An Interview with Kim Alexander

Kim Alexander grew up in the wilds of Long Island, NY, and slowly drifted south until she reached Key West. After spending ten rum-soaked years as a DJ in the Keys, she moved to Washington, D.C., where she lives with two cats, an angry fish, and her extremely patient husband. Please visit her at kimalexanderonline.com.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

In my previous life, I was a broadcaster. I started as a DJ, worked as a traffic reporter (went up in a helicopter a few times!) and finished as the producer of Sirius XM Book Radio. My whole job was reading and reviewing books, going to book fairs and comic cons, and interviewing authors. It was a dream gig (as you can imagine!) and when I left, I realized I’d been basically attending a master class with some of the world’s best and most successful writers. So that made the leap to writing myself a bit less daunting. (That’s a bit of a lie—it was very daunting!)

How did it feel when you first saw your book cover? Or when you first held your book in your hands?

My book, Pure, is on its third cover! The first was a simple rendition of a woman who looked a bit like my bartender heroine, Ruby. But I don’t like having realistic representation on the cover. I think it detracts from the reader’s mind’s eye. The second cover was gorgeous, but didn’t really read ‘fantasy’ so my incredibly talented artist, Aurelia Fray, redesigned it in lush reds and golds. She’s so good at pulling tiny details out of the books and incorporating them in the cover art. There are five books in the New World Magic series, and they each have a different color scheme, and they are all beautiful.

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

I hope my readers fall in love with my characters as much as I have. I want them to wonder about them—Where are they? What are they doing? What trouble are they getting into?—after they close the book. I love putting down a trail of breadcrumbs–things on the first page that pay off by the end, and I write for the person who delights in spotting things like that. That would be my perfect reader!

What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?

When I meet people at book fairs or events and they tell me they love my work. That literally never gets old, and you are never bothering an author when you say that! I love when people have opinions about my characters or quote me to myself. We writers work in little rooms by ourselves, and it’s incredibly gratifying to know our work is not only seen, but felt.

What new writing projects are you currently working on? Or, other projects that are not writing?

I’m actually getting back to my broadcast roots and doing the audiobooks for my entire catalogue! New World Magic on audio is available voiced by me and on sale on my website, and soon my other series, which is a four-book epic fantasy series called The Demon Door, will be available everywhere. (Soon. These are great big books and it is slow going—but I’ll get it done, promise!) After that, New World Magic Book Six, the final book in that series, gets written. It’s percolating right now, but I imagine Ruby, March, Marly, and Sasha will have an easy time of it with no heartbreak or trauma. (LOL JKJKJK)

Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.