Today, we’re very pleased to introduce Kele Moon, an author of erotic romance with whom we carried out an exclusive interview. In the interview, we learnt more about Kele, her work, including her book entitled Beyond Eden and her upcoming story called The Enforcer. We also probed Kele to share some writing tips, and she very kindly obliged with some top advice. Read on to find out what she had to say.
Welcome to e-Books India, Kele! We’re delighted to have you join us for this interview! Please tell us about you and your background. Where are you from? What was your journey like to becoming an author?
I’m originally from Hawaii, but I’ve been living in Florida for quite a while now. As for how I became an author. It’s the only thing I ever wanted to do. Since I first discovered romance novels as a teenager the dream of one day publishing love stories of my own was always the highest goal and I’m still awed and humbled that I made it here.
What types of books do you write?
Erotic romance of all genres and pairings. I’m a character writer, so I never know what sort of story I’m going to tell, but all my books are character driven, and often times deeply emotional stories.
One of your most recent books is entitled Beyond Eden. Can you please tell us a bit about this story?
Actually, Beyond Eden was my FIRST book. I just re-released it this month. It’s a modern day Garden of Eden love story. The original concept bloomed with the question. . . What if we wanted Adam and Eve to bite the apple?
Set in modern day Tampa, it’s a contemporary erotic romance with a dark twist when three lifelong friends find themselves tangled in a web of love, pain and dangerous secrets. It’s a very erotic MMF ménage love story that even five years later I’m still very proud of.
Are you working on any other books(s)? If so, can you please tell us what we can expect to see from you in the future?
I’m working on the next book in the Untamed Hearts Series, The Enforcer (Book 3) and it’s an extremely plot driven and poignant journey. Tino, the mafia enforcer in this book, is such a tortured soul and writing his journey has been powerful. He’s a well-loved character in the series, but there’s so much fans of the series don’t know about him. This book has so many surprises!
What things inspire your writing?
Oh, all sorts of things. I find inspiration in the most unexpected of places. There’s been times when I’ve taken research trips and I never end up using what I think I will. For example, a friend of mine took me to Key West to do research for Starfish and Coffee. I ended up not even showing Key West in the book, but so many other things from that trip were used. The pilot of the small plane we took was a free diver who could hold his breath for several minutes while spearfishing and that became an important plot point. The little, blue dockside houseboat we stayed in with the number two on the door. So much about that trip helped define the book, even without Key West being included, which was the reason I went.
Life inspires me in the most unusual ways and that’s one of the things I love about writing. . .
Can you please tell us about your approach to writing? For example, do you follow structures and writing rules? Or do you write in a free flow way? Do you have any particular time of the day you like to write? Or any specific environment you prefer to sit down and write?
I’m a pantser writer. A term used for authors who write by the seat of their pants rather than make an outline and plot out the book before writing it. I basically sit down and write and let the characters tell their story. There’s no structure to the way I write (sometimes I wish there was). It’s just about setting the characters free and letting them take their journey. I usually have a concept or idea of what I want to happen. 99% of the time it doesn’t work out, but I do start with a plot end goal. The characters just don’t behave! LOL!
That being said, I clean and edit as I go. As unstructured as the creative process is, I’m very OCD about turning in a clean manuscript. Every time I sit down to write I go back and read the last several chapters I’ve written. I clean them up a little more and a little more so that by the time I’m done, my first draft is my final draft, but only because I’ve re-read it 500 times in the creative process, and my crit partner’s read it several times and edited it for me, and my beta reader who comments and edits as I write has also read it many, many times. . . Heh. It’s a sickness really.
From your experiences of being a published author, could you please share 2-3 top tips to help beginner authors who dream of getting their work out for the world to see?
1) Enjoy writing your first book. Once you’re published, your outlook on the publishing world changes. There’s always other voices trying to influence you, but your first book comes from a very pure place free from pressures of expectation and it’s special because of that.
2) Always push outside your comfort zone. If you’re afraid to write something because you’re not good at, that’s reason number one to tackle it. Being an author is about learning and growing and always trying to make the next book that much better than the one before it.
I’m not talking about writing something you don’t like. . . I’m talking about stylistically pushing yourself as a writer. For example, I was always a much stronger character writer than action and adventure writing. Emotions and pain and angst I could write all day long, but an exciting, fast paced action book wasn’t on my menu. It wasn’t what I was comfortable writing even though I LOVED reading action books. . . I was always trying to push myself to write action scenes even though they were hard for me and eventually I grew much more comfortable writing action and adventure, and I love that I can incorporate those elements now.
My new thing I’m tacking is making complicated, more three dimensional villains. It’s always SOMETHING I’m pushing myself on and though it’s not always easy, I love the end result when I open up that writing door a little wider for myself. I don’t like limitations and I am always fighting to get rid of as many as possible.
3) Be true to yourself. Genuineness will always transfer over to the reader. I’ve observed over and over again that an author who puts out a book that is genuine and comes from the heart, but has some editing/grammar issues will do a thousand times better than an author who puts out a grammatically perfect, clean book that is superficial and written solely to pander to their audiences. I’m not saying not to edit (As I said above, I’m very anal about turning in a clean manuscript) but believing in what you write is the most important element of your story. It has to be something truly beautiful to you. To put it simply, don’t write cowboys if you don’t love them and don’t stop writing vampires if you think they’re the sexiest thing since Bradley Cooper just because someone told you they don’t sell.
Honour your truth, you’re the only one who can.
Trends change all the time, and there’s no way to predict the next best seller.
My number one rule when I’m working on a book is that I want it to be something I can go back and read 10 years later and still enjoy since I’m the one who has to live with it.
How can people find out more about you?
My website has all my social media links. Also, I’m active on FB and enjoy interacting with my readers.
https://www.facebook.com/kelemoon
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingtipsoasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/hv1.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Hiten Vyas is the Founder and Managing Editor of eBooks India. He is also a prolific eBook writer with over 25 titles to his name.[/author_info] [/author]