I would like to introduce you to the lovely, friendly and incredibly talented Kelly Anne Blount if you haven't come across Kelly on Wattpad yet, where have you been hiding?
Kelly is a USA Today and Amazon Bestselling Author, Wattpad Star, Wattpad Ambassador and last but not least HOST OF THE WATTPAD BLOCK PARTY. Yay yay yay
Kelly lives I believe in Asheville, North Carolina and is the bestselling author of Captured, Shade, Under, Grishma, Ayla, Impassioned, The Dentist and Other Terrifying Short Tales (in progress), Order of the Mist (in progress), and Solutus (in progress).
Thank you for kindly agreeing to undertake this interview. Welcome to my Beach Hut Café. I'm sorry for the mess, it's currently undergoing a refit so I can fit a pool table in. Let's get ourselves comfortable as we settle down in our virtual café in our comfy chairs. Now I'll order.
What are we drinking? Coffee? Tea? Or a glass of wine? Or are we going for champagne to celebrate your recent book Under being optioned? Would you like a cake or pastry? If so, which cake is your favourite? - Is there a memory attached to it that you would like to share?
Reply: Hey! I'm super excited to be here right now! I think a glass of champagne sounds wonderful! Cheers! ☺ Ooh... I love German Chocolate Cake as a very special treat! My mom makes it for me on my birthday! YUM!
Sounds delicious. I'll have some too.
Kelly's book Captured has been optioned as a film and very recently, she also shared the news that the Komixx Media Group has optioned her thriller/horror novel Under for film/TV.
Wow, this is amazing. How exciting. Are you able to divulge the up to date position, as I know I am personally dying to know? Can you disclose if these or any of your other books are going to be a Wattpad Studios Film production?
Reply: Thank you so much! I keep pinching myself! I feel so blessed and just incredibly grateful! Specific details are not quite ready to share yet, but I'll definitely let everyone on Wattpad know as soon as they are ready! ☺ My book CAPTURED has also been optioned. The talented Rami Rank, who also optioned AprylBaker7's series, THE GHOST FILES, has optioned CAPTURED. I'd love to work with Wattpad Studios in the future! Aron is so incredibly talented and knowledgeable, it would be a dream come true to work with Wattpad Studios.
I was just wondering Kelly, do you still reside in the same area; as you recently mentioned you were moving and packing boxes. Have you upped sticks and if so are you still surrounded by crates and brown cardboard? It's always a bit chaotic isn't it when you first move house?
Reply: We have officially moved into our new house! YAY! *insert happy dance* Not going to lie, I hate packing and unpacking, so I still do have loads of boxes around. My husband HATES all of the boxes filled with random stuff. LOL! Poor guy! Good thing he loves me so much! ☺ ☺ ☺ We also helped my mother-in-law and father-in-law move this past weekend. I'm pretty sore and tired, so I think that gives me a few more weeks before I need to unpack the rest of my boxes, right? ;)
How did you discover Wattpad and what made you post your story here rather than somewhere else?
Reply: I found Wattpad thanks to my amazing friend Apryl Baker (AprylBaker7)! After checking out the website, I immediately signed up and started writing CAPTURED. I shared each chapter after I finished writing it. The feedback and support from readers and fans was so incredible, once I started posting, I never looked back! ☺ Seriously, I love all things Wattpad!
Now you often mention on Twitter your lovely rescue fur balls. I love pets, particularly cats and dogs. My cat is very spoilt. Now, I want to know all about them. Dogs or cats? What do they resemble? Are they more like Gremlins or are they a couple of teddy bears? What mischief do they get up to? I would love to know their names? I want to go ahhhhhh.
Reply: YAY! I love my fur babies so much! They are all so sweet! Seriously! So, we first adopted Cookie and Biscuit, we call them "The Elders."
Biscuit loves his Mommy (me) more than anyone in the whole wide world! ☺
Cookie equally loves her Mommy and Daddy.
