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vEIDEM
continued from page 11
Referring to herself as a “Trekkie,” she’s loved Star Trek from the
beginning, and also enjoys science fiction, biographies and historical
novels. She had never planned on writing her own books, it just
transpired one day as she was watching a science fiction series. She
didn’t like the ending and thought she could re-write it better.
“All I did was write lines. The lines built into paragraphs and
paragraphs turned into chapters. I had about two of those before I
started writing (Cassandra’s Challenge).”
Her novels fall into the genre of science fiction romance. Though
some fellow writers suggested to her that sci-fi romance was the
hardest field to write, she felt it was easy for her because she could
make up her own world, not feeling confined by any boundaries.
“To me, that’s the easiest way to do it. I can make anything
happen that I want.”
Many of the books Eidem reads are by other independent
authors. Some of her favorites are also those that she admires the
most. S.E. Smith, a fellow independent author whom Eidem has
become friends with, helped guide her in her novel writing and
publishing. Other independent authors that have been influential to
her are J.A. Hornbuckle and Michelle Howard.
To date, Eidem, known to her readers under the author name
M.K. Eidem, has written and self-published six novels as electronic
books, or e-books. One book has been published as a paperback and
she is working on developing one of her current novels into an audio
book, which will be coming out soon.
Her books are part of two different series. Cassandra’s Challenge,
her first book published in 2013 began the Imperial Series. This book
is about tall, dark haired Cassandra, suddenly alone with her niece
Victoria on Earth after their planet is attacked.
Grim, her next novel published in 2013, starts her second series,
the Tornian series, about King Grim Vasteri, a warrior of the Tornian
Empire. Grim is her best seller and is the only novel published in
paperback.
Following Grim came Victoria’s Challenge, the second book in
the Imperial series. Grim Holiday and Wray soon followed, both
from the Tornian series. Love without Boundaries came next, part of
the Tornian series with compilations of hers, J.A. Hornbuckle’s and
Michelle Howard’s. She is currently working on another book from
the Tornian series, Ynyr, featuring a different family from Grim and
Wray.
When Eidem started writing Grim, she didn’t intend for it to be
a series. “I got so much demand to know more about what was
happening with the characters in it,” she explains. That’s how book
two of the Tornian Series evolved; it was actually a prequel to Grim,
giving a history of how the character Grim came into being.
Eidem understands that her readers want to learn more about
characters in subsequent books, as that’s something she looks
for when she is reading the works of other authors. “I like the
continuation of a character in other books that let you know more
about them,” she explains. “I don’t like loose ends.”
Eidem’s magic begins on her laptop, already having blazed
through two of them and currently on her third one since she’s
started writing novels. “It’s been a learning process,” she explains
about the novel writing and publishing procedure. Most of it she
learned along the way or was given guidance from fellow writers and
friends Smith and Hornbuckle.
After many, many hours are put behind writing the story, she
then sends it off to her international beta readers who proof-read
her work and suggest corrections to be made. After she cycles
through this process a few times and is satisfied with her novel, she
continues with the next several steps that it takes to publish her
e-book, the process taking several months to complete.
Eidem’s suggestion if you’re interested in writing a novel? “Just
put one out there. Just jump. If you’ve got something to write, just
write it. You’re going to learn from it one way or another.” Though
it’s apparent she knows that not everyone likes her work, she just
likes to write. “I write (science fiction romance) because it’s what I
enjoy. If I can do it, anyone can do it.”
You can follow Eidem on Twitter, on Facebook under M.K. Eidem,
or on her website at www.mkeidem.com.
vBy Julie Eickhoff
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HERVOICE MARCH/APRIL 2015v15