Interview with KJ Steele, Author of "No Story to Tell"
About KJ Steele
KJ Steele is an emerging writer who has learned that the process is not so much about choosing what to write as it is about having the courage to write what chooses to be written. Having spent the first half of her life creating an amazing family with her husband, Victor, she intends to spend the rest of it creating equally amazing fiction.
What books have most influenced your life most?
The first book that really warped me into its world was a young adolescence book, Fury and the Mustangs by Albert G. Miller. As a young girl, I loved being pulled into that world, and it fascinated me that mere words on a page had that sort of power.
Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness also had a very strong impact on me. It was while reading that novel that I first became aware of the layers of meaning hidden in the text. I felt like I had gained x-ray vision! This was the book that truly opened me up to the wondrous complexity and insights woven into a literary piece of work. I've never been the same since!
If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
Lou Aronica (The Fiction Studio) is my chosen mentor. Lou has the wonderful ability to gain the essence of a piece of writing. He instinctively understands what I'm attempting to achieve. And, if he feels something in my writing will not be accepted within the market place, he is absolute in pointing it out to me. But, he always carries a huge degree of respect for my authorial ability. He's a wonderful mentor. Informed, decisive, bold, intelligent, and kind. I trust him immensely with my work.
What book are you reading now?
Mad In America, by Robert Whitaker.
Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
There are two, actually. Peter Murphy, who just released an interesting novel about his native Ireland, and Terry Hill, who writes a rather amusing Two Guys . . . series.
What are your current projects?
I'm currently working on my next novel, which I'm very excited about. It's set in an insane asylum (as they were referred to) back around the turn of the century. It's a fascinating, somewhat disturbing, twisted love story-if you can imagine it! The whole story came to me in a . . . well, let's just say, a very ethereal way one day.
Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.
Fiction Studio Books, and Lou Aronica who helms it. It is through the on-going support of Lou, and his vast expertise in the publishing industry, that this novel has evolved into the successful work it is today.
Do you see writing as a career?
Absolutely. There is simply nothing else that fuels me like writing does.
If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
No, I wouldn't change anything. I spent considerable time on this novel, making sure that I wrote it as deeply and honestly as I could. I'm very satisfied with the final presentation of it, and the enthusiastic response of my readers has supported that.
Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
I really never intended to write a book! I took a writing class because I had always had a great interest in words. Our first assignment was to: create two characters and a conflict, and write a paragraph. My pen literally took off on me as soon as it hit the page. I just tried to keep up with the words flooding through my mind! That initial paragraph was the seed of this novel. It's still in there somewhere. It morphed out to a 388 page novel!
About No Story to Tell
Victoria Lackey, a once extraordinarily promising dancer, now finds herself mired down in a joyless marriage, tending to a heart full of secrets, her dream of being a dancer buried deep within her.
Buried within her, that is, until Elliot, a newcomer to the small, gritty town of Hinckly and a sensual artist, recognizes the dancer's spirit within her. Believing in her abilities, he encourages her to open a dance studio, something previously forbidden by Victoria's boorish husband, Bobby.
With Elliot's attentions sparking the flame of desire within her, Victoria suddenly begins to receive softly seductive anonymous telephone calls. Encouraged by her best friend, Rose, Victoria slowly allows herself to start enjoying the calls, eventually creating a perfect fantasy lover in her mind. Eventually, she slips from listener to speaker and begins to divulge the intimate and profound secrets that haunt her soul.
Inevitable tensions begin to arise between Victoria and Bobby as he attempts to keep her newfound freedom from taking root. Desperate to resuscitate the woman she was truly meant to be, Victoria is in for the struggle of her life. With a burden of secrets collapsing around her and a life hanging in jeopardy if she embraces her own, Fate devilishly delivers her to an impossible fork in the road.
