Guest Post: Kelly Florentia

Guest Post by Women’s Fiction Writer Kelly Florentia

 

 

Hi Jennifer, thank you so much for having me on your blog today to talk about my new anthology, To Tell a Tale or Two, and my writing in general.

I’ve enjoyed writing ever since I can remember and used to write poetry when I was younger. I’ve still got them stuffed in a draw somewhere. But I think my love affair with writing fiction began when I sold my first story to Best magazine. The publication gave me a huge boost and turned me into a prolific short story writer almost overnight. My stories have now been published in women’s magazines worldwide and in charity anthologies.

People often ask me whether my characters are anything like me or people that I know, and if my stories are based on personal experience. I don’t write about my personal life, per se, but I sometimes write in scenes, especially humorous ones, that have actually happened. And I think most writers air some of their views via a character’s voice. That’s what makes a story breathe. I choose themes that I have an interest in, ones that have raised my curiosity, and I love doing the research to bring it all together. Some of it is done online but a lot of it is done by talking to people who’ve been through the experiences I’m writing about.

I create my characters by pinching features and attributes from several people. They’re hybrids, a concoction of people moulded into one. Once my heroine is born I follow her on her journey, always one step behind, as if I were her shadow and I tell her story. But a little bit of me always seeps through. It might be that we share the same star sign or sport, as with my protagonist Emma in my WIP novel. Or we might have a shared interest or taste. Audrey from my first novel Betrayal (not yet published) enjoys the same tipple as I do and also lives in North London. I find the story easier to tell if I’m familiar with the settings and locations but I love using my imagination for everything else. I’ve often heard it said that you should write what you know, but I think creating a world where anything and everything is possible is far more exciting!

Anyway, back to my current book. I’ve just released a collection of short stories in an anthology called To Tell a Tale or Two, which I affectionately call Tattoo. The book comprises ten very short stories about the highs and lows of love, relationships and family sagas. A couple of them have a ghostly theme, which may appeal to people who enjoy paranormal fiction. It’s an eBook and available to download onto your kindle or any device which supports the kindle app from Amazon. It’s been described as a quick read with clever twists and has received several good reviews. I put the cover together myself and I had a fabulous time creating a short trailer for it. Great fun!

Links:

You can download To Tell a Tale or Two - http://9nl.be/kbnw

Facebook – http://facebook.com/kelly.florentia  

Twitter - @kellyflorentia

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7915633.Kelly_Florentia?from_search=true

Website - http://www.kellyflorentia.co.uk 

YouTube Trailer - http://youtu.be/jfLU6lguRjE