S.P. Brown

INTERVIEW

​

SP: What does your typical writing day look like? How do you work in your writing and promoting?

​

Katie: I don’t have a certain place to write. I like to switch it up especially in the summer so I might go write in a park or at the beach. I also keep a notebook with me throughout the day so I can take notes when I’m not home. I tend to get ideas when my imagination wanders in dreams but sometimes I get movie picture daydreams. The process itself can be chaotic and completely disorganized but somehow, after much editing, I’m able to pull all those chunks together into chapters.

 

SP: Tell me how and why you got into writing fiction? How long have you been doing it? And how do you go about creating a story? Elaborate here.

​

Katie: I’m not exactly sure why I started writing. It was never a conscious decision. It became the thing that I knew I was going to do. When I was a little girl, my family spent a lot of time reading to me and when I was six, my aunt helped me create my first book. I told her the story and she wrote it down while I drew the pictures. It was about a bunny lost in a field of flowers that I probably stole from some obscure children’s book. Granted, not my best work but it was my first project and I couldn’t even write it yet. Throughout school, I always earned my highest marks in writing. As I got older, I stopped doing just assignments and started writing for fun. When I was choosing majors, nothing else ever felt like an option. I’ve been seriously writing since college so about seven years. I don’t really have a process of finding a story. The stories seem to find me. I will dream something or something will flash in my mind like a movie image and I start there.

 

SP: Tell me about the protagonist and antagonist of your latest book. What are their goals in the story?

​

Katie: The protagonist is Aphrodite Miller. She is a kindergarten teacher spending her summer vacation helping her parents in their flower shop. Aphrodite’s goal seems to be to have a relaxing summer but is secretly looking for more adventure than she is willing to admit.

​

The word antagonist is so strong that I don’t think I could call anyone in the book a true antagonist. There are, however, people that are intervening on Aphrodite’s plans in ways that they believe are for “her benefit”. People like her mother, her best friend, Jessica, and the persistent Mrs. Simon go out of their way to find Aphrodite the thing they think she’s missing in her life, a man. Then there is the mysterious fairy woman who intervenes in ways that Aphrodite never knew was possible.

 

SP: Which do you prefer, character driven stories or plot driven stories and why should readers care? Which do you write?

​

Katie: I definitely prefer character-driven stories. Without the characters that are doing things, there is no plot. I don’t think it’s a matter of why readers should care. I think readers want to care. I think the stories that people remember the most are the ones with the most profound characters. It’s these characters that a person gets so excited about that they put themselves into that world.

 

SP: Tell me about your story point of view preferences, tense preferences, and any other thing of interest to you along these lines as we delve further into the mechanics of creating a story.

​

Katie: I tend to use third person limited for my characters. I find that it allows me to follow my main characters intimate thoughts closely. I have always been fascinated with the mind and emotions so my goal is to sink into them in a way that allows the reader to feel something. I also have a tendency to create more complicated, broken characters. I want characters that at one minute could repulse me and at another moment make me pity them. I think people are too complicated to put them in one box and characters should be the same. Another thing I’m fascinated with is nature vs nurture. I tend to believe more along the lines that villains aren’t born. They’re created over time in a series of unfortunate events that may have changed other people in ways that allowed them to make better choices than my character did.

 

SP: What are your all-time favorite books – top three? Why? Don’t skimp here. Explore it with us? Tell us what genre they are. Who is your favorite author, if different from your favorite book?

​

Katie: It is so difficult for me to pick only three. Asking a reader to pick their favorite books is like asking a woman with a thousand children to pick their favorite child. Sure this one makes me laugh but this one over here has a romantic soul.  I definitely love Jane Austen. I think she was a clever woman both in and above her time all at once. I guess the first books that come to mind for me would be The Fault in Our Stars, young adult novel by John Green. This one stands out to me because it’s beautifully written and makes me feel. The second would be The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitgerald. I love how he describes Nick Carraway as being both within and without. I think that’s how a writer thinks. They’re both active in life and outside of life, observing it. I guess my third choice would be any of The Dresden Files books by Jim Butcher, science fiction. Harry Dresden is such a wonderful character that I could read about him forever and still be satisfied.

 

SP: What do you find is the most difficult thing about writing fiction? The easiest thing? Elaborate.

​

Katie: I think the most difficult thing about writing fiction is finding the balance between imagination and realism. A writer doesn’t need to set a scene in this world but they have to create enough in their new worlds for the reader to believe they can be there too. It’s easy to think up what something looks like but to be able to take that universe in your head and put it on paper in a way that makes the reader excited is magic. The easiest part for me is the first draft writing because I am a pantser. I make no outline prior to start so I just write down whatever organically comes into my head. It is a very easy and freeing experience.

 

SP: Tell me about your travels. Where is an interesting place you’ve been? Do you travel to research your stories, or is research important to you for your stories?

​

Katie: I haven’t had the opportunities to travel much. It’s one of my goals in life to see more of the world. I have only been to places in New England but I really enjoyed Boston. It has so much historical significance. Since I don’t travel far, I do a lot more research, although most of my pieces have been set in Maine.

 

SP: What kind of stories do you refuse to read?

​

Katie: I don’t have much that I won’t try to read but it has to really pull me in or I give up after 50 pages. I don’t like long, drawn out descriptions. I think there is a fine line between painting a picture and overindulgence.

 

SP: Finally, the most important question – DC or Marvel? Or does that even matter to you? What is your favorite comic book character ever? If none, just make something up!

​

Katie: I prefer DC’s villains and Marvel’s heroes but if I could only pick one, it would definitely be Marvel. My favorite comic book character is definitely Captain America. He always sticks to his own moral code whether that reflects what others believe or not.

 

WOW! I don’t know about you, Mr. or Ms. Reader, but I got a LOT out of this interview myself. Very inciteful. We seem to have a lot in common, Katie, such as a mutual love for Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden. As an aside, Harry has to be the best male name of all time – have a father and brother and one of my main characters named Harry. Loved your interview, Katie. Thanks for giving us your time.