Authors are listed alphabetically by LAST name beginning with K
*All the information/websites/links were current AT THE TIME OF INITIAL POSTING. As time passes, please be aware that the links provided might no longer be active.
Monica H. Kang
Name: Monica H. Kang
Genre(s) of your work: Non-Fiction, Business
Titles/Year of Published Work(s):
Rethink Creativity: How to Innovate, Inspire, and Thrive at Work
September 2018
Bio:
Monica H. Kang, Founder & CEO of InnovatorsBox® , helps companies and leaders transform with the power of creativity. When she is not traveling around the world to speak at conferences or work with clients, she teaches entrepreneurship and leadership as an Adjunct Professor at BAU International. Prior to InnovatorsBox®, Monica was a nuclear nonproliferation security expert. She completed her M.A. at Johns Hopkins University, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. She lives in Washington, DC and spends her days developing new projects on creativity over a chai latte and chocolate croissant.
How has writing changed/altered your life?
I have always been a thinker and writer, but writing this book gave me a whole new appreciation of learning how to put complicated genuine thoughts into words. While writing this book, I experienced both a sense of fear of oversharing half-baked thoughts and the joy of realizing when I perfectly untangled what I was thinking. Now that book one is done, I’ve been thinking more about the writing I do in my daily routine. How can I write to not just communicate in my emails, texts, and articles, but inspire? How can I make the reader feel like I am there and smiling back with joy? I think more about the voice I am using in writing and wonder how it comes to life. I’m excited.
What do you hope your readers will take away from your work?
That you are uniquely creative just the way you already are. The more you practice and live your life with creativity, the more enriched you will feel at work and at home. The thought of people finishing the book with a new realization that they are not limited and can transform their own lives with creativity is thrilling. I just can’t wait to see those faces beaming with new knowledge and hear what happens when more people unlock their creative potential around the world.
How much does personal experience play in your written work?
My book is deeply tied to my personal journey. I did so because I wanted to share the truth with my readers and connect with them. Creativity is not some flashy thing you see on stage, it is something you build over time. I hope that through sharing my creative journey I can inspire readers to embark on their own.
How do you find the motivation to complete a book/story?
Sometimes naivety helps. I was determined to put my thoughts on paper and share them with the world because I wanted to stop people from feeling stuck and uncreative in their jobs. I know what that feels like and it is not fun. It also helped not knowing just how long I would spend writing and rewriting this book. If I had known that it would take me seven months to edit, I may have been more cautious. If I had known that I had to spend so much time doing outreach to market and explain the book, I would have been overwhelmed.
Instead I just focused on how much I needed to share the power of creativity. I knew that if I did not write it, more people would remain stuck at work. Having a clear intention of why you want to write a book for your audience and why you want it out by a certain timeline is essential.
Who are your favorite authors and why?
I love great storytellers who make me feel curious, reflective, and full of wonder . Some of my favorite storytellers are J.K. Rowling and Neil Gaiman. In nonfiction, I love Triumphs of Experience by George E. Vaillant, Wired to Create by Scott Barry Kaufman and Carolyn Gregoire, and Reset by Ellen Pao.
Where can people find you and your work?
I love connecting with people via LinkedIn. Say hello here. You can learn more about my book and book tours at my website. Look forward to meeting you soon!
https://rethinkcreativity.co
www.Innovatorsbox.com
Emersyn Keith
Your name: Emersyn Keith
Pseudonym: E.G. Keith
Genre(s) of your work: YA Fantasy
Titles/Years of Published Work(s):
Havoc (2022)
Bio:
E.G. Keith is a young author that, until recently, never mustered up the right amount of patience to write a full novel. With a debut novel that several have good opinions on, she hopes to make a splash in the author world with her punny jokes, witty remarks, and evil way of thinking. She is very into Greek mythology and spends a lot of her time looking for books on the old stories, and she is convinced that her story, no matter how unique, has already been told by an old Greek writer. She strives for perfection in everything she does, and the several annotations in the first draft of this novel can prove that.
