Where are you from?
Oh that’s a tricky one! My father
was in the US Army when I was born in Wurzburg Germany. By the time he retired
when I was thirteen we’d live in three countries and five states in the US.
Since 1987 I have lived in
Redmond, Washington. I moved here when I took a job at Microsoft. (At the time
there were only 2000 employees worldwide and I was the third software tester,
testing ALL the international versions.)
When did you start writing?
Mrs. Copeland’s class, 5th
grade, 1975! How’s that for knowing the exact moment? We were studying creative
writing and I fell head over heels in love with writing. I’m still quite proud
of the fact that my classmates would vote to have my weekly installments of my
book, GaLinda in Space, read aloud!
What was the first book you
wrote, and what did you learn from that experience?
I attended the University of
Washington and studied Landscape Architecture. I had to write a paper for a
Paleobotany class. I chose the Ginkgo biloba. It is a beautiful tree and has
been in existence since pre-Jurassic (200+million years ago) – before the
dinosaurs!! Not a book you say?? Well, it was a couple hundred pages and was
bound and is held in collections at UW!
What did I learn from that
experience? How to do research and that I love research. It allows the writer
to truly understand the physical and emotional qualities of a space and with it
comes the ability to transport the reader.
What are you working on now?
I am currently working on
Kathleen’s Undressed, Book 2, The Accidental Enigma (working title).
We meet Kathleen in Charlotte’s
Restrained, she is one of Charlotte’s friends from graduate school in Oxford
England. I realized after published Charlotte’s Restrained that Kathleen was a
very aloof character and I wondered why. This gave me all kinds of ideas on how
to bring the gang back together, but around Kathleen’s life, which really is a
mystery to them.
Kathleen’s Undressed takes place
in Paris, and we join her story as Fall Fashion Week begins. The first part of
the book is all about location, fashion, food, and being French! We travel to
Rome, England, Denmark and Seattle (I thought it would be fun to add in my
stomping grounds).
Can you share a bit of your
current work with us?
From Kathleen’s Undressed
Having barely sat down, a waiter stopped by with a coffee
for Kathleen and then disappeared. Relaxing back into her chair, she twiddled
with a loose strand of hair, hoping to emit a relaxed aura. She could tell no
one was buying it when Yvette leaned forward, her arms folded across each other
and asked, “Well Cherie, why are we here? Have you met your Prince?”
The waiter intervened again, handing out menus, and then
quickly left. “Not to be a complete pain in the ass, but what is it that you
like about this place? The ambiance is great, the service is mediocre and the
food is barely tolerable.” Kathleen spoke quietly in English, from behind her
menu.
“We come here because all the tourists come here, and it is
amusing to watch them. They are the ones that lack imagination, not us. A
guidebook tells them to come, so they do.” Yvette answered with a smile yet
retaliated by blowing a cloud of smoke in Kathleen’s face.
Coughing and sputtering, Kathleen replied, “Says the woman
who wants to go to Florida! Alright, speaking of where to go, after I left you
last night, I decided to walk along the canal, and I ran into Keanu, the man
from the restaurant. The one I let get away since I am cold blooded. He wasn’t
as put off as you were because I have a date! We are meeting for coffee
tomorrow morning. Put that in your pipe and smoke it!” Leaning forward she
punctuated the big reveal with a poke of her finger into the stream of smoke
that floated heavenwards from the ashtray.
“I thought you were a lesbian! Mon Dieu, those ridiculous
tourists are trying to order pancakes. What is this about a pipe?” Yvette
stated.
“What, a lesbian? Why would you think that?” Kathleen
sputtered. “Pancakes, really?” She looked over her shoulder trying to decide
whether or not to help.
Mid thought Yvette answered, “Well, you insist on doing all
this carpentry work yourself. You never date. So, I just assumed you weren’t
ready to tell us. I really thought it was a princess you were after.” Anais’s
head bobbed up and down while Yvette spoke.
Any advice for aspiring authors?
I learned the hard way that
having a strong presence on social media before I had a book ready was
important. I think this is important whether you choose to be an Indie Author
or go with a publisher. When your well-crafted, edited, proofread, beta-read
manuscript is finally ready to roll out the door, you need to have a support
system in place. I’ve spent a great deal of time over the last year meeting
wonderful authors, readers, bloggers, editors, and finally feel like I have
resources that I can reach out to without hesitation! Definitely do that first,
or at least during.
Anything you want to say to your
readers?
I have yet to meet an author,
whether they’ve sold millions or a handful or books, who doesn’t feel absolute
joy at the knowledge that someone has read their work and enjoyed it. It’s an
absolute thrill to know that you have transported and entertained someone.
Honestly, I’d hug every one of
them and probably cry if we ever laid eyes on each other, it means that much. In
case readers wonder, authors are very approachable.
What are you working on next?
I have three novellas and two
novels already started. A handful of years ago I began a book called Moonbow,
set in Kentucky, and I really want to get back to it. (Incidentally, I put it
on the back burner when I decided to begin working on my social media presence
and participating in read/review groups – that’s how important it is to make
contacts!)
While Charlotte’s Restrained and
Kathleen’s Undressed (two of the four books in The Accidental Series) are
comedies with a little romance thrown in, Venus Rising and Moonbow are more
serious in nature – books about self-discovery and moving on with life.
One of the beautiful things about
being an Indie Author is that you can write across many genres.
Is there anything else that the
world should know about Celia Kennedy?
Tons! But is any of it
interesting? My mother tells me I live under a lucky star, and she’s probably
right. I’ve stumbled my way into jobs that others would give their first born
for. I’ve travelled extensively (multiple trips for multiple months) on absolutely
no money and survived. I met my husband via my fiancé and married him three
months after we started dating. We’ve been married 19 years. I never thought
I’d have children and now I have two of the coolest people on the planet call
me mom.
Oh, I inherited my British
mother’s sense of humor and timing, so I’m a bit cruel!
Not all things have been easy or
perfect though, and if you want to find out about that,
you should read my blog, www.WomanReinventsSelf.blogspot.com.
If you could live anywhere in the
world, where would that be?
Barcelona, Spain! Frightening how
quickly that answer came to me. Any major metropolitan city that has a beach
when people strip down at lunchtime for a dip in the sea and a siesta is
alright by me.
As a student studying abroad, at
the age of 29, I spent a few weeks in Barcelona, hot on the trail of Gaudi
(architect), Picasso, Dali, Hemmingway… At the end of hot and dusty days I
would head to the Ramblas and have a beer the size of my head, and absorb the
energy. City, beach, tapas and beer, the perfect combo!
If you could choose a super
power, what would that be?
My favorite super hero is Aqua Man,
my son assures me that Aqua Man is super lame, but I love him. He can swim
really well, breath underwater, talk to marine animals, and his hair always
looks great! In the late 1970’s there was a TV show called, Man From Atlantis,
starring Patrick Duffy – basically Aqua Man!! I have loved Patrick Duffy since
(and recently learned he lived in Seattle.
But the question is, what super
power would I have? I want to be funny when I answer, but honestly, if I can
have one, it would be to save children from suffering neglect, abuse, or
illness. I have a long history with these issues, so, my answer can’t be light.
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