Dominique Kyle Q &

#author #authorinterveiw

What is your name?

Dominique Kyle

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

I learned to read in a week when I was five and was writing by the age of seven. I found it frustrating because I knew I wasn’t coming up with my own story ideas. Suddenly when I was fifteen, my imagination took off.

What genre books do you write?

Young Adult/Crossover – My current series features a young female car mechanic who gets into British Stock Car racing and sets out to become the first female champion in the sport. I love the intensity that comes with the age when characters are first moving out into the independent world and having to find their place in it and learn about their own personalities. Everything is a drama and a crisis and all their beliefs are being questioned on every level. Personally, I’m great in a crisis – just don’t come to me to talk about socks…

What is the name of your book/books?

My series is called ‘Not Quite Eden’.

Where there alternate endings you considered?

My heroine is very independent, so I always find it hard to get her off with a boy – so I tend to market my series as ‘more kickass than kissing’ and ‘almost a romance’. The final conclusion only comes at the end of six books and I am quite anxious about whether I’ve made it satisfying enough for all the readers who have just invested a substantial number of hours immersed in the world I have created and who will want to feel like it was a worthwhile use of their precious time! I tackle a number of ‘women’s issues’ through the series – pressure to have sex, rape, misogyny, forced marriage, inter-racial marriage, honour killing, revenge porn, and child sexual exploitation in a ‘grooming gang scandal’ that has race elements to it similar to those seen recently in some Northern British towns. These are all subjects that need to be talked about openly, but also need to be dealt with sensitively, so it is a fine line to walk. I refer to my series as ‘challenging’. On top of that, my heroine starts out being more of an ‘anti-heroine’. She has been traumatised by the death of her mother when she was very young and exhibits a lot of ‘challenging behaviour’. If readers can stick with her, she changes and grows substantially over the six years that the series covers.

What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?

Given the employment and motorsport that my heroine is engaged in, my series is peopled with a lot of male characters, but I don’t write from their point of view. All my characters have their flaws, and I try to be even-handed about who behaves well or badly. Boys suffer just as much from badly behaved girls in my books as vice-versa – despite the topics I’ve covered it’s not all #MeToo from the female point of view – I tackle the male perspective as well, (#MenToo). It is fascinating though, to see how offended some people are by a heroine who exhibits characteristics that would be considered ‘romantic’ in a male ‘anti-hero’ type lead. Girls still seem to be expected to be all sweet, sympathetic and likeable!

Does writing energize or exhaust you?

I find consumption of other people’s imagination exhausting and draining - films, TV, books. I can only do it for limited periods. Writing out of my own imagination is satisfying and enriches me, but is extremely intense, and hard work.

What items do you surround yourself with when you write?

I need my laptop and dead silence and nobody anywhere near me.

What words of wisdom would you give to someone who wants to be an author?

I guess I am resigned to the fact that my series is a minority read. I have written the books I craved to read when I myself was a teenager – and so I have ended up creating a ‘marmite’ heroine – people either love her or hate her. I am humbled by the fact that a number of readers have really loved the series and have declared undying love for my characters… That’s what I remember from my younger years of being a reader – you really got into the world that was created in a series, felt every word intensely, and you never wanted it to end. Therefore, I’d advise the budding author to write the book that they have most wanted to read but have never found. Someone else out there will have been waiting for a book just like yours.

You can find Dominique at:

Amazon Author Page - http://bit.ly/DKauthor

Series Facebook Page - http://bit.ly/NotQuiteEdenFB

Twitter - http://bit.ly/DKtwtr

Goodreads Profile - http://bit.ly/DKgdrds

Not Quite Eden -Book One.

Eve isn't one to take things lying down (males please note!). But she never expected to have to step in to save the life of that annoying idiot next door, Adam Quinn. And she only did it because she's reserving the right to kill him herself! Adam Quinn and Eve McGinty have been bitter rivals for as long as they can remember. When they both apply for the same job as a trainee car mechanic only one of them can get it, and Eve is finding it hard to convince the misogynistic men who work there of her suitability for the role. Then Eve's younger brother, Jamie, is invited to join the rock band that the irrepressibly flamboyant Quinn and his friends have formed. But unfortunately the members of the band have made some dubious decisions in their eagerness to get a recording deal. When things turn nasty with the local psychopathic night club bouncers and drug dealers, Eve feels she has no option but to step in to prevent her brother being dragged down with the rest of the boys. As the consequences spiral out of control, Eve is forced to spend a lot more time with Quinn than she ever really wanted to.

Buy the book from Amazon co uk HERE.

Buy the book from Amazon com HERE.

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