Interview with Kathleen McClure

Author of Soldier of Fortune: A Gideon Quinn Adventure

Where are you from originally and where do you reside now?

I was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana (very few have heard of it), and now I live in Austin, Texas.

If you currently reside somewhere besides where you were born, what’s the story that lead from there to here?

Just remember, you asked.

To begin, my mother remarried when I was six, and the new family unit drove from Valparaiso, Indiana to Santee, California. (Side note: we ran out of gas while crossing Texas. If this were a novel, we’d call that foreshadowing.).

From Santee we hopped cities throughout the state, moving roughly every two years (hitting the high points of Fresno, Bakersfield, and back to Santee) until college. Where I continued the family trend of bopping around from college to college and major to major, starting with Sacramento State (Undeclared but thinking about Creative Writing) to San Diego State (Telecommunications) to Grossmont Community College (I Can’t Even), finally graduating from UC Irvine (with a B.A. in Theatre Arts).

At around the same time as I graduated, I was accepted to the Circle in the Square Acting program in New York City. Since we’d just had yet another earthquake in California, I decided to go to New York, where they did not have earthquakes. Or, they didn’t at that time.

Over the course of eleven years, I lived in New York City. Still moved a lot, from Queens to the Bronx to mid-town and back to Queens. I studied acting, starved, became a fight choreographer, fell in love, lost any desire to be in the theater, got married, got pregnant, and moved to my partner’s home city of Austin, where I have lived in this one house longer than anywhere in my entire pre-Texas life.

This is amazing to me, because on the whole, Texas is much too hot for my comfort.

I miss autumn.

What made you decide to write and publish your first book?

My first book, second, third, and part of a fourth, were Nanowrimo experiments.

No one will ever see those books.

I dove into the idea of writing and publishing my first novel, Soldier of Fortune, because I experienced a painful reminder that life is too short to squander a dream. I’m lucky that Soldier found enough of the right audience, and that I, and my sometime partner Kelley McKinnon, can continue writing in the series that Soldier of Fortune began.

Since then, I and another partner have branched into the spy-fi series The Zodiac Files, and I am quietly building a third universe for an urban fantasy series. I will be writing solo.

How would you describe your books to first time readers?

Fun. Fun. Fun. Fun. And funny with it.

But seriously, my books are science fiction and fantasy romps (think Star Wars, Killjoys, Firefly, Dark Matter, and the like).

They are first and foremost, entertainment that features diverse, fully realized characters that readers love to spend time with, all fighting the good fight, overcoming ridiculous odds, and taking a few solid hits along the way. My goal is for the audience to leave the book feeling better than when they opened it, because the world is a scary place, and people need some good vibes to carry on.

Who do you feel is most likely to connect with the topics you write about?

My reader base is pretty eclectic, but I’d say anyone who enjoys Terry Pratchett’s Guard series would be a good fit. Definitely my readers are fond of character-driven fiction.

What unexpected or surprising thing did you learn during the process of writing and publishing?

Imposter syndrome is real, circadian rhythms must be respected, deep work and the internet do not mix, and there’s a whole feud about the Oxford comma that puts the Capulet and Montague thing to shame.

If you could, what advice would you give to your past self before embarking on this journey?

Breathe. Trust the process. Keep learning, but don’t use the learning as an excuse not to write.

And read “Every Tool is a Hammer” by Adam Savage (though that wasn’t out, yet).

How many people would you ideally like to reach with your books?

Millions! (Go big or go home)

What has been the biggest challenge and frustration during the process to date?

Perfectionism, and the opposite side of that coin, self doubt.

What’s your biggest strengths when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

A) Writing.

What’s your biggest weakness when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

C. Marketing.

(PS, with certain software’s, the publishing thing has become so much easier).

When do you think you will write your next book?

I’m writing a short now, working through draft two of a Zodiac novel, and plotting the next three books. It never ends.

Are you self published or did you use a hybrid publisher, or a traditional publisher?

Self published. I’m open to hybrid, but the shopping around would be a time suck and I’m comfortable taking it slow and steady. Working with the editor and proofer and cover artists, I’ve come to depend on over the past three years. Beyond that, I may want to reach millions, but I’m very happy creating for the sake of the few thousand fans I’ve already found, and I need to focus on the work for their sake, as much as mine.