Author Interview: Iain Reading- Author of Kitty Hawk series

Hey Everyone! Today I’m happy to share with you interview with Iain Reading author of Kitty Hawk series and fantasy and middle grade books. Know more about author and books by him through this interview.

Read my review of Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold here ⇒⇒ Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold (Kitty Hawk Flying Detective Agency #1) by Iain Reading.

Iain Reading is passionate about Root Beer, music, and writing. He is Canadian, but currently resides in the Netherlands working for the United Nations.

Iain is the author of the Kitty Hawk Flying Detective Agency Series, The Wizards of Waterfire Series, and the dragon of the month club. To learn more, go to http://www.amazon.com/Iain-Reading/e/B00B0NGI6Q/

Q. When and why did you begin writing?

I started writing a few years ago, just before the first Kitty Hawk book came out.  I had this idea for those books, of a teenage female pilot named Kitty Hawk, and I just loved this idea so much that I had to write the books to find out what would happen.

Q. How did you come up with the idea for your book?

The ideas for the books generally just follow a logical order of “what if” Kitty Hawk was flying around the world, where would she go?  She lives on Vancouver Island, so going to Alaska made sense.  And while there of course the gold rush is a big thing, so then she ended up in the Yukon.  And so on….  (no spoilers)

Q. What sort of research did you do to write this book?

I had to do a lot of historical research for the book, obviously on the gold rush and on other aspects of Alaskan and Yukon history.  But the best kind of research is the kind where you get on a plane and visit the places that will appear in the book, and you try to do some of the things that Kitty Hawk herself will end up doing.  I love that and I am so grateful that I am able to do that kind of thing.

Q. What have you written? (Books, novellas, short stories, poems, blogs, awards or anything of interest.)

At this point I’ve basically only written books: five Kitty Hawk books so far plus one urban magic/fantasy book (The Wizards of Waterfire) plus a cool book for middle grade called The Dragon Of The Month Club, plus a couple other unpublished books.  No awards though.  Maybe later???

Q. Where can readers buy or see them? (Include relevant link(s)

Amazon.com is always the easiest place to find any of the books.  Check out my author page on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Iain-Reading/e/B00B0NGI6Q/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1505474519&sr=8-1

Q. What genre are your books? What draws you to that particular genre?

I think the one common aspect of all the books is the adventure genre.  Whether it’s magical or historical or whatever, there is always an element of adventure.  And I guess what draws me to that is my own sense of adventure.  Life is for adventure, right?

Q. Out of all the books you’ve written, do you have a favorite?

I have so many favourites!  Okay.  But I will pick two, okay?  That would be the first book of The Dragon Of The Month Club and the fourth book of the Kitty Hawk series: Kitty Hawk and the Tragedy of the RMS Titanic. 

Q. Who are some authors in your genre that inspire you?

Strangely enough, I am not sure whether I have ever read any books in my genre.  I read a lot of history and science books.  Maybe I SHOULD read some books in my own area????

Q. What types of books do you enjoy in your downtime?

Downtime?!??  Who has time for downtime?!???  Seriously though, I am all over the place chaotically busy the past couple of years that I am not sure I’ve had any downtime for a while.

Q. What was your favorite chapter (or part) of writing this book and why?

There are a lot of bits in the last half of the book that I really enjoyed writing: like when Kitty Hawk first figures the whole thing out, or when she reaches the summit of the Chilkoot, and when she flies over the Chilkoot later on, and on and on….  but there was actually a chapter EARLY in the book that I really liked, and that was when she was younger and built Angkor Wat in sand on the beach.  That chapter is very likely going to be cut sometime very soon when the second (shorter) edition of the book comes out, so I guess I should enjoy it while I can.

Q. What was the hardest part of writing the book? Was there anything that you deleted or altered?

I think the hardest part was just trying to figure out how to write a book in the first place.  It took some time to do that…  in fact, I could probably argue that it took the entire book to figure that out…  but once it clicked into place it was like “oh! I get it now!”

Q. What is the main thing you want readers to take away from your book?

I think the main thing would be for the reader to feel like they’ve visited a new place.  The places that Kitty Hawk visits are as much a character in the book as she is, and it would be great for readers to feel like they’d seen and experienced those places too.

Q. If you could spend one day with character from your book/ any other book who would it be? And what would you do during that day?

That’s easy: Kitty Hawk!  She could fly around with me all day and show me how her plane works!  I’d love to see that plane for real.

Q. Do you put yourself in your books/characters at all?

I think it’s difficult not to have some part of yourself in your books.  Somehow it just seeps in there without you realising it.

Q. Do you read book reviews? How do you deal with good or bad ones?

I definitely always read book reviews (when they get sent to me, anyway).  The good ones are always amazing and awesome to read.  And the bad ones are sometimes only “bad” because the reviewer didn’t like or agree with certain aspects of the book.  In those cases it’s quite often that I can understand or even agree with what they are saying, so that makes a bad review into a learning experience.  Really truly bad reviews are also okay as well because not everyone likes the same things.  The books I write will be loved by some, hated by others, and there’s nothing I can do about that, right?

Q. What are your future project(s)? What’s it about? (*if relevant)

Right now the second Dragon Of The Month Club book is halfway finished, as is the sixth Kitty Hawk book.  There are a lot of people waiting for the dragon one, I have to admit.  They keep coming to see me at comicons and asking if I’ve finished it yet (and I have to sadly say no).

Q. What is your favorite motivational phrase?

This one is engraved on the inside of my jacket:  Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid.

Q. Currently reading

A history of Icelandic magic, if you can believe that.

Q. Favorite foods / Colors/ Music/ TV show/ Film

Favourite Food: Perogies

Favourite Colour: Purple (Dragon of the Month Club Purple)

Favourite Music: Currently the song Wonders by The Script

Favourite Television Show: Lost

Favourite Movie: It must be Moneyball because for some reason I can watch that over and over and over.

Q. Describe yourself in 5 words.

I can actually do it in THREE words!

I am me!

Q. What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Write the book you’re capable of writing.  Don’t try to write the next Harry Potter or Game Of Thrones or whatever. 

Q. Whom you will recommend your book?

My books are for anyone who craves adventure and knowledge and to be transported somewhere else for a while.

Q. Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Yes.  Definitely.  And it is this….  I promise to finish the second Dragon Of The Month Club!

How can readers discover more about you and you work?

Website:  www.kittyhawkworld.com and www.dragonofthemonthclub.com

Twitter: @kittyhawkworld

Many thanks author for taking the time out of busy schedule to take part in this interview and Kelsey Butts @BOOK PUBLICITY SERVICES for arranging the interview. 

I liked many things author said in this interview. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did.

Happy Reading! 🙂