Interview with Katherine Marple

www.katherinemarple.com

Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?


I started writing when I was very young. I have a whole collection of stories that I wrote when I was eight to eleven years old. I used to be very competitive with my best friend, Laura, and we used to fight to make the longest story.

My first proof that I wanted to be a writer was when I had my first poem published in a collection in the sixth grade. That year, I “graduated” from elementary school and in the yearbook, under “When I Grow Up, I Want to Be…” I wrote “author / model / singer”.

So, I guess you can say that I knew I wanted to be an author when I was eleven.

My second proof that I wanted to be an author was at fourteen, when I spent a summer typing up two murder mysteries. Then I printed them and glued the ends together, making a cardboard cover for each book. I guess you could say those were my first books, though they aren’t in my genre now and I will admit that they definitely need some work.

I guess I’ve basically always wanted to be an author. I’ve always wanted to express myself. I’m a thinker and it’s really hard for me to say what I feel because it’s as if the thoughts take a lot longer to formulate. But, when I’m writing, be it in front of a computer, or on an old fashioned picnic table with a pen in my hand, it’s like the words just fall out of me. Suddenly, I have so much to say and so many feelings to convey.

Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?

Publishing has taken a lot out of me. Not that it isn’t rewarding, because it is one of the greatest achievements that I’ve done over the past ten years. But, the energy that it takes to not only write down, edit, edit, edit, and then edit your work… THEN send it out to publishing companies to scrutinize when they haven’t even read the piece… it is exhausting.

I spent two years sending out letters upon letters to agencies and publishing houses-sometimes sending monthly letters to the same publishing house, hoping they’d get used to seeing my name and eventually open it up. It’s a lot of work. I would send out fifty letters per week. Most companies just didn’t want new authors or didn’t have the workload available for a fresh face. Many companies wanted a literary agent-yet the agencies weren’t looking for new authors to represent either. So it was door after door being slammed in my face by no fault of my own.

My first book, Test, was published in 2005 and it was a very wonderful experience. I will admit that I cried a little when I got my first bound book in my hands. However, the first publishing house I went through did very little to market my book. So, in 2007, I submitted my second piece, Wretched (this is my sorry), to a new house. I ended up publishing Wretched, Okay (3rd book), and These Brief Moments (4th book) through them. With my current publishing house, I have full say over what is included inside my book, as well as what the covers look like. However, I am still mostly responsible for the marketing.

I’m currently doing the publishing house letter thing again, hoping to get my work into the hands of a bigger house for the better advertisement and marketing.

Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?

My upcoming work, The Dragon’s Mouth, is darkly funny, emotional, insightful, and full of journeys and observant moments. It is a story that has proven hard to put down already, and the characters are shaped like people you probably already have in your life-easy to relate to and easy to love.

What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?

In the beginning, my best friend and cousin Tommy was the inspiration to my writing. He pushed me to be creative even when he didn’t know that he was doing it. He was in a band, he was adventurous to the point of hitchhiking across the country, he was into many different cultures, and he was an amateur philosopher (just without the degree). He showed me rambleshack poetry and the beat generation works. He helped me express myself through my teenage years when it was so tough under normal circumstances, but also because of additional health issues that I was going through at the time. I guess deep down, a lot of my characters are in some ways based off of him.

My fiancée Jarren is also a huge inspiration for a lot of my character development. He has stuck by me for over a decade (even though I’m definitely not the easiest person to get along with sometimes) and he has literally saved me on numerous occasions. His view on the world is unique and I take a lot of that into account when writing and opening my mind to other points of view. He surprises me every single day by the things that he says or does and this keeps me on my toes in both my life and in my writing.

Not one of my characters, ever, is based upon ONE person that I know or have met. Every single character in my books is crafted through different pieces of people that I know, or have met, or have simply made up. I take my inspiration from people that I love (mentioned above) and also from people that I barely know-like the lady who stopped to help her child tie his shoe, or the man who serves me coffee every morning at Starbucks, or family members whom I’ve only met once (my family is HUGE).

I also take inspiration from the characters themselves. It sounds a little crazy to people who don’t write, but once a character is “born” and once you’ve spent enough time putting together the outlines of their histories and the moments that brought them to the piece that you’re writing about them now, they start to get their own voices and they start to tell their own stories. That’s when you know you’ve crafted it together correctly-when they start to tell you what to say instead of the other way around. Now, that’s a good story.

Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!

