Q&A with Kaylin McFarren, Author of 'High Flying' @4kaylin #interview

 

Today's guest is time travel/thriller author Kaylin McFarren. Kaylin is the author of the new book, High Flying. She is here to talk about her book, writing and how hard it was to establish and maintain a career as a fiction author.

 

 

Welcome Kaylin! Can we begin by having you tell us how you got started writing time travel/thrillers? Did the movies influence you? Books?

Kaylin: I love time travel stories and movies but didn’t consider writing one until my husband suggested it. Also, I grew up with a father who worked for United Airlines for more than 30 years and to this day, I feel more comfortable traveling in a plane verses a car. The stories I write always involve personal experiences and deep passion for the subject matter I delve into, so it seemed natural to bring my interests together with High Flying.

Do you find writing these kinds of books comes natural to you or did you struggle sometimes?

Kaylin: Since my main character travels 21 years into the past, I struggled only slightly with dates, equipment on and off the ground, and character attitudes. But for the most part, the story flowed and came together nicely, just as I hoped it would.

Can you tell us a little about the main characters of your book, High Flying?

Kaylin: Skylar Haines is a beautiful 21-year-old with a history of self-abuse, resulting from her troubled past and low self-esteem. She grew up tough on the dark side of Las Vegas and knows how to defend herself, verbally and physically. She also has a passion for flying and isn’t afraid to take a risk. Jake Brennen is her handsome 29-year-old stunt flying partner, best friend, and hopeful lover. Her father is Dylan Haines—a compassionate drug smuggler that was forced into the business and murdered before she was born.

What was the hardest scene to write?

Kaylin: The fight scene between Dylan and Kaylin and two members of a drug cartel. With her street fighting skills, I needed to make her sound strong and confident and at the same time vulnerable and concerned about her father. It always proves challenging to have four people engaged in combat, but I love creating energetic scenes that draw attention to character traits.

They say all books of fiction have at least one pivotal point when the reader just can’t put the book down. Can you give us one of those pivotal points in your book?

Kaylin: There are several scenes that should grab readers, but the most intense one involves a gangster forcing an 8-year-old boy to play Russian roulette. The pivotal point for Skylar Haines comes near the end of the story when she has the hardest decision to make.

Do you view writing as a kind of spiritual practice?

Kaylin: Writing for some authors might be spiritual, but for me it's cleansing—a way to release dark thoughts and negative feelings in a creative way. 

How hard is it to establish and maintain a career in fiction writing?

Kaylin: With a busy lifestyle and so many great books out there, it often proves challenging for even the best writer. However, when I have a story in mind, my main focus is fixed on developing my ideas, characters and plot and not on the business side or marketing end of my writing career…at least not until my manuscript is completed.

Will there be a follow up book to High Flying or other books in the near future?

Kaylin: Maybe. I left a few loose ends to allow for this possibility and to allow readers to make interesting assumptions. So we’ll just have to wait and see, I guess. :)

KAYLIN MCFARREN has received more than 45 national literary awards, in addition to a prestigious Golden Heart Award nomination for FLAHERTY'S CROSSING - a book she and her oldest daughter, New York Times/USA Today best-selling author, Kristina McMorris, co-authored in 2008. Prior to embarking on her writing journey and developing the popular THREADS psychological thriller series, she poured her passion for creativity into her work as the director of a fine art gallery in the Pearl District in Portland, Oregon; she also served as a governor-appointed member of the Oregon Arts Commission. When she's not traveling or spoiling her pups and three grandsons, she enjoys giving back to her community through participation and support of various charitable and educational organizations in the Pacific Northwest, and is currently the president of the Soulful Giving Foundation - a non-profit focused on cancer research, care and treatment at hospitals throughout Oregon. 

 …ten minutes to survive the past.

Skylar Haines has struggled with personal demons most of her life, going to dark extremes to subdue anxieties rooted in her tragic past. On a perpetual hunt for the next adrenaline hit, she discovers a passion for flying and becomes a hard-edged stunt pilot, verging on obsession. In the sky, following her most daring airshow, she encounters a mysterious storm and almost collides with another aircraft, sending her into a perilous dive. Guided by a mysterious voice, she manages a safe landing but finds herself transported to another time. Eight months before she was born, one week before her father was murdered. 

Though baffled by her circumstances, Skylar soon arrives at a single certainty: Before her lies a remarkable chance to change her family's destiny drastically for the better -- or possibly even worse -- depending on the choices she makes, before her window of opportunity closes.