Welcome, Kaycee. What is your book about?
Night Falls On Chicago is about a group of vampires that converged together in order to stop one of their own. The difference between my vampires and others you have read about, the ones that I wrote live by a code of ethics. Also there is something “other worldly” about them.
How long had the idea of your book been developing before you began to write the story?
Probably all of about 15 minutes!
What inspired you to write this particular story?
My middle child was sick and he had to undergo all kinds of testing. There was one doctor that was followed by seven student doctors and when all eight swarmed around my son, they looked like a pack of vampires about to feed.
Did you do any research for the book? If so, how did you do it? (searching Internet, magazines, other books, etc.)
When I started writing Night Falls On Chicago, Yahoo Chat rooms were still the big thing to do. So I went into a local room, I lived in Chicago at the time, and met a person who claimed he was centuries old and was a PSI vampire. But the locations I write in and around Chicago, they are my most favorite places about Chicago. So I did a ton of time in those spots and actually getting ran off by a couple of police in one of the areas!
What are you working on right now?
My second novel is called I’ll Love You ‘Til You Die, plus I blog hosted by Lunatic’s Folly and I have columns that I submit to Useless Knowledge website.
Do you have a favorite snack food or favorite beverage that you enjoy while you write?
Yes! I love coffee and Funyuns and Cheetos, I guess I’m not the most healthiest of snackers while I write!
Do you have mental list or a computer file or a spiral notebook with the ideas for or outlines of stories that you have not written but intend to one day?
A BIG thick spiral filled to the brim with ideas that will one day become stories or blogs.
Have you always wanted to be a writer?
Not really, when I was a small girl, I wanted to be a Rockette in New York City, but when I realized I’d never be taller than 5’4″, that dream went out the window! But I did learn I have a knack for writing when I was in tenth grade.
Where do you get the names for your characters?
Some of the names in my first novel are either the first or middle name of close friends and family that for years I’d been threatening to kill off. My therapist says that this is probably one of the healthiest ways to deal with the frustrations that I often have.
What has been your greatest internal struggle to overcome in relation to your writing career?
Inihibitions and self judgement. I am my own worst critic!
What are your future plans? What will you bring to the literary world besides more stories?
Hopefully I would like to bring to the WORLD in general that a person can have a mental illness but turn it into an asset instead of having people pity me.
Where can people learn more about your books?
Right now, my book is on http://www.allthingsthatmatterpress.com/buynow.htm or you can go to my website, http://www.kayceenilson.com/ for more information about not only my books, but everything I have written for the past 5 or 6 years.
Pat Bertram Introduces . . . 