Why do you write in the genre that you do?
People often say that you should “write the books you want to read,” and I believe that’s what I was trying to accomplish when I set out to write my book.
How has writing changed/altered your life?
Writing, either essays as assignments or novels that are just for fun, has changed my perspective on things very much. I like to write my books with a dual point of view so that you can see how two people narrate the same story. It has also gotten me a lot of attention, which can be seen as a good and a bad thing.
Who are your favorite authors and why?
Rick Riordan is one of my favorites, since he’s written some of my most favorite books, and Cassandra Clare has to be another one. I believe I like her writing so much because we write the same dramatic stories of love, adventure, high fantasy, and warrior main characters.
Do you believe that audiobooks are the wave of the future, more of a passing fad, or somewhere in between and why?
I think audiobooks will definitely be big in the near future. Most people, especially now, don’t have time to sit and read a book, and audiobooks will satisfy the want to read without having to stop your work. I definitely think it will be very big for a lot of people very soon. But there are still plenty of people in all the bookstores I visit.
What is your opinion of mainstream/corporate bookstores?
I think they are great places to shop for new, glossy, untouched books, but indie bookstores and places that aren’t too well known should definitely be talked about and visited more, especially if you’re the kind of person who likes things to be more comfortable and well-loved.
What have you found to be a great marketing tool? A bad one?
Social media is definitely a huge help when it comes to marketing. I am fortunate enough to be born with media parents that have connections which have hugely helped market my book, but social media apps, like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok are amazing when it comes to marketing. And I don’t really believe there can be a bad marketing tool, unless you just don’t try to market it at all.
Do you believe writing should be censored — that some topics should remain taboo?
I think, while writing is a very healthy way to have ideas and creativity expressed, some topics are just not made for my eyes. People are very cruel, but if you find your target audience, then you should write what you want. So I guess it greatly depends on the person and the audience that the person is trying to reach. I’m going to read what I want and my parents have encouraged me to do that even if what I wanted to read wasn’t “age” appropriate. They trust me to talk to them about things that are disturbing rather than hide those discussions. That helps.
What is your opinion of Trigger Warnings?
I believe trigger warnings are, in some works, definitely needed. It shows the reader that you are thinking of them if you include a trigger warning. Plus, you never really know what triggers someone, and what a reader has gone through. Trigger warnings may not be necessary for one person, but needed for another.
Where can people find you and your work?
As of late March, 2022, my books will be sold virtually on Amazon and (hopefully) in some bookstores!
E.G. Keith on Facebook, egkeith.com is the website, and eventually if you search Havoc by E.G. Keith on Amazon, it will appear.
David M. Kelly
Your Name: David M. Kelly
Genre(s) of your work: Science fiction
Titles/Year of Published Work(s):
2015 – Dead Reckoning and Other Stories (Short story collection)
2017 – Mathematics of Eternity: Joe Ballen, Book One
2018 – Perimeter: Joe Ballen, Book Two
2019 – Transformation Protocol: Joe Ballen, Book Three
2020 – Kwelengsen Storm: Logan’s World, Book One
2020 – Hyperia Jones and the Olive Branch Caper: Hyperia Jones, Book One
2021 – Intersection: Joe Ballen, Book Four
2022 – Kwelengsen Dawn: Logan’s World, Book Two (Release June 7th)
Bio:
David M. Kelly writes fast-paced, near-future sci-fi thrillers with engaging characters, cynical humor, and (mostly!) plausible science. He is the author of the Joe Ballen, Logan’s World, and Hyperia Jones series, and has been published in Canadian SF magazine Neo-opsis.
David’s interest in science and technology began early. At the age of six his parents allowed him to stay up late into the night to watch the television broadcast of Neil Armstrong stepping on to the surface of the moon. From that day he was hooked on everything related to science and space.
An avid reader, he worked his way through the contents of the mobile library that visited his street, progressing through YA titles (or “juveniles” as they were known back then) on to the classics of Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Harry Harrison.
