An Interview with Karen J. Hicks
Karen J. Hicks, according to her website, was raised on a Wisconsin dairy farm. In her own words, she “began her storytelling career spinning fantasies for her dog and creating plots while she mowed the huge country lawn.” She has written books, films, and ghostwritten. Karen, took the time to answer a few questions I had for her.
1. When did you discover you needed to be an author?
I’ve always liked thinking up poems and stories, but in high school our AP English class was required to write a novella one semester and the teacher frequently read and posted from mine. She encouraged me to write even after I graduated. I kept writing over the years as a single parent, but more for fun than money. I didn’t get serious about writing as a career until my son graduated from high school and joined the military.
2. What inspired you to publish your first book?
I was fortunate to take a hiatus from working and live for several months in a cabin in the North Georgia mountains. It was there I finished my first book, THE TAO OF AN UNCLUTTERED LIFE, a short self-help book about being organized body, mind, and spirit. I submitted it to a publisher in Atlanta and they just happened to need another TAO title in their next catalog so I didn’t have to wait forever for the book to be released.
3. Did you have any fears of publishing before you started?
Other than worrying it would never happen, no. haha
4. What were three things your learned about the publishing process?
a. You can get published without an agent. I’ve done it twice before I switched to self-publishing.
b. Self-publishing is easy, but you do need some good editors to help you.
c. Cover design and catchy titles are important.
5. What was the most surprising thing your learned in the process?
Don’t expect your friends and relatives to buy your books.
6. Have you done any unique marketing that other authors can borrow?
I confess I’ve not been that good at marketing. I’ve done some shows, some readings, podcasts. Have a Facebook author page, Amazon author page, as well as postings on sites like Goodreads. I send group emails to my high school graduating class to announce my books. I’ve spent some money on Facebook advertising, with a little return. I hired a publicist for one book, and found it to be a waste of money.
7. What is the title of your latest book?
I have three books I am promoting right now. The first is a book of short stories called THE TWELFTH OF NEVER: AND OTHER SHORT STORIES
But, during the pandemic, I also completed two of the three books in my romance series: AMETHYST DREAMS and JADED DREAMS. The first book in the series was CRYSTAL DREAMS.
8. What is a brief summary/synopsis of the book?
THE TWELFTH OF NEVER is a collection of 15 stories that range from mysteries to lost loves to domestic challenges and humor. Many utilize O-Henry-style irony and surprise endings, as well as a sprinkling of fantasy to jolt the senses.
The three books in the Dream Series follow the love story of Brynn and Canaan, who meet in Nashville in CRYSTAL DREAMS, go on a honeymoon road trip to Hollywood in AMETHYST DREAMS, and struggle to keep romance alive through the daily grind and dashed dreams.
9. What inspired/encouraged you to research the information gained in your latest book?
Since the short story book is all from my imagination, little research was necessary. For the Dream Series, however, I researched Native American culture, as well as plotting a believable road trip from Tennessee to Hollywood. My time working in Hollywood gave me good insight for JADED DREAMS. Using shaman rituals and herbal healings in the series also required research.
10. What advice would you give an aspiring writer?
It’s simple: Believe in yourself and don’t give up. Passion for your subject matter is required for a successful book.
11. What inspired you to become a screenwriter?
After my son graduated, I had my own business and was hired to type a screenplay for a client. I had to figure out the formatting so got Syd Fields’ book on the subject and used it like a Bible. I also very smartly bought a script-formatting program.
Then I attended a seminar in Nashville given by Emmy and Golden Globe winner Marsha Posner Williams, producer on THE GOLDEN GIRLS. She talked above moving to Los Angeles even though she had to live in her car for a while. The next day I started planning my own migration west.
I wrote several scripts with others and for others over the years, that made me a few bucks although none made it to the screen. The closest was one on which I was a writer-for-hire on a script that sold to Nickelodeon
12. What did you find was different from writing books verses screenplays?
Screenplays are all about the visual, and you can’t go in the same depth of story you can in a book. In truth, two of my books were first written as screenplays: THE COMING WOMAN and CRYSTAL DREAMS.
13. You have also been a ghost-writer? How did you get into this field?
I went to work for author/comedian Steve Allen as his manuscript assistant, which originally meant typing up his dictated stories and notes and coordinating with the agent and publishers on his books. When Steve got backed up on a deadline to finish his books about the Bible, I ghost-wrote a few sections for him. Then I started going through his dozens of ring-binders of typed thoughts and ideas he had dictated over the years. Culling and organizing these became his book title REFLECTIONS. I also took a children’s poem he had written and formatted it as a book with illustrations: THE BUG AND THE SLUG IN THE RUG.
Around this same time, a friend was hired to write a California travel guide for the Automobile Association of Great Britain and was having problems completing it so I wrote several sections of that for him.
14. What advice would you give someone thinking about ghost-writing?
You can’t have an ego, because you get no credit. You have to do it for the love of the project. Then it can be great fun. If you’re lucky, there’s money to be made as well.
15. Where can your future fans follow you on social media?
My FB author page: https://www.facebook.com/Karen-J-Hicks-109539650865598/
My Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B00NG6KWJ4?_encoding=UTF8&node=2656022011&offset=0&pageSize=12&searchAlias=stripbooks&sort=author-sidecar-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader
16. Do you have a website?
Yes. http://www.karenjhicks.com/
17. If you could co-author a book with any author, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Shel Silverstein as his books are brilliant and creative, with powerful messages underlying the simple stories!
