Introduction
Karen McCompostine has lived an eclectic life! her most recent novel, The Handwarmers of Immortality is her SPFBOX entry and if her bold personality is anything to go by, it promises to be a wild ride. You can find more info on her previous books at her website, at https://www.karenmccompostine.com
Interview
DB:
Hello, Karen, its nice to virtually meet you, let’s start this wild party, could
you please introduce yourself and tell us about your SPFBOX entrant?
Karen:
Hello! Thank you for inviting me to your blog. I have only been on my blog before,
which is a bit like this advice for single people to take themselves out to
dinner. Before I begin, I must say that I can only introduce myself to a point,
as I live my life in cognito, which is due to misunderstandings, none of which
I am guilty of. Nevertheless, I was young and naive when I thought the bags of
white powder on my boyfriend’s many yachts were flour and powdered sugar in
case many of his friends would descend upon and demand pancakes (you must admit
that is sensible) and now I live in fear of the Colombian Maffia and/or police.So, I write under the ‘pseudonym’ Karen McCompostine, which is a nom-de-plum in
French for a pen name. I also can’t use my real face for promotion purposes
(and so I had to say no to Graham Norton) for the obvious facts, even though my
designer Paolo’s boyfriend Andreas, tells me I have “aged well for a boomer.”
(There has been a true boom on my literary works on June 1, actually, and I got
concerned, but I digress.)My author photo has been made using AI by my designer Paolo, because he told me to use ‘stock’ and I said I was not a factory, and then he made me all wrinkly. In fact, I am not all that wrinkly, but as he said, it adds to my safety from the
Colombian Maffia and/or the police.
Oh. Excuse me. Paolo just read this and told me you were asking about my book. I am the author of The Handwarmers of Immortality, A Grim Dark Epic Fantasy Romantic Historical Novel which is an entrant in the 10th Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off competition (SPFBOX where X stands for I actually don’t know what, but I am only participating, not organising).
And, for clarification, neither my book, nor its cover, have been in any way ‘aided’ by the AI. My Art, and Paolo’s (except for my face) are real.
DB:
It sounds like your life has been a wild ride already and I can only hope your
experiences find their way into your books. Can you sum up the plot of your
SPFBOX entry in as few words as possible?
Karen:
I do not want to give away any spoilers, but in The Handwarmers of Immortality
you will find a time-travelling fantasy tale, set in the 16th Century, the 20th
Century and some other Centuries. It features an epic struggle between good
(yay!) and evil (boo!), a generous dash of tasteful romance and a man with
ginger eyebrows. It is also not at all inspired by any specific movie from the
1980s of the 20th century, which I would like to underline, because I don’t
want to get sued.
DB:
I think we can all piece together the movie in question and I can already sense
reader’s eyebrows raising as you speak (ginger or not!). Is this your first
book? Tell us a little about your writing career so far.
Karen:
I have been writing for some years, first honing my craft (or oeuvre, if you will (and
you will)) with my homage to shifter romance – The Edible Highlander Saga.
This was first released as three novels between 2019-2023 and has since been
excitingly repackaged as an Omnibus (‘omnibus’ means a ‘collection’ for those less versed in
literary terms). And then, recently, it has been re-repackaged as The Edible
Highlander Saga: Novel in Three Parts (Third is Best) at the demand of my
publisher Jeffo from the website Amazoo.Here is one of my reviews to give you a taste:
“McCompostine is a rare diamond in the
rough of a writer. Like if a Dino turd fossilized and eventually became a
crystal that was displayed in the Smithsonian Institute for bored
eight-year-olds to roll their eyes at.”
As you can imagine, I was thrilled with such a comparison to the fossilised greats!
(Although I thought it was Smithsonian Museum.)
DB:
I can only dream of the acclaim of being compared to fossilised dinosaur turds!
In fact, the idea itself leads my distracted brain to wander more than I would
like so I will try to re-focus. What led you to your genre, or do you write in multiple genres?
Karen:
When I began my soon-to-be-award-winning (very soon, I hope, I left space on my website)
literally career, my oeuvre was very firmly rooted in the popular genre of
romance and Scotland. Because love is real, and so are Scotsmen. I admit that I
am drawn towards my wildest erotic nature sometimes, and in fact some reviewers
described my scenes of interpersonal nature as ‘execrable’, which I think is a
typo for ‘excellent’ – some people are simply not good at spelling.The Handwarmers of Immortality is a fusion of genres, thus developing my oeuvre. It still
contains my trademark romantic sticky fingerprints but (in order to qualify for
SPFBOX) it is firmly rooted in fantasy and epic grim darkness as well. It has
crossover appeal, which gives it every chance to cross over from one audience
to another, much larger one, hopefully.(Paolo says I should mention that my scenes of intimate nature are in the best of
taste, because I’ve been raised by nuns, which is true, and that is how you
create an atheist who doesn’t swear even while writing kilt-free close-ups.)
