Author Spotlight: Kimberly Mullican



Allow me to welcome author Kimberly Mullican to the Open 

Vein. Her book, TAKING CONTROL is available now in 
multiple formats. Read below for more details!

EJ (me) – First, the dirty. Tell us about your book, 

Taking Control.

Kimberly Mullican (KM) – First of all EJ – thank you so 

much for having me. I appreciate you taking time out of 
your busy schedule to play Pimp for a Day!

This is the part I hate. If you can tweet in 140 characters, 

why is it so hard to shorten the description of the book? 
 My blurb for my book:

Kat Trueblood, genetically engineered medium and former 

CIA Agent, thought she had escaped the danger and drama 
of her previous life. She has a stable job as a paralegal, is 
dating her first girlfriend, and has plenty of time to spend 
with her best friend and guardian – a ghost named Grant.

In denial about missing the action of her former life, Kat’s 

thrust head first back into it when the Russian mafia – the 
same guys who raped and tortured her for two weeks during 
active duty – targets her and her family. The CIA forces her 
to choose between working with the FBI to catch a serial killer 
who is slaughtering area drag queens or leaving her family at 
risk.

Distracted by discovering Grant is in love with her and her 

girlfriend ending up on the suspect list, Kate finds herself as 
the hunted instead of the hunter. Captured by the killer, she 
must face her inner demons in order to survive and end the 
serial killer’s mayhem.

ME – The book description for Taking Control is unbelievably

compelling, hinting at the story being a spy action thriller 
with a paranormal twist. Was it a premeditated decision to 
write a story using both elements, or did it evolve organically 
from one into both?

KM – You’re not going to believe how this all came together. 

 I had a terribly overwritten vampire book (Don't we all? :)
and it’s good, just horribly overwritten. After every single 
agent said, “no thanks” or nothing at all I started looking at 
what they WERE looking for. Strong female MC – check; 
gay/lesbian overtones – check; paranormal – check; 
Romance – well there is a little romance and sex, best of 
both worlds. (Don’t gasp – we all love sex, it’s okay.) The 
whole story started to form as I was reading what agents 
were looking for. The funny part is – I decided to go the Indie 
route instead. Who cares what the agents want really? I’m 
not looking for an agent. Not now anyway.

ME – Most of my blog followers being authors, aspiring or 

practicing, we’re always interested in the nuts and bolts of 
craft here at the OV: Tell us a little about your journey to 
authordom. 

KM – Well, I did way better with English and Literature in 

high school and college than Chemistry and Math. It’s just 
the way my brain is built. (I like and understand the way your 
brain is built!) I have written several short stories, really 
sucky poetry and a few good stand-up routines for a couple 
of starting artists.

I always loved a good book. I was a huge John Grisham fan 

until his work seemed redundant to me. Then I discovered 
Baldacci. I’ve been reading a lot of paranormal stuff and I 
love vampires. Shoot me. I’m not enticed by the sparkly kind 
though. I’m getting off topic. Blame it on my background in 
sales. I talk too much.

After the divorce from my first husband, I suffered from 

insomnia. I got sick of tossing and turning and decided to 
write the stories that were in my head. Though Goddess 
Janet Reid would flog me for admitting it – I published my 
first novel via vanity press. Yes – I learned my lesson. I have 
an unedited book out there with my face plastered on the 
back. Thank God it isn’t on bookshelves and my name has 
since changed!

Since 2006, I’ve been reading on the industry, following 

authors and studying while writing. I joined a few crit groups 
and finally, started TAKING CONTROL. I knew I wanted to 
self-pub and that all responsibility was going to fall on my 
shoulders. I have had 10 separate pairs of eyes on this book 
through all stages. Editing is so important, and very difficult. 
 Each critter found something different or suggested 
something different. Again, in the end, it’s all on the author.

ME – What’s your writing process like? 

KM – Oh hell, I’ve tried to be a plotter. I find it stifling. 

I’m a type B though and the fewer the rules the better. 
 Each WIP gets however much time it needs. If it’s shit, 
I scrap, rewrite, rework and give to betas. Depending on the 
scene I’m writing I switch up my environment. Dark scenes I 
write at night, usually with a cocktail (careful using this 
process, you need to reread it in the a.m.) Light stuff I write 
during the day with a boat load of coffee in my system.

