I wrote all through middle and high school, mostly short stories and poetry. I received a college scholarship for winning a state poetry contest. In my twenties, I was a prolific fanfic writer under the pen name Amelie, mostly for the LOTR universe. I wrote several short stories and two novel-length stories.

When I decided to pursue publishing a professional-quality novel, I took it very seriously (as I do all my life goals.) I read well over a dozen books on the craft of writing, signed up for courses (David Farland / Story Doctor is a great start) and joined two writing communities.

The biggest thing I did to improve my writing, however, was write. In one year alone from Oct 2021 to Oct 2022, I produced about 300,000 words across multiple genres. Sending my writing through software analytics helped me see many blind spots and quirks I had that weren’t serving the story.

World building is a highly iterative process wherein you build on ideas you have hundreds of times in dozens of different categories. You may not use all the world you’ve built in your actual story, but your story will have much more depth and authenticity – readers will FEEL the world – if you have it fleshed out along multiple dimensions, because you’ll end up referencing various things in passing.

There are many great world-building books out there, but the best advice I have is to let your mind go and dream up a world that means something to you.

Maybe the more relevant question is, where don’t I get creative inspiration 🙂

I have always been wildly imaginative. I used to play pretend as a child all the time, and would dream up the most fantastical worlds.

In terms of actual scenes and stories I have written, sometimes they  are based loosely on things I have experienced. Many others just come to me in my ‘minds eye’ when I am in Flow.

The Universal Story (I did not coin this term, check out Martha Alderson’s The Plot Whisperer) is a jetstream-like current that flows through all of us. In Flow, we can tap into it at any time. We just have to learn to hone our ability to open our souls and listen.

I get little snippets of scenes, conversations, philosophical ideas to expound through subconscious thought (walking, driving, shower, treadmill), and through reading, conversations with friends or strangers, and travel.

My preferred style is more lush, evocative and lyrical than stoic or sparse.

If the situation dictates it, I will switch over to short, staccato-like prose. Examples of that would be more action scenes, horror, or anytime I need to make a big impact.

Lush, flowy prose is perfect for grabbing a reader into an emotional or visual scene.

I get asked a lot if I’m a fan of Henry Cavill, and while I am, that was not the inspiration for my pen name. The main inspiration is from my favorite physicist, whose name is Carlo Rovelli.

Carlo has many wonderful works I highly recommend you check out on Amazon if you are interested in studying quirks and oddities in our universe, such as the reality of time and nature.

Cavalli is also the Italian word for horses, which were a foundation of my upbringing (just ask anyone who knew me in childhood…I was obsessed!)

In real life, I respond to Kat, but Kara is just fine too if I’m at an author event.

I write with a pen name to separate my creative presence from my professional one.

June 17! Yes, I really am a Gemini, just like Kate 😉 though I am on the Cancer cusp. 

My stories are grounded in philosophical Taoism, which I have studied for 10+ years.

There are two main concepts from Taoism that I bring consistently into both my series:
– The concept of balance
– The concept of gender energy attunement, Yin and Yang

The best advice I can give is to study your new craft relentlessly before you try to make the jump. The other crucial thing is to network and get your name out there, but not prematurely. Wait until you’re good and you have something really unique and special before you share it, because first impressions are important.

A film industry titan gave me some advice when I was just starting Black Label Films and it has stuck with me:
1 – Be nice. To everyone, not just those you think can serve you.
2 – Do good work. The best you possibly can.
3 – Show your work to lots of people.

What I learned myself is: try to add 4x more value to others than you take.