Timeless,
an anthology of young adult love stories, is now available as an ebook.
The story “Stella’s Hero” that I co-wrote with Ansha Kotyk is included in this wonderful anthology of great love stories.
Today, I have the extreme
pleasure of interviewing Kip Wilson, author of “And the Nightingale Sings,” the
second short story in Timeless: An Anthology of Young Adult Romance from Pugalicious Press. Kip and I first
met through the Verla Kay Blue Boards, and then realized we live in the same
state. We’ve met at Meet Ups and Conferences, and I’m so proud to call Kip one
of my writer buddies. It makes me even more excited to be a part of Timeless
with her, and to share her story with my readers.
Kip’s wonderful story is based on a
medieval poem. For the second part of this profile, Ansha Kotyk (my writing
partner for Stella’s Hero) asked Kip about how the poem inspired her story.
Comment on this post and tell
us why you love YA romance to have a chance to win an electronic version of
Timeless. (Tell us if you prefer, Kindle, Nook, or a .pdf version.)
Without further ado...
Kris: You’ve recently published
your first YA short story in the Pugalicious Press Anthology Timeless. What
made you decide to submit your story to PP?
Kip: Yes—I’m so excited about the
anthology! I saw the call for submissions on twitter and knew immediately that
I wanted to write a story for the anthology because it combined three of my
favorite things to write: YA, historical fiction, and romance.
(Kris: you can follow Kip at
@kiperoo!)
Kris: What made you
start to write seriously?
Kip: When I finished my
doctoral dissertation after working on it for two years, I didn’t quite know
what to do with my “free time.” The first thing I wrote was a musical with a
musician/director in Austria—where the play was produced—and then I began to
write fiction and non-fiction for kids.
Kris: A musical with a
director in Austria? That is so cool and deserves a follow up question! Can you
tell us more about how that worked? Where you met and how/when it was produced?
Kip: The musical was a lot of fun. It was called A Midsummer Nightclub and
was basically a modern twist on A Midsummer Night's Dream (in a
nightclub instead of a forest, and the magic was delivered in the form
of a drugged drink). My partner was the high school music teacher at the
same school in Austria where I taught English on a Fulbright, and the
production was put on for and by young adults, with the actors and stage
designers a combination of high school and college students. We did all
original music for the show as well (I did the lyrics). Working on this
right after my dissertation definitely got my creative juices flowing!
Kris: It sounds amazing! What about now? Do you have a current
work-in-progress? Can you tell us about it?
Kip: I have a few
works-in-progress! I’m currently querying a WWI-era historical for young adults
about the ballerina who inspired Rainer Maria Rilke to write his Sonnets to
Orpheus. My in-progress drafts include an Icelandic Sci-Fi adventure and a
thriller set in modern-day Germany. Both of these are for young adults as well.
Kris: Those sound
amazing, Kip. Where do you find your inspiration?
Kip: For most of my
work, I have to admit that I’m inspired by the great works of German Literature
I studied for my Ph.D. My story for the Timeless anthology has its roots in
German poetry as well, since it was based on a poem by the medieval troubadour
Walther von der Vogelweide. See my interview on Ansha Kotyk’s blog for more
details about the poem!
Kris: Are you a
full-time writer? What is your non-writing life like?
Kip: Right now I juggle
writing with raising my small twins, and it works really well. I used to work
crazy hours as a project manager in the software industry, so I feel lucky to
have the freedom to be able to divide my time this way instead of just
collapsing at the end of the day.
Kris: I think many of us
can relate to juggling our writing with our families. Besides being a fantastic
juggler, what is your biggest challenge with your writing?
Kip: Patience. I depend
a lot on my wonderful critique partners to catch things that aren’t working in
what I write, but I’ve also come to realize that I need to set my manuscripts
aside for as long as humanly possible to be able to come back to them with
fresh eyes and make them shine. I am not a patient person, so this isn’t a lot
of fun. A trick I discovered recently is to work on more than one manuscript at
a time so I always have something that needs my attention.
Kris: Ah yes, the art of
patience. We all have to learn to do that—great advice to use your waiting time
by working on other things! What are your favorite books?
Kip: My favorite
all-time YA books are The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, How I Live Now by Meg
Rosoff, and The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson. Favorite recent reads are Imaginary Girls by
Nova Ren Suma and The Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. I definitely
have fairly literary taste, so for fans of literary YA, these are all great
books to read.
Kris: Nice book
recommendations! I admit I haven’t read any of those, but they just went on my
TBR pile. Lastly, just for fun, do you have a favorite “guilty pleasure” you want
to share?
Kip: Most of my
pleasures aren’t that guilty! I love reading, traveling, and eating foodgasmic
meals. I guess the only thing I love that’s a little naughty is a good beer.
I’ve dabbled as a homebrewer and really appreciate a good stout or IPA.
Kris. My new favorite
word is foodgasmic. J What did I miss?
Anything else you’d like to share?
Kip: I hope everyone loves the
anthology!
Thank you so much, Kip,
for answering my questions! I loved your story, and I’m so proud to be a part
of the book with you! To my readers: if you love YA romance or YA historical
fiction, I really think you’ll love the stories in Timeless. They cover an
interest range of eras as well as genres. And for under $4.00, you get 7 great short
stories.
Timeless is currently
available through all major outlets as an ebook. Look for more blog
interviews with the authors from the anthology in the coming weeks.Click here for Ansha Kotyk’s discussionwith Kip about the poem that inspired “And the Nightingale Sings”
Love
stories that transcend time. From a thousand years ago to the unknown
future, Timeless will show how love is timeless. This anthology of love
stories contains “The Storyteller’s Daughter” by Gayle C. Krause, “And
The Nightingale Sang” by Kip Wilson, “A Light Of Victory” by Jennifer
Carson, “The Angel Of The Bastille” by J.R. Sparlin, “Stella’s Hero” by
Kristine Carlson Asselin & Ansha Kotyk, “In This Moment” by D. E.
Atwood, and “It Lies Beneath” by Magda Knight.
If you would like a chance to win a copy of Timeless, post a comment below and we’ll choose a random winner. Good Luck!
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