Kim Dare

12 May 2010 6 Comments

by Lisa in Kim Dare

 

Kim Dare

Twenty-six years old, from Wales, UK, Kim writes about kink, love and happy endings. If a story doesn’t have those three things, it’s not going to be written—at least not by this writer! Apart from that, Kim likes to write a little bit of everything. Male/Male, Male/Female, ménage, vampires, werewolves, ghost, time-travel—that sort of variety always keeps life interesting. A firm believer that there is no “One True Way” for people to kink, Kim also likes to let the characters in each book pick their own ways to dominate and submit to each other. As long as they stay safe, sane and consensual – Kim’s happy to let them live their lifestyle 24/7, or just open the toy box on weekends—whatever’s right for them.

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, Kim.
Thanks for inviting me onto the blog

Can you tell us a little bit about your background?
I’m 26 years old, from Wales in the UK. I always had a vague idea that I wanted to be a writer when I grew up, but a few years ago I started writing more seriously – and actually finishing some of the stories I kept starting!

That was around the time I switched from writing fantasy stories to erotic romances, which I guess still have a certain sort of fantasy element to them, lol.

What was your first book and how long did it take to get it published?

I’d written more than a few stories before, but the first book I had accepted was Turquoise and Leather.

I wrote it March 2008, edited it up over the next few weeks and sent it off to publisher number one at the end of May. That publisher wrote back to me mid June, telling me it wasn’t what they were looking for at that time.

That same day, I sent it to Total-e-bound. TEB e-mailed at the end of the month offering me a contract for the book.

Before that I’d spent about eighteen months writing as much as I could, well over a million words altogether. So it was kind of quick in some ways, but I think that might just be that I crammed the same amount of ‘practice writing’ into a shorter span of time than most sensible people would, lol.

When did you start writing Gay & Lesbian, Romance? What about this genre interested you the most?
I guess I started writing it in November 2006, for a Nanowrimo project, but it was more by luck than judgment if I’m honest. I didn’t sit down and decide I should, it just happened. I’d been writing bits and pieces for a while, but I’d always tried to write something I thought other people would like to read.

That November I decided to just let my characters go down whatever path they chose and see where the story went. I stopped trying to write something I thought publishers might want. And maybe, in a way, I stopped subconsciously limiting myself to writing what I thought straight focused publishers would want.

I’d always been brought up knowing it doesn’t matter which way people swing, so I can’t really say I paused to think about it too much when the two main male characters decided to fall in love and jump into bed with each other. Love is love, sex is sex, and kink is kink. Two men, two women or a whole jumble together. I just kept writing.

How many books have you written thus far?
As of April 5th – twenty-three will have been released so far. I’ve got another thirteen or so either contracted or penciled in to be released during the rest of this year.

I’ve also got a grand total of fifty-three stories that have been first drafted and now need to be edited – or in a lot of cases pretty much re-written from scratch. I’ve heard people say you have to write a million words before you’re likely to make any money from writing – I’ve never heard anyone say what you’re supposed to do with the backlog of stories you acquire over that time!

I’m working on bringing that number down as they are polished up and sent off. Check back in a decade or two and I might have got that down to single digits, lol. After that, there are another two hundred or so stories all neatly listed on a spread sheet, waiting to be written.

Do you write full time?
I don’t manage to sit at a computer and type for forty hours a week or anything like that, but I’m pretty lucky in that I’m able to devote most of my energies to my writing at the moment. So even when I’m not actually able to write, I tend to think about writing almost 24/7.

Looking back was there something in particular that helped you to decide to become a writer? Did you choose it or did the profession choose you?
I write mostly because I need to get all the stories that invade my head out of there before the buildup of story ideas drives me crazy. I publish because not having to get a “real job” means I have more time to write.

I also find that writing happy endings for fictional characters in my books helps me deal with not being able to create many happy endings for real people in the real world, which is something I struggle with at times. It’s good therapy in that way.

I’m also pretty sure I’m not cut out to be anything but a writer. So, maybe a bit of everything contributed to the idea.

On a typical writing day, how would you spend your time?
I write best late at night, so I tend to do admin and editing during the day and then get my daily dose of words done just before bed. Every now and again I let myself have a writing splurge and just write as much as I can for a few days – those times are really precious.

When it comes to plotting, do you write freely or plan everything in advance?
It’s more fun to just write and see where it goes, but it’s far more practical to plan things out. If I have a plan I tend not to have to go back and re-write big sections into different points of view, which makes the editing easier.

What kind of research do you do before and during a new book?
At the moment, my research is taking two main tracks. Animal behavior and psychology for the shifter books on the one hand, police procedure and protocol for another new series on the other hand.

