Is Kirsten McKenzie releasing any more books?
Yes. Kirsten is working on the second book in the Ithaca series. Ithaca Bound is the first book in her second time travel series, and was published on 21 December 2022. Kirsten is also working on another thriller and plans to release that in 2024, editing and agent dependent. At last glance, she’d hit 60,000 words, so almost done. The best thing to do is to sign up to Kirsten’s sporadic newsletter for updates on her new releases, including her Time Travel Christmas Recipe Book, which will be free for all her newsletter subscribers.
Do I have to read the Old Curiosity Shop series in order?
Yes. Each book in the series follows on from the previous one. The reading order is:
1/ Fifteen Postcards
2/ The Last Letter
3/ Telegram Home
Do I have to have read the Old Curiosity Shop series before I read the Ithaca series?
No, but it would help with understanding the history of a small number of the characters. The reading order of the Ithaca time travel trilogy is:
1/ Ithaca Bound
2/ thaca Lost (release date - 21 December 2023)
3/ thaca Found (release date - December 2024)
Can I buy Kirsten McKenzie’s books in my local bookshop?
Kirsten’s books are in some bookshops, although you may need to ask your favourite bookstore to order Kirsten’s books in via the Ingram Spark catalogue or through her New Zealand distributor Batemans. Alternatively, please contact Squabbling Sparrows Press via squabbling.sparrows@gmail.com for distribution enquiries.
Are Kirsten McKenzie’s books available as audio books?
The Old Curiosity Shop trilogy is available in audio book format through Audible. Her thrillers are not yet available as audio books, but watch this space.
Are Kirsten McKenzie’s books available in the library?
Yes, Kirsten’s books are available through the library system, worldwide. They are already available in a number of New Zealand libraries. You can always ask your local library to order them in. Most libraries will happily do this for you. Alternatively, please contact Squabbling Sparrows Press via squabbling.sparrows@gmail.com for ordering information.
Where can I buy signed copies of Kirsten McKenzie’s books?
Please email Kirsten at kirsten@kirstenmckenzie.com, and signed copies can be arranged.
Are book reviews helpful to authors?
Reviews are very helpful on Amazon, Goodreads, BookBub, Kobo, Barnes & Nobel, Apple Books etc. Your review only needs to be a couple of sentences. Reviews play an important part in the discoverability of authors online. It would be wonderful if you could post a short review about Kirsten’s books on your favourite digital platform.
How do I schedule an author visit?
Kirsten is happy to attend your school / club / event, to discuss publishing, being an author and to talk about my books. As writing is her full time profession, she does charge a small fee to partially cover her time, transport costs, and any materials needed. Please email Kirsten at kirsten@kirstenmckenzie.com to discuss further.
What are the best books about writing?
Kirsten recommends reading Stephen King’s book ‘On Writing‘. It is by far the most useful book about writing she has read.
Kirsten also recommends the Chris Fox book ‘5,000 Words Per Hour’ - the best book about writing your words down quickly, and worrying about them later. Life changing.
For purely interests sake, and not because it will tell you how to write a bestseller, Kirsten recommends ‘The Bestseller Code: Anatomy of the Blockbuster Novel’. Put a dog in your book, and set it in America…
Can I send you my manuscript to critique?
Sorry, but although I am a full time author, I am also the mother of two incredibly busy children. Once they’ve both finished school and have left home, I’ll have way more time on my hands to provide a formal critique service. But at this point in my life, I make time to help a handful of other authors, and I don’t have the time capacity to help anyone else just yet.
Where can I find advice about writing? / where can I find advice about publishing?
There are a number of useful author groups on Facebook. The two groups Kirsten has found invaluable are ‘20Booksto50k’ and ‘SPF Community’, and she recommends signing up to the courses Mark Dawson runs through his ‘Self Publishing Formula’ website. Kirsten also recommends you listen to the podcasts by Joanna Penn of ‘The Creative Penn’. Other than that, just write. Write until you have finished your novel, or short story, or autobiography, and go from there (which usually means, write the next one!).
Do you donate books to charity?
Maybe, sometimes, depends... Postage overseas is expensive, so I am unlikely to donate books to an organisation outside of New Zealand. I am more likely to offer to name a character in one of my books, as a raffle prize (or auction prize), than I am to donate books. It really does depend on the charity. Please feel free to contact Kirsten to discuss further.