Interview with Kelly Martin

An earl in need of an honorable wife.

A servant in love with a man she can't have.

An evil plan that was set in motion years ago coming to fruition.

Can love conquer betrayal? Or will Emma's fairytale end at midnight?

I just had the coolest Facebook interview with Kelly Martin author of Betraying Ever After and I am here to share it with all of you. Keep scrolling after the interview for the synopsis and buy links.

• Angie Schroeder

  How did you come up with the idea of Betraying Ever After?
• Kelly Martin

  I wanted to write a regency because I'd never written one (strange idea I suppose). So I sat down and thought of the story of Vaughan and Emma because I wanted it to be a fairy tale. Then the whole Mr. Dodsworth angle came in and it just got cooler from there.
• Angie Schroeder

  Mr. Dodsworth is the coolest bad guy. Did you know he would turn out like that? Did you plot him out? I mean the man collects sin! How did you come up with that?

  • Kelly Martin

    No. He wasn't always as cool as he is now. He's evolved in his coolness. He originally was sort of a father figure to Emma, but then I needed a villain for the story and a few authors and I were brainstorming and we came up with the basic ides of how he is now. I had him collect sins because I thought it would be really cool. He isn't titled so the titled people in the world wouldn't fear him... unless he knew things on them. That's where the sin collecting came in.
  • Angie Schroeder

    I love that you changed it, I can't imagine this book with him being all fatherly.
  • Kelly Martin

    I know. It would have ruined it I think.
  • Angie Schroeder

    I think so too. I know you are working on a sequel is he going to be in that one? I have to be honest, you write the best villains. I love seeing what you will come up with next.
  • Kelly Martin

    Thanks. (I'm trying not to use emoticons and it is so difficult...eep!). There is a sequel. If you read Betraying Ever After, you'll find out that it is between Elizabeth and Nicholas Wellington which is another very cool 'villain'. It is based on Beauty and the Beast. I love Nicholas almost as much as I love Mr. Dodsworth. I'm also working on a super secret project which may or may not have to do with Mr. Dodsworth's backstory-- dun, dun, dun...
  • Angie Schroeder

    More than Dodsworth? I can't wait, I love Beauty and the Beast. This super secret project that may or may not have to do with Dodsworth's backstory. Will that be available soon? ( I know what you mean I have to keep erasing smiley faces, see what happens when you get me hooked on them)
  • Kelly Martin

    Umm.. I can't say. It's super secret. But I would say sometime before Christmas.
  • Angie Schroeder

    I have to take that answer don't I?

    Alright, the book is MORE than Dodsworth though. How do you picture Emma?
  • Kelly Martin

    I picture her as someone who has kinda given up hope. She's lost her family. She's lost her way home. She's lost everything basically. She's broken and she has to figure out a way to accept the hand she's been dealt, which isn't a very pleasant hand.

    I also see her as a strong person. She's been through so much and hasn't cracked under the pressure. That is amazing if you ask me.
  • Angie Schroeder

    I can't even imagine how she pulls through it. I would have lost it, thinking that you are finally going home only to find out that you have to work off more debt that belongs to your father.
  • Kelly Martin

    Exactly. (I was going to say more, but that would have been a total spoiler alert lol)
  • Angie Schroeder

    She is amazing and at the same time she is believable. That is hard for some authors to achieve but you did it with her.
  • Kelly Martin

    Thank you. Yeah, I didn't want her to just be a downer all the time and that was really, really hard. I can't say I did it all myself. I had wonderful editors and readers (my sister) who helped flesh her out (that sounds really weird... sorry)/

    
    

    Angie Schroeder

    That does not sound weird at all.

    Good thing you had such a great group around you to help build your characters.

    Vaughn, where do I start with him? He needs a wife, he was sort of a ladies man but now it is time to settle down. How is it you picture him? Obviously not your typical Prince Charming.
  • Kelly Martin

    I'm very lucky. I have great writer friends, great reader friends. Plus my sister reads pretty much every single draft of everything I've ever written-- poor her. I do appreciate it, though, because even if I LOVE a book I've written I get into the whole, "This is the stupidest thing ever." mode. And then they talk me out of it and they are always right.
  • Kelly Martin

    The first mental picture of Vaughan was of a man standing in front of mirror, trying to get ready for a ball he didn't want to go to and grumbling about it lol. A bit strange, but there you go. The entire backstory came from that and it ended up being Vaughan's first scene in the book.
  • Angie Schroeder

    Sounds like they all need thank you cards from your fans.
  • Kelly Martin

    That would be very sweet. (I put a smiley face there and deleted it...) I should give them all at least some candy.
  • Angie Schroeder

    Candy is always good. Wait a bit and it will be on sale.
  • Kelly Martin

    lol true.
  • Angie Schroeder

    Now on to the best friends. They play some important roles in all of this. Did that just fall into place or did you know that you needed someone to help push things along?
  • Kelly Martin

    Both I suppose. Elizabeth started as a 50 year old maid named Caroline. Then she morphed into closer to Emma's age when I decided I'd make it a series. William... bless him. When Mr. Dodsworth became the villain, William's role in the story evolved a lot. He was originally just the comic relief best friend... he changed quite a lot lol. You can sort of see 'old William' in his first scene with Vaughan, but as the story goes on, the more broken William becomes.
  • Angie Schroeder

    I can't picture William as comic relief.
  • Kelly Martin

    I don't like my characters (even the supporting ones) to be there just because. I want to give them a reason and a purpose. I want them to have a backstory and for them to be 'real' because they are 'real'. They are as real as the main characters and deserve to be treated that way-- I hope I don't sound crazy...
  • Kelly Martin

