Meet Author Kristal McKerrington

 

Meet new author Kristal McKerrington who’s book Freedom is Earned was just published by XOXO Publishing.

It’s so nice to be here and I would like to thank Susan for taking the time out to interview me. It’s an honour to meet all of you an for you to take the time to read my interview.

Susan Palmquist (SP)-I know this is a question all writers get asked but has being an author always been a goal for you?

Kristal McKerrington (KM)-No, it wasn’t a goal I had originally. I wanted to be a paediatric surgeon or constant of RA, but when the mursing fell through and I spent along time in hospital all my I realised I wanted to write since it was all that kept me going during that time.

SP-Can you remember the first thing you wrote? Did you submit it to any publication and if so, what happened?

KM-I did submit my first book to about 30 agents and they all rejected my first book.  I sent it out then out to eight publishers and everyone rejected me bare XOXO Publishing.  Who I had thought would be my long shot. When they accepted ‘Freedom Is Earned’ I’m telling you it was the best feeling in the world. 

SP-You live in Scotland. Romance readers love Scottish heroes. Why do you think that is?

KM-I think it has something to do with the accent, the mystery of the kilts and a lot of Scottish men are known for their honour.  Its been one of the huge draws for woman all over the world to come to Scotland to search for a man of their own like Adrian Paul who played the Highlander, Sean Connery who’s been amazing Scotsman on the big screen, Billy  Connolly, and even Christopher Lambert made a impressive Scotsman also in the first Highlander film.  

SP-We share a like…Tetley Tea. I find it sometimes hard to get here in the US but like you I always start my day with a cup of tea? Any other rituals you go through before you write?

KM-Yeah, I do my emails, cause I always have someone to help or its just nice to have a chat with the girls before I go onto writing and sometimes they inspire some great ideas for my series.  They keep growing and I think I have them to thank for that.

SP-In previous interviews you’ve said that you want to break new ground in writing. Can you tell us more about that?

KM-Have you ever looked at the Bestsellers List or looked at the shelves in a book store and thought to yourself. ‘Hmm I just want something different and don’t see an new idea that hasn’t really been done before?’  I have.  I look at those shelves and say to myself ‘Where’s the Imagination going?’ They are all either vampire or mainstream boy meets girl, falls in love and happy ending stories.  So when I say I want to break new ground I mean, write something that hasn’t been done or has a lot of stuff done in those area’s like my new series am going for XOXO Publishing.

 ‘Shetland Immortals’ takes a load of magic, people from different countries and all different type of paranormal stuff then bungs it into a 22 book series.  Love, deaths, sword fights, children, Norse Gods, Greek Gods and more ah stuff then you could shake a stick.

 If you look at ‘Freedom Is Earned’ that is a ground breaking book, because there isn’t really a Hip Hop genre and thanks to the movies done in this area, as well as the TV shows we are now able to break ground in them. I’ll be one of the first to release a Hip Hop genre book in Canada and in the UK this October, because I strive to give people the different option and that is why my readers love my work.  I’m not scared to take a risk and doing ground breaking stories is a risk.

 SP-You have two books released: Freedom is Earned and The Highlander With The Ink. What are the story premises and how did you come up with the ideas?

KM-The idea behind ‘Freedom Is Earned’ was to get the knowledge out there of what it is like to be a Street Dancer in Scotland.  The dramas we have going on.  Amber was the face we could make as the centre of that.  She wasn’t real and it was a friend of mine who died who came up with that idea.  After he died we went on to create the ‘Free Series’ in memory of him and all of the Street Dancers who died either through Street dancing or through Cancer.

‘Freedom Is Earned’ is about two crews reuniting against a ‘Freerunning, Parkour and Freestyling Runners’, who are biggest rivals on the Streets. I have seen them chase dancers away from areas they haven’t ever used just, because they want too.  So this is a about a battle between the two crews and one leaders strength to lead them.  Even after she was shot she bets with the rivals and they go to battle.  She even manages to do this with a broken heart, while feeling betrayed by someone she really trusted.

The Highlander With The Ink is a story that came about to the great story tellers of my old community.  We were all brought up with the idea that we were descents of Vikings and told stories of the Norse Gods.  From there I got the idea when I saw XOXO Publishing doing a Tattoo Anthology that it would be the perfect idea to run the Tattoo that they had with the idea of them still being alive and amount us in this modern day.

Through the story we see a young nurse go on to find out her dad was dead and goes to his will reading to only then get mixed up with Thor, who has been searching for her for hundreds of years.  The pair of them are thrown together, but Nancy doesn’t want this and when she learns of the war going on decides to get involved.

SP-What are you working on right now?

KM-Currently I have a time travel story that we hope to have out at the end of this year or next.  I’m working on the longest series that XOXO Publishing has ever seen and am doing a wrestling based story that will be sure to turn some heads as I leak their secrets an hopefully stir some hearts.

SP-Your Web site says you love Scotland and Vikings, will both these be featured in your future books?

KM-I think the readers will be seeing a lot of both of the next coming years as there is a lot of interest within these two areas and I feel its my duty to write as many stories based here I can to inspire the wonderful people of the world to come see Scotland.  As well as find out why it’s the most magical and legendary place in the world for its culture, openness and for its beautiful scenery.

 SP-XOXO is your publisher? How did you hear about them?

KM-Yes, XOXO Publishing is currently my main and only publisher. I was recommended to them through P&E, which as most of you know is a site that tells you who the good publishers are and who the bad ones are. 

SP-What mistakes have you made along the way and what have you learned from them?

KM-I learned  NEVER use self publishing houses cause they don’t care about writers and I have also learned to make sure my excerpts are edited, because its a bad thing to send out unedited ones as readers and writers can get the wrong idea.

 Well. I would like to say its been an honour to be here today and it’s been nice chatting to Susan.  I can’t wait until I get a chance to come back.  Any of you who are wanting to ask more questions then you can ask them on my FB or send them to my fan email address kristalmckerrington@hotmail.com.

 Link to FB Fanpage. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kristal-McKerringtons-Offical-Fan-Page