Featured Interview With Kirsten McKenzie
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’m a full time author living in Auckland, New Zealand. Apart from a year working and living in London, I’ve always lived in Auckland. I do travel extensively. You have to living at the bottom of the world!
We’ve just adopted a crazy tortie cat from the SPCA, to replace our beloved stray who lived with us for eighteen years and died just before Christmas.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have always loved reading. And my room at home was packed full of first editions of The Famous Five, and every other Enid Blyton book under the sun. I only wish I’d been more careful with them!
I was a customs officer for fourteen years, which I adored, but my father died suddenly, so my brother and I took over the running of the family antique business. It was working at Antique Alley that I started writing, basing my work around the objects that came into the shop. And some of the more eclectic customers! Imagining their stories and the stories behind how the objects came to be in the shop.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favourite authors are, Enid Blyton of course. I will love her for ever. J.K. Rowling – because anyone who can inspire such love for reading in such a diverse planet deserves our adoration. Edward Rutherfurd for his epic tomes. He ability to weave stories though multi generations is inspiring. G.R.R. Martin for his descriptions. You don’t need to watch the Game of Thrones series – you can see the characters and their outfits and their worlds on the pages of his books. And Deborah Harkness, a historian turned storyteller. Her books really inspired me to put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
After writing two time slip books, I’ve tipped one bloody toe into the realm of horror. My first horror novel, PAINTED, will be published on the 30th June 2017. PAINTED is centred around an art appraiser sent to catalogue a collection of portraits. PAINTED touches on all things antique. The genesis for the book was the upstairs art room at Antique Alley, our antique shop. It’s the sort of room you don’t want to be in with the lights off… One reviewer called it ‘Caravaggio meets Poltergeist’, and I couldn’t ask for a better review than that!
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