Occasionally, if one of my characters takes an interest in a kink I’m not familiar with, I have to research that too – it’s tough work then, but somebody has to do it

How much of yourself and the people you know manifest into your characters? How do you approach development of your characters? Where do you draw the line?
I like to have the characters live for a little while in my head, before I let them out to play. I don’t so much sit down and think about how I want to develop them, but I usually turn them and their stories over and over in my head while I’m going through the day and I let them grow and develop their personalities naturally.

If I think a character is getting too much like me, I make a point of trying to gently nudge their personalities in a different direction, but it’s not a problem I run into very often. I like to write about people who are quite different to me in a lot of ways – that’s part of the fun.

How long does it take for you to complete a book you would allow someone to read? Do you write straight through, or do you revise as you go along?
I write straight through as much as possible. I only go back and edit during the first draft if something really horrible has happened and I know without doubt that it can’t work as it is. Even then, I try to keep that to big changes, like re-writing something into the other characters point of view, rather than making little tweaks.


Apart from those rare occasions, I find it’s a lot easier to edit something when you know for sure how it’s going to finish. My characters often spring surprises on me in the last chapter, making me go back and tweak the psychology all the way through. Editing before it’s all written tends to be a wasted effort.

Once it’s finished, each story goes through at least three rounds of editing. I then print it out for proofing. Then it goes to my editor.

Writers often go on about writer’s block. Do you ever suffer from it, and what measures do you take to get past it?
I’m not sure if there is any such thing as writers block. There is not really being in the mood to write at that moment in time. And there’s not being sure what should happen next, or how to write your way out of a plot hole you’ve dug yourself into. And there’s definitely not being in the mood to work on a particular project at any given time—the story you’re not working on always tends to look far more interesting than the one you’re slogging your way through.

But I wouldn’t call any of those things writers block. Especially since I usually find they can all be cured by sitting down and making yourself work on the project you should be working on regardless of how you feel about it.

When someone reads one of your books for the first time, what do you hope they gain, feel or experience?
It depends on the book. Some of them, especially quite a few of the shorter ones, are intended to be quick little feel good stories. With some of the longer or more serious ones, I might hope to make people think about the things that are brought up by the main theme of the book. But for the short ones, if people feel good when they get to the end, that’s all it’s really about.

Can you share three things you’ve learned about the business of writing since your first publication?

1. No matter how much blood sweat and tears you put into a book, someone will hate it. They’ll write a review saying so, and you’ll be convinced that no one will ever read any of your books again as a result. This is followed by learning, a few weeks later, that despite that review, people will still buy and read your books. Some of them will even like them and say nice things about them.
2. No matter how many books you write and send off to your editor, you’ll start checking your e-mails for a reply five minutes after clicking send – even if you know there’s no way your editor will have read a whole book in that length of time, and even if you know it’s the middle of the night where your editor lives, lol.
3. Even if you do the bare minimum of admin, promo and all the other things that aren’t writing, but which you need to do if you want to write books for a living, it will take up far more time than you imagine. It’s actually the writing equivalent of a black hole that distorts time and space around it. The effect becomes more and more powerful the closer you get to writing deadlines, lol.

Does the title of a book you’re writing come to you as you’re writing it, or does it come before you even begin the first sentence?
I have built quite a few books from the title up. For the G-A-Y series, all the titles came first, and then I wrote a book that I felt might suit the title. A couple of the books in the Perfect Timing series were written in the same way.


If I fall in love with a title, I make a note of it and try to find a story that will fit it at a later date.


Other books change titles a dozen times and more as I think about them, write them and edit them. Some seem to stubbornly resist ever having a title put to them, and I end up never being entirely happy with the end result.

Occasionally titles I’ve been struggling with for ages click into place out of nowhere, which is a great feeling.


I find myself in the same situation when I’m trying to name a series – finding the perfect name for one stubborn book is hard – finding one the reflects up to twelve very different books can be a real bugger. But it’s great when it finally clicks!

How would you describe your sense of humor? Who and what makes you laugh?
I guess I have quite a British sense of humor. I’m never really sure if readers from other countries really get a lot of the jokes in the books.


I suppose it’s quite a dry, sarcastic sense of humor, an inclination to laugh at things that aren’t really funny unless your mind works in a weird way.

What is the most frequently asked Kim question?
Do you just write about kink, or do you play in real life? Most writers of BDSM will tell you that one’s quite common. I always give the same answer. I’m neither in a relationship, nor looking for one, at the moment – so I’m not active on any sort of local scene right now. But, as and when I do start looking again, I can’t imagine I’ll ever enter into any relationship that’s entirely vanilla.