DB:
I admire your confidence in your work. Writing can often generate over-critical
tendencies but I see no trace of this with you and that is refreshing! Talk to
me about what or who inspired you to start writing and why.
Karen:
I am married (yes, my dear fans, this is true and, thus, I am ‘off the market’ but
not like a cheese) to my husband Gunther, who is an ex-fitness instructor,
having progressed from dumbbells to dumb Prongles. If you ever meet Gunther,
whilst I owe him my life (this is something you will read about in my
forthcoming exciting memoir), you will see that the urge for creative escapism
is something which came both naturally and also essentially, so I don’t bury an egg whisk in his thick skull. (I am saying this lovingly.)
DB:
This description of creativity being both natural and essential does really
resonate with me. Do you have a favourite character to write?
Karen:
This is such a difficult and cruel question, DB! How can I choose a favourite character from the many metaphorically spawned from my fecund creative loins?Annabelle Elle Ellendeling and her love for Haggis MacBrawn in The Edible Highlander Saga was the cornerstone of my U-bend of creativity and that pair of star-crossed unfaithful (yes, this is true, because I also write searing social commentary and do not shy away from the truth of things) lovers will always
have a special place in my heart.However, the warm and completely unromantic relationship between my heroin Connie and her mentor, Shir Shawn Chonnery in The Handwarmers of Immortality, warmed my heart in a completely different way. I enjoyed writing those two
immensely, and I only say ‘immensely’ when I mean immensely, dear DB.
DB:
I do love a fictional relationship that goes beyond traditional romance and
into realms deeper and more nuanced. Also, I personally like books that aren’t afraid to go dark. Is darkness something that you explore in your writing or do you have a sunnier outlook than me?
Karen:
I have read multiple grim dark novels (sometimes with my eyes closed), which is how I found out about epilogues and prologues, and the realities of wars and battles. And men with
ginger eyebrows who suddenly discover that just because you (not you personally) have survived having been stabbed through the heart with a sword, that means you must die as a witch. You must admit that is quite dark. I had to hug Lassie (my dog who looks like Lassie from the movie Lassie) a lot after certain scenes entered my mind. As inspired as I was artistically, I dug through my knowledge of human nature acquired while escaping from the Colombian Maffia, the police, and while reading the oeuvres of Ms. Kerstin Espinosa Rosero and Mr. Clayton Snyder, none of whom are me in disguise.The trials and tribulations of my life have not clouded my sunny disposition, but sometimes we ride the storm, if you know what I mean, and when you’re forced to do that without a horse, while wearing nothing but your kilt (and your Scottish claymore), and walking through the land you have just been exiled by (this part is my #livedexperience if yachts count as land) you might even cry for blood. Especially when Gunther interrupts you in the middle of a creative wave to ask if we have any more Aldi Strong beer left.
DB:
I’m glad you cleared up the uncomfortable notion that you were, in fact,
Clayton Snyder hiding behind keyboard anonymity! I am also pleased your sunny
disposition is intact despite recent forays into grimdark. Do you, like many
authors, pour aspects of yourself into your characters or are they 100%
homegrown fiction?
Karen:
I must be careful, due to my life in cognito, not to put TOO MUCH of myself into my writing. I keep it literary, rather than literally (this is a ‘pun’). But yes, my life experience
and my yearning for romance (Gareth, if you’re reading this, and you’ve lost my
phone number, please contact me through the contact form on my website) does
touch (lightly) upon my fiction.
DB:
I cannot begin to imagine the marketing challenges presented to you as an
incognito author, but I am encouraged to see you take these challenges head on.
Can I ask what excites you the most about story-telling? Is it world building?
Character development? Relationships? What fires you up the most at the
keyboard?
Karen:
For me, dear DB, stories are all about relationships, such as whether the sexy Scottish billionaire can win the heart (and other important parts) of a virginal waitress, or whether
Connie can find true love despite [redacted spoiler] while living through [this is also a spoiler].
