My name is Ravyn Karasu. I chose the name for myself years ago as a play on words. Ravyn, as in the bird, raven, and Karasu after the Japanese word for crow. Get it? Even after all these years, I still enjoy the name.

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I was born in Cape May, New Jersey on April 30, 1982. I knew I wanted to write stories since I was four years old and I’ve worked really hard my whole life to improve and become the best writer I could possibly be. It was my dream to be published and to publish many novels one day. I wanted to be like the writers I grew up reading like: Judy Blume, Clare Bell, R.L. Stine and more.

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My family moved to North Carolina when I was 13. We lived out in the country so there wasn’t a lot for me to do. I decided, after a few years, that I would give up my reading time and replace it with writing time. I was determined I’d live my dream.

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Though I’ve been writing my whole life, the novel that would be my first publication was written while I was still in high school. I graduated in 2000 as an honor student. In 2007, I learned about self-publication, as hiring an agent or going through a commercial publisher was just an absolute joke. I’m a bit of a control freak, so I wanted things to be my way. I didn’t want to be a cookie-cutter author putting out the same drivel to fit into what was hot. I wanted to write what I wanted to write. So, I found an independent company, Trafford. While I did get what I wanted, it was still very expensive and soon became a never-ending money pit.

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I became rather depressed after publishing Akhetaten’s Gates in 2008. I knew I wouldn’t be able to afford to publish anything else if I continued to use an independent press such as Trafford, as I made little to no money. I had become unable to work a regular job in 2011, and the money I did make wasn’t substantial enough to support me AND a writing career.

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I moved to San Antonio, Texas in 2009. I wrote a little bit, but ended up taking a hiatus from writing seriously. Instead I decided to focus on improving my art skills. In 2009, I had rather crappy digital art skills and could barely master MS Paint. By the end of 2010, I was exclusively using GIMP, loving the ability to use layers (and a FREE program with all the options the expensive programs had), and learn new techniques. In December 2012, I moved back to North Carolina.

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2014 was the year for finally making my own book covers, learning to format a book for publication myself, and more. I was introduced to Kindle and Createspace, allowing me nearly full control of everything I wanted to publish without having to sink tons of money in endlessly. In fact, since I do all the work myself, it’s FREE! It was SO easy that in three months, I was able to publish three novels I had written years ago. The Taming of Coyote was the second novel I published (though it was the fourth novel I actually wrote) on October 30, 2014, just in time for Halloween. With Christmas fast approaching, I published Poinsettia, my third novel in November.

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The Midnight Selkie was considered a favorite among those early readers who had seen it while it as a first draft and I had been under a lot of pressure to publish it. I almost had a commercial publisher pick it up, but a disagreement ended that. Comfortable with the new method of publication, I finally published my fourth novel (though this was the second one I wrote). It was scheduled for January of 2015, but ended up getting an early released in December 2014.

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I really enjoy writing and working on the covers and the freedom I have to do virtually anything I please. I like talking with fans and readers and try to be encouraging to young writers.

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How long does it take to write a novel?

That really depends on the time I have to devote to it as well as the motivation and information available. For instance, it took a year to write the first draft of Akhetaten’s Gates and another year to re-write and edit it. The Midnight Selkie only took three months to write the first draft and 3 days to edit. Both Poinsettia and The Taming of Coyote took about six months to write with Poinsettia taking 3 weeks to edit and The Taming of Coyote taking eight months to edit. Sometimes it can take even longer. I’ve been working on a novel series, Vladimir for ten years (as of 2014) and it’s still not ready.

 

Do you have a routine for writing?

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Sort of. I don’t have a set schedule like a lot of other career authors do. I probably should, but I don’t. I just do it when I feel like it. However, I normally tend to multi-task, so I’ll be surfing the internet, listening to music, chatting, or watching TV at the same time. One of the most common routines I have, though, is to make a playlist for each project and play music that helps inspire me and keep me in the mood to work on that project.

I normally work on more than one project at a time. I worry I’ll get burnt out and bored if I only do one. So, I tend to work on anywhere from 2-4 projects at once so I can rotate among them. If I get stumped on one, I move on to the next one.

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What genre do you write?

Primarily, I write Fantasy and Dark Fantasy. That’s not all I write though. I do like to dabble in other genres from time to time if the inspiration hits me right. So, some of my short stories may be more on the dramatic side or horror or science fiction. I’ve also dabbled in historical fiction. It just depends what I feel like writing. However, after observing my writing style, I’ve come to the conclusion that, primarily, I’m a Fantasy and Dark Fantasy author.

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Where do you get your inspiration?

Anywhere and everywhere. I draw a lot on folklore and mythology. I like learning about other languages and cultures and tend to try and utilize that in my writing to some degree. I also get inspired a lot by music. Sometimes, I’ll listen to a song and just get a fragment of an idea or a whole idea in my head, and a new novel is born. Music is just as important to my writing as anything else. It’s a very valuable tool.

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Who makes your book covers?

I design all of my book covers. Except for Akhetaten’s Gates, I have painted and assembled all of my book covers. I commissioned someone to do Akhetaten’s Gates. Sometimes, I do work with other artists for parts of a cover, be it a border design or a sketch of subject matter I am not skilled in. But in the end, I assemble and paint the covers myself.