Many thanks to my fellow Littwitz Press author Karen King today, who is sharing some of her favourite themes in fiction! I always find it fascinating to see how authors’ favourite reading material influences their writing. Enjoy!
I’ve written for many different genres and like to read books in a variety of genres too. Humour is one of my top favourites:
Humour
The Just William books by Richmal Crompton used to make me laugh out loud as a child and inspired both my love of reading and writing. I still like a book that makes me chuckle, so Sophie Kinsella is one of my top authors as she’s so good at lacing humour into her stories. I love her My Not So Perfect Life, with its theme that everything on social media isn’t always what it seems, and the downfalls of trying to create the ‘perfect life.’
Fantasy & Suspense
Fantasy is another favourite genre of mine, especially laced with romance. I like to get really immersed in a story and the world the author creates. Sharon Shinn’s Samarai series is a firm favourite, they’re great stories with an amazing cast of characters and the world building is fantastic. The theme of power and trust and love is skilfully dealt with and the female characters are strong. I like stories were women are strong and stand up to dominant men. There’s also a good twist at the end of the series, which I won’t give away, but definitely fits into the ‘things aren’t how they seem’ box.
I think fiction can be a good way to address social issues and real-life situations, such as domestic violence – like Before I Go To Sleep, by S.J. Watson, which again fits into my favourite theme of ‘things aren’t always what you seem’, also to be careful who you trust. This theme can cover a lot of different genres, of course, romance, crime, horror, mystery, contemporary. The theme of an unreliable narrator is also a favourite, as in Gone Girl which kept me guessing right to the end.
Romance
I read – and write – a lot of romance stories and one of my favourite theme is that love finds you, don’t search for it. I like to read about heroines (and heroes) who aren’t looking for love but stumble across it accidentally and fight it because they’ve got so much stuff they want to do in their life. Another favourite theme is that is that love is eternal, and can overcome anything, which is the theme behind my YA afterlife romance, Rise of the Soul Catchers, which is released on 25 April.
Thanks for inviting me over, Lucy!
Can love survive anything – even death?
Sapphire and Will vow to love each other forever. But when a car crash ends that dream all too soon, they find themselves separated in an afterlife with zones named after the colours of the rainbow. Determined to find each other, they start an adventurous journey alongside a cast of characters they don’t know whether to trust. They finally meet again in the terror-fuelled Red Zone where the dreaded Soul Catchers are planning on taking over the entire afterworld and are plunged into a dangerous battle. Is their love strong enough to survive against the odds? (Previously published as Sapphire Blue). BUY IT HERE.
BIO: Karen King writes edgy YA with a heart and sassy, heart-warming romance. Her first YA, Perfect Summer, was runner up in the Red Telephone Books 2011 YA Novel Competition and her second YA, Sapphire Blue, now republished as Rise of the Soul Catchers by Littwitz Press, was called ‘the best YA book out there right now’ by a reviewer for Ind’Tale magazine. Karen has also written several short stories for women’s magazine and had 120 children’s books published. Follow her on Twitter as @karen_king and visit her website, HERE.
Thanks for inviting me over to your fabulous blog, Lucy. 🙂 x