When did you first consider yourself a writer?
When I got my first paycheque. It’s still sitting in a frame in my office.
Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre?
I’m a prolific author and I write in nearly all fiction genres. I read a book, get a craving for more, then binge on TV, film, and books of that genre, before I’m ready to write my own.
Do you have a special time to write, or how is your day structured to accommodate your writing?
My writing time is at the weekends only and then I have to share that with editing and promoting my books.
What have you written so far?
I’ve written 14 books.
- OUTLAW – MC romance thrillers
- In Times of Violence
- Huntress
- Lawless Justice
- Road Rage
- ILLUSIONAL REALITY – YA fantasy duology
- Illusional Reality and Audiobook
- The Quest
- The Duology
- COLLECTIONS
- Heads & Tales
- Undressed
- A Flash of Horror
- STAND ALONE
- Stone Cold – YA supernatural thriller & audiobook
- Broken Chains – 18+ Dark mafia romance
- Toxic – sci-fi dystopian erotica
- In Times of Violence – YA edition
Do you work to an outline or plot sketch, or do you prefer to let a general idea guide your writing?
I’m a pantser. Normally the whole book is in my head. I write notes to keep characters’ info together and easy to reach if I need it. But no chapter by chapter plotting and using sticky notes or writing aids.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I made the stupid mistake and went with a vanity press when I first started. Back then, it was all about the paperbacks. I got burned badly and wouldn’t advise anyone to go near a vanity press. That’s one of those publishing houses that make you pay thousands to publish your book when you can do it for free yourself. Most of my books are self-published. But I have a contract with a hybrid publisher. I have another publishing contract standing by for Toxic, the trilogy.
How do you feel about indie/alternative vs. traditional publishing?
An author does the same amount of promotion and marketing whether they are indie or with a publisher. Now if you can get yourself an agent, then that’s a different game altogether.
How do you market or promote your books and what strategies (e.g., social media, email, blog tours, etc.) have demonstrated the most success for you?
Everything and anything. Book trailers, narrations, excerpts, graphics, radio shows, podcasts, blog tours, paid newsletters and website promotions. I seem to have the most success when I cross-promote with other authors for my newsletters.
Can you share with readers a little bit about your latest book?
Broken Chains is a dark mafia thriller. Here’s the blurb:
If only she had stuck to singing in bars.
If only the idea of wanting to become an author had never entered her mind.
If only she’d never met Alex.
That one meeting had caused an avalanche of fate to clash with a dangerous destiny that forced Liz Finely to become the most wanted woman in the world. Stalked by three deadly mafia bosses, Liz has to learn to survive. Passed from one brutal hand to another, tortured, and abused, it’s her blood, her name, which lands her in trouble each time.
Now it’s up to Liz to find the strength to accept and become who she’s meant to be, and finally, break the chains that bind her.
What made you decide to sit down and actually start writing this book?
My love for dark romance and mafia thrillers. I watched every mafia movie made; I’ve read 40+ mafia novels. I just love the genre. I go through these genre stages; next, it may be back to YA.
I still have a huge love for them now and continue reading mafia thriller/romance. Once the idea for my own story clicked. That’s when I started writing and didn’t stop until the story was finished. No one knows how long a story or book will be until the author has finished telling the tale that needed to be told.
Tell us more about your main character. What inspired you to develop this character?
Liz – Elizabeth, craves adventure but she gets more than she bargained for when she learns who she really is, and that’s when the trouble starts. When she’s abused by her own father for not respecting him or the family. She’s then sold off to become the wife of the Russian Mafia, but the Italians get to her first.
Women aren’t treated well in the mafia unless they belonged to a Capo or Don. I wanted her to go through both lives. For the readers to get a taste of how brutal life can be, being on the wrong side, and then how the opposite can be said when you’re chosen by a made man or the Don. However, that paints a bigger target on the woman’s back.
There are so many twists in this book, you never know what’s gonna happen next.
Who is your least favorite character and why?
Uri Ivanhov. He’s a cruel, brutal, and disgusting leader of the Russian Mafia. Who has no respect for women, not even his future wife?
Do you listen or talk to your characters?
That would make me crazy if I did. All good authors hear the voices. Our characters lecture us when we’ve taken the wrong path, and we get told what scene needs to happen next, or new character buts in and tells you why they need to be in the book. But to talk back to them, no.
What was the hardest thing about writing your latest book?
As an author we must step into our character’s shoes and I take Liz to hell and back with the torture and abuse she suffers, and I had to suffer it along with her, otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to make the writing raw and gritty and believable for the reader. So you go to a dark place, sometimes it’s hard to step back into the light. This is certainly the most explicit and violent book I’ve written up to now.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
That it was one of the more explicit and graphic novels I’ve written, and I love every second of writing it.
What is your next project?
Book two of Toxic. The first draft is done, now I have to find the time to read and edit and get the second draft finished ready for my editor.
Want to learn more about Karina Kantas and check out the books?
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Waking Writer 