DB:
That is interesting. I guess it’s difficult for characters to shine without the
reflection in the eyes of relations. When it comes to plot, are you an outliner or are you flying by the seat of your pants?
Karen:
I am always fully clad when I write, but I make no judgements about other authors, especially in the age of Zoom, where pants are optional. Everyone’s creative process is their creative process.
DB:
Many authors shy away from self-praise, I get a sneaky feeling that you will
have no problem with this question. What elements do you feel you deliver well
in your books?
Karen:
Having completed my online creative writing course and obtained my diploma I think the part I excel in is the words. Without words, you don’t really have a book – or you do, but
it’s a notebook and, with a cruel twist of ironic fate, you can sell those for far more than a novel. The second thing I am best at are metaphors or similes. I can never remember which
is which, but I am equally good at both. Not to ring my own doorbell!
DB:
Ok, on to reading, do you read a lot of fantasy? Do you read for research only
or is reading part of your heart and soul?
Karen:
I must confess that having read grim dark epic fantasy oeuvres for the needs of my research on The Handwarmers of Immortality might have made me more of a romance girl again. Nevertheless, I had to write The Handwarmers of Immortality despite its inherent darkness because of the stirring, unpredictable passions of my boundless artistic muse.
And also so that I could enter SPFBOX which is for fantasy boox. (I think I just figured out the X!) I read many fantasy books, but they are a different sort of fantasy that mostly involves muscular, ominous men, and seemingly weak, yet strong feminine protagonists. Come to think of it, that’s actually the same thing.
DB:
Tell me about the last book that truly had you hooked.
Living a life in cognito is hard, so I decided it was time to take on a new hobby and impress my friends Myrna and Ethel with my cookery skills. Who better to learn from, but the doyen of 1970s adventurous cookery – Dahlia Smythe? Her seminal bestseller, How to Fake Being Able to Cook, allowed me to spend many happy hours in the blazing kitchen as I waited for the fire brigade to arrive with their long hoses, pumped and primed and ready to
douse me down! (And then I woke up, because I fell asleep mid-page two of the prologue to a grim dark novel, and this is why in my dreams there were flames and fires and me being forced to cook, yet the fire brigade never arrived as I turned into ashes seasoned with the Aldi Organic Spice Mix.)
DB:
Not for the first time during this interview, that is not the answer I
expected! As a reader, which authors do you think have pushed the boundaries of
your genre?
Karen: I would have to go with the romantic writer Elle James of the 50 Shades of Prey, who proved that success and grammar are unrelated, and inspired me to avoid writing what I
know, even if some of my lived experience seeps through the metaphorical pores of my keyboard.
DB:
I’m a big advocate for writing what you know and feel as opposed to
constraining creativity with too many boundaries. Some authors thrive on detail
and research-based fact checking but that’s not me. What comes next for Karen
McCompostine?
Karen:
I have to see Andreas, who is vegan, for dinner, which is as grim and dark as dinners go, because the last time was very awkward. Once I have recovered, I will work on one of the
projects germinating inside my mind:
My Two (Not Gay) Biker Gang Boyfriends (a romantic Motorcycle Club novel with a twist – two words – ‘magical kootchie’)
The Sword of Swords (book one of the series The Swords of Swords) (romantasy, which I found out is very popular and while in cognito, I must admit that I have dreams of being popular.
Something else (this is not a title but a mere indication that I may write something else)
DB:
Sounds like you have a lot of work ahead but I’m sure you will apply your
talents to achieving those goals! Finally, please tell us why a reader should
pick up ‘The Handwarmers of Immortality’ your SPFBOX entry?
Karen:
If you enjoy A Grim Dark Epic Fantasy Romantic Historical Novel which, whilst containing searing (as in, really hot (but not in a sexual way (although there is that too!))) social
commentary, bloody battles in the field and horizontal (mostly) battles in
furniture of mostly flat variety, and also seeks to entertain and make the
reader laugh (in a good way, rather than nervously to hide their excruciating
social embarrassment) then The Handwarmers of Immortality is exactly
what you need! Thank you for your excellent questions, DB. As discussed, I shall waive my usual (in cognito) appearance fee on this occasion, since I have enjoyed talking to you so much in a non-verbal way. It was a pleasure to speak with you, and I have researched
pleasures more deeply and thoroughly than even epilogues and prologues!
DB:
And I thank you for your colorful and multi-faceted responses! I look forward
to bumping into you in the coming weeks or months around the SPFBO proving
grounds.
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