An Interview with Angela Kern
Angela Kern has been writing, fact-checking, and editing for over two decades. Currently, she contracts with other indie authors to provide book coaching as well as developmental and copy/line editing services.
As a freelance writer, Angela has produced multiple articles and original stories. She is credited as editor in more than a dozen published titles. Pixies & Promises is the second novel in the Antigone D’Angelo series.
Angela considers herself a pop-culture nerd and constantly makes bad puns. For fun, she hikes, kayaks, paints, and reads, mostly in the Pacific Northwest, where she lives with her cat, Tang.
What inspired you to start writing this book?
Pixies & Promises is the second book in the Antigone D’Angelo urban fantasy series. Believe it or not, the first book, Cecaelians & Secrets, was inspired by a dream I had about a young woman petitioning a (spoiler redacted) for a cure for her chronic illness. I woke up and dictated as much as I could remember into my phone and started writing it later that day.
Tell us the story of your book’s current title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?
It took forever!!! I went through about a dozen different titles and even tried one of those title generators. I finally landed on Pixies & Promises halfway through writing, when I realized how important the pixie character was becoming.
Describe your dream book cover.
My cover designer, Tatiana Vila, has given me my dream covers. I couldn’t ask for anything more. I get so many compliments on them.
If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?
Ha! What a great question. My main character, Antigone, often has music playing. She enjoys a wide variety of genres, but currently she’s into Lizzo, Chapel Roan, and Hozier, to name a few.
What books are you reading (for research or comfort) as you continue the writing process?
I’m generally reading whatever my character is reading. A few of my favorite authors are Charlain Harris, T Kingfisher, AB Herron, Stephen King, Alice Hoffman, and Ned Hickson, among others.
What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?
I worked in fast food, at gas stations, and in retail before landing a job as a fact-checker, which ultimately led me to editing. I’ve also worked as a project manager, an office administrator, and a traffic flagger.
Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?
I’ve wanted to be a writer since I learned to read. I think Madeleine L’Engle was a major inspiration, as was Roald Dahl.
Where is your favorite place to write?
On my phone in my hammock.
What advice would you give your past self at the start of your writing journey?
Just get the story down on paper. Worry about grammar and flow and all those details later. One helpful piece of advice I was given was, when stuck for a word or name or even a whole scene, just write ‘TK’ and move on. Then you can come back later and revise that section. Why TK? Because those letters are almost never next to each other in English, making them easy to search for.
What’s one thing you hope sticks with readers after they finish your book?
I don’t honestly know how to answer that. I expect everyone will come away with something different, and that’s fine. I just hope it brings them some enjoyment.
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