KD Pryor started life in Missouri, where she read lots of books, even sneaking them into baseball games to the irritation of her father. Kelley graduated with a degree in International and Comparative Studies from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. After college and marriage to a great guy, she decided to pursue a law degree at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Her oldest son was born soon after law school, followed three years later by her daughter and a move to Kentucky. One more son, a move to Ohio and four years later, her family jumped on the opportunity to move to India. They lived in Bangalore, now Bengaluru, for four wonderfully chaotic years, traveling all over Asia, Australia and Europe.
Now, settled in New Hampshire with her family and herd of cats (only three), she can often be found in her office, working on the next installment of “The Gatekeepers of Em’pyrean” series, reading one of a dozen books she has started, and dreaming of her future travel destinations.
“The Portal’s Choice”, book one in “The Gatekeeper’s of Em’pyrean” series featuring Tallis Challinor, was released on May 6, 2013.
“The Inn of the Kindred Spirits”, a novella featuring protagonist Tallis Challinor, was released in November 18, 2013.
“The Forgotten Gate”, book two in “The Gatekeeper of Em’pyrean” series, is scheduled for release in 2014.
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Nothing weird, spooky or otherworldly about them. Or, at least that’s what Tallis Challinor always thought. Tallis is a practical young woman, a writer, a lover of words and a natural storyteller. But she’s not sure what to do when real-life sucks her into a story far stranger than anything she’s ever imagined.
Tallis discovers that portals are passageways between the human and spirit worlds. She finds out that bent-on-evil ghosts can escape from the spirit realm through those gateways whether they are supposed to or not. And when they do, Tallis finds herself the chosen human, picked by the portal in her basement in New Hampshire, to seek out and return the wayward spirits.
All Tallis wants to do is recover from the loss of her parents and settle into her new home. She’d like a boyfriend, someone like the cute guy, Aiden, down the street. She’d like some girlfriends to talk to and maybe even go shopping with. And she’d like the ghosts, the portal, and the responsibility that has been thrust upon her to disappear.
But when the ghosts threaten her new hometown, her friends, and the family she holds so dear, Tallis discovers the inner courage to meet the portal’s challenge and save those most precious to her. Along the way, Tallis learns that she is more than she’s ever imagined herself to be and that she deserves more than she’s ever dreamed possible.
Brittany, France. Near the coast. A picturesque inn. Spectacular scenery. Tasty French treats. Time off from school.
Tallis Challinor imagines this as the perfect vacation scenario, so when her grandfather suggests that she accompany him to the country of her ancestors, she is more than happy to tag along. What Tallis doesn’t bargain on is another ghostly encounter, especially not so soon after she’s sealed up a bunch of unruly ghosts on their side of the portal between the human and spirit realms. But, when she feels the energy radiating from the megalithic standing stones dotting the countryside around Carnac, France, an energy that feels frighteningly like the power exuding from the portal in her basement back home, she has a feeling she might be in trouble. And she is right.
When her grandfather goes missing, Tallis leaps into action. She calls the only ghostbuster she knows in France and, with help on the way, she gears up to battle another set of spirits bent on causing destruction. Along the way, Tallis is forced to examine her life, her relationships, and her tightly-held beliefs about who she is and where she comes from. She also has to juggle two impossible males, both attractive but annoying, both seemingly set on driving her nuts or breaking her heart.
Q) What inspired you to write this story?
Driving home one afternoon I approached an old house situated next to a cemetery. I’d seen the house before but something about it struck a new note that day. I was sure there was a connection between the house and the graveyard. I brainstormed ideas with my kids and husband until I knew that the protagonist was a young adult female. I also knew that a portal between the human and spirit worlds was operating between the house and the cemetery. I took lots more notes, made many changes to the original idea, hunted down names for my characters and created an outline for the functioning of the portal. Finally, I started to write.
Q) How long did it take you to write?
Q) How long did it take you to write?
Writing The Portal’s Choice was a 14 month process and when I was done the book was over 600 pages long. There were lots of edits. Writing my novella, The Inn of the Kindred Spirits, only took three months. That was much more fun and editing was much easier.
Q) What is your favorite thing about writing?
Q) What is your favorite thing about writing?
I love creating the world that encompasses my stories and then I love filling the world with my characters, their words, their actions and reactions. The best part of this process happens when the story starts to write itself and I’m the typist. I get to stop thinking and let the words flow and see where the story takes me. Many times the end result isn’t exactly what I had in mind – but it’s always better than I planned.
Q) What is your least favorite thing about writing?
Discipline. Writing is a vocation, something to be practiced daily. I’m always better, the story is always smoother, and my day is always brighter when I write daily. But some days I allow other things to get in my way. Then, when I come back, I’ve lost my train of thought and I stumble around for a bit, getting organized all over again.
Q) If you could be any famous person for one day, who would you be and why?
Q) What is your least favorite thing about writing?
Discipline. Writing is a vocation, something to be practiced daily. I’m always better, the story is always smoother, and my day is always brighter when I write daily. But some days I allow other things to get in my way. Then, when I come back, I’ve lost my train of thought and I stumble around for a bit, getting organized all over again.
Q) If you could be any famous person for one day, who would you be and why?
I would be Audrey Hepburn because she was a wonderful actress, a stylish and elegant woman, and she gave back to the world through her work with UNICEF. Audrey Hepburn also acted opposite some amazing leading men and my day as her would have to include some time with my favorite actor, Cary Grant.
Q) What is the oldest thing in your fridge and how old is it?
An open jar of almond butter that is about a year and a half old and dried out. It probably should not be eaten.
Q) What can readers expect from you in the future?
I am working on The Forgotten Gate, the next book in The Gatekeepers of Em’pyrean series which will be released in the first half of 2014. I also am plotting another novella about Tallis Challinor. And I am planning to finish a women’s fiction novel set in India that I started in 2009.
Q) What is the oldest thing in your fridge and how old is it?
An open jar of almond butter that is about a year and a half old and dried out. It probably should not be eaten.
Q) What can readers expect from you in the future?
I am working on The Forgotten Gate, the next book in The Gatekeepers of Em’pyrean series which will be released in the first half of 2014. I also am plotting another novella about Tallis Challinor. And I am planning to finish a women’s fiction novel set in India that I started in 2009.
