Here’s where you can find my podcast appearances, interviews, Q&A sessions and guest posts around the web. The list keeps getting longer, so check back regularly!
November 6th, 2016: An excerpt from my Author Portrait interview with Lucile Stenger, Community Manager for MxM Bookmark, the French publisher of Open Minds (Esprits Libres). Read the French version here.
Lucile: What was your inspiration for “Mindjack”?
SKQ: I was entering a 1st paragraph critique contest online and wanted to write something fresh – not one of my previous books. I struggled and couldn’t come up with a compelling first image (for that first paragraph). I gave up for the night, but as soon as my head hit the pillow, an image of a girl in a future classroom where everyone read minds – except her – popped into my head. I immediately got up and wrote the first paragraph describing how horribly isolated this girl was in this silent classroom where everyone “spoke” via telepathy. The story (and the image) wouldn’t let go, so I decided to turn it into a novel.
Lucile: If you had to describe the story in 5 words, what would they be?
SKQ: 1. Mindbending 2. Heart-wrenching 3. Fascinating 4. Uplifting 5. Infuriating
Lucile: Any difficulties in writing this story?
SKQ: Every story has challenges. For Open Minds, I was working without an outline because the story just came to me in that single image – then I had to build a world that would work for the conflict of Kira, a non-mindreader in a mindreading world. In the first draft, I was halfway through the story before I even realized Mindjackers existed in the story! So that story required a lot of reworking to get it in final form, since I was discovering a lot of the world right along with Kira.
Lucile: Which one of your characters would you like to be your friend ? Why ?
SKQ: Raf – he’s loyal and sweet (and also cute!).
Lucile: An anecdote about your novel you would like to share with us?
SKQ: I recently had a classroom use Open Minds for a lesson! It was very cool – they even built a model of the camp where jackers are sent, complete with trucks, barracks, and orange gas. They even made a game to go with it where the jackers try to escape. It’s amazing to me how many people have sent me emails saying they were impacted by the story.
Students using Open Minds for a lesson
Lucile: A word you’d like to address to the readers?
SKQ: The Mindjack series addresses how we, as human beings, deal with something “different” that arises among us. I think the message of these books is even more relevant in today’s troubled world than when I wrote the original story five years ago.
10.1.2016 –Thrillertantes Bücherblog – Open Minds Special und Interview mit Susan Kaye Quinn (Interview in German). Click here for the English translation.
9.14.2016 – ManyBooks.net – Interview: From Rocket Scientist to Author
8.8.2016 – Keystroke Medium – LIVE with Susan Kaye Quinn, from Rocket Scientist to Novelist 8.2.2016 – SFF Marketing Podcast again – SFFMP 92: How to Use KDP Select to Sell More Books with Susan Kaye Quinn
7.2016 – Author Strong Podcast – Permafree vs. KDP Select with Susan Kaye Quinn – Part 1 of 6
9.2015 – 21st Century Writer Podcast – Susan Kaye Quinn and the Indie Author Mindset
6.2105 – Author Strong Podcast – Matt Morris, Nancy Elliott, and I chat about my Biggest Failure/Learning Experience and how writing groups and critique partners are vital part of your journey – Part 1 of 2
6.2015 – The Creative Penn Podcast – Joanna Penn interviews Susan Kaye Quinn about the mindset associated with becoming a successful indie-published author, as well as marketing and tips on balance
6.2105 – SFF Marketing Podcast – SFFMP 36: Susan Kaye Quinn on Tips for Going Pro, Genre Hopping, and Selling Lots of Science Fiction. Lindsay Buroker, Joseph Lallo, Jeffrey Poole and I chat about the science in science fiction, the new KU program, and overrated and underrated marketing techniques
11.2104 – Hank Gardner’s Podcast – In this interview, Susan Kaye Quinn chats mostly about her books and career