Kellie Doherty writes queer sci-fi stories in Alaska while also managing a full-time job and a freelancing job.
LQ: Tell me a little bit about yourself.
KD: Well first, thanks so much for having me for this interview! I’m so glad to be here. This is always the quintessential first question! My name is Kellie Doherty. I’m a science fiction and fantasy author who currently lives in Alaska, the Land of the Midnight Sun. It’s currently getting into our summers here in the Pacific Northwest so I’m rather excited for all the sunshine. I write a myriad of things, including flash fiction, poetry, and novel-length work, and all of them have queer main characters. I currently have three books published through Desert Palm Press, which is an independent queer publisher based in California. I have a completed adult sci-fi duology, Finding Hekate and Losing Hold, and a five-book fantasy series starting with Sunkissed Feathers & Severed Ties.
LQ: What does your writing process look like?
KD: When starting a new story, I always begin with character creation—specifically my main character. I daydream their looks, their backstory, their hurt, the inciting incident that pulls them into the story, and makes the spotlight shine on them. Doing so allows me to get into their mindset and see why the story is shaping around them. After that it’s worldbuilding, starting small with the character’s home and city than going bigger with the surrounding area. Finally, I do actually plot out the novel. This is a new thing for me since I completely went by the seat of my pants for my first two novels—the sci-fi duology—but for this five-book fantasy series I really need to hone the plot-points.
When continuing a work-in-progress (or WIP), I typically grab a cup of tea or water, settle the cat on my lap, and put on a playlist that tunes out the rest of the world. Each playlist is different, but for the series I’m currently writing it’s a Lord of the Rings themed playlist. For Book Two, it’s actually a “day in the Shire” themed one—super quiet, birds chirping, violins playing kind of music. After that, I dive into my story, picking up where I last left off. I tend to leave off at an exciting moment the day before so I really want to jump right in. If I get stuck, I disconnect and go for a walk, watch some Critical Role, read a book, or play a video game. If I’m not motivated to write, I trick myself into writing for “just ten minutes” and then I usually end up writing for longer than that.
LQ: What was your favorite book to write so far?
KD: Hmm, tough question! All of my books are my favorite to write, because I love the characters and the plotlines and all that. Finding Hekate will always be my beloved book, though, only because it started out as a short story and a single character, and really grew into the novel—and the duology—it is today.
It was my first stab at a novel-length work and while I wrote other novels after that, Finding Hekate’s characters really stuck with me. I ended up going back and re-doing Finding Hekate and then writing the next book Losing Hold to finish the story up. It was my favorite book to write because it showed me that I actually could, that I could take an idea and flesh it out into a longer work, that I could continue this passion of mine to tell stories, that I could really dig into characters and find out what makes them tick, that I could go back and use what I learned over the years to make it better, that I could be a published author. Plus, have you met Mia Foley? She’s kind of a badass.
LQ: Who is your favorite character to write about?
KD: Broken characters. I love writing about characters who are broken by something—physically, mentally, emotionally—and how they have to get over something terrible in their past or present and how they eventually heal. (Or don’t, depending on the character arc I’m going for.) It makes the characters more relatable and makes them go through hell and back and makes them stronger for it. I love writing about broken characters because then I can write about how they heal and that’s just a lovely story and makes for a good motivation. And it’s kind of like that D&D idea of why would someone want to willingly go off on a grand (and super dangerous) adventure if they didn’t have something to prove?
LQ:Who are your favorite authors? Have any of them influenced your work?
KD: I have so many, and they’re constantly changing whenever I read new work! Most recently, Becky Chambers and VE Schwab are at the top. I love their work—and get influenced by the character creations, the settings and worldbuilding, and even the pacing of their stories quite often. I will often go back and re-read their books, just because I adore them so much. Lately, I’ve been reading The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon and while I haven’t made it through the whole book yet, her descriptions are amazing and I flag each one that resonates with me. I love finding new ways to describe things!
LQ: How are you doing during the current pandemic?
KD: I’m one of the lucky few who was able to telework from my full-time job. I only go in once a week to do mail-outs and such, so it’s been work-as-usual around here for me. Day job and freelancing job are still in full swing, as is my writing schedule. One of my freelancing jobs did get furloughed so there’s that, but I still have other clients work to edit.
The biggest thing now is trying to keep my family safe from the virus—I’m currently living with my sister, who works in the same place that I do and is also teleworking, and our parents, who are in the high-risk category for COVID-19. Alaska has been doing remarkably well thus far—we’ve had over three hundred cases but after a strict “hunker down” situation, we’re slowly opening up again. I’m both happy and hesitant since more people getting out means more people will have jobs again—which is amazing—but it also means more chances for the virus to take a foothold in Alaska and endanger more lives. It’s tricky. But I’m doing my part by social distancing and wearing a mask and taking it day-by-day in this crazy world of ours. It’ll be a new normal and we’ll adapt to it eventually.
LQ: What are you currently working on?
KD: Currently I’m working on Book Two of my adult fantasy series called the Broken Chronicles. It’s about a woman named Orenda whose wife gets kidnapped, and Orenda has to do these tasks in order to save her. She learns that her best friend has a task list, too, and one of her final jobs is to “kill Orenda.” Chaos ensues. It’s a fun book and I just sent my last chapter to my critique group for review! I still have to go back to the beginning to weave some more threads through it and clear a few muddy areas up but I’m really happy with how it’s turning out! I hope to have it published by the end of this year, beginning of next, depending on where it falls in Desert Palm Press’s lineup.
LQ: Anything else you would like to share?
KD: I always like to leave interviews with a bit of advice for new writers but this time my advice is for everyone out there: keep being creative. No matter if it’s woodturning, knitting, baking, writing, or anything and everything in between…if it makes you happy, keep doing it. Carve out time to do the thing, be selfish with that time, and be happy with it. If you’d like to learn more about me visit my website or follow me on Twitter.