- writer and D&D fan living in Japan, who plays too many video games
Readers! Let’s give a good, hearty welcome to Poppy Kuroki
Poppy Kuroki is a professional ghostwriter and editor. She loves books, Dungeons & Dragons, and playing video games.
She currently lives in Enoshima, Japan with her husband and dreams of owning a dog.
Poppy, thanks for agreeing to be here today. While most interviews start off with bios and such, and while I’ll get to that as always, let’s start with the important stuff!
If you could have any pet (real/fantasy/no-allergies/no worries about feeding it) what would it be?
I’d love a dog, but since there are no restrictions, I’d say an alpaca. They’re so cute and floofy!
I mean, since it’s part of your bio and all, I can’t say that ‘puppy’ was a big surprise. Alpacas are VERY awesome and floofy.
What do you write? And how did you get started?
Like many writers, I’ve been writing since I was a kid. I got a publisher for a fantasy trilogy I wrote when I was seventeen, but it didn’t work out. I gave up after that, writing for fun and then taking up ghostwriting as a job. When I had so many lovely reviews complimenting my writing style and creativity, I thought, hmm, maybe I can do this after all. Since you have to promote yourself whether you’re traditionally published or indie, I decided to go indie. It’s been a lot of fun so far. I have two published books, Oath: A Black Diamond Novel and A Bard’s Lament, and a free short story, Rhoda, is on the way.
I’m so sorry that your earlier publisher fell through. It’s a story that happens more often than any of us would like. I’m so glad you found your way back to it, with your name on the cover.
What do you like to read?
I sometimes read debut fantasy, but I often like going back to old favourites like Jacqueline Wilson for nostalgia. I like Darren Shan’s vampire saga, Stephen King, and James Herbert. Newer authors I like include Jay Kristoff and Rebecca Ross.
Oooh. I don’t know that I’ve tried any of those but Stephen King. I’ve got a few new authors to add to my ever-growing to-read pile.
Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice that doesn’t work for you.
Never use dialogue tags
While I do use ‘said’ a lot, sometimes others like ‘asked,’ ‘suggested,’ ‘screamed’ etc. have their place.
I’m with you one-hundred percent. There’s definitely been some discussion about dialogue tags making things easy on the reader, with the ‘she said’ just fading from any sort of story distration and better for pacing than action tags.
Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice that they can pry out of your cold, dead hands.
Showing, not telling.
I once bought a whole trilogy and never got past the first page because it was a big, huge info dump. A lot of readers who liked Oath said they appreciated that the world-building was shown throughout the story rather than a big, long explanation.
What a lovely compliment. That’s what most of us aim for, these days, I think.
Shameless Self-Promotion time!
A Bard’s Lament a novella
The town of Veilig is burdened with a terrible secret.
Ella is a bard, her sister a prostitute, working in a tavern to pay off their late mother’s debt. But Ella has a secret of her own. Her music carries codes for spies to decipher, working to undo Veilig’s horrific crimes.
Then her sister is taken captive.
Can Ella save them both, or will their tale end in darkness?
“Only through death may I leave the Black Diamond’s side…”
Tired of scraping for food in her war-torn homeland, Colette sneaks aboard a ship to Ranigh, the prosperous Empire capital, to seek her fortune. When she’s caught stealing, she is forced to pledge an Oath to a life of assassinhood.
When she’s bid to kill someone she cares for, what will Colette choose?
Obedience or love?
Check Poppy Kuroki out across the web!
WRITING TIPS & WRITERLY MUSINGS 
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