Talking Books with Mystery Author Kim Smith

Kim Smith was born in Memphis Tennessee, the youngest of four children. After a short stint in a Northwest Mississippi junior college, during the era of John Grisham´s rise as a lawyer, she gave up educational pursuits to marry and begin family life.

She has worked in many fields in her life, from fast food waitress to telephone sales. "I always got the seniors on the phone who were lonely and wanted someone to talk to. My boss couldn´t understand why in the world I spent so much time talking to them and not enough time selling. That was when I realized I love people and care deeply about their lives."

After the birth of her two children, she gave up working outside the home for the more important domestic duties of wife and mother. When her kids decided they wanted to pursue theater as an extracurricular activity, she gave up her free time to drive them to rehearsals, training classes, and plays. During those years, she found herself bored with nothing to do to while away the hours stuck in a car. She began thinking of stories to entertain herself and pass the time. Before long she started telling her husband about her stories and he assured her she could write a book if she really wanted to. She put the idea away once she landed a job as a network administrator for a small corporation, and together the Smith´s started their own video production company.

Writing was a dream, hidden but not forgotten, and soon Kim began to talk again of trying her hand at it. She played with words, and wrote several poems, one of which was picked up for an anthology

One day in the early nineties her husband came home with a desktop computer and sat her in front of it. "Now you have no more excuses," he said, and she realized the truth in his words. Procrastination, now no longer an option, she took off on the pursuit of penning her first book. Though that book, a young adult fantasy, was lost due to unforeseen circumstances, she kept going, writing a historical romance, and another YA.

When she decided to try out her hand at mystery writing, she discovered her true love and niche in the writing journey. She has since had four short stories, and her first mystery novel accepted for publication.

Kim is a member of Sisters in Crime, and EPIC. She still lives in the Mid South region of the United States and is currently working on her second book in the mystery series.

You can visit her website at www.mkimsmith.com.

Thank you for this interview, Kim. Can you tell us briefly what your latest book, Avenging Angel, A Shannon Wallace Mystery, is all about?

Sure! I love to talk about my book. A book blurb for you: Shannon is having a bad hair week. She´s been ditched by her job, dumped by her boyfriend, and implicated in his murder. When her very private collection of videos turns up missing at the crime scene, it is all out war to get them back. But the killer has them. And he´s been watching them. Now Shannon is at the top of HIS most wanted list!

Can you tell us what (or who) was behind the inspiration for your book?

I wanted to try my hand at mystery writing. I had written a historical romance, a YA fantasy, and several short stories and was trying to find my "voice". When the character of Shannon surfaced, I knew I had finally found it. When my critique partners read the first draft, they confirmed for me that I had indeed "arrived". It was a great feeling and I have never looked back.

Is this your first published book and if so, can you tell us your experiences in finding a publisher for it?

Yes, it is. Finding a publisher for me was pretty much like what a lot of authors go through. Write, edit, revise, submit, toss rejection slip in the trash, recycle query, rinse, repeat. It takes quite a long time to get from the writing to the submission process and even longer to the acceptance process, but once I finally received an acceptance for Avenging Angel, I felt it had all been worth it. My story takes a side route from that point forward though because after the acceptance of the book, things slowed to a crawl and finally, after nearly a year of no activity toward getting my book in print with the original publisher, I pulled it. That was a difficult thing to do, and yet, I have had nothing but success from that point forward. Red Rose Publishing took the book in, and in December it was released as an ebook. I can honestly say that once you find a home for your work if there are motivated people working for you and with you, things can and oftentimes do get pretty hectic.

How has Red Rose Publishing been to work with?

Wonderful. The editor-in-chief, Lea Schizas, was instrumental in getting the book through all the necessary channels, and the owner of RRP, Wendi Felter has worked tirelessly to get it out. My cover artist, Shara Azod, was wonderful in listening to my vision for the cover, and came up with a work of art that I am totally pleased with. I would recommend my publisher to any author seeking a home for their work. This is a group of creative people who really work well together and support one another.

Do you have an agent?

No. I tried to obtain an agent early in the process of submission but it is difficult to find one today. With the way the economy is slowing and caution being the word of advice to all in the industry, agents are a highly sought after commodity and few get pulled along into their net. I accepted that and moved on.

Can you tell us how long it took you to write your book and also how long it took from the time Red Rose Publishing sent the contract and the time it was released?

I started writing Avenging Angel in 2003 and finished in 2004 with the first draft. Red Rose picked up the book in October of 2008 and it was released as an ebook in December 2008. For me, the writing and submission, and that whole process took way longer than getting into the hands of readers. Let that be a note to those who seek opportunities to get published. Make sure your work is worthy before you submit it! The road is wide and many fall to the left and right with books that are not quite there. I spent a LONG time making the book worthy.

Do you have any words of inspiration from other writers who would like to be wearing your shoes?

More of the same from the last bit above. Learn your craft! If you are unable or unwilling to revise until you hate the book, (and believe me, it can get to that point!) then, please submit it to an independent editor, and have it professionally appraised. There are so many authors out there trying to get their book published. You have a huge school of barracudas out there fighting for the same bait. If yours is not a whole head and shoulders above the average book, you may find despair is your constant bedfellow.

I understand that you are going on a virtual book tour sponsored by Pump Up Your Book Promotion in February. Can you tell us all why you chose a virtual book tour to promote your book?

Yes! I believe in making use of professional assistance whenever it is within my means to do so. Dorothy Thompson and her Pump Up Your Book Promotion efforts have tried and true proven results. I am just thrilled to be working with her and have already learned a lot about the promotion part of writing. Whew, that in and of itself is a whole nother learning curve and we need all the help we can get. Promotions can be something that fall flat on their faces if not used properly. I think PUYBP is one of the best.

What´s next for you?

I have finished the second book in the Shannon Wallace Mystery series and am prepping it for submission to my editor, and have done about half of the third book. I also am working on a romantic comedy to be included in an anthology the publisher is putting together for a fall 2009 release. I also have a short story coming out in March from Long Story Short called Three Amigos which is about three friends who travel together and about their journey. Readers can be certain that I am not letting moss grow under my feet!

Thank you for this interview, Kim. Can you tell us how we can find out more about you and your new book?

Absolutely! My website is http://www.mkimsmith.com -and my writing life blog is at http://writingspace.blogspot.com -and my personal blog is at http://www.mkimsmith.com/blog -and my group blog which I produce with three other mystery/suspense/crime/thriller writers is at http://murderby4.blogspot.com- and you can purchase the book as an electronic download at the publisher´s site, http://www.redrosepublishing.com -and I hope you will love it as much as I loved writing it for you!