Everyone in my immediate family is talented in our own ways and we try to appreciate our differences and celebrate any successes. For example: My father is part of the space program at a huge corporation and is a fantastic shoulder to lean on. My sister is a new mother and is adventurous enough to be the first to move out of state by herself. My brother is immensely smart and empathetic, a comfort when you need to cry and a fighter when you need to be protected. My little brother can build a computer from scratch and is really funny and observant. My step sisters are each successful in the things that they find enjoyable. One has found what she enjoys doing, hairdressing, and has found her way to make a living off of it. The other is so strong and so determined as to run no less than five miles per day. My step brother is the entertainer when no one’s looking, and his mother’s protector. My mother is very strong willed, yet when no one’s looking, she’ll let her guard down and let emotions roll through her. My step mother is a rock and wants to make everyone around her comfortable, even at her own expense sometimes. My step father is relaxed and the cool guy on the block-nothing fazes him, and that is so relieving.

My family is gigantic. I have family members all over the country and even across the ocean. Some I’ve met and some I haven’t, yet all of them are very open and very friendly and it’s as if we’ve known each other our entire lives. Thank you, Facebook.

Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?

I love love love steak and sautéed onions with loads of salt, cooked in a frying pan. I don’t even care if there are any sides served with it. Just the steak is good for me…well, not GOOD for me, but…

If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?

I can’t think of anything! I feel like I’m pretty normal! I don’t have an attic, don’t use the basement, and my closet is filled with clothes and shoes. I guess I can stand to be surprised while looking in there too!

Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?

Green. It’s my favorite color, it’s simple, it’s beautiful-but people don’t really appreciate it until it’s gone (like during the wintertime). Then, when it’s back, it’s celebrated.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Gosh, I think I would have to go with Daria (the MTV creation from Beavis & Butthead). She was sarcastic, a little jaded, but still smart and kind to even the idiots.

Honestly, though, I feel the most like Joey Potter from Dawson’s Creek… but without the jailbird father and dead mother.

If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in history, where and when would it be—and why?

I really love where we are right now. I think our generation is set up to do great things. But, if I had to choose, I’ve always felt like I was destined to be from the 50s. I look like I’m from back then, I have had motherly instincts since I was a teenager, and I just want to cook and take care of everyone. I even love their music and fashions from back then! But, I wouldn’t have been able to be a writer and I wouldn’t have been able to be as liberal with my thoughts. I am quite the outspoken woman and I would not have been able to be suppressed enough to live in those times.

I guess I can go back to the 90s. But, those oversized shirts and floral leggings have GOT TO GO!

So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while you’re writing?

I will give any type of music a chance. I am more partial, however, to hard rock and bluesy music. Basically anything that has great lyrics and conjures up emotions in me… I’ll listen to it.

I listen to a lot of Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, Korn, Smashing Pumpkins, Fiona Apple, John Mayer, In This Moment, and Incubus (yes, a lot of late 90s music). But, I will also listen to Motion City Soundtrack, Green Day, Josh Groban, Weezer, Pink Spiders, Absentee, etc. My music selection expands over many genres and consists of both mainstream and underground artists.

When writing, I will use dark music, like the instrumentals in Nine Inch Nails or Smashing Pumpkins. Old-school Marilyn Manson can sometimes get me to write some really intense scenes.

Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie you saw at the theater?

Okay, okay, I will admit that I do have a comfort show. Every single day I watch The Golden Girls. I have the entire DVD collection and can pretty much quote every episode ever aired. I use them for background music when I’m studying or getting ready for work.

For movies, I love watching Empire Records, The Princess Bride, Boondock Saints and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I very rarely watch regular TV, but these movies, along with “the old ladies” I use to watch when I don’t want to concentrate too hard on the plot lines-when I just want to relax and be told a good story.

See? Even authors want to be told a good story!

You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?

Don’t be afraid to express yourself. Creation is the one thing that really separates us from animals-well, that and morals... and fur.

But, your feelings, emotions, desires, urges, hates and loves… those are the things that make you who you are. Don’t be afraid to show those things to people- even complete strangers- through writing, music, art, photography, etc. Because maybe someone else out there wants to know that there are people who feel the same way that they do. Maybe reading your work will help someone else see that they are not alone.

One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?

I am and will always be a writer. I publish articles in magazines, submit works through contests and indulge in my poetic side. I am currently working on the aforementioned The Dragon’s Mouth, but also a children’s Christmas book called Santa’s Secret Messengers, which will be illustrated by Mandy Stephenson. No matter where I am or what I’m doing, my mind is always working to craft together a story.

Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!

Thank you for having me.