I am so very excited to have my dear friend and fellow writer Kellie M Cox as a guest here on my blog. I met Kellie in 2018 at a Gold Coast Writers Association meeting, and I have treasured her friendship and our shared love for writing ever since. Kellie has just published her debut novel, Murderous Intent, just in time for Christmas.
Kellie Cox is an Australian writer indulging her love of fiction and prose. With qualifications in psychology, she relishes writing about the human condition and the vulnerability of the psyche. A therapist, clinical trainer, creative coach and conservationist, she enjoys a dream life on the beautiful Gold Coast.
Most days Kellie can be found working with artists in the creative industries or writing her novels. When not writing, Kellie will most likely be saturating her social media with photos of her two adorable pups.
Books already released:
MURDEROUS INTENT
Where to find you:
What got you interested in writing?
I have always been an avid reader, so I guess the progression to writing came naturally. My first book, THE LIST started life as a therapeutic tool. I had for several nights had a dream that someone implanted a shark tracking device in my right shoulder. To get the dream out of my thoughts, I started writing it down and that turned into a 70,000 word fiction story.
How long have you been writing?
I started writing in 2015 when I wrote THE LIST which was followed by book 2 from that storyline, THE REEF.
Do you have any goals/projects in the pipeline?
I would love for MURDEROUS INTENT to be made into a movie. It was created with a screen adaptation in mind, a small interwoven cast of characters and gorgeous beachside locations.
In addition, three more fiction books are scheduled for publication in 2020. THE LIST and THE REEF, both romance suspense with a shark conservation twist to it and THE LAST FIRST KISS, a story about soulmates set across the globe. I love this one as I have included many of my favourite travel destinations in it.
What do you like most about writing?
So many things. It is the creation of the characters, their strengths, their flaws and the dynamics between them all. I am often inspired by a setting or location and then create a story to fit into a place in the world that has moved me.
What genre do you write?
I am a multi-genre author. I have written psychological thriller, romance, horror, suspense, poetry, prose, short stories, fantasy, travel blogs, Australiana and non-fiction.
What draws you to this genre?
I like to explore different story lines and challenge myself to see what I can produce. I can tell you what I probably have no skill in writing, that is Western. I can’t see myself writing western and I also think crime would be difficult, but let’s see what happens a few years down the track.
Where do you get your ideas?
Travelling and I am fortunate to meet so many people through my clinical and creative work who inspire me. My friends quite often want to be characters in my books so I sometimes put little bits of them in there.
Tell us about your process, how do you get into a writing mindset?
I honestly have no answer for you on process. I am not technically trained, so I don’t have a process. Maybe, that is something I should work on. At the moment, I open my laptop and type and I can honestly say I have no idea what line is coming next. The words are just created somewhere between my brain and the fingers that pound the keyboard. I wish I had a more technical answer for you.
What are you working on at the moment?
Well, my son has pitched me a horror story about a single middle aged woman, so socially awkward that she has grown emotionally dependent on her huge German Shepherd dog. As the story goes on, the dog begins to hunt at night and kill for her. Yes, he was inspired by my own life for his story, very tongue in cheek as he pitched it to me. Well, that story has just started and we will see if it goes anywhere.
Also just started a horror story called, THE BOWERBIRD. It is so incredibly scary it is actually fun to write. I was inspired to start this after a night in a beach shack on a dark and quiet island.
Which writers inspire/influence you?
I enjoy the emotional vulnerability of creative souls, so I enjoy reading Hemingway. A Moveable Feast is my favourite. I read it as I wander the streets of Paris, following his journey. I also love Elizabeth Gilbert for her depiction of raw human struggles. I read constantly and it helps with my own writing immensely.
What else about your writing journey should we know?
I am always open to collaborations, so get in touch if you have something in mind that you think we could work on together. Planning a writing retreat in Europe middle of 2020 and would enjoy connecting with writers and authors from around the world.
Excerpt from MURDEROUS INTENT:
I know he is going to kill me. It is three o’clock on a chilly spring morning. I could walk around the house checking the doors are locked to no avail. He will not be that obvious but he will find a way to enter. I can’t remember the exact details of the nightmare that woke me this day, although the words I heard in my dream tell me everything I need to know. He is close.
He may not be inside the house, he may be just metres away. He is nearby and he won’t stop until my eyes are closed, the last stains of my breath have touched my lips, and my body is limp and exhausted. He will marvel at his handiwork. The fact that he accomplished the unimaginable – that he finally ended my life.
He was close tonight, somehow confirming the exact location of my latest hideaway. He may have been just outside checking entry and exit points. Possibly even inside the house standing over me, watching me rest, his murderous intent the sole reason for my rude awakening from the latest instalment of visions of terror in my dreams.
He is nearby and narrowing in on his target.
I rise from my bed, and splash my face with water to freshen my red eyes, then crawl back onto the mattress, shaking. The warm covers do nothing to stop my body from convulsing as the tears roll down my face. No comfort will hinder the flow now as I realise the enormity of the message sent to me in my slumber.
He will find me. He will not give up. He needs to hurt me to feel complete. He will kill me. The last face I will ever see will be his, and there is no one in the world that can prevent this from happening.
MURDEROUS INTENT is now available at www.kelliemcox.com
Kate Kelsen 