Then, we adopted Rooney (named after Wayne Rooney, the Manchester United football player), he's a lab Spitz mix and a complete love bug! We trained him to be a therapy dog and I used to take him to a school for children with autism once a week to hang out with the kids, listen to them as they read him stories, etc.
Then we have Biggie and Itty Bit. They are the babies! Biggie straight up imprinted on my husband, like Twilight style. He loves him so much!
Then there's Itty Bit. He is just the most adorable little guy around! He's super photogenic, but not necessarily the smartest, which just makes him even cuter. Itty Bit imprinted on Rooney and loves to have his ears cleaned by Rooney. It's adorable!
So if I sneak them out to my house, you would probably notice and miss them!
Reply: It would be on like Donkey Kong!
Do the fur babies rule your house? Or is there an adult in charge?
Reply: Is that even a question? LOL! Of course they rule the house!
It sounds so romantic the way you describe your husband as the love of your life and marrying "in a beautiful ceremony on the Caribbean Sea". It touched my heart when I read that. What is the most romantic thing you have done as a couple or would like to do, that you are willing to share?
Reply: Aw! Thank you! That's really sweet! ☺ He is an absolutely amazing husband! The most romantic thing we've done? Honestly, this is a super real moment... Before we got married, actually, before we got engaged, my appendix started to burst while I was at school (I taught first grade in the Cayman Islands).
Lee rushed from work to come pick me up and immediately brought me to the doctor. A few hours later, I was having an emergency appendectomy (removal of my appendix). I was in the hospital for two days and Lee never left my side. He slept in a little chair beside my bed, helped me in and out of bed, he even washed my face with a wash cloth when I was in too much pain to do so. It might sound strange, but it was so sweet and romantic, I just couldn't ask for anyone sweeter!
Also, getting married on the Caribbean Sea was pretty darn romantic too! ;)
I am sure you have must have scared the hell out of your husband at the time and how wonderful that he really was there for you in every way. Your wedding sounds pretty amazing. What a memory. Movie stuff.
Reply: Aw! Thank you! Crazy thing is, a short time later, my gallbladder broke and he had to take care of me all over again. He was super sweet again! ☺
Wow. Your husband is such a hero!
What inspired you to write your first book and how did it feel when you got to the last chapter? Does it still feel incredible every time you write the last page of a novel?
Reply: I have always loved to read and write. After finishing Amanda Hocking's Trylle Trilogy and reading all about her, I thought, you know what? I can do this! I started writing, joined a critique group, and finished GRISHMA six months later.
The end of writing a book is always emotional. It's exciting, it's sad, it's a moment of complete pride. Honestly, it's all of the above!
How did you feel the first time you saw your published book in the shop window? Was it the ultimate high? Did you have to pinch yourself? As I know personally, even in this digital age that would be the pinnacle.
Reply: Seeing your book anywhere, online, in a store, on someone's Kindle, it's an unreal feeling! Writing a book is a huge accomplishment and it's a really fantastic moment seeing your book anywhere! ☺
You currently state on your profile that two of your books are "in process". So does that mean you have several books on the boil at various stages simmering on the stove? I was just a little curious as to the method in which you work?
Reply: I have a few books in progress. Sometimes I only focus on one book at a time, while at other times, I write multiple books at once. ☺
You appear to have found your publisher in quite an unusual way by networking another author via twitter and then getting a 3 book deal? I was very surprised that you found a publisher yourself rather than publishers finding you via Wattpad with your large readership and following. Is that a naïve thought? What is your advice generally to new writers in this regard?
Reply: Limitless is an amazing publisher! I signed my first book deal with them very early in my career and before I joined Wattpad. Since joining Wattpad, I have had other publishers reach out to me/my agent. I'm excited to see what the future holds and submit three additional books to Limitless for publication! ☺
Would you say it is very naïve to expect writing to financially support you adequately unless you have several books over a number of years selling in significant numbers and the reality is that most writers have full or part time jobs running consecutively along side their writing careers in order to have financial stability. Do you believe that only the minority of writers has lucrative financial rewards from writing such as Stephen King, who has had incredible book sales and had many of his books made into films.
