The Person Behind the Pen: T.K. Eldridge

If you enjoy paranormal mysteries, check out T.K. Eldridge’s works. 

T.K. Eldridge has an interesting background. Like many authors, she started writing at a young age. She wrote a story in Green Canyon in one of her books when she was 7. In high school, her year book message was about writing.

Before she could do what she loved most, she had three separate careers before she retired from U.S. Government Intelligence Service where she worked for almost two decades. Once retired, she moved to the mountains of Western North Carolina.

“I love it out here,” she said.

T.K. has always wanted to be an author and now she’s doing what she loves.

Having launched Graffridge Publishing in June 2019, she has achieved Amazon Bestseller several times.

“I use my various experiences as fodder for my stories,” she said. “My Sid & Sin series has bits and pieces from my time working with law enforcement and in counterterrorism worked into the stories – just with witches and shifters, fae and mythics.”

T.K. sat down with me and answered these questions as part of her author interview. Check them out and get to know her better, then check out the links below to follow her on social media or get her books!

Are you a full-time author? If so, what did you do before you became a full-time author? If not, what do you do for a living in addition to writing?
I worked in Intelligence, then did some consulting before I finally started to publish. I had been getting degrees (I hold 4 – an Associates, a Bachelors, and two Masters) and working when I was diagnosed with a permanent disability. I was told if I kept working, I’d end up in a wheelchair – so I stopped traveling to the office and did consulting for a couple of years. Federal rules changed and I couldn’t keep doing that without traveling again, so I did non-fiction writing and contributed to Intelligence documents and training textbooks.  Finally, I decided to just suck it up and put my fiction out there. Non-fiction is easy – it’s all supported by facts. Fiction? That’s ALL on me. It was scary at first!

Are you a pantser, plotter, or plantser? Have you changed over time or have you always been that? And how does it work for you?
I do a general outline and then start writing – and then about halfway through the book, have to rework the outline because the story went in a direction I wasn’t planning. Take Off Your Pants by Libbie Hawker helped me figure out that an outline didn’t have to be like what you do for an academic paper.

What does an average day look like for you?
About an hour after waking, I have done a few chores, tended to the pets and made my coffee. I ask the dogs if they’re ‘ready to go to work’ and they race me for the office so they can get into their favorite spots under my desk. I deal with admin stuff for the first two hours, then I start writing.

Every author has their own unique method when it comes to writing. What is your routine when you sit down to write?
Check email and social media briefly, check my various seller accounts and make sure it’s all going as expected – no issues have popped up – then I go over my outline, read the last couple of paragraphs, and dive back in.

What in your life helped to create your stylized vision for your character/world and how have things in your current life helped to further that stylized world/character?
When I worked Intelligence, I specialized in domestic counterterrorism and foreign policy. Several of the cases I’ve worked have become fodder for stories.  When I write, I try to make it as realistic in the fantasy as possible. It’s what I’ve always loved about Urban Fantasy writing. The sense that if you just shifted your focus slightly, you’d be able to see all of this Otherness.

What would you say is the hardest part of the writing process for you, and how do you yourself, overcome it when creating a novel?
Not getting distracted by the ‘ooh, shiny’ new story ideas. No, really – I can be deep into the writing of a story and suddenly this shiny new idea pops up and it is SO distracting, I have to go make a note of it and force myself back to the current WIP or I’d have fifteen things going on and none of them finished.

Why do you write?
Because I have to. There are too many stories that need to be told. Each story gives me an opportunity to share my views and experiences in the world with a wide variety of people I might never meet in person.

What advice would you give writers struggling with their own vision and worlds, characters and subjects on how to best go forth with their writing, instead of allowing the negativity of their own minds to keep them from doing something?
Write for yourself, first and foremost. You have YOUR story to tell, so tell it. Worry about the polish and edits, market and genre, etc after the fact. Don’t get caught up in the details outside the story. It is SO easy to overcomplicate things. Focus on what you CAN control and let the rest fall away.

Have you ever pushed yourself to the point of burnout and how did you recover from it?
Trying to get the last book of Descendants written, I really pushed and it got to where I never wanted to look at that series again. It’s been over eight months and I’m finally feeling okay with those stories.

What tip would give to a creative writing class?
The operative word is creative – be creative. Every story has already been told. YOUR story is telling it in a way no one has yet seen.

What genres do you enjoy reading? Who is your favorite author(s) in those genres?
I will read everything except horror. I love LynDee Walker, Tim Tigner, K.F. Breene, Rachel Medhurst, and the list goes on. There are SO many! Kimbra Swain, Shayne Silvers, etc., etc.

Now for some fun questions.

What is your favorite cocktail? 
Mojito or margarita – but I prefer single malt whiskey, neat.

What is a food you’ve never tried, but want to? Dragonfruit – I haven’t figured out how to tell if it’s ripe or not, so I haven’t dared.

If you could sit down and visit with any person, past or present, who would it be and why?

Eleanor Roosevelt – she was a strong, brilliant woman in a time when women were consistently silenced.

I also love genealogy, so I’d really like to sit down with my gr.gr. grandfather and find out who the hell his parents were and where he was born.

If you could sit down and visit with any AUTHOR, past or present, who would it be and why?
Gah, THAT list is ridiculously long, too.   Samuel Clemens, Margaret Mitchell, Toni Morrison – I want to find out what drove them to write, how they view the weight of being an author in a world that increasingly decries intellectuals…oh, so many questions.

What would be your perfect vacation?
A small cottage on the Maine coast in August – a view of the ocean from my desk, a wood stove to take the chill out of the air at night, meals and booze delivered – yeah….

If you could pick ONE supernatural/paranormal creature that could be real, what would it be and why?
Witch. The variety of powers would suit the world better. Werewolves have anger issues. Vampires have control issues. Fae are masters of manipulation. Why add those to a world already overrun with those behaviors?

Marvel or DC? 
Why choose?

Star Wars or Star Trek? 
Again, why choose? Kirk sucked, but Spock was cool and no one can beat Picard. Leia is my kind of princess general and the kind of woman I strive to be.

Connect with T.K. Eldridge

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B07TSYHDF6

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/t-k-eldridge

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19309693.T_K_Eldridge

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tkeeldridge/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/T.K.E.Eldridge

Twitter: https://twitter.com/eldridge_tk

Sign up for her newsletter: https://tkeldridge.com/newsletter/

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