Happy Friday! Welcome back to Help From my Friends. Today’s guest is Author Kylie Brant who I love to pieces, not only because she’s a fabulous author, but she’s giving as well. Case in point. She’s helped innumerable authors in their careers, and she’s here to help one more with an adorable story of how it came to be. Please welcome Kylie Brant as she introduces Author Quinn Hallows and her debut Alive Like Us. ~ Donnell
The Writer’s Journey
by: Kylie Brant
Vancouver, Canada
This beautiful photo is from Vancouver, the location of the last writing conference I attended in 2019. The pandemic has put an end—for now—to my occasional trips to refill the writing well with workshops, sight-seeing, and re-connecting with writing friends. I always forget what a delight it is to spend several days with other authors and talk books.
I attended my first writing conference in 1993. Despite my abject ignorance, I’d already sold my first two novels. I wasn’t a member of a writing group. I’d never spoken to another author, and this was before the World Wide Web fairies had invented the internet. I spent the week absorbing every workshop I could fit in, and sitting in the bar at night with my husband, sharing my fears that I was doing everything wrong and once my editors found out that I didn’t know what I was doing they were going to cancel my upcoming releases :).
That was the last writing conference my husband got to go 
to for a loooong time. By the time the next one rolled around I had *friends* to room with—ones who didn’t have to think back to elementary school to recall the last book they’d enjoyed, and who could discuss the mechanics of a love scene without a long sidebar on the definition of *sluicing* and whether a shower scene needed words that required one to use a dictionary.
In short, I met people who read books, had a vocabulary, and liked to drink. I’d already figured out that my hubby kept all his spare cash in his sock drawer, so his company became superfluous :).
I credit those conferences with helping me hone my writing. I learned even more from some of the talented editors I’ve been blessed to work with. But it was my conference buddies that are responsible for the best memories. Whether it was skipping hand-in-hand with a friend down Broadway at two AM in our RITA finery, getting lost on MARTA, or Dallas hair appointments that turned into a trip to Bizarro World—the conferences were full of great friends, lots of laughter, and memorable moments.
Some of those moments were shared with a young aspiring writer, the daughter of one of my roomies. I believe Emily was in her late teens when she started accompanying her mom to writing conventions. She was a delightful companion and diligently worked for years to hone her craft. Her wicked sense of humor was undoubtedly responsible for her ability to put up with the rest of us, and any scars inflicted by seeing her roomies dancing with an ironing board were likely only emotional :).
She also came to my aid at a conference in Florida when I enlisted her help in attaching false eyelashes (after mine had fallen out. Long story.) She managed the feat with aplomb, without stabbing me in the retina, earning my undying devotion.
She’s had some wonderful opportunities along the way—a one-on-one with a senior editor; introductions to writers, agents, and editors. But opportunities don’t make a writing career—perseverance does. She’s researched, attended conferences, written, edited, and re-written. She’s also always been a damn good storyteller :). So I’m incredibly excited that all her work has paid off, and she’ll be launching her FIRST BOOK next week on October 7!!
Written with the pseudonym Quinn Hallows, ALIVE LIKE US is an action-packed dystopian thriller about redemption, monsters, and the heroes who fight them—even when it means risking it all.
Sometimes the most dangerous predators are the ones buried deep within….
Long after a virus rages across the United States turning humans into flesh-eating monsters, Sanna Larson is eager to follow in her warrior father’s footsteps and defend her rural, isolated community on the wintry shores of Lake Superior.
But when a failed hunt exposes her to a new, vicious enemy, she becomes the prey. Only this predator is unlike any she’s ever faced—ruthless, cunning, and determined to destroy her life from the inside out.
The hunt is on. Nothing is safe. Not even her own mind.
As the death toll rises and evil closes in, a mysterious stranger arrives believing their only hope is to unravel Sanna’s secret origins, unearthing a dormant power she never knew existed.
Together, they undertake a perilous journey through monster-infested wastelands, searching for the one person—or thing—who can stop the insatiable threat before it devours the last remnants of human civilization…and Sanna herself.
Kylie Brant is the author of over forty romantic suspense and thriller novels. Her books have been published in thirty-five countries and translated into nineteen languages.
https://www.facebook.com/kyliebrant1
Quinn Hallows lives in the Midwest but longs for somewhere more exciting. Perhaps that’s why she spends her days dreaming of faraway places and talking to the voices in her head. Sometimes she even writes it down. Her debut novel, Alive Like Us, was inspired by her spouse’s love of zombies and video games.
www.quinnhallows.com
Barnes and Noble: https://www.amazon.com/Alive-Like-Us-Quinn-Hallows-ebook/dp/B099C9HGR7/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=quinn+hallows&qid=1632866953&sr=8-1
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/alive-like-us
How awesome of Kylie to shine a light on her friend and debut author, Quinn Hallows. The book description pulls you right in. Congratulations to Quinn and kudos to Kylie.
I agree, Candy. And such a lovely post as well. And to discover I’ve been doing things all wrong!!! I’ve never checked my husband’s sock drawer! Thanks for stopping by.
What a nice post and a great boost for the young writer. As for dollars in the sock drawer, Handsome would ask if I had change for $100. I gave him a $20. lol
Ha ha ha. Vicki Batman!
🙂
Thanks, CJ! And Vicki, LOL on the change! I like the way you do math! I am sooo pumped about Quinn’s new release–she’s so talented and very deserving. Thank you, Donnell, for the opportunity!
I knew if I followed Kylie around the Internet long enough I would find out where hubby stashed the cash. Be over later!
Congrats to Quinn on the upcoming release and for being very jammy in having Kylie as your book pimper! Lol!
Lol, Willa! He has more recently attempted to stash smaller amounts around the room…and then promptly forgotten where he hid them. I’d check the closet ?.