Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelsey Clifton.
Kelsey, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My relationship with writing has always had a yoyo-like trajectory – no matter how far away I strayed, I always came back. I piddled around with it when I was a teenager, but I didn’t get serious until university when I realized that my Creative Writing elective course was the absolute highlight of my week. I started writing my first book when I was nineteen, and it sucked. Bad. But every consecutive project sucked a little bit less, so I kept at it. I had these stories burning me up inside – stories that I had to explore. So, for almost ten years, I wrote, and I wrote, and I wrote some more. I bounced around cities, jobs, and even countries, and finally ended up back in Houston with a fledgling editing business. By the summer of 2018, my work was drying up and I wasn’t in a great place, emotionally speaking. I was questioning everything, but especially my decision to leave a life in Florence for a “career” that wasn’t as satisfying as I had thought it would be.
Then, a friend and I began talking about self-publishing, and after going ’round and ’round about the pros and cons, he told me, “Dude, just do it.” And it seemed so simple when he put it like that. I’d been querying agents for around six years with little luck, but I had a polished manuscript that had very nearly been accepted for representation only a few months before. So, I did some research, and about a month later, I self-published my debut novel, A DAY OUT OF TIME, which was just recently accepted for a coveted review by Publishers Weekly!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road, but I’ve been very lucky. The thing that I still struggle with most is simply getting my books out there, because I’ve never been much of a marketing guru, and as an indie author I don’t have the same budget that a publishing house would.
My advice for other women (especially those just getting started) is to reach out to others as often as possible. An agent’s assistant believed in my first book enough to help me edit it; without her, A DAY OUT OF TIME wouldn’t be the same. To celebrate the release of my latest book, a local coffee shop where I frequently go to write is about to host their third event with me. When I announced my upcoming Publishers Weekly review in a Facebook writer’s group, the post got over eight hundred reactions – some of which led to other opportunities.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
My current specialty is fast-paced, quirky science fiction with a lot of action and just a touch of heartbreak. Both books in my DAY OUT OF TIME series lean heavily towards ridiculous situations and witty, sarcastic humor, which I always find fun to work with. In fact, the only thing that I enjoy more than making readers cry is making them laugh.
I think one thing that sets me apart from other writers is my commitment to research. Researching any book is always tricky, but there should be a particular tier set aside for time-travel science fiction. Since this series deals not only with the past and present but the future as well, you can imagine the number of different topics that I had to learn about. I spent so much time on research that I dedicated my second book, AFTER/EFFECTS, to the creators of Wikipedia.
I’m most proud of the characters that I’ve brought to life in these books. I want every character that walks across the page to feel vivid and real, even if they only have a few lines. That in itself has been a challenge because I’m a cisgendered white woman from the suburbs; out of all the varied and colorful lifestyles in the world, I’ve only had experience with mine. Writing compelling, well-rounded characters means listening to other stories and getting rid of the assumption that the way I would do something is always (or ever) the answer.
Do you feel like there was something about the experiences you had growing up that played an outsized role in setting you up for success later in life?
My parents always allowed and encouraged me to make my own choices, and that had a lot to do with the independence and satisfaction that I enjoy now. I never felt pressured to follow a certain path, and that freedom let me explore a few different ones before returning to what I loved best.
Pricing:
- Both ebooks are available from Amazon for $2.99 each
- Both paperbacks are available from Amazon for $14.99 each
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kelseyclifton.com
- Email: kclifton.lightningbug@outlook.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/kelsey_writes
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/kelseycliftonauthor
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/kelsey_writes_
- Other: https://sassypandacandy.tumblr.com
Image Credit:
Original artwork by Jesse Nieto
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