Interview Time with K.L. Hallam
I had the pleasure of interviewing the wonderful and talented K.L. Hallam about her upcoming novel, The Unmoving Sky. If you haven’t heard of her, here is her Goodreads link, feel free to head on over and add that book to your TBR list.
1. Describe your book in 10 words or less.
Can Jackson rescue his brother and save himself in time?
2. What is your writing process, do you fly by the seam of your pants or are you planning it our months in advance?
I usually just start. Get something down on paper, a spark of an idea or a character, and keep going as long as the momentum holds and I stop when it ends.
At that point I’ll either continue, maybe make a couple points I want to touch on, add a few sides of possibility, and one or two endings. When I get stuck I write an outline of the worst things that could possibly happen. Or doodle–because I have a pen in my hand, drafting in a composition book. Then I start again. I love drafting because the possibilities are endless and the subconscious has full reign. I also enjoy revisions and cutting, a little too much sometimes, and learned the hard way by destroying and piecing my first novel back together like it was Frankenstein. My favorite time to write is first thing in mornings, with the fog of sleep when it almost feels I’m still dreaming.
3. When you aren’t writing books we are in love with, what are you reading?
I’m one of those who have several books open. But I do finish, I promise you. I read many YA and MG books for reviews, and often have a book on the writing craft, or the writing process, next to my bed. Maybe a thriller if I’m writing in that genre, or science fantasy if that’s the genre of my current WIP. Right now: Ray Bradbury’s Zen of Writing, Bone Gap by Laura Ruby, an ARC of Blood Always Tells by Hilary Davidson, Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon, first published in 1937, and As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner.
4. Is there another genre of writing that you consider branching into?
Well, turns out each new book I’ve written has been in a different genre over the last few years. My “first” and shelved novel was magical realism. I’d love to revisit those characters one day. I’ve written a middle-grade, Sci-Fi Fantasy, (and may have good news to share soon!) also a YA, Swing Era, historical, “whodunit” with a touch of supernatural. Whew, may have to adjust that description. I also write genre short fiction and sub on occasion, when my beta readers are busy reading. Sometimes a short story is just the thing to scratch that drafting itch when your deep in a current novel’s edits or revision.
5. Did you edit anything out of The Unmoving Sky that you wished would have made it to print?
It wasn’t edited out, but I would have liked to bring Jackson’s girlfriend, Brianna’s thoughts and history into The Unmoving Sky, and really dig into her experience. Maybe one day? I wrote out some of her POV in drafts, to really see where she was coming from.
6. What authors have influenced you the most?
Kurt Vonnegut, because of the absurdity and his spellbinding humor. I’d never read anything like it. Hemingway, because I could feel everything he wrote and he did it so simply. John Green, Rebecca Stead, Madeleine L’Engle, and Gary Paulson. I loved how HATCHET captured my sons’ attention. That was key. I started writing The Unmoving Sky with this in mind. There are so many authors I love and all their writing influences me, and poets like Allen Ginsberg, who I once shared an apartment building with in the East Village, way back in 1990, influenced me by leaving a box of books on the stoop. I scooped them up! I still have several of his books, mostly philosophy.
7. Finally, name your favorite book boyfriend of all time.
There’ve been a few lately. This will be tough. Just one? Okay, Augustus Waters from The Fault in our Stars by John Green because he’s all heart and soul, and he broke my heart.
ABOUT K.L. HALLAM:
K.L. Hallam, an air force brat as a young child, who moved around to more schools than she can list, gathering the stories that would connect to her heart. She writes MG, YA, and short fiction, or anything she hasn’t tried, a member of SCBWI, a singer and songwriter, illustrator and mother of two teenagers. She lives in New York City and spends her mornings writing in a Jazz club.
CONNECT TO K.L. HALLAM:
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Website