David worked for many years in project management and software development. Along the way his interests have included IPSC combat (target) pistol shooting, crew chief on a drag racing team, and several years as bass player/vocalist in a heavy rock band. He also managed to fit in some real work in manual jobs from digging ditches and work on production lines to loading trucks in a haulage company.
Originally from the wild and woolly region of Yorkshire, England, David emigrated to Canada in 2005 and settled in Northern Ontario with his patient and supportive wife, Hilary. Foot surgery in 2014 temporarily curtailed many of his favorite activities – hiking, camping, piloting his own personal starfighter (otherwise known as a Corvette ZR-1). But on the plus side, it meant a transition from the world of IT into life as a full-time writer—an opportunity he grasped enthusiastically.
David is passionate about science, especially astronomy and physics, and is a rabid science news follower. Never short of an opinion, David writes about science and technology on his blog davidmkelly.net. He has supported various charity projects such as the Smithsonian’s Reboot The Suit and the Lowell Observatory Pluto Telescope Restoration. He also contributes to citizen science projects such as SETI@home.
Why do you write in the genre that you do?
Watching the moon landing fueled a lifelong interest in space, science, and technology, so I naturally gravitated into reading science fiction. When I decided to try my hand at writing, to escape the boredom of a tedious train commute, sci-fi was the obvious choice, though I do have plans for writing in other genres at some point.
How has writing changed/altered your life?
It’s changed it completely! I used to work as an IT project manager, which brought with it high levels of stress and depression. When I was forced to stop working due to foot surgery, I finished my first book and have been writing full time ever since. Writing has reduced my stress levels enormously, and I’m now almost addicted to it. I love how a lot of people are genuinely excited and interested when I tell them what I do for a living. And meeting other sci-fi fans and readers at comicons and book fairs has been a lot of fun. I’ve missed it in the current covid time, and hope to get back to it soon.
Who are your favorite authors and why?
Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Harry Harrison, Douglas Adams, James S. A. Corey, Arthur Conan Doyle, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammet, Charles Dickens. There are different reasons why they’re my favorites – but generally speaking, I love the characters and worlds they create, how they pull you into the story and keep you engrossed until the very end.
Do you believe that audiobooks are the wave of the future, more of a passing fad, or somewhere in between and why?
I think they’re a bit of a passing fad and that they’re far more profitable for the retailers than the authors. That said, if people prefer to listen to my books instead of reading the print version, I’d love to be able to accommodate that in the future. And I certainly appreciate how important they can be for people with visual impairments.
What is your opinion of mainstream/corporate bookstores?
Are there any left? All the ones I see seem to be selling almost everything else BUT books. I’m grateful for the indie bookstores and libraries that are doing a great job to spread the word about indie authors.
What have you found to be a good marketing tool? A bad one?
I’ve had some success on a small scale with Amazon advertising, but I believe the best form of marketing is producing good books and generating word-of-mouth. In terms of less effective strategies, I found that listing my books with NetGalley resulted in few reviews, so that’s likely not something I would try again.
Do you believe writing should be censored – that some topics should remain taboo?
I don’t believe in censorship in any form, though I believe people should be held accountable for what they create. I also think that censorship can sometimes lead to more creativity. I’m thinking, for example, of screenwriting in the 40s and 50s where they had to find very creative ways to convey certain taboo topics or scenes.
Where can people find you and your work?
My website, Amazon, and most other online book retailers
https://davidmkelly.com
https://www.amazon.com/David-M-Kelly/e/B00PQXCCHU/
http://www.facebook.com/David.Kelly.SF
http://twitter.com/David_Kelly_SF
www.goodreads.com/DavidMKelly
Barry Kester
Your Name: Barry Kester
Genre(s) of your work: Musical Theatre
Titles/Year of Published Work(s):
Round In Circles – The Story of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Carousel.” 2022
Bio:
After a career as an accountant and tax advisor, in 2010 I finally set out to do what I really wanted to do with my life and write a book. I knew it would not be easy, and it wasn’t, but after considerable effort, life’s inevitable interventions, and masses of research, Round In Circles is the result.
