Interview with Ian Reading, author of Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold

1. Tell me about yourself.

 

At the risk of sounding like a personal ad…  My name is Iain.  I like traveling, seeing and experiencing new places.  I try to do that as much as my day job allows me to.  Maybe I also get bored easily too, which pushes me to find newer and more interesting things in the world.

 

2. What inspired you to write Kitty Hawk?

 

It was the character of Kitty Hawk herself that is most responsible for inspiring me and pushing me forward into actually writing the book series.  She was such an amazing and unique character – a teenaged pilot with her own plane, flying around the world – that I could simply not resist writing her stories to find out what would happen to her, where she would go and who she’d meet along the way.

 

3. What something interesting about you not many people know?

 

In addition to writing Kitty Hawk books I also write and record my own music.  Out there on the internet there is a lot of it available for free.  Check out http://www.secretworldonline.com if you are interested.

 

4. What genre do you like to write in?

 

I am not sure whether I have a favourite genre to write in.  The Kitty Hawk books are, of course, young adult sort of realistic mystery adventure fiction but I am also now working on a new books series in a more fantasy genre.  Not TOO fantastical, however.  Still set in the sort of normal every day modern world, but with a bit of a fantastical twist.  I know this is a pretty overloaded genre but I just wanted to give it a try.

 

5. Have you ever encountered writer’s block? If so, how did you overcome it?

 

I don’t think that I have ever had “real” writer’s block.  Not the kind you see in movies anyway, where the writer is paralyzed for weeks and days, unable to write.  Occasionally I have come across points in my stories where I am not quite sure how to move forward, but nothing that a quiet walk or an indulgent massage wouldn’t solve.  To be honest, I have no idea what I would do if I ever did encounter “real” writer’s block.  Maybe I would just give up and that would be the end of Kitty Hawk?  Just kidding.  I couldn’t leave her stuck out there in the middle of nowhere.  I would at least add one more chapter where she gives up her flight around the world and moves into a monastery to spend her days meditating and chanting.

 

6. Summarize your novel.

 

This first book – Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold – is the first book in a series of thirteen books that follow the adventures of the intrepid teenaged pilot,

Kitty Hawk, as she flies around the world, stopping along the way to meet new people and see new places…  And solve some mysteries as she goes.  This first book takes her to Alaska and the Yukon where she happens across some gold thieves and gets caught up with them for a while, living in the wilderness and having some amazing adventures as she goes.

 

7. Tell me about your characters.

 

The only really consistent character throughout the book series is Kitty Hawk herself, with a cast of various people changing with each new book and location.  In the first book she meets a band of brothers, authentic and outdoorsy types, who kidnap her and set her off on her first real adventure across the rugged landscape of the far north.

 

8. Tell me about your publishing journey.

 

I suspect that my journey from first paragraph to final self-published book is pretty typical, which is to say that it has been confusing and a constant learning experience with every new day bringing new revelations about the chaotic world of self-publishing.  But if nothing else it has been rewarding and after all the new skills learned and experiences gained, I can say from experience that there is nothing like having one of your books “out there” and seeing it sitting there on your own private bookshelf over the fireplace at home where you can sometimes pick it up and marvel at the fact that you actually “did it”.