NK Chats To…Kiley Dunbar

Hi Kiley, thank you so much for joining me today. Can you tell us about your latest novel, A New Chapter at the Borrow a Bookshop (loving this title) and what inspired it?

A New Chapter at the Borrow a Bookshop is number 5 in the series and dare I say it, possibly the last? I wanted to do the series justice and end on huge high. I chose my favourite romance trope ‘Friends to Lovers’ for this one and had a blast writing all the attraction and withholding; masses of fun for an author!

 

What’s your typical writing day like? Do you have any writing rituals like needing coffee a lot, writing in a favourite spot? Writing in silence?

I’ve got into a new routine recently of writing 1000-1400 words in a session, and I tend to go to a café in town where I’ll sit with my coffee and my headphones and type away happily. If I try to write at home I get distracted by all the jobs there is to do there.

 

From idea to finished draft, how long does it take you to write a novel, and how do you know when you’ve done enough research and editing?

It can take me a couple of years to go from pitch to published, but once I’ve got a contract signed, it takes me about 4 or 5 months to fully plan out and write the first draft. I’ll give that draft a quick read through and a tidy before sending it to my editor. I tend to write about things I know a little bit about then do some scant research, enough to sound like I’m a pair of safe hands. Then I get structural edits sent back to me which can take a few weeks to action, then there’s another round of edits (line edits – looking for wee fiddly things to fix), then I am sent the proofs to read (and even at that stage I make little tweaks).

 

What themes are explored in this novel and what’s the main thing you want readers to take away from it?

In this novel I wanted to give my character’s two pennies’ worth about the dangers of book banning, so I made her a librarian from a school in Texas, right at the centre of the current fight for the freedom to read freely. As an author and an academic, and as a parent and book lover, these things are important to me. I know loads of readers will feel the same.

 

What comes first for you – plot, or characters?

Interestingly, it’s usually a third thing: place. I pick a place (a repair café, a bookshop you can holiday in, a Lapland resort owned by your ex-boyfriend, a loch-side inn with one towering Princess and the Pea style bed, a Christmas display made of gingerbread in a Cotswold village, etc.) and the characters come out of that decision. I ask myself who needs to go a place like this? The character needs to experience something there that they couldn’t experience anywhere else in the world, and it will change them deeply. Then I’ve got all the inspiration I need and I’m off and writing!

 

If you were creating a playlist for A New Chapter at the Borrow a Bookshop, which songs would you include?

I listened to two artists on a loop whilst writing this book: Johnny Valentine’s song ‘Slip Away’ and the Chappell Roan album. Perfect for those angsty, passionate friends to lovers feels.

 

What’s your favourite word and why?

Hmm, I like ‘pernicious’. It is so good for describing troublesome characters out to do no good.

 

Which fictional character is your favourite and what would you talk to them about if you met them?

I wouldn’t mind having a word with poor old Bertha Mason, locked up in Mr Rochester’s attic in Jane Eyre. I’d help her burn the place down and make sure we both got out.

 

Not including your novels, is there a book you’d like to forget about just so you can discover and read it all over again?

Yes, I’d LOVE to read Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier for the first time all over again. That book was dazzling!

 

Which scenes do you find hardest to write?

I find opening scenes hardest, because they have to hook the reader. You get about a page and a half to grip everyone who picks up the book. I write and re-write my opening chapters over and over in the hopes of making it as intriguing and hooky as possible.

 

Do you have any advice to overcome writers block?

I often find that if I can’t write it’s because I’m intimidated by the scene in front of me. I can get through that feeling by going back to my notepad and pen and planning the scene a bit more. Once I have that deeper sense of what I need to do, I can write again. I’m so lucky never to have experienced true writers block and been frozen in the act of writing. It must be so upsetting.

 

Any other advice for new writers?

Yes, make friends. Writing is so lonely. Find your writers’ coven and treasure them.

 

Would you rather round ….

 

Have the ability to see into the future or be able to visit the past?

Please can I go back to the past? There’s so many things I’d do better. I’d be so much kinder with the benefit of hindsight.

 

Have the ability to move things with your mind or read minds?

Ooh, mind-reading please! I often misread people’s motivations so this would be helpful!

 

Sing or dance to your favourite song for the rest of your life?

I wish I could sing well! Let me have a lovely voice and I’d be happy belting out the same tune forever!

 

Have money or power?

Money. I’d be able to secure a safe, comfortable future for my kids and do so much good in my communities besides!

 

Have an endless summer or winter?

I love winter so much, but could I live without seeing flowers bloom or hearing the bees buzz? Grudgingly I’ll have to say summer.

 

Drink tea or coffee?

Tea. I love a cup of coffee but I’d lose my marbles without a cup of tea a day!

 

See the movie or read the book first?

I’m lazy. I’ll take the movies, honestly.

 

Read a Paperback or eBook?

eBooks are my preference at the moment. I can’t resist a 99p bargain!

 

Christmas or Halloween?

Christmas every single time. Hate to say it, but Halloween isn’t my favourite. I love autumn but could do without all the plastic pumpkins. My youngest is Halloween mad so won’t be pleased about that!😊

 

 

About Kiley Dunbar –

Kiley Dunbar writes uplifting romantic fiction set in beautiful, intriguing places. She’s a Scot over the border in North England and is an academic, so it’s really Dr Kiley 😉

A New Chapter at the Borrow a Bookshop is book 5 in the Borrow a Bookshop series. Kiley describes it as a nerdy Friends to Lovers rom com and thinks you will adore it.  It was released on 23rd January 2025 by Canelo Hera. 

Click here to buy on Amazon UK, Waterstones and  Amazon US.

Say hello to Kiley via her website, Facebook and Instagram. Click here to sign up to her newsletter. 

 

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Laura
I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.

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