Kelly Simmons: Standing Still

 

Title: Standing Still (Amazon | B&N)
Author: Kelly Simmons (http://www.bykellysimmons.com/)
Paperback: 263 pages
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 9780743289726

1. First off, congratulations on the big novel sale! Give us the elevator pitch. What’s your book about?

Standing Still is fiction about a mother with panic disorder who discovers a kidnapper in her daughter’s room and begs him to take her instead.   To her astonishment, he does—and quickly discovers she has as much to hide and bargain for as he does.

2. Most new novelists have an interesting story to tell about their journey to publication. What’s yours? Did you use an agent? Make sure to tell us about the day you found out you’d sold a book.

I’ve had three different agents over twelve years.  My writing was always praised before it was rejected, and that was the only thing that kept me going.  My new agent sold Standing Still very quickly—the story just clicked with her contacts.  I was at work when the bidding began—and I went into my friend’s office and told him and we both cried.  I’d waited so long, and worked so hard, it felt like giving birth. 

3. Do you have another book in the pipeline? What are you working on now?

The editing process took so long that I wrote several manuscripts to take my mind off it!  We’re still trying to decide which one to lead with next.

4. What’s your writing process like? Morning writer, night writer, or something in between?

Generally, I’m a “first things first” kind of person—5 am with a cup of coffee.  But I wrote a lot of Standing Still at night—it helped get me in the mood for some of the more tense scenes.  I think it’s good to mix it up—different places, different times, different ambience.   I’ve never been one of those people who has to have a certain kind of pen, or notebook, or desk.  If I’d waited to have all the right things I’d never have written a word.  

5. There seems to be an unusually high percentage of writers who own cats. Here at the The First Book, we’re doing a study to find out if there’s a direct relationship between writing success and cat ownership.  Do you own a cat? If so, tell us about him or her. If not, tell us what you have against cats.

You may be on to something!  I have two:  Tucker and Cole, both adopted from the SPCA.   (We also have a pair of big obnoxious dogs, but they don’t fit on my lap.)