    I know! It's so hard now to even think of William that way. I'm so glad it turned out how it did. I love his character now.
  • Angie Schroeder

    That is not crazy at all. They need something that gives them depth.
  • Kelly Martin

    Exactly. If the story was told from a different point of view, the supporting characters could be the main characters. I'm all about point of view.
  • Angie Schroeder

    I like him the way he is but if you have any version of the story before you changed him, feel free to send that my way.
  • Kelly Martin

    I will do that.
  • Angie Schroeder

    I love how you change up your writing style. Your Hindsight series, is brilliant! It got me watching Sherlock, well that and you. But it reads like you are listening to him tell you the story. You are just there. Do you think you will do more books like that series?
  • Kelly Martin

    The plan is for it to be a summer series. I've always thought of it like a TV show. Each book is an episode and there are three 'episodes' in a season. My plan is to write 3 more next summer.
  • Angie Schroeder

    Yay, that will be fun. It reminds me of BBC, I love how you can write something as intense as that, so raw and then switch to BEA. You wrote BEA while writing the Hindsight series right?
  • Kelly Martin

    I think I wrote BEA between writing The Black Heart and Red Scarlet.
  • Angie Schroeder

    Was it difficult to go from writing one to the other when they are so different in style?
  • Kelly Martin

    Well, BEA was probably the hardest book I've ever written period so I don't think it mattered when I wrote it lol. Hindsight is the easiest because it is just basically stream of conscious. So, yeah, I guess it was hard going from Hindsight which is so linear to BEA which is different from anything I've ever written. I think it turned out really well though and I'm glad I stuck with it.
  • Angie Schroeder

    I am glad you stuck it out too. Do you have any clue how many fairy tale retellings you might do in this series? I am already looking forward to the next one.
  • Kelly Martin

    I have 3 planned right now. The second one is The Beast of Ravenston which is Nicholas and Elizabeth (Beauty and the Beast). And the third will be William
  • Angie Schroeder

    I am going to have to go read this back through and pay closer attention to William to see if I can tell which fairy tale will be his.
  • Kelly Martin

    hehe. I'm not spoiling it
  • Angie Schroeder

    I know you're addicted to YouTube. What did you listen to/watch while writing BEA?
  • Kelly Martin

    hahah, YES! I have a very horrible youtube addiction. It's bad. I'm listening to it right now. BEA was written pretty much entirely listening to this song... I don't know why... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CwtHljRF6E

    

    Das Meer

    www.youtube.com

    Ein sehr schickes Lied mit sehr schicken bildchen =) songtext: Diorama-Das Meer Sehnsuchtsschwer am Boden händeringend vor dem Sturm Gedanken stumm vor Blind...
  • Angie Schroeder

    Hang on I have to listen to it...
  • Kelly Martin

    I also listened to Xavier's theme HOPE from the X-men Days of Future Past soundtrack which, I suppose, is a weird thing to listen to while writing a regency

    It is 7 minutes long.
  • Angie Schroeder

    I can see you sitting there listening to HOPE while writing, it just seems to fit you.

    Oh my goodness I am loving this song.
  • Kelly Martin

    Can't you though? Yeah. I don't really care what a song is about as long as it makes me feel what I want the characters to feel. I need help with feelings *sideways glance*

    Also, I have no idea what the guys saying in that song lol. And I never want to know.
  • Angie Schroeder

    I am actually messaging my cousin to find out, lol. I need to know.
  • Kelly Martin

    lol Don't tell me. It might ruin my mojo lol
  • Angie Schroeder

    What if it will be perfect?
  • Kelly Martin

    I still don't want to know. There has to be some magic and mystery in my life.
  • Angie Schroeder

    I won't tell you.....
  • Kelly Martin

    Thanks (I had to sneak it in)
  • Angie Schroeder

    This song is perfect though. I might have to listen to it while reading the book again.
  • Kelly Martin

    It is a very good song.
  • Angie Schroeder

    Indeed, everyone needs to go listen to it while they read BEA.
    Last question, what was your favorite scene to write and why?
  • Kelly Martin

    In BEA? Ummm... wow. It has to be either the prologue scene or the scene with Vaughan and Emma on the balcony and he's taking the pins out of her hair. Yeah... that scene made me smile. Lots. I know I talk about Mr. Dodsworth a lot because he's awesome, but there is a very cool and proper love story too between Vaughan and Emma. Vaughan thinks he's found the perfect wife and Emma has this huge secret that she can't tell him. I just love them and root for them so much.
  • Angie Schroeder

    I loved that scene on the balcony. It was perfect. Make a girl smile and sigh kind of perfect.
  • Kelly Martin

    I know. I think I blushed a little bit when I wrote it lol.
  • Angie Schroeder

    lol, I bet.

    Thank you for chatting with me about your book. I know you are busy with your super secret project that you will not tell me about so I really appreciate you taking the time to do this.
  • Kelly Martin

    You will be the first to know about the super secret project when I get the go ahead to tell the world (dang it, emoticon #2). And thanks so much for doing a chat interview. It's been really cool!
  • Angie Schroeder

    Woohoo! I get to know first. *happy dancing* lol at your smiley face.

    This has been fun. We should do it again sometime. Meanwhile all your fans can find you on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr.
  • Kelly Martin

    Yes. I'm everywhere. Especially tumblr which is my new obsession rivaling youtube.
  • Angie Schroeder

    We'll be sure to check you out over there. Thanks again.
  • Kelly Martin

    You are very welcome!

  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

   LInks:
  

  Betraying Ever After

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  Title: Betraying Ever After

  Author: Kelly Martin

  Series: A Shattered Fairy Tale

  Publisher: Blue Tulip Publishing