Kayla Hicks is the brilliant multi-genre author behind Kale Stone: An Outliers Tale. Following the release of her second book in the series, Galestand, What We Reading sat down with her to talk about everything from the series, her involvement with Read Across America Day to her learnings as an independent author.
Thanks for speaking with us, Kayla! First off, tell us a bit about yourself and what led you to the world of writing.
I’m a multi-genre author with books in Superhero Fiction, Young Adult Contemporary Romance, Dystopian, and Family Drama, and Childrens Picture Books.
I was always a voracious reader, as a kid utilizing my school library as much as possible because I didn’t have much access to books. Without a ton of access to books, I began trying to write some of my own stories, having written a young adult book at 16, but I never published it.
I had a high school English teacher who read this book I wrote at 16 and they encouraged me to pursue it, and I began writing my first book, Kale Stone: An Outliers Tale throughout college. Took me four years to write it.
Talk to us about Galestand. We understand it’s the second entry in your An Outliers Tale series?
Yes, Galestand is the second book in the series and takes a much deeper dive into the dystopian world, exploring what happens when civilization crumbles.
I decided to tell it from the viewpoint of another character from the first book, Kale Stone, who is Samarah, one of the leaders of Galestand. She works tirelessly trying to keep her people in Galestand safe from the aftereffects of the missiles that were launched to destroy the outskirts, find the main character Jeremy who goes missing, from the first book, and stop the cities from overtaking the rebels.
And to my understanding, the ending was very shocking for readers, as I did something I’ve never done before with the main character. But I don’t want to give anything away.
What is the number one goal you want the series to have with readers?
My number one goal would be for the reader to relate to the characters in some way, or to make them feel as if I have transported them to this world I have created.
What do you think makes you stand out as an author? Are you someone who throws themselves into the stories they write?
I think that as an author, what makes me stand out is creating stories that pull readers in, in numerous different genres. And by doing so, I have slowly built a steady following in which readers ask when my next book is coming out, and ask me what genres I’m willing to try.
Talk to us about one of your biggest successes so far.
One of my biggest successes as an author so far has been being invited to do a book tour for my children’s picture book, Dandelion, among schools and libraries. I was invited to an elementary school last March for Read Across America Day where I read and did activities with 100 kids.
As an indie author, this is a huge success as it’s much more difficult to get your foot in the door at places such as these.
If you could go back in time to one book you read for the first time, what would it be and why?
Ah, this is a hard one. I guess that would be Holes by Louis Sachar. As a kid, this was a book I read several times and I just thought it was such an interesting story.
What do you think is the biggest obstacle facing independent and aspiring authors these days?
The biggest obstacles these authors face are:
- The ability to spread the word about their work to a large audience.
- The funds to afford quality professional editing and for marketing.
Even if authors are posting on social media about their work, they need to constantly and consistently post content in order to keep themselves in the eyes of their potential audience, which can be tough to do.
For example, on competitive marketplaces such as Amazon, the ranks of books change so quickly that a book can quickly get buried, making it difficult to stay in front of your audience.
If you could go back in time and give your younger self one tip, what would it be?
It would be to learn more about the self-publishing world before I dove into publishing. Mainly because I used a service called CreateSpace for my first book, Kale Stone: An Outliers Tale, which is now owned by Amazon. I paid $3,000 for them to create my cover, edit Kale Stone, format it, and upload it to Amazon for me.
Had I known what I know now, I think I could have been so much further along than I was before, as I now pay nearly nothing to publish a book each time.
And finally, what do you hope the future holds for you and your writing?
I hope that my writing career going forward will only continue to gain momentum. That I will keep writing stories that not only resonate and interest me, but my readers. And that I can teach other people how they too can successfully self-publish and build their own careers.
Check out Kayla and all her work on her website, Amazon or follow her on Twitter
Check out our interview with Carla Lauder
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
