Go to Kingdom Keepers Insider either on your computer or the KKI app on your smart phone and sign up. Join in writing fan fiction, reading excerpts from Kingdom Keepers VII: The Insider and find new ebooks to be posted there, too!
Do you get ideas for new books all the time and you keep them written down, or does one come to mind just when you need one?
Observing is the key to getting new ideas. I keep a notebook with me at all times to write ideas down.
Is it still exciting to publish a new book even after all this time?
It is the thrill of a lifetime. Each time I tear open the package with a new book in it I get gooseflesh. My name is on a book? Seriously?
Have you ever thrown away a book that you just couldn’t make work?
I have abandoned any number of outlines. The advantage of outlining or framing your story ahead of writing is that you don’t get halfway in and realize you have a dud. A novel’s storyline has to be something the writer can live with for 10-14 months. It’s a relationship, not a one night stand.
How many rejection slips did you get before your first novel was published?
I wrote 6-7 hours a day for 8 1/2 years before my first fiction was under contract. I think of it as my graduate school days—although I was “there” long enough to be a brain surgeon.
How has writing the Kingdom Keepers books changed your life?
Writers create worlds where the imagination is set free to roam. Sometimes that world is down the street, or inside your home. Sometimes it is a world of hope or despair. As writers, we buy into our own creations. What has been compelling about the Kingdom Keepers series is the ability to translate a world that already exists, but a world where imagination is already built into it: they realm of Disney. It is such an honor to be given the access I am given, to be allowed to “push” the boundaries of what’s already there. I strive to treat the material with the respect and even reverence it deserves. I hope to embellish one’s Disney experience––not ever attempting “to improve” or even come close to what is already there.
For me, this world, this series, continues to excite me as a writer, to take me places I’ve never been (but have dreamed about going, creatively) to give me license to open my imagination and travel to new and unusual places with people (my characters) I’ve come to love and feel as friends, and enemies. I’m ever grateful to my readers and to Disney to let me take this ride.
Can I audition for a Kingdom Keepers movie?
As of now there aren’t any plans for a Kingdom Keepers movie. In addition, I am not involved in hiring any actors, that would be through producers.
Is the Escher Keep real?
Escher’s Keep is one of the few fictionalized attractions in the books. I did visit the apartment but wanted to come up with a more interesting way to reach it.
Is Wayne a real person?
Wayne works as a loader at Splash Mountain. If you see a white haired guy loading on log…that’s him and you can ask him. He is retiring mid 2014, so hope you get a chance to meet him before he goes!
What is your favorite Kingdom Keepers book or Disney character?
This is like choosing between your children! I have to say I love them all!