
individually. I continually try to work on just one thing at a time, but—as you
can tell—I’ve never quite gotten the hang of that.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I wish I knew! Marketing really flusters me. I’m trying to get better at it, so that’s probably a major project on deck. So far, I’m just getting more comfortable being myself when interacting with readers (like a lot of writers, I’m quite the introvert).

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Try lots of things, then take stock frequently and be honest and courageous with yourself about figuring out what success looks like to you. Maybe you adore your day job and want to keep it, maybe you crave the challenge of writing to market, maybe you want to push the boundaries of writing voice – there are so many definitions and all of them are good! The most miserable time for me in writing was when I was trying to attain a version of success I didn’t actually want. I burned myself out hard. Still, that experience gave me practice writing and helped steer me toward my own idea of success, so it’s not all bad!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
After we put in an offer on our first house, I called my parents in a panic (it was more money than I had ever spent on anything before) and asked, “What if I’ve made a terrible mistake?” My father thought about it for a moment and then said, “Well, if it’s a mistake, you’ll fix it.” That perspective shift has helped me through an awful lot of situations since.

What are you reading now?
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir for fiction (unexpectedly, delightfully, and wickedly funny), and Memory and Mediterranean by Fernand Braudel for non-fiction.

What’s next for you as a writer?
I have no idea! And by that I mean, I have enough books on deck to last me through the end of 2024 in writing and sometime in 2026 in publishing, and that’s if I only work on my own things. But I know that other ideas or projects might come up, and I’m trying to be open to that.

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 Devil in Music, Kate Ross; A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson, A Desolation Called Peace, Arkady Martine; Beauty, Robin McKinley

Author Websites and Profiles
Moira Katson Website
Moira Katson Amazon Profile

Moira Katson’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

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