Another Interview with K. Dawn Byrd

My faithful blog readers will remember that I already interviewed K. Dawn Byrd. You can refresh your memory here.

K. Dawn Byrd is an author of inspirational romance. Queen of Hearts, a WWII romantic suspense released in April and was Desert Breeze Publishing's bestselling novel for the month. Killing Time, a contemporary romantic suspense released August 1, also with Desert Breeze Publishing.

K. Dawn Byrd is an avid blogger and gives away several books per week on her blog, most of which are signed by the authors. She's also the moderator of the popular facebook group, Christian Fiction Gathering

When not reading or writing, K. Dawn Byrd enjoys spending time with her husband of 14 years, walking their dogs beside a gorgeous lake near her home, and plotting the next story waiting to
be told.

Links:
Blog
Publisher (there will be links at this site to purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, the Sony ebook store and others)
Youtube

Book blurb for Killing Time:

Mindy McLaurin, thinks it's the end of the world when she's incarcerated on trumped-up embezzlement charges. While in jail, she investigates the death of an inmate who allegedly died of an overdose. Mindy suspects foul play when her cellmate dies and she learns that both women had ingested the same drug. Mindy trusts no one, including Drew Stone, the handsome counselor she can’t stop thinking about. She faces many challenges, including constant interrogation by the Major and emotional abuse from the other inmates. Upon release, someone is stalking her and framing her for the murder. Can she prove to Counselor Stone that she’s innocent of all charges before she loses him forever?

And now for the interview:

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

It's so strange. Sometimes I still don't consider myself to be a writer. It's almost like I want to pinch myself to make sure it's real when I get a good review. Writing for me is a hobby and a therapeutic one at that. It's a wonderful outlet for the creative side of myself.

What inspired you to write your book?

I've always been an avid reader and planned to write a book "one day." When I began work as a counselor in a jail, I thought that would be a neat setting for the book. I began to jot down notes about the environment such as sights, sounds, and smells. Before I knew it, my heroine had formed in my mind, begging me to tell her story.
 

How did you come up with the title?

I'm not good at naming titles and it took a while to come up with this one. When my heroine is incarcerated, she's "Killing Time" and when a murderer kills two inmates at the jail, it's "Killing Time." I thought the two concepts went together well.

What books have most influenced your life most?

It's going to sound juvenile, but Nancy Drew mysteries have had the most impact on my life because those stories taught me to love reading. I couldn't get enough of them and must have read every one the school library had, at least twice.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

Definitely Michelle Sutton. She recommended that I contact Desert Breeze Publishing and she's been there to offer support and to answer my questions every step of the way. When i get stuck on a plot, she brainstorms with me. She's critiqued some of my work too.

What book are you reading now?

I'm not reading anything right now. I just started writing a new book and am knee deep in writing. My goal is to have it complete and edited by the time I go to the ACFW conference in September. 

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

I'd like to thank everyone who purchased Queen of Hearts. Your support made it the bestselling book for Desert Breeze in its debut month, April 2010.

How long does it take you to write a book?

I loved NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and if I'm really motivated, I can write a book in 30 days. Since I'm a plotter, it takes a lot of planning in advance for me to pull this off. I'd like to have my own personal NaNo three times a year.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

I try to write 1,667 words per day, which allows me to end a month with around 50,000 words. After I've completed this cycle, I'll take some time off and come back later to edit.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

It's the most terrible thing....I must have total peace and quiet when I work. I feel so handicapped when I try to write with the TV on or some type of noise in the background. I recently downloaded some songs into my BlackBerry and have been wearing headphones while I write, trying to teach myself to write to background noise.

Changing Titles

For my fantasy YA novel, I first used the title All-Knower's Land of Imagining. Kinda long and unless you read the book, you won't understand it.

So I next changed it to The Land of Imagining.

Hubby suggested Alexia and the Land of Imagining, which is what I've been calling it.

But lately, I've been thinking that that title is once again too long.

I've been toying with Alexia's Power, Alexia's Pen, or The Pen's Power.

Titles are so important. Whenever I go to the bookstore and browse around, the books that I pull off the shelf first have a great title. I'm sure that's how most book shoppers are. Which means that coming up with the best, perfect title is necessary.

So you all can help me, here's the tagline:

A magical pen unleashes a young teen's power to control a fantasy land, a realm only she can save from evil.

And my pitch:

When fifteen-year-old Alexia finds a magic pen that writes on its own accord, she discovers the mystical and real Land of Imagining.

The Head Demon rules this world and wants to kill the All-Knowers, a peaceful race who can read minds and heal. Alexia, their chosen one, discovers the pen gives her the ability to control the All-Knowers. Frightened of this power, she confides in her mother, who is the Head Demon in disguise. He steals the pen and kidnaps her family, forcing Alexia to travel to the Land of Imagining.

Determined to save her family and her people, Alexia must locate the demons’ secret lair and secure her pen before the Land of Imagining becomes the Land of Terror.

Any title suggestions?

Opinions on Re-Querying Agents

November last year, I started to submit my fantasy YA novel to agents. I freely admit that I committed one of the major cardinal sins of writers - querying too early. Since then, I have editing and polished the MS until it shone, with the help of some very talented beta readers. The story is much stronger now than it had been back in November. I honestly can't think of anything that I would change in the story.

That said, I accumulated a lot of rejection letters from my first query-go-around for this novel, many of which were just on the query letter itself, without a writing sample. I also revamped the query letter. It's much stronger now.

So my question is, is it all right to re-query agents? I was only planning on re-querying the ones who rejected the story passed on the old query letter, although I could mention that the novel has been revised since they had last read it. Should I mention that they already rejected the novel?

Querying agents is hard work, and despite all of the agents' blogs that I read, and authors who have agents, I can't help but have some questions. Not that I think there is one right answer for everyone.

And for those that are curious, here are my query stats for my other novel, Hidden in Shadows:

queries sent: 40
rejections: 11
partial requests: 4 (2 rejected)

Featured author!

I'm the featured author at Inspirational ebooks! Be sure to leave a comment (with your email addy) to be entered into the weekly drawing for PDF copies of all the ebooks featured this week, including my Woman of Honor.

Great video!

Just a short post today, a video from youtube called Librarians Do Gaga! It's great! Lady Gaga's Poker Face has been changed into Catalog. Too funny to not share. Enjoy!