A Thousand Lives Reviews: Interview: Katherine Rhodes

Author Interview of the Week

Meet Katherine Rhodes, author of the newly released book Consensual!

What made you want to be an author?

I'm not quite sure. I've been writing since I was very young... seven. I had stories in my head even then, and I remember my first short story was called "Telephone Terror." I think I still have it somewhere-- it was awesome for seven year old! I remember coming up with new ideas, and thinking how cool it would be if I could write a stories. I blame my 3rd grade and 4th grade teachers, honestly. The two of them had writing assignment after writing assignment for us, and there were many days when I just ignored all the other homework to work on those stories. Much to the detriment of my math skills.

Who has inspired you the most?

As an author, I think Stephen King. Even though I want to beat the man with a tire iron for his endings, he can weave a tale. More than that though, it's his perseverance when he was starting out that inspires me. I spent many many years chasing traditional publishers, trying to get one of them to notice me and if it wasn't for the fact that I knew he had 130+ rejection letters himself, I would have kept writing and forgotten all about getting the work out there. His book, "On Writing" is one of my favorites.
I also interviewed Mary Higgins Clark in a previous incarnation as a reporter. That was cool, and she was also very much -- "keep plugging away, that's all you can do."

Can you tell us about some of your earlier days of writing?

HA! Well, along with the previously mentioned "Telephone Terror" wherein I discovered I am no damn good at suspense, I was a huge Star Wars fan. I mean I ate, breathed and slept it. So, naturally, that's where I started. Star Wars Fan Fiction. I still have it, too, and I plan on changing it up a bit and working it into my own epic space opera. And that was when I was 10, 11 years old. By the time I was 12, I had written a story that was sort of a spin off Star Wars and-- I don't know where I got the guts to do this-- handed it to an English teacher to read. She loved it.
In high school, no one could stop my writing. I had fans in my class, and I would let them read the handwritten originals. Yikes. (The IBM 286 was a family Christmas gift the next year and I never looked back once I learned how to type.) I was writing mostly scifi and paranormal and those are still my loves. All of my teachers were so encouraging, and there was never a doubt that I was going to college to be Lit Major.

How has your life considerably changed since you've been published?

It hasn't, not really. I do love calling myself "published author" now, but I still get up in the morning and put my pants on one leg at a time, and stumble blindly to my full time job wondering if the coffee is going to suck this morning.

What made you want to write erotica?

Ah, yes. I make no bones about this: 50 Shades of Grey. It was terribly written, didn't really show a healthy relationship, and why, for the love of cheese, does the guy always have to be the dominant? I started reading better erotica, but still why was the guy always the Dom? I write very strong females who can hold their own and it was irking me to no end that the girl was always submissive.
I used the basic frame work of FSoG, but I put in my own characters, with their own problems and what I hope is a realistic relationship. And my girl is the Domme.

I didn't set out to write erotica or erotic romance. I always used to use the 'soap opera fade to black' technique. Every time I tried to write a sex scene, it came out like "Peterotica" on Family Guy. When I wrote the first serious scene in "Consensual", I blew my own mind. I had to have someone else read it. I couldn't believe I had just written that! Most of my writing is distinctly NOT erotica; I was so worried about some kid hunting down another one of my NA or YA novels that I started writing the erotica under a different name-- this one!

Since your books get personal, let's do the same! Do you ever incorporate your personal experiences into your character's stories?

Always. "Write what you know" is a good writer's motto. Now how the heck does that work when I hadn't personally had that experience? Well, how would I act or react in the situation. And of course I pull on my own history to bring in a sense of realism. Like, I know long it takes to walk from Times Square to Carnagie Deli. I've done that walk.
And as for the other angle on that-- well. I do my own photography for my covers. From things that I have laying around the bedroom. I wouldn't own it if I didn't know how to use it. *wink*

What has been the best experience so far on your journey as an author?

Oh, it's people reacting exactly the way I hoped they would to an action or a character. "OMG, I hate X!" or "I did not see that coming!" People are always very surprised when I tell them I've published books, and then they come back and are delighted to have read the story and like to talk about it with me. It's fun to finally have people believing me when I say I'm a writer.

Can you give us some insight on any upcoming projects?

Well, Club Imperial currently has 10 planned novels, with a crossover to a new series called Silver Soul. The second Club Imperial, "Broken Bonds" -- the conclusion of Emmy and Nathaniel's story -- is due out on October 1st, if the gods smile on me. I've already started writing #3, "Knots" and #4 "The Fine Line".
I also have a paranormal erotic romance series I'm working on, involving witches and fae. So far, so good. But that's taking the back seat to some of my other projects.

What advice can you give to any upcoming authors?

Just what I've been told all along: Write what you know. Keep writing. Make your characters yours. Keep reading: writers don't live in a vacuum. And for the love of little green apples: don't edit your own work!