The Sunday Spotlight ~ Talking with Karen Y. Bynum

The Sunday Spotlight

Author Interview

YA author, Karen Y. Bynum of the fabulous Witch Way to Turn novel, has very kindly agreed to be put under the spotlight on this fine Sunday Morning and I'm delighted that she's here with us today.

Talking with Karen 

on

The Sunday Spotlight 

Hi Bella! It’s so great to be here today. Thanks for inviting me! :)  

Welcome Karen and let's dive right in!

Do you have a favourite quote?  

Roma no se hizo en un dia. This is one of the few things I remember from my six years of taking Spanish in high school and college. ;) It means – Rome wasn’t built in a day. I love this quote because it helps me to take a step back and remember that I can’t rush things, because becoming an established author takes time and hard work. No matter how fast I want it to happen! lol

When working on your current novel, were there any moments when you thought:- OMG what am I doing? 

I’ve actually had that moment with all of my novels. LOL

Do you have a day job, other than writing? 

I do, but hopefully I can say goodbye to it one day in the near future! Even though, I think my boss will miss me! lol Currently, I work as an Executive Assistant to the Assistant City Manager. My cubicle is on the 10^th floor of City Hall and overlooks the bay.

If you don’t like a character you’re writing about, what do you do? 

  a. Kill them off instantly

  b. Get over it and learn to like them

  c. Give them a whole new personality

Excellent question! I’m actually dealing with that very thing right now. My first thought was killing him off instantly. Then, I thought about giving him a new personality. Now, I’m more on the getting over it and learning to like him phase. We’ll see what happens though! ;)

  

Do you like to write while listening to music and if so, does your book have a particular playlist you’d like to share? 

I’m actually very easily distracted, so listening to music while I write is not a good idea for me. Eep! I do have a playlist for WWTT that I’d like to share though. :)

1. "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis (Breena’s theme song)
2. "In a Heartbeat" by Kevin MacLeod (WWTT theme song)
3. "Better Than I Know" by Adam Lambert
4. "Awake and Alive" by Skillet
5. "Burnin for You" by Blue Oyster Cult (Myles’s theme song)
6. "Beautiful Soul" by Jesse Mccartney (Orin’s theme song)
7. "Come As You Are" by Nirvana
8. "Set Fire to the Rain" by Adele
9. "It's Not Me, It's You" by Skillet
10. "Heart and Soul" by T'Pau
11. "Apologize" by OneRepublic
12. "Animal" by Neon Trees (Jenny’s theme song)
13. "Not Meant to Be" by Theory of a Deadman
14. "Wait for You" by Elliott Yamin
15. "Because the Night" by 10,000 Maniacs

Which type of book do you prefer to read?

   a. ebook – Always! 
   b. paperback

   c. hardback

When I’m given paperback book I donate it to the library and buy that book for my Kindle... unless they’re signed and then they’re treated like collectibles. I do love to collect signed hardbacks... I don’t read them though. I just like to see them displayed all shiny and pretty in my house.

          

Do you have any input in the Cover design of your novel?  

The publisher and I did three rounds on the cover. The first round was picking out the stance/positioning of Breena and clothing/accessories. The second round had to do more with color and lighting. For example, the bubbles on the cover were almost all green at first. Since Breena shoots blue light from her hands I asked that it be changed to shades of blue. The third round was just to finalize everything.

How many novels/books do you typically read in a month? 

Right now one or two per month is fairly typical. If I’m deep into edits, then one per month is my limit. For December the hubby and I went on vacation and did some holiday travelling, so I was able to read three books already this month. And am working on number four now! :)

Which of the following suits you best? 

   a.     Thrill Seeker

   b.      Mildly Meek
 c.     Totally Chilled

Mildly Meek for sure! I don’t normally seek thrills, but every now and then a thrill is nice to find. I do strive to be a totally chilled kind of person though. Maybe one day I’ll reach that goal! :P

Are you a morning person or a night owl? 

I’m not exactly a morning person until I’ve had my coffee, but my brain melts to mush after nine o’clock at night. I’d say I’m more of a mid-day kind of person...t he only problem with that is I’m normally at the day job then. *growls* ;)

How long does it typically take you to write a novel? 

With working the day job, it takes me an average of three months, if I’m writing every day.

How many hours a day do you dedicate to your writing?  

Not nearly as many as I’d like! Monday to Friday I average two hours of actual writing time per day and about five hours total of promoting and social networking. Saturday and Sunday I try to dedicate at least four hours per day to writing.

Are you a:

  a.   Laptop Writer – all the way!
b.   Desktop Writer

  c.   iPad Writer

  d.    Pen and Paper Writer

Thank you so much for inviting me!!

~ Karen

 Connect online

Book Trailer

Website

Publisher

Blog

Twitter

Facebook

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Pinterest

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Thanks very much to Karen for letting me shine The Sunday Spotlight on her and her work. If you love a really great YAPN novel, try Witch Way to Turn!

Until next time, have a fabulously relaxing Sunday

Bella x