Author W.J. May #interview

Please give a warm welcome to Tell us a bit about yourself

USA Today Bestselling author, W.J. May grew up in the fruit belt of Ontario – St. Catharines. Crazy-happy childhood, she’s always had a vivid imagination and loads of energy.
The youngest of six — four older brothers, and a sister — taught her at a young age to be competitive in all aspects of life.
At sixteen, she began competing in athletics (track and field) and before she turned seventeen, she was representing Canada in high jump. She continued to compete, breaking Canada’s JR High Jump record (1.92m – 6′ 3 1/2″ for those metric-ly challenged). She attended University of Toronto, and Kansas State University – winning CIAU’s and becoming All-American 6x – NCAA Indoors Runner Up + more.
But you’re not interested in her athletic career – unless of course you’re curious to know she stands 1.70m (5’7″) and has jumped 20cm over her head on more than one occasion. She’s represented Canada at the World Championships, World Jrs., won Francophone Games, been all over the world and loved every minute of every competition. From the grueling workouts, the crazy weights she lifted, the days she thought her lungs were going to spit out of her mouth for lack of oxygen, the travelling and the opportunity to read – her favourite past time.
Life continued with her husband (a distance runner from Liverpool, UK, who she met at KSU) and then their first, second and finally third child. Their house became full of more imagination and stories.
After her father passed away in 2009, from a six-year battle with cancer (which she still believes he won the fight against), she began to write again. A passion she’d loved for years, but realized life was too short to keep putting it off.
She wrote RAE OF HOPE, the first book in the Chronicles of Kerrigan series, which became an international success and the series has continued into 12 books, plus sub-series, twisted plots and more!
May loves fantasy, paranormal and maybe the odd twist of something darker, something sweeter and something just off the charts.
When she’s not writing or reading, she’s either hanging with her kids, shopping, watching movies, into sports, or plotting the next story in her head.

Have you always wanted to become an author?

I LOVED reading as a kid (and teen, and adult lol) and used to always imagine stories in my head. When I was training for athletics, I used to make up stories and continue them for weeks in my head as I was working out – great distraction lol.
I honestly never dreamed about being a writer… I never thought I was good enough lol. I just dove in and went for it… and the rest, well, is a story in the making …

What was your inspiration for your current book/series?

The characters themselves. They become like family and it’s like catching up with each one of them when I write their story

What are you working on now?

RESOLVED – the last book of the Queen’s Alpha Series is in my head at the moment.
I’m also working on the Mending Magic series, the new Kerrigan Kids series, a completely new idea called ROYAL FACTIONS as well… lots of fun stuff going on!

Do you have any quirks while writing?

Apparently I make weird faces when I write lol. My husband always comes in the room and has a laugh. “Serious part?” “What are you laughing at?” Guess I can’t keep it all in my head. lol

What are your hopes for the future?

To continue writing for as long as I can. I’d love to see one of my series put into a movie or TV series one day. That would be a dream come true.

Do you have any advice for new authors about the publishing world?

Write, write, write! Write what you are passionate about, what genres you enjoy reading and edit, edit, edit! Reread what you write and be willing to change things up. Have fun with it… writing should never feel like a job.

Do you have anything to say to your readers?

Thank you for reading the crazy stories in my head.I am going to be doing some giveaways this summer so be sure and follow me.Twitter