Why do you write in the genre that you do?
I have always loved musical theatre, particularly the shows of “The Golden Age”, so when I was considering a topic about which to write my first book, it seemed the natural choice.
My next book, will be something completely different.
How has writing changed/altered your life?
The English language has long been a passion of mine, and I have been an avid reader since childhood. My whole life I have nurtured a desire to try my hand at writing, and finally doing so during these past few years has made my retirement a real joy. I was not at all sure I would find a publisher, but that did not matter. It was the process that gave me so much pleasure. Of course, finding a publisher, and holding a copy of the (beautifully) printed book in my hand was a very welcome bonus, and a source of great pride.
Who are your favorite authors and why?
Jane Austen. Her mastery of the English language is exquisite.
In a lighter vein, I like Robert Harris’s books. He is a master story teller.
Do you believe that audiobooks are the wave of the future, more of a passing fad, or somewhere in between and why?
They certainly have their place. I used to have to travel quite a lot and caught up with a lot of books that were on my to read list whilst in the car. I don’t think they will ever replace printed books.
What have you found to be a good marketing tool? A bad one?
Obviously social media is becoming increasingly important and I suspect is the main tool for most new authors.
Do you believe writing should be censored – that some topics should remain taboo?
No. The only exception I would consider is in respect of a direct incitement to hatred and violence. Authors must be free to write about life as it is or as it was, and not as self-appointed arbiters would deem to be appropriate today. That is the only way we can learn from history’s mistakes and hopefully not repeat them.
What is your opinion of Trigger Warnings?
Whilst there may be occasions when they are needed, I am not a fan. I bought an egg mayo sandwich from a major supermarket not so long ago, and the wrapper contained a stark warning that “this product may contain eggs.” Enough said.
Do you find that you sell better in person (at events) or through social media (like a personal blog, website, or Amazon)?
I haven’t had much experience yet, of selling in person, though I have been interviewed on a couple of podcasts that have resulted in sales. My blog as yet only attracts a small number of visitors, and I must give more time to it.
Where can people find you and your work?
On Amazon and in most major bookshops all over the world.
https://amzn.to/3e3FNZX
http://www.Hakolsheli.com
Kendall Kirkbride
Your Name: Kendall Kirkbride
Pseudonym: None. I publish under my own name. (Although I played around with the idea of writing my memoir – which has really been more of a WordPress side project – under the pseudonym Maddison Penrose.)
Genre(s) of your work: Psychological suspense, crime thriller, gothic mystery, horror, dark fantasy, and dark “romantasy.”
Titles/Year of Published Work(s):
The Quiet Between Us — Sept. 3, 2026
When Gods Wake — Sept. 11, 2026
Upcoming:
Where the Missing Go — tentatively planned for November 2026
Bio:
Kendall Kirkbride is an Ohio-based author whose work moves through psychological suspense, crime thriller, gothic mystery, horror, and dark romantasy.
Outside of writing, she is a licensed chemical dependency counselor working as a primary therapist in substance-use treatment. She earned her undergraduate degree in criminal justice and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling with concentrations in addiction and forensic counseling, while preparing for future doctoral study in forensic psychology.
Her debut novel, The Quiet Between Us, begins the Elliott Mercer series, while When Gods Wake opens The Dead Gods, a planned five-book dark romantasy series.
Her stories tend to live in the uncomfortable spaces between what people know, what they remember, what they are willing to admit, and what they would rather leave buried.
Why do you write in the genre that you do?
Apparently, I am incapable of writing about emotionally well-adjusted people having a perfectly normal Tuesday.
More seriously, I have always been fascinated by the things people hide—from each other, from themselves, and sometimes from entire communities. Psychological suspense gives me room to explore memory, grief, obsession, secrecy, trauma, and all of the ways our perception of the truth can become distorted.
Fantasy gives me many of those same opportunities on a much larger canvas. I can take questions about power, belief, morality, history, love, grief, and identity and build an entire mythology around them.
