Paying It Forward: Interview with Kayti Nika Raet of The Outsider Chronicles

http://madhuriblaylock.wordpress.com/whats-up/

This Indie author game is tough so I thought it would be nice to start something called “Paying It Forward”, where I return the favor to those who have been kind enough to review THE GIRL or interview me or just generally support my efforts in this racket.
Our inaugural post is with the super cool and fierce Kayti Nika Raet, author of The Outsider Chronicles and blogger at KNR Writes. She was nice enough to review THE GIRL a couple of weeks ago and then took it even one step further and interviewed me for her blog. After reading some of Kayti’s answers to my interview questions, it’s kind of obvious to me why we clicked (and I’m not even talking about the whole down south, small town connection).
So without further ado, I give you my interview with Miss Kayti Nika Raet:

If you ask my mother she’ll hold up a book I made when I was six or seven and say, “I always knew she would be a writer!” but for me it wasn’t until I was 11 and we moved down South. I was bored out of my mind and that’s when I really started to write stories, it wasn’t until I was 14 that I decided that writing was something I definitely wanted to do (before that I wanted to be a fashion stylist— some of that has leaked out into Niko). Now, if you cut me I bleed words.

This is actually harder that I thought it would be because there are several different answers (songs! Doodles! Favorite books! Storywrite authors!) but I’ll stick to one for now. 
I’d been trying to get another book of mine published and was getting a little depressed so I decided to focus on something new. I wanted to write something fun, and sexy (not too sexy), with weird humor and lots of action, and horror (cos I like freaking people out).
I read a lot of books, typically fifteen to twenty five a month and I wanted to read a book where the main character was self-confident, where the other characters didn’t need to sing her praises and where she didn’t feel like she wasn’t good enough, or pretty enough, or whatever. I also wanted a book where if the main character is African-American they aren’t used to moralize to the reader about what ‘proper’ conduct teens and young adults should be exhibiting.
[PREACH!]
Niko was actually the first book that I was rather deliberate on how I wrote it, setting up a schedule, outlining (I hate outlining), the works. I’m really happy with it. It’s going to be a five book series and since my idea for the ending is still rather vague, I just hope it ends with a bang.

In adjectives? Silly, Fun, Sexy, Scary, Kick-ass.
In a sentence? A super unique girl kills monsters
[love that sentence!]

Well there was a werewolf story that I wrote ages ago, that I might want to get into it again. But there’s also a story with necromancers set in Sugarhill in the 20’s that’s calling me. Also a vague fantasy idea floating around with water dragons. I’ll probably wind up doing something completely different though lol.

Well it’s been pretty good though sometimes there’s that little fear in the back of your mind “Are they going to avoid my book because the character/author isn’t white?”
I think that as an author, especially an indie one where you’re in charge of EVERYTHING you have to be a bit more tenacious. Are you going to have a cover that clearly shows your main character? Or you going to go for a more arty kind of look? How many times are you going to mention your characters skin color. Once? Twice? Fifteen times? Not at all?
And then when it comes to creating a character, I mostly just write whatever feels right since I usually avoid outlines  *hiss* I think writing a character that’s supposed to be ‘black’ or that ‘black people will relate to’ is very limiting and usually winds up with cliche writing under the headline More of the Same. It’s annoying especially when it makes it easy to write a potentially great book off (*peek at the cover* “Oh looks like Deshawn in the hood. Next!). Not everyone likes the same thing, so I try to write what I enjoy and hope a bunch of other people enjoy it too.
I don’t think being a woman of color affects connecting with other authors, if you don’t mind my kookiness we good. With marketing I think being a woman of color just gives me that much more platforms to market on, I don’t see it as a bad thing. 
[Girl, let me say it again...Just because I'm brown doesn't mean I write "urban lit"]

Only five? Really? :’( Okay, here goes.
I’m listening to a lot of kpop  so I decided to just list my favorite artists to avoid listing five G-dragon songs XD
Artists: Big Bang, Miyavi, Evanescence, LIGHTS, Natalia Kills (bonus: her song Wonderland is the theme song for Niko)
Books: Slice of Cherry, Demon’s Lexicon, The Way of Kings, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms,  Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Author: Dia Reeves, Sarah Rees Brennan, Justine Larbalestier, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Brandon Sanderson
Movies: Wrong Turn 2, Insidious, Holes, The Lion King, Takers
[Daughter of Smoke and Bone...HOLLA!]

Most days I’m without makeup, but i love playing up my eyes and looking at really artsy makeup. Skirts and Dresses. Both! Right now my hair is short with a little bang, but it’s going to get even shorter soon! Vegetarian. Beach, I like the water and hate the cold.

Does saying crap count as cursing? Mostly I say things like “Rotten kitty balls” or weird random sounds.
[oh man, my mouth would horrify you!]

I’d love to go to Korea and test out my baby Korean. Or Morocco. Or Brazil.
My comfy bed.
Alone with a  good book or a fun game.

1.) split it in half to invest
2.) buy a kick-ass marketing campaign
3.) buy a bucket load of books
4.) vacations around the world!!!!
5.) move to a new house
6.) donate
7.) by tons of fabric to create all the clothes i have in my head
8.) take photography classes
9.) swim in it
10.) give some to friends and family