Does writing energise you, or exhaust you?
Can it be a little bit of both? Please say it can! Pleeeeeease! Don’t make me pick: you already put me through hours…days…centuries of torture trying to find the perfect cover for Whispers in the Dark.

I go through phases where writing feels like a chore, and then a day later I want nothing more than to shrug off everything else in my life (except snacks: snacks are eternal) and just write 24/7. I realised pretty early on that my writing is better when there’s genuine passion behind it, so I let it roll with my mood.
All I can say is that the high of finishing a story and being truly proud of it is like no other. I have a grin plastered on my face for hours. Not helpful when I’m trying to be all serious in my lawyerly day job.

Besides hard work and talent, what other traits has led to your success?
Nawww, you said I had talent. Did you mean that? You’re the best.

My reviews say three things. One, my dialogue comes across as natural. That’s probably because I’ve said it aloud fifteen different ways before I write it down. I had to stop writing in public for that reason.

Secondly, something about humour? I often wonder if that reviewer was laughing at me, not with me. Awkward.
And thirdly is the one thing that I ensure each and every one of my stories has. A twist. I don’t start any story until I have the twist, as everything else will eventually fall into place. Sure, some are mere wisps of a candle flame, but others? Boom. That’s what I adore about writing: setting it all up beneath you, great big solid stone blocks of foundation that I intend to neatly vaporise on the next page. I’m nice that way.

What is a little-known fact about you?
I’m a writer! Wait no, that’s my factoid for when I’m in seminars in my day job. I…er…can you give me some time on this one? I used to have to prepare for a week before the first day of each semester at uni: what makes you think you can go springing those types of questions on people, huh?

I’m…

No, I’m still thinking.

I could hide the fact that it’s because I’m boring, by saying that it’s actually because I tell everybody anything about myself if they sit still long enough. The cashier at my local Woolworths knows all about my new house, while the bottle-o guys were entreated to an overview of my latest writing acceptances.
Oh! I’ve got it! Something so little-known and factual that it will blow your socks off! You’ll never guess it. I’ve never told anyone, not even my husband. It’s so amazing that you’re going to stare at the page for a good minute afterwards. “No way!” you’re going to say. “I never knew that about K. B. Elijah! I wish I was that interesting!”

Wait for it.

Just wait.

This is going to be good.

My little-known fact is that I am (error: answer has reached character limit).

In relation to your latest book;

What sparked the idea for this book?
The idea of having hope, and what that does to a person. I don’t want to say more, because I don’t know where this author interview will end up, and if you haven’t read Whispers in the Dark, I don’t want to spoil it for you. After all, you have the promised twist coming.

(Unless the twist is that there is no twist and that would be a hell of a twist in itself because you would be looking for a twist but there wouldn’t be a twist because I promised you a twist and you were expecting a twist so the twist is that there is no twist but then you’d just be disappointed that there was no twist and I couldn’t say I always include twists.)

I also loved that the last word of the story has the potential to change the entire tone and implications of the book. Seriously, I flitted between ‘failed’ and ‘successful’ half a dozen times, and even now, I sometimes forget which way I ended up going. I mused something deep and meaningful while I was on the above-mentioned high of finishing the book: “I am a writer. I hold fates in my hand. But today, I felt their weight.” Naww, doesn’t that give you the warm and fuzzies?

Well, guess what? Whispers won’t.

Bahahahahahaha.

And, lastly;

What’s brewing? What projects are you working on?
I’m currently editing my first full-length novel, Pettifog, a tale of twin omnipotent demigods who are stripped of their powers when they destroy one too many solar systems in their ruthless rivalry. They quickly discover that life on the mortal plane isn’t quite as enjoyable, and now one of them is on the run from a genocidal psychopath determined to harvest her body parts for relics, while the other is caught up in a game of gender politics and treason. All good fun.

I also have a M/M romance stirring (I haven’t even reached the ‘brewing’ stage of the recipe yet) in the back of my head, called A Knife and a Blade. Lots of angst, betrayals, sword fights and sarcasm.