On the surface, The Quiet Between Us and When Gods Wake are extremely different books. At their core, though, both are asking versions of the same question: What happens when something everyone has accepted as truth turns out not to be true at all?
That seems to be where my brain likes to live.
How has writing changed/altered your life?
In more ways than I expected.
For a long time, writing was simply something I loved and something that belonged to me. Publishing changed that. Suddenly these characters and worlds that had existed privately in my head could belong, in some small way, to other people too.
It has also forced me enormously outside of my comfort zone. Writing a book is strangely private. Publishing one is the exact opposite. You have to let people read it, judge it, review it, talk about it, and sometimes completely misunderstand it—and then somehow continue writing anyway.
I am still very early in my publishing career, but I think writing has made me braver. It has also reminded me how much I genuinely love storytelling, even when everything surrounding the actual writing—formatting, marketing, algorithms, emails, and trying to figure out what on earth I’m doing—is considerably less romantic.
Who are your favorite authors and why?
I am terrible at choosing favorite authors because what I want from a book changes constantly depending on what mood I am in.
The writers I tend to love most are the ones who can create atmosphere so effectively that the setting almost becomes another character, who are willing to let their characters be complicated and occasionally deeply flawed, and who trust readers enough not to explain every single thing to them.
I love books that leave me thinking about them after I’ve finished them. Give me morally complicated people, secrets, mythology, unreliable memories, buried histories, impossible choices, or a mystery that makes me question what I thought I understood, and I’m probably interested.
My bookshelves are consequently a little chaotic.
Do you believe that audiobooks are the wave of the future, more of a passing fad, or somewhere in between and why?
Definitely not a passing fad.
I don’t think audiobooks are going to replace physical books or ebooks, but I do think they have permanently changed how people are able to fit reading into their lives.
People listen while driving, working, exercising, cleaning, traveling, or doing a hundred other things that make physically sitting down with a book impossible. They also make books more accessible for many readers.
I think the future is less about one format replacing another and more about readers expecting stories to be available in whichever format works best for them.
I would absolutely love to eventually have audiobook editions of my own work.
What have you found to be a good marketing tool? A bad one?
I am still very much figuring this one out.
So far, social media has been my primary sales and marketing tool (granted, I only published my first novel 12 days ago). I have found that posts where I am actually talking to people—sharing something about the writing process, celebrating something exciting, laughing about something that went wrong, showing the physical book, or explaining why a story matters to me—feel much more effective than repeatedly saying, “Here is my book. Please buy it.”
People want to connect with people, not advertisements.
I am only now beginning to branch into reviewer outreach, bookstores, libraries, podcasts, author networking, and potential in-person events, so I am very interested to see what happens as that part grows.
As for bad marketing, I think anything that starts making every interaction feel transactional is probably a mistake. I never want someone to feel as though I only interacted with them because I wanted them to buy my book.
Do you believe writing should be censored – that some topics should remain taboo?
Generally, no.
I think fiction needs room to explore difficult, uncomfortable, frightening, ugly, and morally complicated subjects. Writing about something is not the same thing as endorsing it, and sometimes fiction is one of the safest places we have to examine subjects that are extremely difficult to discuss elsewhere.
That doesn’t mean writers are immune from criticism, and it certainly doesn’t mean every treatment of every subject is automatically thoughtful or responsible.
But I am much more comfortable giving readers information and allowing them to decide what they want to engage with than deciding certain subjects simply shouldn’t be written about.
What is your opinion of Trigger Warnings?
I support them.
To me, a trigger or content warning isn’t censorship and it isn’t telling someone that they shouldn’t read a book. It’s information.
Readers come to stories carrying their own experiences, and I don’t lose anything by giving someone enough information to decide whether a particular book is right for them—or whether today is the right day for them to read it.
Especially because I write darker fiction, I would rather someone make an informed choice than unexpectedly encounter material they weren’t prepared for.
A content warning tells you what may be inside the book. It doesn’t tell you what you are allowed to read.
