Please enjoy this month’s BRAVE Interview with Killarney Traynor!
WHO are you? I’m Killarney Traynor, an author, bookworm, and tea drinker from the granite state of New Hampshire! I’ve been writing ever since I learned how to read and I love the feeling you get when a good story comes together. I also work with my brother’s film company, Narrow Street Films, writing scripts, producing, acting, and occasionally directing. When I’m not doing that, I’m usually hanging out in bookstores or getting lost in Boston.
WHAT is your One Brave Thing? Self-publishing my first book, Summer Shadows. Although I’d been writing since I was a kid, it wasn’t really something I talked about. Telling people that you write stories means someone is probably going to ask you what your stories are about or, worse, they may ask to read them. When you write, you pour your heart on to paper. As long as no one knew I did this, no one could read and judge the book and, by extension, me. But once I released Summer Shadows, the jig was up and I was forced to come out of the Writer’s Closet and admit, Yes, I wrote this and I think and feel in this way.
WHEN did you do it? I released Summer Shadows in November, 2014 – just before Christmas. Pushing that ‘go live’ button was quite possibly the most frightening and game-changing thing I’ve ever done!
HOW did you make it happen? I already had the manuscript written, but I didn’t know what to do with it next, so I took a course on self-publishing. It was in that class that I first thought of self-publishing as a thing I could actually do. My instructor was very encouraging, but I was terrified, thinking, I’m not ready! Finally, I realized that I would probably never feel ‘ready’, so I hired an editor and a book cover designer, put on my big-girl pants, and said, “Let’s see where this goes.”
WHY did you do it? I’ve always felt that each book I wrote should be better than the last. After I wrote Summer Shadows, I felt I’d reached a point where I wasn’t progressing any further. I needed to change up my approach and bring it to other people’s eyes for their analysis, to learn from their impressions and comments and critiques. I’m so glad I did, too – I’ve grown exponentially in the process, both personally and as a writer. Each review, critique, and comment about my writing goes to help me better shape and present my stories. The best part is, I no longer hide the fact that I write – I own my books and my words, too.
There is a great deal of power in being able to point to something tangible and say, “Yes, this is my work.”
Being honest about who you are, what you do, and what you love takes a great deal of courage sometimes – but the pay-off is so, so worth it.
Visit Killarney’s Facebook page here: Author Killarney Traynor
Visit her website here: Killarney Traynor
Find her on Twitter here: Killarney Traynor
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IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE INTERVIEWED FOR THIS SERIES ABOUT SOMETHING BRAVE YOU HAVE DONE IN YOUR OWN LIFE, SEND ME AN EMAIL HERE: karen@karencreamer.com
Karen Creamer
