Romance Author C.S. McKinney

Intro: [00:00:07] Coming to you live from the Business RadioX Studio in Woodstock, Georgia. This is fearless formula with Sharon Cline.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:17] And welcome to Fearless Formula on Business RadioX, where we talk about the ups and downs of the business world and offer words of wisdom for business success. And I’m your host, Sharon Cline. I have in the studio a local author who is actually a Canton native and has family that’s been here for 200, 300 years, something like that, which is cool. Um, he is a romance author, which I love because you’re a guy who does it. Um, please welcome to the studio, C.S. McKinney.

C.S. McKinney: [00:00:47] Hey, thanks. Yeah, thanks for having me. I appreciate bringing me on the show here.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:50] I’m excited that you’re here, because I was. We were just talking before the show. How many times do we walk by people that, you know, we have no idea what their story is, but here you are, local author. Been here for your whole life and doing well. And it’s and it’s plus you’re in the romance genre, which is so cool because you’re a guy, you know, and I just, I think most and I looked it up statistically like 80 some odd percent of romance writers are women. So I love that you’re like, I’m going to do it. I’m going to get into this genre.

C.S. McKinney: [00:01:17] Yeah. Before I started, like Nicholas Sparks was the only one I knew. There’s a couple others that are kind of mainstream, but, um, that’s part of the challenge. And part of the fun of it is, is being something new in that, in that perspective.

Sharon Cline: [00:01:30] Awesome. Well, so what did you do before you were an author?

C.S. McKinney: [00:01:34] So I actually went to school to be a math major because I was a terrible reader growing up. It was probably my Kryptonite. Um, but I always kind of liked to write. Like I always had that kind of feel of like, I just like to tell story. Um, so after I graduated college, I did a couple different jobs. Um, my last job was in insurance, and it was good for the time, like, of what I wanted to do and what I needed. But eventually it came to a point where it was like, If I’m going to do this, I need to jump all in, and I need to really push myself to be an author if if that’s what I want to do. And that’s exactly what I wanted to do.

Sharon Cline: [00:02:11] So we were saying before the show that you had a story in your mind for like six years.

C.S. McKinney: [00:02:16] Yeah. So after college, um, I was working and one day this idea, um, about a girl named Sarah and her experience in college of, um, the ups and downs of being a girl in college basically came to mind. And I went home that day, and I wrote just like, a page, and. Over the next six years, bits and pieces of that story fell into my lap, and I would write ideas or whatever. And fast forward six years later, it came a point where I just felt like, you need to write a book. You need to write this book.

Sharon Cline: [00:02:52] I felt a push inside you like a like an urgency.

C.S. McKinney: [00:02:55] Yeah. I mean, like, I’m a very religious person. And it was just like this subtle voice of, like, you need to write this book. And that’s exactly what I did. I sat down and it took me five months to come up with a first draft by taking all those little pieces and putting them together and and filling in the gaps. And then a year later, I had it published. Um.

Sharon Cline: [00:03:17] How did that feel?

C.S. McKinney: [00:03:19] Um, so originally it was just going to be one book, one and done, and four months before it went out into the world. It’s like there’s another book here. Actually, there’s two more books there, but I’ve only wrote the second one in that series. Um, and it just kind of went from there. It was addicting, like. I’ve always been like an endurance athlete, and this is like that mental struggle that I enjoy. So it’s just addicting, you know? Anything else?

Sharon Cline: [00:03:51] It’s fascinating to me how, because I’ve written some music as well and, um, some lullaby songs actually. And so. Um, back in 2007. Like there’s an album out there. It’s not under my name that I use right now. Just so, just so you know, but I had an idea for songs when I would hear the melody and, but it would turn out to be something different as I wrote it, which is so interesting because it’s almost like it writes it takes a life on its own. Is that kind of what you experienced?

C.S. McKinney: [00:04:20] That’s exactly what happens. You’ll be or for me and other authors I’ve talked to, you can be sitting there writing and your characters will do stuff and you’re like, what are you doing? And they have a mind of their own. And sometimes the story goes where you don’t really expect it to go or want it to go, but I mean, that’s part of it. Stephen King says he doesn’t write anything down. He doesn’t plot out his stories. And that’s kind of what I like to do, because I have an idea of what I want to happen. Um, but that’s not always the way it goes. So I’m what they call a pantser. Like, I will just sit down and write the story. So.

Sharon Cline: [00:04:55] So you had this idea and you decided, okay, I’m really going to pursue, uh, being an author. What were the steps that you took to get to the point of being published besides writing the book? Obviously.

C.S. McKinney: [00:05:08] So. I had to come to a decision where and I had talked to some other authors at this time. And, you know, there’s traditional publishing and they’re self publishing. And to me, I like to be in control of everything. This is my baby. This is, you know, my thing. And they had kind of said, you know, even if you get a contract with a publisher, you’re still going to be in charge of doing most of your marketing. And I’m like, well, at that point I’m going to self publish because. This gives me ultimate control of what I want to do, and I have the final say on everything. Um, so from idea to publishing it, it’s actually kind of crazy because, you know, I can sit down and write a book in a first draft in about two and a half months. And you. That’s the easy part, honestly. The editing and the rewrites. That’s what is tough for me because a I’m not plotting everything out. So I had to go back and fix certain things.