Do you find that you sell better in person (at events) or through social media (like a personal blog, website, or Amazon)?
I honestly can’t compare the two yet!
So far, my sales have come through social media and online visibility because I haven’t begun doing in-person author events yet.
That is something I am actively working to change. I’m beginning to reach out to bookstores, libraries, reviewers, podcasts, and other members of the book community, and I would absolutely love to start doing signings, author discussions, festivals, and other events.
So ask me this question again after I’ve had the opportunity to embarrass myself at a book table somewhere.
For now, social media wins by default—but I am very open to trying whatever helps my books find the readers who might genuinely enjoy them.
Where can people find you and your work?
The easiest place to find everything is my author website:
There you can find information about my published books, upcoming work, purchase links, information about me, and ways to get in touch.
My currently published books, The Quiet Between Us and When Gods Wake, are available through Amazon, and I’m also on Goodreads.
Readers can also follow along through my social media accounts, where I share book news, writing updates, behind-the-scenes glimpses of whatever fictional disaster I’m currently creating, and updates on future releases.
Website: https://kendallkirkbride.com
Goodreads: Kendall Kirkbride
Amazon: Purchase links are available through my website
Email: hello@kendallkirkbride.com
My next planned release is Where the Missing Go, the second book in the Elliott Mercer series, which is tentatively scheduled for November 2026.
And, because apparently two fictional universes were not enough to keep me occupied, I am also continuing work on the remaining books in The Dead Gods series.
Dan Klefstad
Your Name: Dan Klefstad
Genre(s) of your work: Gothic horror/vampire
Titles/Year of Published Work(s):
Fiona’s Guardians (2020)
Bio:
Dan Klefstad is a longtime radio host and newscaster at NPR station WNIJ. His latest novel, Fiona’s Guardians, is about humans who work for a beautiful manipulative vampire. It’s getting positive reviews on Goodreads and was also reviewed favorably by the Chicago Writers Association. Dan’s latest short story, “Who Killed Publishing?” has almost nothing to do with vampires. You’ll find it in the Summer 2020 edition of Literary Heist. Another short story, “Cowboy Load,” Came out in the January 2021 issue of Resolute Gentleman. Dan writes in DeKalb, Illinois, and Williams Bay, Wisconsin.
Why do you write in the genre that you do?
I’ve always been fascinated by monsters, and vampires in particular, ever since I watched Bela Lugosi as Dracula. Even as a kid, I understood vampires worked on different levels. Taken just as mythical creatures, I was always fascinated at how they were portrayed as stronger than we humans, and sexier, plus they keep living for centuries unless something catastrophic happens (like a stake through the heart). As I entered adulthood, I began to appreciate these creatures more as metaphors for enervation. They could symbolize a person draining your life force, or a stand-in for a government or corporate entity you suspect is slowly making you poorer. When readers finish my book, I hope they ask themselves, “Who’s my vampire?”
How has writing changed/altered your life?
It helped me realize that creative expression, while deeply personal, is meant to be shared with the world. If you keep it to yourself, you get no feedback to improve, but you also deprive others of the chance to experience it. I’m reminded of the archaic term “man of letters” which meant a person who not only read a great deal, but also wrote – and their essays, stories, and poems were “letters” to the community that reads. It really drives home the idea that a writer – any creative person – is contributing to a global body of knowledge or aesthetic appreciation. I think it’s worth updating the phrase to “person of letters.”
Who are your favorite authors and why?
I loved John Le Carre (“Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”) for the depth and intricacy of his storytelling, and his emphasis on the moral responsibility we share, especially in groups like spy agencies. Have to admit, I thought he’d live forever. Another author I miss is Robert Hellenga (“The Sixteen Pleasures,” “Snakewoman of Little Egypt”), who gave me the courage to write from the pov (point of view) of first-person female narrators.
Do you believe that audiobooks are the wave of the future, more of a passing fad, or somewhere in between and why?
