Originally from Michigan, Cindy Koepp combined a love of pedagogy and ecology into a 14-year career as an elementary science specialist. After teaching four-footers – that's height, not leg count – she pursued a Master's in Adult Learning with a specialization in Performance Improvement. Her published works include science fiction and fantasy novels, a passel of short stories, and a few educator resources. When she isn't reading or writing, Cindy is currently working as a tech writer, hat collector, quilter, crafter, and strange joke teller.

Interview:

1. Will you tell us about your most recent published work?

Mindstorm: Parley at Ologo is a tale about Thomas McCrady, a negotiator with a not-entirely-pristine past who needs to come to terms with his own prejudices.  On an assignment to help a planet write a peace treaty, war breaks out again. Thomas is able to grab his partner Angela and escape, but she dies as a result of her injuries. He blames one of the doctors, Calla Geisman, a psionic medicine specialist with a genetic quirk that limits her psionic abilities. Shortly afterward, he is given an assignment to negotiate another peace treaty. There's concern about potential biological warfare causing a plague, so a doctor goes with him.  The one assigned? Calla Geisman.

2. What personal challenges do you face as a writer?

The ubiquitous problem: time.  I work a full-time "day job" as a tech writer for a major bank so I can pay the bills and maintain medical insurance and other benefits. I also work on a contract basis for a few small presses and alpha-read for one writer's series.

Somewhere around there and other obligations, I find time to write. 

3. What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

Finding the assistive tech to use to dodge around some chronic injuries and disabilities. I think I have a pretty good arrangement now, but it's not foolproof ... especially when I'm in the later editing stages when working on paper is not nearly as efficient as working on a computer.

4. What one thing would you give up to become a better writer?

No. Idea. Gonna have to pass this one.

5. How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?

My first published book was Remnant in the Stars. It was published by Under the Moon, a small press run by Sam and Terri Pray. Neat people! Terri was the editor. I learned a /lot/ of stuff from her during the edit process of all 3 of the books that came from Under the Moon. 

It didn't really change my overall process, but I did gain a lot of craft knowledge.  

6. How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have? Will you tell us about them?

Unpublished and will never see light of day (without a major overhaul): 6? 7? They're all fanfic (or derived from fanfic), so ... yeah... my amusement only.  3 of them were specifically written so I could learn how to write a sword fight competently. As a result, they're a little light on real plot.  (Incidentally, a short story based in that same mutated fanfic world ... after a whole lot of further mutating ... became Mindstorm).

Unpublished and coming soonish to an online bookstore or author event near you: 3

Animal Eye: Animal Eye is a GameLit tale, meaning it takes place inside a game where the game mechanics and stats matter. A bird and her boy help a dog and his baron restore the balance a foreign country starts producing murderous maniacs. At the moment, I just finished the Round 1 edit and sent it back to the publisher, Bear Publications. It's up to the editor now to find more goofiness that needs fixing.

Into the Open: Urushalon 2: Into the Open is science fiction set in 1965 in the (made up) Texas coastal town of Las Palomas. It's the sequel to Like Herding the Wind. It picks up pretty close to where part 1 dropped off. Amaya and Ed now have to prepare for a meeting of 3 human governors and an Eshuvani nobleman. Unfortunately, Amaya is still working with outdated equipment and an extremely unhelpful boss while helping Ed at the Las Palomas PD defend against well-equipped criminals. Just to complicate things, she was born on the opposite end of the socioeconomic strata and has little knowledge of how to interact with Eshuvani nobility.  I just receive the first round editing notes from the publisher. I need to address those and send it back to the publisher, Lumen Anime.

Suitable Arrangement: Suitable Arrangement is fantasy. It's the sequel to Lines of Succession, published by Under the Moon press a few years ago. Five years have passed and Elaina should have married and started her adult life. Unfortunately, the scars she received from the assassin have turned away the suitors who had been interested in her before the battle. In a neighboring country, where Elaina's mother came from, the noble family in charge of an area was wiped out in an attack, leaving no clear succession. There are 4 distant heirs, but none of them meet the requirements to take the job. The queen sets a deadline for the potential heirs to meet the requirements so she can choose the one who impresses her the most. One gives up. One already has plans in motion that will meet the requirements before the deadline the queen imposes. The other two need to figure out how to become eligible, and Elaina has the key. This tale is still being drafted. 

 7. Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?

Sure. First off, I'm flabbergasted I got one. Getting a review is like pulling teeth with a sledgehammer. Oy.

Good ones? Mini-celebration, happy dance, share on social media. That sort of thing.

Bad ones? If it contains constructive comments (I hated it because ___ ), I consider whether the review has a valid point. If so, what can I learn to do differently. If not or if the bad review is useless (this story sucks!), whatever. Not my intended demographic, maybe? Reviewer had a bad day?

8. Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?

From time to time.  Mindstorm has some Easter eggs in the names of some of the characters. Remnant in the Stars and The Loudest Actions have another goofy play on the pilot's last name and what the engineer says when she hollers out to the pilot.

Most of the stories have at least one character with my wacky sense of humor.  

9. What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?

I'm pals with writers in the Realm Makers group, IABE, Spoiled Rotten Readers, and a few other groups. I can get feedback or ideas or take advantage of expertise I don't have. Hopefully, I contribute as much as I get. 

10. If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Be teachable, but remember that opinions are like eyeballs. Everyone has a couple, and some of them are better than others. You cannot and should not try to implement them all.

11. What are common traps for aspiring writers?

Adhering too hard to The Rules. New writers get whacked over the head with several versions of The Rules. There's usually something worthy to them, but if good writing could be totally codified, it'd be boring. 

“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist” -- attributed to Pablo Picasso

12. What’s the best way to market your books?

I haven't figured that out yet. I've tried a whole /pile/ of different things. The results of those attempts have been too variable. I have yet to find The Thing that works for me consistently.

13. What is your favorite childhood book?

I don't remember being a kid, actually, so I can't say what my favorite book was when I was a kid. I did teach kiddos for 14 years, and my favorite little kid book was Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems. One of my favorite older kid book is Malted Falcon by Bruce Hale.

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Website: http://ckoepp.com