Interview with Author Cynthia Kimball

 Cynthia Kimball

 Where the wind takes me, US

Good morning, Cynthia and welcome to Vision and Verse, the Place for Art and Authors.  Tell us, what have you written? 

My writing crosses several genres though my favorites are fantasy, romance, and life improvement. My current available works are:

·                     Your Dimension Or Mine? (Dating Service Series)

·                     L'Amore Perfetto (Dating Service Series)

·                    In Search of the Drasta (new adult fantasy)

·                    Green Cleaning: Save Your Money, Save Your Health, Save The Earth                          (recipes to clean your house using items already in your pantry)

What is your favorite genre to write? 

Fantasy. No, romance. No, Fantasy. No, romance. *sigh* I can't make up my mind. Let's combine them into fantasy romance. :D

Favorite food? 

Chicken spaghetti. I used to love spaghetti with meat sauce but found red meat didn't agree with me. I substituted chicken breast and yum!

Tea or coffee? 

Neither. I'm a water-aholic. Though when I'm really stressed I've been known to guzzle a Pepsi.

Pizza or ice cream? 

Hmmm. Hard choice but I would have to go with Pizza. Ooh, in fact make it a dessert pizza and put ice cream on it :D

Where would you like to visit? 

Europe. I want to see the Sistine Chapel and taste chocolates in Switzerland. Attend the Living Human Chess Festival in Marostica, Italy and climb Florence's Duomo. Go to England and take in everything Shakespeare I can. I'm a Shakespeare fanatic. If he was alive I'd be a Shakespeare Dead Head.

Favorite musical artist? 

Usually whomever I happen to be listening to at the moment. I listen more to audio books than I do music, even though I do have an extensive music collection from every music genre except rap.  Do you listen to music when you write? No, not at all. When I'm writing, music is a distraction. 

What makes you laugh?

I like to find humor in almost everything. The unexpected makes me laugh, but for a pure guffaw kind of laugh it takes me being very tired and then anything can set me off and I'll laugh for twenty-thirty minutes flat.

How old were you when you started writing? 

I was seven. I even have one of the first stories I wrote of a Martian (complete with stick-figure drawing.)

Describe your perfect evening. 

To me a perfect evening is curling up under a nice bright light, a fireplace crackling in the corner while I read a really good, can't put down, book. In the future, I hope that includes a wonderful man reading at my side.

Where do you get your inspiration?

It can be from anything. Usually just from some small phrase I hear. Most of my stories aren't even thought of ahead of time. They don't come out until my pen hits paper.

What do you do when you get a writer's block? 

One of the tricks I have is just to start writing and keep writing without stopping until it jogs my characters into action. Another is to switch to another work in progress, turn my mind away from the other work. Sometimes you just need to let characters and plot lines be until they behave. Or at least that’s what I tell myself. My characters are laughing like loons in my head right now.

Who is your favorite author? 

Probably depends on genre. My favorite of all time is Shakespeare, but I also like J.K. Rowling, C.S. Lewis, M.L. Ryan, and Douglas Adams.

Best book you ever read 

Oh, that's difficult. Just one? Ummmm. One of the first books I remember is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. But as far as 'best book', I am taking that as a book that lit something within me that has stuck around and that would be Macbeth by Shakespeare. It still captures my attention every time I re-read it.

Who is the one person who has influenced your personal life the most and why? Me. Don't laugh. Wait. No, laugh away – laughter is good for you. I have made major changes in my life for the better and it was all through personal choice. I think I'm doing pretty good at the moment. :)

If you could sit down and have a conversation with ONE person, living or dead, real or fictional, who would it be and why? 

I used to have a quick answer to this as I had a question I wanted answered. And then I kept researching and found out the answer. After that? I haven't wanted to chat with anyone from the real past. Fictional, though…I really have no idea. 

What advice would you give someone who aspired to be a writer? 

Write. Keep writing. With every story, every book, your writing will improve. Take writing classes. Don't be afraid to put your writing out there for others to read. Never wait until your book is perfect to submit it, because it will never be perfect to you the author. No matter how many edits you do, you will always find something to tweak, change, or update. And most of all? Believe in yourself.

Do you have any links for us to follow you?

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/cynthiakimball

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCynthiaKimball

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/cynthia_kimball

Author Blog: http://www.cynthiakimball.com/

Life Improvement Blog: http://www.thisthoughtcounts.com/