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Author Interview-Kathy Brandt, by KathyBrandt
Woodland Park, CO US

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Author Interview-Kathy Brandt

Q: What have you written?

A: Ive just published Walks on the Margins, A Story of Bipolar Illness, co-written with my son, Max Maddox. I also write the Hannah Sampson Underwater Investigation Series which was recently released as e-books. And Ive written a bunch of articles for various magazines about parenting, ocean ecology, sailing, and scuba diving. You can learn more about me and my books at :kathybrandtauthor.com

Q: What led you to write Walks on the Margins with your son?

A: After my son, Max, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when he was twenty and in college, I struggled to help him and keep my family functioning. Eventually I became active in advocacy for those with mental illness and became the President of the Board of the local affiliate of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness). As a writer, my advocacy inevitably involved writing about the issues. And I wanted to tell Maxs story so that people would understand the difficulties of having mental illness and that recovery is possible. But I wouldnt do it without Max. Though reliving the years of illness would be painful, Max agreed to write the book with me. The result is a memoir about our joint and separate struggles with bipolar disorder titled, Walks on the Margins: A Story of Bipolar Illness.
Writing the book brought us together in ways I never imagined and it helped us make sense of the years of chaos. We have succeeded in telling an honest though often painful story that ends with the understanding that mental illness is for life but that redemption and recovery are possible. We hope that others with mental illness and their families will find comfort in the book and will realize they arent as alone as they thought. We also hope that we have succeeded in breaking down the barriers of stigma and made human and understandable an illness that so many fear.

Q: Are you a planner (outline, etc.) or do work it out as you go?

A: When my son and I decided to write, Walks on the Margins, Id been keeping a journal of our struggles with mental illness for years so the material was at my fingertips. The challenge was to turn it into a memoir, know what to include, what to leave out, and to make the narrative come alive. We knew the material and how the book would proceed, so we didnt outline before drafting. However, we did outline the book afterwards to get a complete picture of what wed done. Then we did a lot of restructuring and rewriting, cutting material, and working on the story arc.
When I write my Hannah Sampson Underwater Investigation mysteries, I start by doing some general research and plotting. I simply cant outline my fiction because about a quarter of the way through, I dont know what happens next. Instead, I do time lines and character descriptions and diagrams of the story arc. Then I write the entire book. I find comfort in Anne Lamonts statement that everyone deserves the luxury of writing shitty first drafts. Mine definitely fit that category. But it happens that I love the rewriting process. My first draft is my chance to discover meaningwhat it is that I really want this book to be about. When I have a storya beginning, middle, and endI revise and revise. I move scenes, drop characters, cut, paste, add, subtract and then I toy with prose.

Q: Is there any part of writing you find difficult?

A: Writing is very hard and I often wonder if its good enough, if Im good enough. Sometimes I have to enlist every ounce of will power to avoid looking for something, anything, more satisfying. But I just keep going. I know better than to think that I can wait for inspiration. Ive spent many hours looking a blank computer screen, but I know if I get out of the chair, the book will never get done. It can be painful. The good days keep me going, the days I peck out a word that turns to a sentence that turns to a page, the times my characters take on lives of their own and decide events for me. I guess thats what people mean by inspiration but for me it cant happen unless Im actually writing. Some writers call it being in the zone.

Q: You published your mysteries with a big publishing house and you had an agent for Walks on the Margins, why did you decide to self-publish it?

A: I published the mysteries with Penguin. However, after talking with other writers and doing considerable research, my son and I set up Monkshood Press to publish our memoir, Walks on the Margins, both as an e-book and a trade paperback. As indie authors we will receive higher royalties65-70 percent for the e-book, a bit less for the trade paperback, while royalties from traditionally published books usually run around eight percent. Self-publishing also eliminates the middle people (publishers, agents) and gives the author full controlfrom book cover to pricing. Promotion falls to the author whether you are traditionally published or not unless you happen to be a Stephen King as publishers do very little marketing for your books. So to be successful, youll need to do your own marketing one way or the other. And if you self-publish, once the book is complete, it can be published in a matter of weeks as opposed to a year or more with a traditional house.
But self-publishing is not for everyone. First and foremost, youve got to make sure to hire a good editor who will give you feedback on everything from structure to word choice, who will do line editing, and finally careful proofing. Because my son is an artist, he was able to do all of the cover design. And both he and my husband are very savvy when it comes to the technicalities of formatting and getting the books up as e-books and ready to print. Otherwise, one may need to hire a cover designer as well as someone to format the interior and put the book online. Im extremely pleased with the way Walks on the Margins turned out and glad we decided to publish it ourselves.

Q: What advice would you give aspiring writers?

A: I would say you need to sit down and do it. The more you write, the better you become. People talk about waiting for the muse. That just doesnt happen for me, and I dont think it happens for many other writers either. Inspiration comes when you write and if it doesnt, well you have to write anyway. You need to start and finish. If you wait, it never happens. Sometimes you'll look at your work and think What junk," but that's okay. Dont be too hard on yourself. Just keep at it.

Description: An interview with author Kathy Brandt about her writing and her new book, Walks on the Margins: A Story of Bipolar Illness, co-written with her son, Max Maddox.

Photo Posted: Apr 10,2013 Photo Viewed: 377

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