Welcome to another Monday Morning Author Interview!
Today we have a fantasy author, C.S. Kading, and she’s here to talk to us about her book Sands of Setesh and the universe she and her co-author have created in the World of Sanctum.
C.S. is an Award-Winning Author; she is a poet, playwright, and a storyteller, whose love for writing began in 3rd grade when she won a district writing contest. Her love for fantastical forces motivates her to create stories of heroes, villains, gods and monsters that often have a foundation in Old World mythology and legends.
Q: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
A: I was in 3rd grade. We had a writing contest at school that I entered. I was selected to be one of the representatives from the school for the District. It was a lot of fun, and I realized I wanted to keep doing it.
Q: Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
A: Honestly? From life. If you look at the stories I create, they all have some underlying commentary about community and culture. I was heavily influenced by the works of Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek, what can I say?
Q: What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?
A: Oh gosh. I have a day-job as an Trainer and Instructional Design Specialist for the University – so all of my writing happens after dinner-time or on the weekends. However – I have been known to take a day off to JUST write. I love those days.
Q: When did you write your first book and how old were you?
A: Wrote or published? Two very different things. I wrote my first book when I was 10, over a summer at my Dad’s place. It was all hand written which I then transferred over line by line with a typewriter. I have no idea where that one is now. Alas. My first published book was Sands of Setesh, when I was 51.
Q: Do you have any suggestions to help someone become a better writer? If so, what are they?
A: Write. Every Day. It doesn’t matter what it is. It doesn’t matter if it is on your laptop or a napkin. Be creative and keep creating.
Q: What do you think makes a good story?
A: The characters. Seriously. You can have the most we inspiring setting in the world, with a meaningful life lesson attached, but your characters have to sell all of that to the audience. If they are boring, no one is going to care about what they are trying to say.
Q: What is the first book that made you cry?
A: How about a series? Can I give you that? Dragonlance. Hickman and Weis ripped my poor little teenage heart out, threw it in a blender and punched the “frappe” button. I love them for it.
Q: Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
A: Sands of Setesh is set in a very specific world. We will have other stories that are part of that storyline, as well as stories that are set in Sanctum and not have much (if anything) to do with our two main protagonists. The first three books will be a Trilogy that follow a specific story. Then we will be branching out.
Q: What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
A: A new desk and chair. No. Seriously. With the amount of time I spend at the keyboard, having those tools helped me TREMENDOUSLY.
Q: What does literary success look like to you?
A: I don’t think I ever expect to make millions on my writing. It’s not about making money. It’s about making people happy and giving them a means to escape the world around them. Literary success to me is creating happy readers. If I have created a single story that has brought joy to a single reader … then I have succeeded.
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