I believe they’ll always be here because humans are essentially multi-taskers, and audiobooks (like radio or podcasts) allow us to consume a story or other information while cooking or driving. I love reading text, and I think that’ll stay with us too, but actually reading requires a commitment to focus on one thing – the book. But reading with your own eyes, and hearing a character’s voice in your head, is a more direct link to the author. Having a recorded narrator, bringing their own interpretations through inflection and emphasis, is a mediated experience, thereby placing your experience “once removed” from the author.
What is your opinion of mainstream/corporate bookstores?
They’re great for book buyers, as long as those companies aren’t allowed complete market dominance. A reader can order a dozen books online from Amazon or Barnes & Noble, download them to a proprietary device (Kindle or Nook) and start reading right away. Or you wait one or two days for the paperback to arrive. But large retailers have put pressure on publishers, starting with national chains in the 1980s. As they captured more and more market share, fewer and fewer corporate owners controlled the available shelf space, which meant they could decide what books to stock, how much they’d charge, and when to send unsold books back to the publisher. The once-powerful publishers responded by printing fewer and fewer titles, which helped for a while, but many were forced to merge, which meant fewer acquisition editors. All this partly explains why authors have struggled to publish and sell their books. Thank goodness for indie bookshops, which is why I always recommend my readers shop local first before finding my book on Amazon.
What have you found to be a good marketing tool? A bad one?
Social media is a good marketing tool. It’s also a terrible one. Again, we have too few people (or bots) deciding what posts get seen and what don’t. I’ve found you can gain readers on Facebook and Twitter, but you have to break the rules to get around the algorithms which are designed to crush any free promo. I’ve been hanging around FB groups devoted to vampire fans and goths to find friends who I can later message privately to promote my vampire novel. I don’t have my first sales figures yet, but views of my YouTube readings are way up since I started using this tactic. If you try this, tread carefully or you might get blocked or reported. And Facebook will start limiting your attempts to add friends once they get wind of what you’re doing. When that happened, I just went to Twitter and started DM-ing followers who allow that kind of approach. But many don’t, so be aware of who you’re spamming. And a note about spamming: I call it engagement. I recommend you think of it that too.
Do you believe writing should be censored – that some topics should remain taboo?
I think we’ll agree that some stuff shouldn’t be published. We know what that stuff is. I don’t believe in censorship but I do believe in gatekeepers.
Where can people find you and your work?
All the US online retailers (Amazon, Walmart, B&N). In the UK, my book is on Amazon and Waterstones. Dymocks in Australia and New Zealand. And at Prairie Fox Books in Ottawa, IL, and Books on First in Dixon, IL.
My site: http://www.danklefstad.com/
Amazon listing: https://www.amazon.com/Fionas-Guardians-Dan-Klefstad/dp/1916212638/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3J92SV2KE7VG3&dchild=1&keywords=fiona%27s+guardians&qid=1609973126&sprefix=fiona%27s+guardians%2Cstripbooks%2C281&sr=8-1
And a YouTube vid of me reading the opening chapter: https://youtu.be/Lw87kUdX2vE
Clay Knight
Your Name: Clay Knight
Pseudonym (if you use one): C. C. Knight
Genre(s) of your work: Horror, supernatural horror, creature horror, dark comedy, and speculative fiction.
Titles/Year of Published Work(s):
Hollowmarch — 2026
Bio:
C. C. Knight is an Alabama-based horror author and scientist with a fondness for strange towns, impossible places, monsters that probably shouldn’t exist, and characters who cope with terrifying situations using humor that is occasionally appropriate.
Who are your favorite authors and why?
I’m especially drawn to authors who can take an unusual or even impossible premise and make it feel completely believable once you’re inside the story.
Stephen King has always impressed me with his ability to make you care about ordinary people before asking them to confront extraordinary things. Jack Townsend is another favorite because I love the way he blends genuinely strange and unsettling horror with dry humor, memorable characters, and an escalating sense that absolutely anything can happen.
