Why did you choose to write in your genre?
My path to authorship is a little different than most writers. I was raised in New York City, and my first career was as a professional sommelier. So, the connection to my intuition began there. During a health crisis, I turned to several energy practices like meditation and Reiki, but the one that spoke to me was the tarot. I was drawn to this ancient tradition, and it seemed it was drawn to me—because for the past eight years, I’ve been a master intuitive channeler, with clients all over the world. I use the cards to channel insight through conversation, perspectives, and self-reflections.
During Covid, I used the tarot to investigate my past lives—and the stories just flew out of me, thankfully onto Zoom recordings! It resulted in my decision to write the Arcanum series of novels. The series follows five souls traveling through time, reconnecting until they “get it right.” It’s a love story, and the tagline of the series is “Sometimes happily ever after takes more than one lifetime”. It’s told through the experience of a 21st-century woman who is slowly understanding this complicated past. Arcanum Books One, In the Temple of Shadows, and Two, Whispers in the Forest, are now available, and Book Three, Secrets of the Madonna, will be released this spring.
Are you a full-time or part-time writer, and how does that affect your writing?
I am a part-time writer as my channeling is my full-time focus. Balancing both is sometimes challenging, but I find a way to make it work so neither area suffers.
Do you work with an outline or plot sketch, or do you prefer to let a general idea guide your writing?
Because I channeled the stories, which means I intuited them into being, the plots live within me. I don’t need to outline or sketch. I simply sit down and start writing. But I admit sometimes it’s hard to motivate myself into my seat!
How long does it take you to write a book?
I have been on an annual publishing deadline that I imposed on myself, so the actual writing part of the book takes about 7 months. I need the remaining months to get the manuscript into final book form, which is as much work as writing the actual book.
Did you independently or “self” publish, or did you go the “traditional” publishing route, and why?
I am a self-published author and love the experience. It is very important to me to retain creative control of my stories, and I heard some unfortunate realities about traditional publishing when it comes to new, unproven authors. I am certainly open to a publisher, yet am looking for a collaborative partner that allows me to remain a part of the process and outcome.
How do you market or promote your books, and what strategies (e.g., social media, email, blog tours, in-person, etc.) have demonstrated the most success for you?
For the books and the [channeling] brand, social media has been the most successful. The growth has been utterly amazing! It started out in 2024 rather sluggishly with the typical organic small following, and it stayed that way for a few months, but the minute I put aside my fear and embraced my vulnerability by sharing myself in a new way, the audience showed up. I increased my following by 10,000+ in only 5 months. All organic. No money involved. Just authentic, honest, relatable content that hopefully makes people feel better.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
We all have a beautiful story to tell. Don’t overthink it! Just sit down and start writing. Do not focus on structure or grammar or punctuation. Just get it out. Even consider speaking it into being. Just start, and you will begin to build momentum, which will then lead to consistency and the result of a completed project!
Tell us more about your main character. What inspired you to develop this character?
The main character of the Arcanum series is Sarah Fuller, a twenty-first-century woman, newly forty years old. She’s at the top of her game professionally, as a fragrance founder and CEO, and has a personal life (NYC penthouse, Hamptons weekends, picture-perfect husband and twins, and a badass best friend) that many would envy. But, like many of us, Sarah has a feeling that something’s missing… Something that, you guessed it, is hiding in plain sight. Her life’s about to get cracked wide open, and I hope you’ll come along for the ride.
If your book were made into a movie, who would you cast?
I have such a vision of this because Arcanum is so visually beautiful that it would transfer to the screen magnificently. The series has five main characters, five main souls, who share every life together, all in service of supporting the heroine to finally embrace the love of her soulmate. If I had my way, I would cast Rebecca Ferguson as Sarah Fuller. Her soulmate, Harry, would be Buğra Gülsoy. The best friend’s soul, Max, would be Richard Madden. Thandi Newton would be amazing as the evolved female soul, Leyla. And I would love Daniel Brühl as the villain. I haven’t thought about this at all! 😉
Want to learn more about Kelly O’Hearn?
Waking Writer 
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