Kayla Dempster, author of The Unusual Isles (2014), is a smart young writer with some valuable experience both in writing and in marketing. We at I&F were interested in her work, so we asked her a few questions, and here’s what she had to say:
I&F: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Dempster: I’m currently a college student at a private university studying biochemistry and computer science. I work part time on campus as a student assistant. I’m usually really busy but whenever I’m not doing anything for school I’m usually writing, reading, or working on some kind of art project. I’ve been writing seriously for about six to seven years. I tend to like writing novels more than short stories and poetry, although to do write both occasionally as well.
I&F: What got you started writing? When did you first know it was something you wanted to do?
Dempster: When I was in seventh grade I read the book Alex Rider: Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz as part of school project. I credit this book with what started my interest in writing, as I had never read any action/adventure books before this point I really loved. I soon fell in love with books about spies and went on to quickly read the rest of the series along with any other books on spies I could find. Unfortunately, there weren’t any books on spies with a girl protagonist that I liked. It was then I decided if there wasn’t a book out there that told the story I wanted to read, I would write it myself, and so I set off on my first journey of writing a novel. After about four years of working on this book, I fell in love with the craft of writing, and I knew it was one of my passions in life.
I&F: Can you give a short synopsis of your book(s)?
Dempster: The first one I wrote was called The Year of the Elephant and it was about a girl who got recruited to be a spy by one of her teachers, who was working undercover. When she enters their training facility she is almost immediately sent on a missing with another girl named Emma who doesn’t seem to like her very much. The two of them get sent to Africa to investigate a summer camp at an animal reserve run by a man who could quite possibly be the world’s next dictator. Unfortunately, the publishing company I used to publish it through shut down, and I haven’t republished it on anything else, mainly because it was poorly edited and I don’t have the time to go back and re-edit with all of my other projects. My second and most recent novel is named The Unusual Isles. It follows four different groups of high school students after the boat they were traveling on for a school trip crashes in the Pacific Ocean. One group encounters a group of pirate like travelers, another a rich scientist’s private island, two end up on an island with a cult like civilization, and the last group finds themselves on an island filled with strange creatures. Although completely different story lines, they all merge together at the end.
I&F: How was your publishing experience?
Dempster: I ended up self-publishing. I published The Year of the Elephant through a site called iProclaim (the one that shut down) and I did The Unusual Isles through CreateSpace on Amazon. Although really simple, it is a lot of work. It’s nice because not working for a publisher under time constraints is what would work best for me right now. I can work on writing when I have time, so it doesn’t matter a ton if it takes a couple of years to write a new novel. Promoting the book is the only real issue I have with self-publishing. Doing all the promotion myself takes up time, and I usually can’t do a ton of it on a weekly basis. I also didn’t use a professional editor, mainly because of money issues, which looking at it now would’ve been really useful. I’m currently going through The Unusual Isles to make new edits to it, and I’m planning on getting a cover made. Now that I make some money through work, I can afford to get a professional cover made, and I’m planning on using an editor for books in the future.
I&F: What kinds of things do you do to promote your books?
Dempster: I’m in a lot of different promotional and writing groups on Facebook so I post the link to it in those when I can. I have a Facebook page/blog where I post things about my novels and other projects often. I also have a street team. There are only about seven active members in it, but the ones who help really help a lot. If I ask them to promote something for me, they usually do it and I can get exposure to other audiences that way. I also recently started admining the Facebook page for author Bree Vanderland, and in exchange for posting a promotional post once or twice a week, she let me promote any of my works on my page.
I&F: Do you have any favorite authors, or people who inspire you in your writing?
Dempster: I really enjoy a lot of classic authors including William Faulkner and Edgar Allen Poe. I really like Poe’s gothic style, and I like the interesting way Faulkner presents his stories. One of the people who inspires me a lot is Walt Disney. I think he’s one of the biggest creative geniuses to ever live. There’s a quote by him that I use as a life motto “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” It just reminds me to keep on trying no matter what the circumstances, and there are no limits when it comes to writing.
I&F: What are your long-term writing goals? Do you have a place that you see yourself as a writer in the next 5-10 years?
Dempster: In the future I would love to eventually work with an indie publishing company. I think that’s one of my main goals as of right now. So far, I haven’t found one that specializes in the genre I write, but I’m going to keep on looking. I of course would like to keep expanding my audience and the amount of people who follow my blog and Facebook page. There are a couple of novels I’m working on now including the sequel to The Unusual Isles and another YA book, and I would like to have both of those finished and ready for published in the new five or six years. Since I don’t plan on going into writing as a full time career, writing will be something I do on the side for fun. I don’t ever plan on getting picked up by a huge publishing company or making the New York Times best seller list. I have small goals, but I don’t think they’re unrealistic, and I think they’re things I will be able to accomplish in the future.
Oh, and improving my skill and creating my own unique style is something I will always continue to work on.
I&F: What are some of your other hobbies? What do you plan on going into as a full time career?
Dempster: I really like singing, dancing and other theater relating things. I’m in the acapella group at my college and I participate in the yearly musicals when they put those on. I’m really into anime, manga, and Japanese culture so in my free time I like watching anime or reading manga. I also attend a few conventions a year I will cosplay at. I really like drawing and doing other art related things. I usually draw fan art for anime or try to draw some of my own characters. I’m hoping to get into some kind of medical research for a full time career, specifically research on genetically transmitted diseases, although I’m not rather picky about what field I actually end up in.
I&F:Any advice for other new authors?
Dempster: One of the best pieces of advice I could give is to never give up. While pursuing writing, many people will put you down, tell you your writing isn’t good, and tell you you’re wasting your time pursing something as useless as writing. It’s always good to take constructive criticism, but ignore the negative influences that aim only to put you down. Also, improvement comes with time and experience. Your writing won’t be perfect right away, but your own style will grow and develop over time.