Kevin Symmons has a BS and an MBA. He has attended the prestigious New
England Conservatory of Music and studied in France. After a
successful career in business management and consulting, he returned to his
first love: writing. His first novel, a spell-binding paranormal romance titled
"Rite of Passage" is set in the chaotic period after World War II.
It's received dozens of great reviews and was a RomCon Reader's Crown Finalist
for 2013. His second effort is a contemporary romantic thriller set near his Cape Cod home, titled
"Out of the Storm." Like his first novel, it is an Amazon Best-Seller
and received many 5-star reviews. "Solo",
an intense and ambitious women's fiction work, has been released from The Wild
Rose Press, his award-winning publisher. It explores the devastating effects of
privation and domestic violence on the beautiful and extraordinarily talented
young heroine.
For More Information
- Visit Kevin Symmons’ website.
- Connect with Kevin on Facebook and Twitter.
- Find out more about Kevin at Goodreads.
- Visit Kevin’s blog.
- More books by Kevin Symmons.
- Contact Kevin.
Can you tell us what your book is about?
The tag line sum it up… “When the gods want
to punish us they let our dreams come true…” (Oscar Wilde). On the surface it
deals with the career of a talented young lyric soprano and her lover an
equally talented young novelist. But the theme deal with
Why did you write your book?
I’ve written others… frankly more commercially
successful but it was a story I always wanted to write. I find it both sad and
fascinating to examine what happens when we’re forced to make a choice that can
have a lasting effect on our lives. My heroine has to hose between the quick
and less fulfilling road to success and staying the course. I’m sure you can
imagine which she takes!
Can you tell us a little about your main and
supporting characters?
Jessica Long, my heroine—around which the
novel revolves is a striking, vastly talented and driven young vocalist. She’s
driven by her desire to be the best lyric soprano in the world but she’s faced
with a terrible choice… go for the quick chance at fame or stay the course
which means finishing her serious musical studies, staying with the man she loves
and her struggling family. She takes the easy choice and lives to regret it.
Matt Sullivan is a brilliant young grad student, a writer, who loves Jesse but
he’s spoiled and stubborn and when she makes her choice he refuses to accept
it. They will spend years loving each other from afar. Mario Altieri is an
affable but mysterious older man who seems to take an oddly paternalistic
interest in Jesse. We begin to suspect that his kindness will have a price.
Lawrence Webb is a middle-aged Broadway producer who falls for Jesse the first
time he hears her sing at a recital and his affection and sponsorship propels
her to stardom in musical theater.
Do you tend to base your characters on real
people or are they totally from your imagination?
I think every author imbues his heroes and
heroines (no matter what his/her sex) with some of themselves. But mine are
based on people I have met, seen or in some cases have traits modeled to some
degree after characters from other novels. As has been said about ideas… I don’t
think there are any really new or unique characters in fiction?
Are you consciously aware of the plot before
you begin a novel or do you discover it as you write?
As you may be aware there is a fun and
ongoing discussion amongst novelists about plotters vs. pantsers (those who
plots are based on seat of the pants—e.g ideas that occur as they write). What
Stephen King in On Writing refers to as organic writing. I am a die-hard
pantser. I envision a first scene that I think will grab my readers and of course
have a general idea of where the novel is heading but I love the feel of
creation as it evolves and often takes me places I could never have imagined.
Your book is set in
Boston, Portland, Maine, New
York City
and Hollywood. Can
you tell us why you chose these cities in particular?
My novel deals
intimately with the arts… musical theater, literature and motion pictures so
voila… where better?
Is it hard to get a mainstream/women’s
fiction book published?
At the risk of being smart, is it easy to
get any book published by a traditional or top-level small press today (A
publisher who has a gate-keeper and pays you—not the reverse)? Since I had
established a successful track record with my publisher I was able to get this
novel contracted. But it took me almost five years of submitting before I got
“the call” for my first novel. I think that qualifies as difficult?
Is it hard to promote a romantic thrillers
or women’s fiction book and where do you start?
Yes! This may be THE most difficult part of
being an author today who is not one of the top echelon (King, Brown MHClark,
Grisham, Sparks, etc). It requires constant social media
presence. I have two FB pages totaling 1600 fans/friends, 2000 Twitter
followers, a first-class website that we update constantly, Amazon and Good
Reads pages, a fine publicist and placing doing endless workshops, library
events and all manor of public appearances… etc!
Have you suffered from writer’s block and
what do you do to get back on track?
No… I’ve never believed in it but I know it
can occur. I work on multiple projects at once and that keeps my mind active. I
call it my intellectual sorbet!
Which holiday is
your favorite and why?
Thanksgiving….
Because I’m a die-hard devotee of that wonderful 5 week holiday period that it
“kicks” off!
What
do you like to do for fun?
I
love the water and boating. We have a home on Cape Cod on the water. I think it’s the most
relaxing thing I know of!
What
do you like the most about being an author?
Being responsible for the creation of
something that helps to educate, entertain, allows escape and draws forth
emotion for my readers!
What is the most pivotal point of a writer’s
life?
For the ones that I know receiving that
first real book contract. Though I’ve never self-published, I’m sure that can
be as gratifying.
What kind of advice would you give other
fiction authors?
Never stop learning and writing. Talent is
involved but writing is a craft like playing the piano. You improve with
practice. But most important… never give up. Do not let rejection defeat you!
Thanks!
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