A native of the southeast United States, Kari Holloway is a shutterbug, spending her days chasing her two daughters while enjoying the outdoors. She never strayed far from her family’s four-generational farmhouse, attending Georgia Southwestern State University and receiving her bachelor’s degree.
Her debut series, Laughing P, is a delightful mix of real world problems infused with the iconic southern culture that many witness first hand when they visit. Not content with a single genre, she writes what comes to mind and worries about slapping a label on it later. A prolific self-published author, she has now made a meteoric transition to Paranormal Fantasy. I was over the moon when Kari agreed to be my first Q&A. Who is the woman behind the ‘glamour’ of such vivid fiction?

• What genres have you written?

My debut series, The Laughing P, is a southern fiction, contemporary romance akin to a western romance. Southern charm, small-town secrets, and true love where no one is promised happiness.

My second series, Devil’s Playground, is a paranormal mystery with a kitsune, fox demon, as the main character and she’s a Guardian for the Supernatural Council.

 

I’ve dabbled in a few other genres as well.

• Which is your favourite genre to write?

I have a fondness to fantasy, but I think most genres have a beauty to them that isn’t discovered until you try to write them.

• What books have you got out?

Laughing P mybook.to/LaughingP
Cracked But Never Broken mybook.to/LPCracked
Behind the Lens mybook.to/LPBehind
Never too Late (when this one goes live in August the URL short cut will be mybook.to/LPNever)
Devil’s Playground mybook.to/DPSeries
Forgotten mybook.to/DPForgotten
Cry of Gold mybook.to/DPCry
Short Works
Beneath the Masks books2read.com/beneaththemasks. This one is a perma-free short story found on all e-retailers.

All my other publications, including short stories found in Anthologies like A Haunting of Words, can be found on my site www.kariholloway.com

• What is coming out in the near future?

I’m currently working on Mark of Cain. It is the 3^rd novella in the Devil’s Playground series. Pulled across the veil by her mentor Morgan, things don’t go as planned when a simple assassination turns into a power struggle. A secret harboured and erased comes to light, tensions mount in more ways than one, and a demon hides amongst their midst.

• Who are your writer influences/inspirations?

Lamour and Anthony are two of the earliest authors I remember reading. Lamour had the Sacketts and the first book I read of his is in my cedar chest, Silver Canyon. And Anthony’s Incarnations of Immortality are amazing. Mercedes Lackey was one of the first fantasy authors I ever read that wasn’t found in the school library. Current authors would be Kim Harrison, Brent Weeks, and John Flanagan.

• Who is your favourite character in the “Devil’s Playground” series (I’ve got a crush on Morgan myself).

Seer La’Shay, who we haven’t seen on scene yet, is one of my favourites. But out of who’s already appeared, Morgan of course. He’s a bad boy but he knows a lot of stuff that he isn’t telling. We see him as more of a teacher and a cad in Mark of Cain, but that moment’s coming when we see him closer to himself like in Forgotten. Chronos and Kairos might have reverted time, undoing what Morgan did in Forgotten, but the reason he did it still remains.

• If you were a shape-shifter like Alex or Mira, what animal would you like to transform into?

I never wanted to be a werewolf or cougar. I’ve been fascinated with kitsunes/fox demons since shows like Inu-Yasha graced T.V.

• If you could only have ONE magical power, what would it be?

That’s a tough one. I’d love to be able to talk to animals.

• If you could be a character from fiction, who would it be?

Sailor Moon.

• How long have you been writing?

I remember writing in elementary school, but it was frowned upon if it wasn’t school related. So instead of writing, I read everything because that was allowed in class. I haven’t stopped doing both, but I didn’t get serious with my writing until 2015.

• When did you first self-publish?

I prematurely launched Cracked in 2015 or maybe it was early 2016. I immediately learned a few lessons and from there I gathered my team of editors and proofers and people whose opinion I value and haven’t stopped since.

• What is the hardest thing about self-publishing?

Learning to trust your instincts and knowing when they are flat out wrong. It’s hard picking editors and cover designers and separating business from emotions, but learning to trust yourself a little has been the hardest part for me.

• How do you find good beta-readers/arcers?

My ARCers have fallen into my lap on accident. Don’t waste time looking in author groups, go search review and blogging groups.

• If you could give one piece of advice to an author starting their self-publishing journey, what would it be?

What works now doesn’t always work later and what doesn’t work now might work in the future. Publishing is fluid whether you’re going Traditional or Self-publishing. You hear of this major break throughs into a genre but what you don’t realize is the market is constantly growing and ebbing. Some genres stay consistent, but even then, there’s a shift. It used to be historical fiction was all the rage, then it moved to western romances, and now bad boys and MC romances are taking over.

Before dystopia uprooted Hollywood, there were tons being written but the market wasn’t ready until Hunger Games popped and it hit a niche. So just because your work isn’t being gobbled up, it could be you’re just a little early for the party. Keep trying.

• What is your ultimate writing dream?

I would love to make a living off of it and be able to travel the world and see places I want to write about, see history through something other than the pages of a book, and own a few sugar gliders as pets.

• If a book were written with you as the main character, what would it be called?

I Survived My Parents.

• What do you do when you aren’t writing?

When I’m not chasing my kids or spending a lot of time at the family farm or zoos, aquariums and such, I enjoy playing video game. I’ve been playing Marvel Omega and before that I was playing Smite on the PS4. I’m a huge Zelda fan, though I haven’t played the latest. I don’t think I’ve played since Twilight Princess, and that game rivalled A Link to the Past as my favourites. I’m also a huge Doctor Who fan. My favourite shirt has a POW box from Mario with Boos surrounding it and the words say, “The Angels have the Box” in reference to the Weeping Angels.