Where do you get your inspiration for your books?
My inspiration depends on the individual book. For example, today I just had an idea for a YA contemporary novel that came to me totally formed in a dream while napping on my couch. I don’t know if it’s something I’ll ever pursue writing, but ideas can come at any time. For the Execution Underground though, I knew I wanted to try my hand at adult paranormal romance. I was writing YA paranormal at the time and since I loved to read adult paranormal too, that’s where that drive came from. With the paranormal market being very crowded, I thought about what the staples were in the genre (generally, a paranormal creature for the hero, and often, a human or partially human female, or both hero and heroine as paranormal creatures), I took that and decided I wanted to turn it on its head. I wanted humans to be the heroes and the paranormal creatures to be the bad guys. From there, the Execution Underground was born. Fans of Dean and Sam Winchester from the T.V show Supernatural will enjoy the hunters of the Execution Underground.
How do you decide physical features, names, etc. for your characters?
For names, I usually just pick ones that I like, but sometimes I look up the meaning using baby books. For physical features, the characters usually come to me fully formed. I already know what they look before I name them. I know that probably doesn’t make much sense to readers, but characters really do just kind of show up in a writer’s life, demanding to be written. There’s something kind of magical about it, at least for me. I don’t feel so much like their creator, because they’re already so fleshed out when they arrive to my conscious. It’s probably my subconscious hard at work without me knowing. ;-)
Do you find yourself identifying with some of your characters? If so, which character?
Do you find yourself identifying with some of your characters? If so, which character?
That’s a hard question to answer. I have little in common with most of my characters, but obviously as the writer, I’m sure bits and pieces of me become a part of them without my even knowing it. If I had to pick one character I identify most with, it would probably be Jace McCannon from Twilight Hunter, the first full length book in the series. No, I’m not a heavily drinking chain-smoking werewolf hunter like Jace, though I can have a bit of a sailor’s mouth when I want to, like he does. What I identify with about Jace is, to be brutally honest, though fans and friends would never suspect it, I can be somewhat hot-tempered like he is, and he is also loyal to those he cares about to a fault. I’m very much that way in my own life. Loyalty is a trait I regard very highly.
Who is your favorite author? What book by that author is your favorite?
It’s so hard to choose just one. If I have to choose though, it would be JK Rowling. Not because I love everything she writes, but because the Harry Potter series is what made me fall in love with reading, specifically Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I can’t even count how many times I read that book over and over in my childhood. If I hadn’t fallen in love with reading, I wouldn’t be a writer, so I have a lot to thank J.K Rowling for.Who is your favorite author? What book by that author is your favorite?
Kait Ballenger is a full-time romance author, wife, a former professional bellydancer, and soon-to-be-professor. She is the multi-published author of the Execution Underground paranormal romance series about an international network of supernatural hunters who fight to protect humanity.
With a B.A in English from Stetson University (2011), Kait is graduate of Spalding University’s M.F.A in Writing for Children and Young Adults program (2013), where she studied dual-genre in screenwriting.
When Kait’s not preoccupied with paranormal creepy-crawlies, she can be found spending time with her family or with her nose buried in a book. She lives in Florida with her husband, their doggie-daughter Sookie (yes, like the heroine in Charlainne Harris’ books), and two mischievous cats Elliot and Olivia (yes, like the Law and Order characters), near the love and care of her supportive family. Kait believes anything is possible with hard work and dedication. One day, she will be a bestseller and have people name their pets after her characters too.
She is represented by Nicole Resciniti of The Seymour Agency.
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