Interview with Kassandra Kush, Author of The Things We Can't Change

Today on Cover2CoverBlog we welcome Kassandra Kush the author of Guardian and The Things We Can't Change...

 

 The Things We Can't Change is Free for Kindle Currently-- Go Grab a Copy!

Click here for Amazon page

Kassandra is also hosting a giveaway on her Facebook page: Click Here to Enter

Welcome to Cover2CoverBlog Kassandra! Could you tell us a little about yourself?

Good afternoon and thanks for having me :] My name is Kassandra, I’ve received grief all my life (and every time they ask my name at Starbucks) that I spell my name with a K instead of a C. I come from a HUGE family of seven kids, and all our names start with a K – which left me no other option for spelling. I’m twenty-two years old, and I was home schooled until the ninth grade, where I went to public school and received MAJOR culture shock, but survived intact.

I was always ‘the quiet girl who was reading’ and this definitely led to my love of writing, which I’ve been doing since I was ten. My first book was a young kid’s adventure where a girl fell through a trapdoor in Scotland to a magical land. Since then, I’ve both improved my story lines and my writing, though I’m sorry to say not my handwriting. After attempting several times to get my books published traditionally, I decided to launch on Kindle and self-publish, and I can definitely say this was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

What was your inspiration for The Things We Can't Change?

I was – am – actually gearing up to write the third book for my other series that is out, The Fallen Chronicles, and I wanted to sort of ‘practice’ writing something that was a little deeper and darker than the first two books, something more intense because the characters of that book demanded it. was something I started a long time ago and dug back out because I thought I could revise it and write it in parts and put on Kindle as a sort of freebie or cheap book, and also it could help me practice writing a more intense story. It was changed a LOT from the original idea, but even I was surprised at how fantastic it turned out and how much everyone liked it when they read and reviewed it.

Which came first – the story or the characters?

It can always be a toss-up for me, but in this particular instance, the story came first, though it has changed substantially from the original idea. Tony wasn’t even in the first draft, and anyone who has read the book will know just how 110% important he is to the story and that should tell them how much it changed! Evie and Zeke changed as well, but the basic idea of two broken characters, one rich and one from the wrong side of the tracks finding common ground, was the big idea that stayed the same and really carried over to the new version.

 What is your favorite part about the writing process? Do you have a special writing spot?

My favorite part about writing is... well, writing! I love the beginning, when all the ideas and so fresh and clear and you’re just frantic to work on the story all the time and get it all out of your head and onto the paper. For people who only read, don’t write, it’s the same feeling as reading a fabulous book and staying up past 2AM when you have to be up at 5 – you’re just so caught up in the story that you can’t put it down until you get to the end. It’s almost worse as a writer, because if you’re sitting idle at work, you’re always tempted to pull out that scrap of paper and keep jotting things down! I’m queen of Post-It’s and scribbling on receipts. I also love the ending, because it’s the same feeling. The thrill of the finish is really incredible, especially when you either have a cliffhanger or everything just comes together if it’s a stand-alone book. Nothing beats a happily ever after.

Is there anything about you that would surprise your readers?

People who have read more of my works or even just my two published ones, Guardian and The Things We Can’t Change, may have noticed that I have this fetish for writing about abused or broken characters, or even just ones that come from unstable homes. I also get a lot of people asking if anyone very close to me has died. I think it would surprise a lot of people to say this is ALL just from a VERY vivid imagination. I’ve never lost anyone close to me (thank God) and I come from an extremely supportive home where I have both my parents and we are very physical.... as in, we hug each other a lot. In reality, I’m nothing like Lyla or Evie; I’m loud and pretty annoying and generally, I’m a very happy and upbeat person who thinks she was supposed to be born as a Disney Princess and pretty much only wears neon or glittery clothes. I’m not sure why I end up with characters like this, but I think it’s just something so thrilling about reading – and writing – a story where a character not only gets rescued from that kind of situation, but learns to stand up for themselves in it as well. The one thing that translates from me to my characters is that I like to think of myself as a very strong person, and so I try to create characters that are, or at least, learn to be, very strong as well because I think every girl and woman should have that quality.

If you could meet anyone, any time or place; who would it be and why?

What a question! In a moment of total fangirl randomness, I think the coolest thing for an emerging author would be to meet J.K Rowling. She’s a great example of a writer who started out with just this story, and had to get a grant to even be able to afford to finish writing it, and now she’s pretty much the most famous and well-known author in the world. I’m pretty sure I would die if I could meet her face to face, but I think her writing and how she succeeded is really inspiring, and I also think it’s cool that a woman broke that ceiling and holds that title. A few other names that come to mind that would be cool to meet are Taylor Swift, Henry Cavill (okay, I would definitely die meeting HIM in person), Rick Riordan – heck, maybe just Percy Jackson! I’m just going to stop now because every other name that comes to me just feels too embarrassing!

What are you reading right now? Do you have any book recommendations for us?

I’m between actual books right now, but I have a really good friend who published a book about the same time as I came out with Guardian, and we’re ‘penpals’ (do people even say that anymore?!) and edit each other’s works and cheer each other on. Her name is Allyson Gottlieb and the book she published is a novella called Darkest Legacy (which is fantastic, by the way!). She’s currently working on the sequel and has been sending me snippets now and then (since I’ve been working on TTWCC’s sequels, we’ve been having a battle of the teasers, actually, it’s quite fun!) and I just can’t wait to get my hands on it! It’s called Darkest Shadows and I’m just so pumped for it.

This or That?

Ebooks or Physical Books?

I’ve made the move to mostly e-books lately so I can support fellow authors, but physical books will always win out! It’s the feel and weirdly enough, the smell. Yes, I do sniff books.... Hey, it’s better than glue, right?

Coffee or Tea? 

COFFEE! 

Coke or Pepsi?

Coke for sure. Never liked Pepsi!

Jeans or Yoga pants? 

Yoga pants when I’m writing and for most daily life, but there’s definitely something to be said for a well-fitted pair of jeans!

The Book or the Movie?

Always always the book. I love a good movie, but they never are able to drive me to sobbing tears the way a book can!

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