KKC Bauder
KKC Bauder
1stAngel: When did you first become interested in writing?
KKC: It was 23 years ago right after the death of my best and dearest friend, Kay Roche. I wanted to capture her spirit and snatches of memories from our youth together.
Instead of writing a sappy sentimental story, I wrote about life through the eyes of two rambunctious girls with very vivid imaginations and an abnormal obsession with the supernatural.
1stAngel: What genre of writing?
KKC: My writing is classified as Children’s Horror.
1stAngel: Has your genre changed from when you first began as an writer?
KKC: The genre hasn’t changed, but the sub-genre has shifted from light horror to supernatural horror. This shift was influenced by the readers of my children’s story site, Phoophie Tales.
Children today demand blood and gore served up with their scary stories. When they review a story that doesn’t have the adequate amount of flying body parts, they give it a big thumbs down.
As a result, my stories have evolved from whimsical romps – with ghosts and monsters tossed in – to Night Gallery-esque supernatural tales.
I still can’t bring myself to write any overt violence, all of my monster munching is still implied:
‘It’s grin finally widened to reveal sickening yellow saliva dripping from rows and rows of razor sharp teeth.
They bit down…
The End’
So, I leave the flying body parts to the 12-year-old writers Gage and Alexi who fill my website with bloody tales of Dark Horror.
1stAngel: What publishing method do you use?
KKC: I publish on the web (several children’s sites plus my own) and in electronic book format.
1stAngel: Your website is called Phoophie’s Tales? Where did that name come from, it’s very unusual!?
KKC: I grew up in the land of BIG ART and LONG TALL TALES and have spent hours upon hours listening to my father’s ’shaggy dog stories,’ as he so affectionately calls them.
Inspired by my father’s love of storytelling and my own passion for art and education, I’ve brought together an international group of talented artists and writers, and created PHOOPHIE TALES.
A place for children to read, write, paint, explore, and most importantly, play. Dedicated to my shaggy little dog, Phoophie
1stAngel: Do you illustrate your work, and if not why, or who does?
KKC: I’m a digital artist by profession and actually first dabbled in digital art while working on the illustrations for one of my books. I was never quite satisfied, though. I felt I was too close to the story to create effective illustrations.
Since then, I’ve used the artwork of two incredible artists, Lynda Lehmann (Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography) and Donna Ridgeway (Montana Horse Gallery).
1stAngel: Do your ideas come from life or imagination?
KKC: My ideas come from emotions: base emotions and emotional memories of people, places and events in my life. I take these strong emotions and manifest them as tangible forms to create a storyline.
For example, the story “All Hallows Eve“ is all about the fear within. That part of ourselves that terrifies us. A terror that grows and grows until it overwhelms and sometimes destroys us. I manifest that fear as a monster in the guise of a trick-or-treater who grows and grows until ultimately the unwitting candy giver becomes the treat.
1stAngel: How do you choose your characters and places?
KKC: They choose themselves. My mind is full of compilations of people I’ve encountered. These compilations take on a life of their own and clamor to get out, whether it’s in one of my stories or in my artwork… and they usually bring a chair with them.
1stAngel: How much time (on average) does it take to complete a work?
KKC: Short stories can take anywhere from 2 weeks to over a month. Children’s books are another thing entirely. My first book took over 15 years from it’s initial short story version. Not all of that time was spent writing, mind you. There were 5 different states, 20 different jobs, 2 different husbands and 1 different daughter sidetracking me.
1stAngel: What do you do to overcome a ‘block’?
KKC: I walk out onto my balcony and smoke a cigarette. Nothing stimulates the mind like fresh air.
1stAngel: Who is your favourite author?
KKC: I used to have many favorites – Frank Herbert, William Goldman, Robert Heinlein, Dr. Seuss – until I read JK Rowling. She weaves such fascinating and intricate tales, and inspired so many children to put down the mouse or remote and explore their imaginations. It’s hard not to admire her.
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1stAngel: What is your favourite piece of work by yourself?
KKC: “The Imagination Plantation” is my favorite (synopsis: 4 girls, 1 house, 1 monster).
- It started as a short short,
- did a brief stint as a teleplay (the producer wanted boys -Yak!),
- became a short story ( the publisher wanted boys – boys?!?),
- evolved into a novelette (sans publishers, sans producers, sans boys)
Okay, so I finally tossed in a boy, but he‘s still sitting in my computer.
1stAngel: How well do you take criticism?
KKC: Didn’t you hear me? They wanted BOYS!
Seriously, I am very open to criticism unless it creates a radical shift in the story line and makes it a completely different story.
1stAngel: How do you know something is ‘finished’? Is it easy to walk away?
KKC: The careful application of the words “The End.” It’s really almost impossible to walk away. Sometimes, the only way to finish a story is to start another.
1stAngel: Have you had work published?
KKC: I’ve been published in the SummerWood Partnership’s Illumination Project. They make electronic story books for kids. They call them LunchBOOKs. Basically they are lunchbox size computers – single function readers filled with stories.
1stAngel: Have you any publishers interested for future books??
KKC: I had a very bad and costly experience with a book publisher, when I first started out. Since then, I’ve been content publishing electronically and on the web. It’s a lot more gratifying. I have instant access to what children think about my stories. It’s fun when I scare the wits out of them or I inspire them to write… “I can write a scarier story than this piece of ____ .”
1stAngel: What are your plans for the future?
KKC: I’ve been so busy acting as editor and publisher for children’s stories online, I really haven’t had time to make any plans. I suppose I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing.
1stAngel: Looking back, what has been the best part of your work?
KKC: Collaborating with my daughter, Laura. She helps me write and encourages my writing and my artwork. She’s basically my reality check when I get overwhelmed and frustrated. She reminds me that I’m not fit to do anything else.
