Author Kendra Moreno #interview

Please give a warm welcome to

Tell us a bit about yourself

This question always makes me scramble to find things interesting about me. lol. so, I’m an author and I write in multiple genres including, but not limited to, Dark Fantasy, Steampunk, and Paranormal. I’m a mom to a crazy active toddler boy and a Great Dane. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing and Marketing. When I’m not writing, I’m usually doing other things like designing, painting, crafting, and even doing those fancy designer cookies when I feel up to the task. lol. Umm, I’m also a certified scuba diver and I got to dive with sharks before which was awesome.

Have you always wanted to become an author?

I’ve always been a writer but I never understood I could pursue writing as a career until I started college. I always wanted to be an author, but I never had it up there as what I was gonna pursue. Would you believe my first major was zoology? lol. Eventually, I got smart and realized I wasn’t chasing my dreams and I dove in head first.

What was your inspiration for your current book/series?

So my current one is my fairytale retellings. Vicious as a Darling is book 1 in the Daughters of Neverland series, which is a spin off of the Sons of Wonderland series. I’ve always been a fairytale retelling fan, especially of the darker spins. I love horror so the idea was to thread horror elements into the story while it could still be considered Romance. And so these Horror Romance fairytale twists were born. 😀 For Neverland, I wanted to do something completely different from anything I’ve seen before (there are so many retellings) and I think everyone is really gonna love the horror twist on everything.

What are you working on now?

Right now, in addition to working on Vicious as a Darling, I’m also working on a sequel to my Steampunk RH, Clockwork Butterfly. It was meant to be a standalone but due to popular demand, Vic and her guys are getting another adventure. I’m also working on a new steampunk series that’s menage. The Prequel, Gears of Winter, released in an Anthology at the beginning of November. Poppy Woods and I are also working on a secret project I think everyone will love.

Do you have any quirks while writing?

I’m not sure if I have any unusual quirks. My playlists might be considered that I guess. For every book I write, I have a specific playlist for it. But I’m a fan of instrumental music. So I have a lot of battle and war drum music in my playlists. My favorite is Audiomachine! They produce some kickass stuff. ::whispers:: I listen to it at full volume in my car with the windows down and I get the best looks when they hear war drums.

What are your hopes for the future?

I think the hope is to always take my passion and turn it into something that not only supports my family, but that I can show my son one day that I achieved my dreams. Right now, my next goal is to be able to claim International Bestseller. I also just want to keep writing things I love.

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

There are three important things when publishing your first book. Cover, Blurb, and editing. Without a good cover, people might not look at your book. We’re all guilty of judging them by the covers and a great one will sell the book easier. If the blurb doesn’t catch their attention next, they might bypass it. If you’re not great at blurbs, there are services that will help or even asking other authors or friends for advice is fantastic. And never skimp on editing. It’s a chunk of change but it’s worth it to put out a quality book rather than having reviews come in claiming the editing was bad or to get quality notices from amazon. If you do those three things, readers will definitely want to read your story and will come back for more.

Do you have anything to say to your readers?

Without my readers, I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am. I was so worried when I started publishing that I was too weird, that my stories were too different, and y’all embraced me so hard and have never let me go. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sticking around, for trying new worlds I write, for reviewing the books when they come out. Because of you, I able to keep doing what I love, and that makes me so happy. Let’s all stay a little mad, and a whole lot of awesome!