Sharon Buchbinder: Interview with K. Margaret, Author of Dreams in the Dark

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Interview with K. Margaret, Author of Dreams in the Dark

What made you decide to be an author? I used to love to tell stories while sitting around with my best friend. Those simple stories created more and more characters and plots in my head and I decided I needed to write them down and see what became of them.

What do you like best about being a writer? I love getting to know my characters. My very favorite thing is when I’m writing and I discover something about my characters that I didn’t know and that discovery leads to another story.

What do you like the least? When a character is being stubborn. There are times when a character will not speak to me at all and I’ll be right in the middle of an important scene. Krael, one of the main characters in my latest release, is one of the most stubborn males I’ve ever written.

How do you think your life experiences have prepared you for writing? I’ve always had thick skin, which is important when you’re a writer.

Have you ever felt as if you were being dictated to while you wrote a book--as if the words came of their own accord? Definitely. Even though my characters live in my head, they seem to have a mind of their own. If yes, which book did that happen with? This has happened in every book I’ve written. The most memorable one, was when I was writing Endless Nightmare. I was writing the first scene Lzar appeared in and while writing it I discovered a part of Lzar past and his connection to the main character, Empusa, that I did not see coming.

You’ve written 3 novels and are working on a 4th novel. What’s your favorite time management tip? I work full time with a 3 hour commute to and from work, as well as being a single mom to a teenage daughter, time management is very important. I try to schedule an hour every night (Monday - Friday) and 2-3 hours on Saturday and Sunday. But the most important thing, I don’t stress. If I only get a couple hundred words written in one night, I remind myself that was a couple hundred I didn’t have before.

Are you a plotter or a pantser, i.e ., do you outline your books ahead of time or are you an “organic” writer? I’m both, it all depends on the book I’m writing. My current release, I was a pantser. I had the outline in my head, but most of it came together while writing. My current project is being plotted from start to finish.

If you had one take away piece of advice for authors, what would it be? Never stop writing. It doesn’t matter if it takes you several months or several years to finish your book, keep going. Block out all the noise around you and lose yourself in your talent and your imagination. If your words can touch just one person, it makes all the sweat and tears worth it.

Did music help you find your muse with this book? If yes, which song did you find yourself going back to over and over again as you wrote? Music is one of the most important things to me while writing. A lot of songs inspired my current book, but the one song I kept going back to that seemed to be the main song of the story was In the Night by The Weeknd

Tell me more about Dreams in the Dark.

Whispers abound in Gehenna, Zeus knows the empusae is alive and he wants her dead. A war is coming, and a war is exactly what Empusa’s been training her pets for.

Deep down, Empusa only wants one thing—the demise of those who banished her to Hell, and she will stop at nothing to escape and exact her revenge. Traveling the Dream Realm, she spends countless hours searching for her ticket out, and she’s finally found him.

Krael Connolly, the Crown Prince of Gehenna, spends his days researching demons, particularly the elusive empusae, and his nights being visited by his Emmy in his dreams. As the Demon of Vengeance, he fights a battle with his inner demon every day, but his humanity continues to win out…although, the demon of his dreams is testing that control.

He endlessly fights against the dark, while she fights against the light. She calls to his demon as he struggles to bring out her humanity. She lives for chaos, blood and destruction, but he makes her experience something she'd never experienced before—emotions.

But ultimately, what will Empusa do? Whatever hell she wants.

How about an excerpt from Dreams in the Dark?

Krael reached under his head, taking hold of the pillow, and Empusa frowned. Before she could question him, he whipped the pillow out from under him and smacked her on the shoulder. Her look of incredulity caused him to laugh.

“You did not just hit me.”

“It was a love tap, sweets.”

Empusa’s brows drew down, her lip curling up on one side as she hissed. “You did not just call me sweets.”

He lifted the pillow and hit her again, this time a little harder. “It’s called having fun, Emmy-sweet.”

Eyes narrowing, Empusa grabbed the pillow from his hands and tossed it across the room. “You and I have a different opinion on what fun is.” Placing her hands on either side of his head, she leaned over him, lips a mere breath away from his. “Death, blood, and destruction, now that’s fun. Hitting others with soft objects which wouldn’t even leave a mark? Pointless. If you’re going to hit someone, pet, make it count.”

Krael’s laughter increased and he leaned up to nip her nose with his teeth. Empusa did not understand this man.

“We need to work on your definition of fun, Emmy.” The hands holding her hips moved up her sides, fingers lightly digging into her skin in quick movements. A strange feeling surged inside her and she wiggled on his lap, trying to dislodge his hands.

“Pet, what are you doing?”

Krael stared up at her with complete disbelief shining in his chocolate brown eyes. His fingers paused their torturous movements. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“I’m always serious, pet.”

Krael snorted, confusing Empusa further. “For some reason, I find that very hard to believe.” He grabbed her by the hips again, lifting her off of him and setting her down next to him. He sat up, rubbing his hand over his beard, staring at her like he was trying to get inside her head to see what lived there. He didn’t want to get too far inside her mind. Nothing good could come from it. It was dark and cold there, just like it was inside her heart. Millennia of fighting for survival and plotting the destruction of her mother had permanently hardened every inch of her. Was it any wonder why her version of fun was so different than his? Plus, if he ever did find out what she hid in there, he would know who and what she was. A secret she’d rather keep to herself.

Empusa turned toward him, moving onto her knees, her head tilted to the side, brow raised in question. “Problem, pet?”

“Krael,” he said with exasperation. “I think we know each other well enough now for you to call me by my first name. Not sure how I like being considered your pet.”

“But you are my pet.” She moved a little closer. “I stroke you and pet you and make you purr.”