I do have one WIP that I never connected with and it never 

made it to the Betas. It upset me so much I even erased the 
digital file. It just stunk. It’s okay to write garbage. Someone 
important once said, “The first draft of anything is shit.” The 
important thing is to keep writing.

ME – In the current climate, it’s almost impossible to talk 

about writing and not talk about THE business. You 
published Taking Control independently. What went into 
that decision, and what can you tell us about the process?

KM – I touched on that a little above. I read Konrath’s blog. 

(NOTE: J.A. Konrath is an author who staunchly advocates 
DIY publishing, and gives lots of tips on how to do it 
successfully. You can read his blog, here.)I’ve also read 
some of his books. I think the man is onto something. While 
he may upset some people, I can see how passionate he is 
and I don’t think he’s wrong, I just think the industry is 
changing and why not have control of your own work 
product? After all, I have a piece of garbage out there that 
I don’t get control over until 2014. If I had self-pubbed, I 
could correct my error and move on.

ME – Any tips for those of us considering the Indie route?

KM – Edit, Edit, Edit. (Amen, sister!) Get as many readers as 

possible and as much feedback as possible. If you can afford 
an editor (and I couldn’t) get one. Buy Kristen Lamb’s book 
on marketing. I think of her as my guru, whether she likes 
that or not, I’m not certain. But I talk about her so much, 
Klout says I’m an influencer on Lambs… Your cover art can 
make or break you, so choose wisely.

Read as much as possible. Read books, blogs, industry 

news, author web pages anything you can get your hands on.
 Stay on top of the industry. Please, look before you leap. 
 Educate yourself on what you’re getting yourself into. This 
industry isn’t for the faint of heart.

Do your research. I wrote about drag queens in my book. I 

spent a lot of time with a drag queen and he was very helpful 
making sure I didn’t misrepresent that sector of the population
. I certainly didn’t want scores of drag queens out for my 
head! That would just be weird.

ME – Change is constant in the publishing industry nowadays.

 Put on your prognostication hat: What does publishing look 
like 5 years from now and, perhaps more importantly, where 
do you think authors fit in?

KM – I really do see the big 6 suffering in the long run. It’s 

slow, and today’s world is fast paced. We get everything 
on-demand nowadays and they just haven’t gotten on board. 
We are going to have to sift through some self-published crap
 to find the gems. Who knows, someone might not like my 
work, and that’s ok. After all, you can be the tastiest green 
apple in the world, but not everyone likes green apples. So 
far I have received positive feedback and one 5 star rating on 
Amazon! The reader even wrote a review that nearly made 
me pee! (No one said I'd need diapers to be a writer ... 
must. read. more.)

ME – Enough shoptalk! Tell us where we can find Taking 

Control.

You can find it here: Barnes & Noble & Amazon

Paperback will be available shortly through CreateSpace. 

 If you want to be slightly disturbed and/or enticed, 
TAKING CONTROL is for you.

Thanks again for having me! It’s been a pleasure.

ME - Pleasure is all mine. Best of luck to you in the future!

~EJW~

12 comments:

  1. You might want to edit this, some of the words run off the page. Looks like a great book tho.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm having a little trouble reading this as there appears to be some formatting issues with words disappearing off the right side.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glad you knew your path before you began!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nice interview. The book sounds interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks again for having me EJ! I will link back to this as soon as I have a moment to hit my blog.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Fascinating interview. I find it odd that some writers see plotting as so restrictive. It amazes me that pantsing even works but it obviously does for some people.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh and I'll be adding your book to my goodreads straight away Kim. I shall get to it probably in a week or so and look forward to the wonderful read.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Michael - thank you! Being a pantster just means more work (fixing plot holes.) I really hope you enjoy the book!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Nice to meet you, Kimberly! Your story sounds very intriguing!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great interview, E.J. and Kimberly! Taking Control sounds intriguing, and your publishing journey/story is very interesting. Good luck with the book!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I liked that but you can do better...

    ReplyDelete

“Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.