Reply: I think anything is possible! A lot of hard work, dedication to improving your craft, and a bit of luck can help anyone's dreams of becoming a full time writer with a good income can come true!
If I could grant you three wishes, what would they be and why?
Reply:
1) To end all pain and suffering in the world.
2) To hit the New York Times Bestsellers List.
3) To be able to make unlimited wishes! ;)
Do you know what inspired you to write, that makes you want to keep writing and continues to drive you do so?
Reply: I just love the feeling of creating new worlds, characters people love to love or love to hate, and pretty much everything else about writing inspires me and drives me to continue! ☺
What is the best writing advice you can give to aspiring writers?
Reply: These are my top four tips for aspiring writers:
1) Join Wattpad.
2) Join a critique group.
3) Write and write often.
4) Read all of the time, especially books in the genre in which you write.
Is there something crazy you have always wanted to do, that's on your bucket list that you are willing to share?
Reply: I have lived in three different countries and in three states in the USA. That said, I haven't been to Australia and I'd love to visit that amazing country!
What quirky things do you do that will make me smile and you are willing to share? Go on, go for it! I'll tell you mine - I promise!
Reply: Hmmm... I have all kinds of quirky things going on! LOL! One to share... one to share... How about this, I write horror/dark thrillers, yet I'm scared of the dark, things that go bump in the night, and pretty much all other scary things!
I love feeding the birds in my garden. My daughter says they are not my pets. Yet they are so entertaining. I love watching them. She thinks I feed them too well. That I should spend the bird seed/fat ball money on her instead. I think she does pretty well already.
However, I tell her that the world is not just here for taking you have to give too but she doesn't quite understand my logic yet. She has a bit more living to do.
Do you like to write with music in the background (if so what artist in particular) or do you like peace and quiet like me?
Reply: I typically write while watching a television show or movie that I have already watched a few times. I have watched every episode of The Closer (except one) and Bones at least three times! I've also watched certain movies at least twenty times, Bad Boys II, the entire Halloweentown Series, Journey to the MysteriousIsland, Percy Jackson, the Mummy series, etc. Other times, I'll mute the television and write in the quiet.
What book(s) are you reading at the moment? Is there any book that particularly sticks in your mind that you have read at some point and why?
Reply: I'm a total pack rat, so I'm reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. ☺
So that's all my questions wrapped up for now Kelly Anne, so do you have time for another drink and space maybe for another cake?
It's been great talking to you.
Chink, chink.
Interviewer: Kimberley S B Lieb
https://www.wattpad.com/user/wrightstory
https://www.wattpad.com/story/65719548-wattpad-interviews-the-beach-hut-cafe
Feel free to check out my review of Captured one of Kelly's books on the Ambassadors profile and mine. https://www.wattpad.com/249394986-the-best-horror-and-paranormal-book-reviews
https://www.wattpad.com/252650763-book-reviews-by-kimberley-s-b-lieb-captured-book
Do you want to learn more about Kelly? Read her questions and answers here https://www.wattpad.com/story/37505464-q-a-with-kelly-anne-blount
https://www.wattpad.com/story/56914803-coffee-dates
https://www.wattpad.com/user/KellyAnneBlount
https://www.wattpad.com/story/72748267-wattpad-block-party-summer-edition-ii
16th in Horror July 2016 - https://www.wattpad.com/story/75435238-the-dentist
37th in Horror July 2016 - https://www.wattpad.com/story/26660429-under
https://www.wattpad.com/story/69245685-now-we%27re-even
13th in Horror - July 2016 https://www.wattpad.com/story/13524078-captured
Go to her profile to see what else she has on offer https://www.wattpad.com/user/KellyAnneBlount
Kelly's Outside Link Information:
http://www.amazon.com/Kelly-Blount/e/B00BSKKA5Q
http://ask.fm/KellyAnneBlount
http://www.kellyanneblount.com/
https://www.twitter.com/KellyAnneBlount