Please give a warm welcome to author Kelsey Soliz

Tell us about yourself

I am pretty introverted and love being home more than anything else. My husband is in the army so we move a lot and our schedule always changes, but we’ve got 4 kids that I homeschool so my days are quite busy! I’m from Seattle, WA and I’m obsessed with tea and music.

Have you always wanted to be an author?

No! I wrote a lot when I was younger, mainly poetry and as a way to deal with all my teenage angst. I actually went to college for music and have a teaching degree for it, I always thought I’d be a music teacher. I’ve played bassoon since I was 15 and it’s one of my big loves. If I wasnt teaching I thought I’d be playing with an orchestra! Until covid got I was playing with community orchestras and its my happy place. Writing though I can do anywhere and has become a big part of my identity.

What was your inspiration for your current series?

Honestly I have no idea where it came from😆 I daydream a lot and sometimes stories just get stuck in my head so I will start plotting things out, and then it’s like a sickness, I have to get it onto the computer and write until I get the essence of the story and characters out. It all just kind of snowballed from there. I’ll sit there and think of situations for my characters and what I want from them, but sometimes the characters come to my mind so perfectly formed that I don’t have to put much thought into it. My stories usually start in my head with one particular scene and then I build around it.

What are you working on now?

Right now I’m getting ready to start the third book in the hemlock academy series, but also am re-working/re-editing/re-branding my four betrothal series. It was the first thing I wrote and the first book is a little rough, and then I lost the original file so I’m having to retype the entire thing, but I’m getting to know the characters all over again and it’s been really fun to work with them again! I’m adding a little pov into the the first book, eventually I probably will into the second as well. Making the fmc a little more sure of herself and trying to bring the steam to a little more of a simmer.

Do you have any quirks while working?

Well I have a hard time writing if there’s a lot happening around me, but I love to eat chex mix while I write😀

What are your hopes for the future?

Just to get all my stories written that I keep imagining. I’ve got so many loose ends and partial writes, I’m excited to explore them all more and share them with people who want to read them!

Anything to say to your followers?

Y’all have been so encouraging with my hemlock series, I’ve felt so much love! I love hearing from everyone that’s connected with my characters, my mind is kind of blown when I think about the fact that I have people literally across the globe reading my books. I’m just writing all the weirdness inside my head and I’m thrilled that so many people find it amusing and want more!

I only have an author page on Facebook right now, but I’m working on setting up a readers group and/or review group. I keep my author page updated though so it’s a good place to see what I’m up to!