What are you working on now?
I’ve just finished the last story in my G-A-Y series and that’s gone to my editor at Total-e-bound. So I’m currently editing the second story in my Thrown to the Lions series—Marrick’s Promise. Alongside that, I’m writing the second story in another series that’s just been accepted by Resplendence—the Rawlings Men series.

What was the best piece of advice you’ve received with respect to the art of writing? How did you implement it into your work?
The art of writing…? The best advice I’ve ever been given is write a minimum number of words each day – every day, no matter what. Finish every story you start. And write what you love. I do all of those.Maybe not very artistic, but very useful.

When it comes to promotion, what lengths have you gone to in order to increase reader-awareness of your work?
A long time ago I heard someone say that the best way to promote your last book is to publish your next book. I’m not sure if I’m following that advice or if I’m just being lazy when it comes to promotion and concentrating on the actual writing because that’s the bit I love. Either way, it seems to be working okay.

Writing is obviously not just how you make your living, but your life-style as well. What do you do to keep the creative “spark” alive – both in your work and out of it?
Sometimes it’s easier to get excited about projects if you vary the length and sub-genre of the projects you work on. Apart from that, I think really caring about the characters is the most important thing. If you care about the people in the book, you want to finish it, because you want to get them to their happy ending.

What pros and cons surround the e-publishing industry, and how do you envision the future of e-publishing?
I think there are a lot of pros. Manuscripts tend to be assessed and accepted/rejected far more quickly. The lower publishing costs enable the writers to receive a larger royalty, which I think means there’s a better chance of making a living at it than with a print publisher. E-publishers tend to be happier to accept stories that are part of niche markets, so you have more freedom to explore ideas a print publisher wouldn’t touch. And in a lot of ways it’s easier for a new writer to break into the e-book business, publishers are more willing to take a chance on an unknown quantity.


Cons. Piracy is annoying And… Um… Apparently, apart from that, I’m really happy with e-publishing.


As for the future of it – I think there’ll always be a place for both e-books and print books. Some genres will probably always do better in one or the other. It’s going to be interesting to see which genres end up at which end of the spectrum.

What kind of books do you like to read?
I don’t actually read very many erotic romances. When I scrape together the time and the energy to concentrate on a book I’m not actually trying to write or edit, I go for Terry Pratchett for comedy and fantasy and Jane Austen or Georgette Heyer for old fashioned, closed door, romances. I also like poetry – particularly Kipling and Hannah.

If you weren’t a writer what would you be?
As bad as it sounds, I’m not sure I’d be anything. Writing is it for me.

We recently read the books in your Collared Series. Where did you get the idea for that series?
I originally intended it to be a series about twelve collars, each featuring a different birthstone. That idea didn’t quite work out. Some of the characters weren’t inclined to gemstones and they’ll now have collars made from all different materials in all different styles.

As for why collars. Simple, really. I love collars. From play collars right through to those that signify a lifetime’s commitment between the giver and the receiver. I like them all, instinctively and without reservation.

When it comes to the covers of your books, what do you like or dislike about them?
I’ve been really lucky with my covers from both my publishers. The cover gods like me Touch wood, they’ll continue to do so for many years to come.

Now and again, the cover artists actually seem to sneak inside your head and pull out a truly perfect cover – putting in details that you didn’t actually mention when you filled in the forms for what you wanted on the covers. Those are the ones I really fall head over heels in love with.

Aside from writing, what else do you enjoy doing?
I like going to the theatre – musicals in particular. I dabble in quite a few crafts – blackwork and crochet are the main ones at the moment. I also like learning about all different topics. I’m part way through two different undergraduate degrees – one BA and one BSc. I’ve let them slip while concentrating on my writing recently, but I’m looking forward to going back to them at some point.

Any special projects coming out soon we should watch for?
I have quite a line up of new releases coming out over the next few weeks and months. You can check them out here. Seriously – it’s worth clicking on the link just to see the covers for the rest of the Thrown to the Lions series!

New writers are always trying to glean advice from those with more experience. What suggestions do you have for new writers?
Keep writing. Write what you love. Write every day. Finish every story you start. And keep going. It’s as simple as that really.

What future projects do you have in the works?
The G-A-Y series will come to a close this year – that one’s pretty much all submitted now. Apart from that I’ve got two books left to go in the Pack Discipline series. Seven books left to go in the Perfect Timing series. Three in the Thrown to the Lions series. Ten in the Collared series. And I have a new series called Rawling’s Men, the first one’s coming out in May, there are five more to go in that one.

So, my future projects mostly include finishing off all the projects I’ve already started, although there will be a couple of stand alones in there too

Can you please tell us where we can find you and your books on the Internet?
I have a website – http://www.kimdare.com/ and a blog – http://www.kimdare.blogspot.com/

Or you can find the current releases on my author’s page on each of the publishers’ websites – Total-e-bound and Resplendence.