Speaker3: [00:06:09] Um, you self edit.

C.S. McKinney: [00:06:11] So I do about probably five rounds of self editing on my own, and then I have two professional rounds of editing.

Speaker3: [00:06:17] That’s wonderful.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:18] Though. You have a nice balance there.

Speaker3: [00:06:19] Yeah.

C.S. McKinney: [00:06:20] And I mean, it’s still not perfect. I had people point out in my first book, you know, hey, you got some spelling mistakes. I’m like, well, I tried.

Speaker3: [00:06:28] Um.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:29] Good answer. Yeah, I.

Speaker3: [00:06:30] Try, I.

C.S. McKinney: [00:06:31] Mean, there’s only so much you can do when you get into 70,000 words in a book, and there’s going to be some issues. But to me, it’s always, you know, you got to concentrate on the story. The story is what sells. You know, if you can tell a good story, that’s what you’re going to rely on. That’s what people are going to want to hear.

Speaker3: [00:06:49] They’ll look over.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:50] They’ll overlook things. Yeah.

C.S. McKinney: [00:06:51] I mean, that’s that’s the basic, you know, part of like movie book, whatever. So.

Speaker3: [00:06:57] Right.

Sharon Cline: [00:06:57] So you edit, go through rounds of editing, got your professional editing and then you’ve got your final ready. Yeah.

C.S. McKinney: [00:07:04] Well, so after you get your final you have to either get somebody to um, format the inside of the book. And so all my covers are actually done by my mother. She’s a painter. Um, she’s going.

Sharon Cline: [00:07:19] To ask you that. They look, they’re perfect, though. They’re beautiful.

C.S. McKinney: [00:07:22] I love what she does. She puts a lot of detail into it. And when we started out, I the first two books were actually, um, landscapes. And they really didn’t portray, like, romance. But if you look at like Nicholas Sparks books, a lot of them are, you know, landscape type.

Speaker3: [00:07:41] It’s true.

C.S. McKinney: [00:07:41] Things, but everybody knows who he is and that type of thing. So I started kind of thinking more about it. And there was other books that have, you know, when romance like real people on them, and then you get people like Tessa Bailey, who has more character, like cartoon based, and I love that idea. I love that feel. And it’s very popular. Um, so when we did Summer coffee and then my book that’s coming out, um, hopefully late spring this year, it will be late spring this year. Uh, for 30 girl, it’s going to have a very similar feel and look. And I love that look. It really encapsulates what you’re trying to do.

Sharon Cline: [00:08:17] And your mom is making that one for you.

C.S. McKinney: [00:08:18] She just finished it.

Speaker3: [00:08:20] So yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:08:21] How exciting is this? You get to do something with your family too, you know, which is fun.

C.S. McKinney: [00:08:26] Yeah. I mean, she probably drive her crazy. I know I do.

Speaker3: [00:08:30] Um, but.

C.S. McKinney: [00:08:31] I mean, we’re both kind of, like, want want things to be perfect, and, you.

Speaker3: [00:08:35] Know.

Sharon Cline: [00:08:35] So you’ve got your artwork ready, the book ready. You’ve got to figure out the formatting. And then the next step, obviously, is actually getting the physical book in your hand. Right.

Speaker3: [00:08:47] Yeah.

C.S. McKinney: [00:08:47] So. All that comes together, and then you have a pre-sale period, which usually is like two months if you’re if you’re going to if you want to go through Amazon and all your books out at bookstores. Um, and that’s when you really want to push, I guess, sales, because anything you sell before day one during the pre-sale period counts as your day one total. So like people that are New York Times best sellers, I can’t remember what the number is, but we’ll say 10,000, 20,000, something like that. Um, to kind of get in that status, if you can sell that many during pre-sale period, it doesn’t have to be like that first week. It the pre-sale period counts.

Speaker3: [00:09:26] So that’s interesting.

Sharon Cline: [00:09:27] I didn’t know.

Speaker3: [00:09:27] That. Yeah.

C.S. McKinney: [00:09:28] It’s it’s nice.

Speaker3: [00:09:31] Um, it’s like.

Sharon Cline: [00:09:32] An analytic that is slightly misleading a little bit. Yeah, I guess, but at the same time, that’s the way they do it. So everyone in the industry must know that’s what that number means.

Speaker3: [00:09:41] Everybody got it.

Sharon Cline: [00:09:42] Um, okay. Wow. All right. So in terms of the genre, did you always know it was going to be romance that you were going for?

Speaker3: [00:09:51] No.

