Wednesday's guest

Please welcome my guest of the week, Alicia Kennedy. She lives in Long Beach, NY, and is a physica therapist but says at heart she's always been a writer. But Not Missed is her debut novel, but there's more to come. Welcome, Alicia.



 

Cover image of Gone...But Not Missed

On Valentine’s Day, Lillian wakes up in an exact replica of her room — in the basement of a mysterious kidnapper. Can she uncover her captor’s motives? And will off duty NYPD officer Nathan be able to track her down?

I’ve been reading as long as I can remember. One of my first memories is going to the Queens Village Library with my mother. We went often, and she taught me the importance of reading and to always carry a book with you.

Despite my love of reading, the sciences were more where I excelled in school. I remember at a college interview being asked about my opinion on English classes. I answered they weren’t my favorite because I didn’t like writing. The interviewer, a physical therapy professor, scowled and told me a physical therapist has to write a lot. I should have heeded his dire warning. Physical therapy and the documentation requirements have only grown in the twenty years since that interview.

With my love of books, I’ve always been a fan of writers. I traveled hours to hear Stephen King speak and get a book autographed. (Ok, full disclosure, I’ve done it more than once). I’ve made stops in Scotland just to see where J. K. Rowling started writing the Harry Potter series (The Elephant House, Edinburgh) and finished writing the series (The Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh). As a special birthday gift, I stayed in The Balmoral Hotel, to this day the best hotel I have ever stayed in. After learning of my birthday and my love of all things Potter, one of the staff took me into the J K Rowling Suite, just a few rooms down from my room, where she completed the series. I toured the rooms, seeing the bust she signed after she wrote the series last words, and I sat at the desk where the “magic” happened.

This was all before I started writing.

I began writing three years ago but I’ve had stories in my head as long as I can remember. I often have stories in my head. Some I’d like to develop into short stories or novels; some will go nowhere. At a speaking engagement at Book Revue (Huntington, NY), writer Joe Hill said how he has lots of ideas but only a few a year can be developed.

  
My reading tastes are varied. I enjoy most genres, with my favorites being mystery and science fiction. I love a book that takes you were you don’t expect to go. I hope my writing does that for my readers.

My writing is also diverse. My only currently published work is a mystery set in Long Beach, NY. But, I’ve also written short stories. These stories have been paranormal, science fiction, and horror.  In the future, I hope to write full length novels in these genres.

When people ask me what I do, I’ve recently started to answer that I am a writer. My writing by no means pays the bills. (I still work full time as a physical therapist.) But whether it ever will or not, I am a writer.