It’s October! This means it’s time for a new author and book to feature for Authorly Love!
Karen McQuestion is an American fiction writer who has written books for adults, children, and teens. Most of her books include elements of humor or fantasy. Her books have sold over a million copies and translation rights to her books have sold for Germany, Turkey, South Korea, and Poland. McQuestion lives in Hartland, Wisconsin.
You can follow her on:
Her website: karenmcquestion.com
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Or in this case, books. McQuestion has written over a dozen books. For Authorly Love I will be featuring three of them.
EdgewoodThe night Russ Becker witnesses a strange astronomical event, his world changes forever. Before long Russ discovers he’s developed incredible superpowers, and he’s not the only one. Three other young people—beautiful Mallory, arrogant Jameson, and mysterious Nadia—have had the same experience and all of them now have powers of their own. Mallory can control peoples’ minds, Jameson moves objects with his thoughts, and Nadia has empathic abilities.
At first the four relish their newfound gifts, but things become serious when they learn they are being hunted by an organization that wants them for its own nefarious purposes. When Russ’s family is threatened, he’s forced into action. What transpires will change all of them in ways they never imagined.
From A Distant Star
Goodreads | Amazon
When Lucas Walker inexplicably recovers from a terminal illness, everyone is astonished –except for his girlfriend Emma, who never gave up hope. However, as friends and family celebrate the miracle, Emma becomes alarmed: Lucas has changed. He speaks haltingly, can’t recall past events, and even his own dog doesn’t recognize him. Emma begins to suspect something is terribly wrong. What happened to the Lucas she loved? Does his strange behavior have something to do with the shooting light that fell into Lucas’s backyard the night he recovered?
As the two set off on a road trip in search of the truth, the journey takes an unexpected turn. First they’re shot at by unknown enemies and then helped by unlikely allies. Before long, Emma and Lucas are plunged into a desperate life or death race against time.
Grimm House
Goodreads | Amazon
When Hadley’s parents leave on a cruise and then are reported lost at sea, her perfect world is turned upside down. In a flash, she is whisked away to a new life of drudgery at Grimm House where she waits on not one but two persnickety old aunts. As she grudgingly fulfills their commands of cooking, cleaning, and even after-dinner-dancing, she comes to suspect the aunts are really witches who are scheming to take the thing she loves best. With only her wits and the help of some unlikely new friends, Hadley makes a plan to escape Grimm House and find her way home before it’s too late.
Q: Let’s get the basics out of the way: tell us a little about yourself.
A: I’m a pretty typical writer—I need a fair amount of alone time, love to read, and am prone to daydreaming. As far as my everyday life: I live in Wisconsin, am married, and have three kids. My family is a lot of fun. They make me laugh on a regular basis.
Q: You’ve written books across many genres (women’s fic, YA, MG), which is your favorite to write?
A: My favorite is usually the one I’m working on at the time. When I get an idea, I love to immerse myself in that world.
Q: You’ve also written in several subgenres. How is it to transition between both genres and subgenres? Do you find it hard to adjust?
A: I don’t find the transition between genres and subgenres all that difficult. I like to read different types of books and I like to write different types of books. I would get bored writing for just one genre or age group.
Q: But really, you have over 12 books under your belt. Share with us what witchcraft you practice! Or did you have a super power? In all seriousness, where do you find the motivation?
A: No super powers involved, but thank you for that thought!
For me, writing is like exercising. It’s easier to do on a regular basis and once you get started, it doesn’t seem that daunting. When I first began writing, I wanted to prove I could write a novel. Once I finished the first one (my women’s fiction, A Scattered Life), I wanted to do it again to show it wasn’t a fluke. I found writing novel-length fiction big fun so I just kept going. And then, much later, after my novels were published, hearing that readers enjoyed them and wanted more spurred me to continue.
For any writers out there who may be interested, I’ve written a non-fiction book called Write That Novel: You know you want to… that describes my writing process and theories about storytelling. Readers have said they found it to be a practical guide with helpful examples.
She’s being modest: she definitely has super powers (those are all of her books above)
Q: What do you do when you feel a bout of writer’s block?
A: I don’t often have writers’ block, but sometimes I find it hard to get words on the page and that’s usually when I’m having trouble figuring out WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. Most of the time if I take a day off, I find that the following morning I wake up with an idea. I can only guess that my brain works on the problem while I’m sleeping.
More specifically, I wanted to highlight three of her novels: Grimm House, Edgewood, and From a Distant Star.
Q: For a middle-grade novel, Grimm House was quite an inspiring read, even for a 25-year-old! I loved the message it held regarding passion. What inspired the story behind it?
A: Some books are a struggle to write, but Grimm House came to me like a gift. The idea of someone trying to steal your passion was a paranormal element in the story, but in real life it does happen. People often find their dreams hijacked by others who discourage them. The responsibilities of life can steal time and energy from our passions as well. So maybe that inspired it? I don’t honestly know.
Q: Describe Edgewood in one sentence.
A: Four teenagers in a small town witness a strange astronomical event, acquire superpowers, and are recruited by two opposing powerful organizations.
Q: Describe From A Distant Star in one sentence.
A: I’m sorry, I need two sentences!
When Lucas miraculously returns from the brink of death, his girlfriend Emma thinks her prayers have been answered. But when she finds an unidentifiable object on his family’s farm–and government agents come to claim it–she begins to suspect that nothing is what it seems.
Q: Which POV is easier for you to write in, male or female?
A: Female, most definitely. When I write from a first-person male point of view, I always have a guy read over it to catch the parts that don’t ring true. Luckily I have two sons who aren’t afraid to tell me when I make a mistake.
Q: Do you have a dream cast for either book?
A: My dream cast keeps changing. Every time I see a movie or TV show with actors in the right age range, I add possibilities to my list. Right now a production company is considering Edgewood as a television series. It’s a long shot, but I’d love to see it happen.
Q: Both Edgewood and From A Distant Star have elements of the supernatural or extraterrestrial, what draws you to those genres?
A: I write the kind of novels I like to read. I’m known for believing in almost everything, which makes the world seem miraculous, terrifying, and most of all fascinating.
Q: Let’s get weird: Do you believe in extraterrestrial lifeforms?
A: Yes! I’m not all that convinced they’re interested in us though.
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4 Comments
I think I have an ecopy of Edgewood, and From A Distant Star sounds interesting too! You know how I like SFF lol.
I can definitely see how the more you write, the easier it would get. I noticed that when, for a while, I made myself write every day, just little short stories and prompts and things, but it was definitely harder when I started a got a little easier the more I did it.
Great interview!
absolutely! They’re great options for science fiction (especially SF YA fans 🙂 )
I can see that too. I actually usually only write during NANOWRIMO. So I’ve never forced myself to write every day or even every week >.< I should change that lol
Thank you!
These sound so interesting! Especially Grimm House! I’ll definitely have to check this author out now!
Tracy @ Cornerfolds
Ah yes! Grimm House is a super short & easy MG read, but it is pretty dark but fun at the same time. If that makes sense hahah. I recommend it 🙂 (obviously lol)