More broadly, I love writers who understand pacing and mystery. Give me characters I care about, an irresistible question I need answered, and a world I’m reluctant to leave when the book ends, and I’m probably going to have a very good time.
Do you believe that audiobooks are the wave of the future, more of a passing fad, or somewhere in between and why?
Definitely not a passing fad.
I think audiobooks have expanded what reading can look like. Someone can experience an entire novel while commuting, exercising, traveling, cleaning the house, or doing any number of things that wouldn’t allow them to sit down with a paperback.
I’m particularly excited about that because Hollowmarch is currently being produced as an audiobook. Hearing another person perform characters that previously existed only as voices inside your own head is a very surreal experience. A great narrator isn’t simply reading the words — they’re performing the story and giving it another life.
I don’t think audiobooks replace physical books or ebooks. They’re another doorway into the same story, and I think more doorways into books can only be a good thing.
What have you found to be a good marketing tool? A bad one?
I’m still new enough to publishing that I’m actively figuring this one out.
So far, the most encouraging thing has been genuine human interaction. A reader recommending the book, a reviewer talking about it, or somebody sharing it with a friend feels infinitely more valuable than simply yelling “BUY MY BOOK!” into the internet repeatedly. I’ve also learned that book marketing involves an impressive amount of sending messages into the void and occasionally discovering that the void has an email address.
The least effective strategy seems to be assuming that publishing a book automatically means people will discover it. There are an extraordinary number of books competing for attention. Writing the story is one challenge. Helping the right readers discover it is an entirely different one. I’m learning as I go.
Do you believe writing should be censored – that some topics should remain taboo?
I think fiction needs room to explore uncomfortable subjects. That doesn’t mean every treatment of every subject is automatically thoughtful or worthwhile, but I’d rather readers have the freedom to decide what they want to engage with than have someone else decide which ideas they’re allowed to encounter.
Horror in particular has always explored uncomfortable territory. Fear, violence, death, grief, morality, and the darker parts of human nature are practically built into the genre. Context and intent matter tremendously, but discomfort by itself isn’t a reason I think a subject should be off-limits to fiction.
What is your opinion of Trigger Warnings?
I think they can be useful when they’re informative without spoiling the experience.
Readers know themselves better than I do. If someone has a particular subject they genuinely don’t want to encounter, giving them enough information to make that decision seems perfectly reasonable. At the same time, particularly in horror, surprise and uncertainty are part of the experience. So I prefer warnings that give readers the information they reasonably need without providing a road map of everything that’s going to happen.
Give people useful information and then let them decide what’s right for them.
Do you find that you sell better in person (at events) or through social media (like a personal blog, website, or Amazon)?
Ask me again after I’ve been doing this longer!
Hollowmarch is my debut novel, so I don’t have enough history yet to pretend I’ve discovered the secret formula. Most of my experience so far has been online, and I think digital discovery is incredibly important for independent authors. Someone can hear about a book, look it up, read the description, and be reading it within minutes.
I suspect the real answer ultimately won’t be one method or another. Different readers discover books in different ways, and the challenge is figuring out which paths actually lead the right readers to your work.
Where can people find you and your work?
My debut horror novel, Hollowmarch, is available in paperback and ebook through Amazon, with an audiobook currently in production.
Readers can search for “Hollowmarch by C. C. Knight” on Amazon and Goodreads to find the book.
I’m always happy to hear from readers — particularly the ones who develop theories about what exactly is happening in Hollowmarch. I make absolutely no promises that I’ll tell them whether they’re right.
If you like horror with mystery, monsters, strange mythology, genuine scares, dark humor, and characters who remain recognizably human when everything around them stops behaving normally, Hollowmarch was written with you in mind. More than anything, I wanted to write the kind of horror novel I would want to discover myself: creepy enough to make you reconsider that noise downstairs, funny enough to occasionally let you breathe, and mysterious enough that “one more chapter” becomes a very bad decision at one o’clock in the morning.
And Hollowmarch is only the beginning.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Hollowmarch-C-C-Knight/dp/B0HBNYMN24
