Autumn Authors: Kelly Blanchard

Today, I'm interviewing the lady who interviews other authors and even their characters. This isn't madness. This. Is. Kelly Blanchard!

​Known as The Muse within her writing circle, Kelly Blanchard first became serious about writing at age twelve and worked hard to learn and fully comprehend the numerous elements of writing. She tutored and assisted teaching in college while she studied for her degree in English. After graduation she continued tutoring children and even taught several classes. Now she’s established an online community to assist fellow writers in understanding their craft.

Outside of writing, Kelly enjoys baking her world famous chocolate chip cookies, and she takes great pleasure in the company of her two cats and her Doberman Pinscher. From a family of five sisters and four brothers, she uses her experience with the family dynamic in her writing. She also practices Martial Arts, fencing, and archery—all important knowledge to have in order to write more accurately.

Writing and stories are important to Kelly. Stories are a reflection of reality, and she tries to capture that reflection in a way that sparks the imagination even if it means bending a few rules and blending several genres.

D.R.- Who is your favorite TV or movie character and why?
K.B.- I’d have to say John Reese from Person of Interest because he’s a soft-spoken individual but still has this dry sense of humor. I hope to write a character like him one day.

D.R.- What's the food or drink you always tell other people to try?
K.B.- Food: my homemade chocolate chip cookies! Drink? Promise Land chocolate milk. Honestly, they’re the best.

D.R.- Who is one person you'd like to meet from any point in history and why?
K.B.- I’d like to meet King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem. He was the Leper King during the Crusades and became king when he was just thirteen. He inherited a kingdom at war. Although his leprosy spread throughout his body, he still went out and faced Saladin in the battlefield. He faced odds other men would run from. He knew his reign would be short and that he would suffer greatly due to his illness, but still he did everything in his power to rule well and provide a future for the kingdom. It would be interesting to have a chat with him.

D.R.- How do you get ideas for stories?
K.B.- I get my ideas from Anywhere and everywhere. Sometimes it’s a song. Other times it’s a line someone said. Sometimes merely paying attention to what is happening in the world around us, questions arise, and I ask ‘what if?’.

D.R.- Which genres do you write and what's your favorite one?
K.B.- I’ve written historical fiction, but my favorite genres to write are fantasy and science fiction.

D.R.- What do you do if you see your idea has already been done?
K.B.- It depends on how much I like the story. If it’s already done, sometimes I dismiss the idea and move on to another one. Otherwise, if I REALLY love the idea and think I can do something different, I twist it to make it unique.

D.R.- What's your best writer's block buster?
K.B.- Have a buddy to brainstorm with, so you can talk out all the different possibilities and get encouraged to either press on through it or alter it a bit.

D.R.- What's the best advice you've gotten about writing?
K.B.- You can always go back and fix the mistakes...even after you’ve published the book. That’s reassuring because once you publish a book, if you or a reader finds an error, you might feel like, “It’s going to be stuck that way FOREVER!” but that’s not the case, and it’s a huge relief.

D.R.- Tell me about the biggest surprise your own character, story, or setting has given you.
K.B.- See, I can’t tell you because that would be major spoilers for my series...but let’s just say, my reaction was definitely eyes widening, then a smile crept across my face, and then I started laughing because the idea was just awesome and unexpected.

D.R.- Tell us about your plans or ideas for a new-to-you genre in the future.
K.B.- My plans for writing is to try to publish four books a year—two of my own series and two from series I’ve co-written. At the same time, I plan to keep writing to stay ahead of myself, and I would love to teach some workshops about writing and self-publishing, but that opportunity hasn’t come up yet. We’ll see if that ever happens, but for now, I plan to write, write, write, and publish!