Author Guest Post: Karen Mahoney

Today I have the lovely Karen Mahoney, author of the equally brilliant The Iron Witch for a guest post on Being a Debut Author -

Welcome Karen!

So, I’ve been asked to write about the mythology/lore behind the creation of The Iron Witch, but rather than write about faeries (which I covered here: http://onceuponabookcase.blogspot.com/2011/02/guest-post-from-karen-mahoney-where.html) or the ‘Handless Maiden’ folklore (which I wrote about here: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2011/02/10/the-big-idea-karen-mahoney/), I am going to talk about something completely different.

Lots of people have asked me what it’s like to be a debut author – to have my first novel on the shelves and to actually be able to call myself a published writer. Full disclosure: I have actually been published before, but those were short stories in YA urban fantasy anthologies, so it’s sort of a different thing (although no less awesome, in its own way). But to have a full-length work of fiction published… a whole book of my own… that’s pretty amazing and, quite honestly, I never entirely believed it would happen.

Before I can tell you what it’s really like – how I feel about this big change in my life – let me take you back in time to when I was a twelve-year-old girl at school. In a class filled with about 30 other children I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up (we were all being asked this, I think as some kind of class exercise):

Kaz (beaming and hopeful): A writer!

Teacher: You mean… like a journalist?

Kaz: Oh no, I mean I want to write fantasy books.

Entire class, INCLUDING TEACHER: LAUGHTER

So, you know, I can’t say I was always encouraged in my dreams to become a published author – and it’s taken me a long time to get here – but for all the hard work (and, yes, despite the times I’ve been laughed at!), I can tell you that it’s totally worth it. I wouldn’t want to do anything else with my life. Telling stories… making stuff up; writing it down and working at my craft; and then sharing those books and stories with others. That’s the kind of thing some people can only dream of and, even when I get stressed and busy (often with the business side of writing), I try hard not to complain. Well, at least not too much. ;)

Because I am really very, very lucky. Being a debut author is all the things I hoped it would be – and more. There’s more work involved than I thought there’d be, for sure (for example, with promoting your writing, both in person and online), but I don’t just mean that. I mean that it is truly an honour to have this chance to share with others the stories and worlds and characters that I create. To hear what people think about the things I write, and to touch the lives of readers all over the world, even in this very tiny way… Well, that’s pretty awesome.

I hope that you enjoy meeting Donna, Navin and Xan, and I hope you’ll return to Ironbridge when The Wood Queen comes out early next year! Thanks for having me. :)

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Thank you, Karen! All I can say is - the pleasure is all ours. We love The Iron Witch, we love Xan (as I have told you maybe a thousand times) and I'm sure I'm not the only one who is eagerly waiting for The Wood Queen!