C.S. McKinney: [00:09:51] So the first book I wrote, if and only if, um, I just really wanted to write a book and I wanted to write whatever I wanted. And it was, you know, being a math major if and only if it’s actually a math statement. And it had my editor told me, first off, they’re like, you got to get rid of some of this stuff because it’s just too much. But like, there’s other books out there about people, um, that talk a lot about science, women in science and stuff like that. Um, but I did take a lot of it out. And after doing that and kind of getting into it, I then I realized I’m like, this is a romance. I’m writing romance. That’s what I’m doing. Um, so it.

Sharon Cline: [00:10:33] Just naturally.

Speaker3: [00:10:34] Happened. Yeah, yeah.

C.S. McKinney: [00:10:35] I mean, the other thing, I love mysteries, but in for 30 girls actually going to be a romance mystery.

Sharon Cline: [00:10:43] Oh my gosh. Exciting.

Speaker3: [00:10:44] Yeah.

C.S. McKinney: [00:10:44] So I’ve always been a fan of, like, those types of stories or Teagarden, um, type books. So.

Sharon Cline: [00:10:52] So while you’re getting into the industry and you’re becoming an author, are you doing research as well at on what is the most popular way for books to sell? I don’t I don’t know, I guess if I were because I have a book idea in my head. So I’ve always wanted to pursue this. And so I guess I’m asking, um, is that because that’s what I would think I would have to do in order to really market it?

Speaker3: [00:11:15] Well, yeah.

C.S. McKinney: [00:11:16] So I’ve watched a lot of stuff trying to figure that out and read a lot of stuff. Um, Kim Chance has a YouTube video channel, and her stuff is really good for authors that are starting because you can sit there and watch hours of stuff. Um, and she can go through a lot of, of. Any topic that you really want to know about. Marketing to me though, is like really difficult because there’s always something new. There’s always, oh, this is popular and you don’t really know what to do. Like, do you do TikToks? Do you do Instagram and you can chase your tail day in and day out? And I did that. I, I was like, I’m going to go and focus on Instagram really hard, got burnt out on it and actually stepped away from it for, you know, a long time because of that.

Speaker3: [00:12:02] Well, it feels like.

Sharon Cline: [00:12:03] It’s 24 over seven. You can never relax. That’s always the way I feel with social media.

Speaker3: [00:12:07] Yeah.

C.S. McKinney: [00:12:07] And I think the thing people miss is you need to be persistent, but you need to be persistent with your writing. If it’s taking you two years to put out a book, people are going to forget about what you’re doing. You know, most authors are putting one out a year, and that’s pretty good. I feel like like that’s a good thing. But then you have some that are putting out for a year, and those are the people that are getting a lot of attention.

Speaker3: [00:12:29] So the.

Sharon Cline: [00:12:30] Tessa Bailey’s of.

Speaker3: [00:12:31] The world.

Sharon Cline: [00:12:31] Yeah, I’m a I’m a fan of hers too, I love her.

Speaker3: [00:12:34] Oh, yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:12:35] So, um, as you’ve, um, come up with another book idea, um, because of the first book, you said there are more characters. There’s another story here. You’re finding that they’re kind of almost leading you on a path.

C.S. McKinney: [00:12:49] Yeah. So with the first two books, it was kind of like, okay, there’s more to the story. So I wrote a second one and I had a third one, and I have the third one in my head. But in that book, you know, she’s going to get married and like, I’m not married. So like, that is going to be really difficult for me to write because I don’t have any experience with that at all. But at the same time, I really want to write that and have that challenge. But what happened was, is summer coffee. That story came to my head and I was like, okay, I just got to write this book because it’s it’s here, like, let’s just do it. And then for 30, girl came. So it’s you don’t always get to pick what you write.

Speaker3: [00:13:33] It’s just. Which is.

Sharon Cline: [00:13:33] Fascinating, isn’t.

Speaker3: [00:13:34] It? It is because it’s interesting.

C.S. McKinney: [00:13:36] It’s not like Summer coffee started out as a short story. I wrote three chapters and I was like, okay, you know, this is just a cute little story. And I was like, no.

Speaker3: [00:13:47] There’s more.

Sharon Cline: [00:13:49] Do you feel like you’re haunted by these characters? You know, like, do they kind of stay in your head and develop as you’re doing other things?

C.S. McKinney: [00:13:56] Um. More like taunting, like.

Sharon Cline: [00:14:01] Not haunting, but taunting.

C.S. McKinney: [00:14:03] Taunting. Yeah, because with the first book series, um, like, my mom’s always like, when are you going to write that third book? And I’m like, I don’t know, like it’s just got to be there and it’s not fully developed in my head. Like, I know what I want to happen exactly, but it’s far like I’ve tried writing it and I’ve gotten like 5000 words in and just had to put it down because it wasn’t where it needed to be. So yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:14:27] It’s fascinating to, to me that the there’s the thought process that I’ve seen in movies where there’s a writer, you know, sitting in front of the typewriter and just kind of like, no ideas sitting there waiting. And I’m wondering how accurate that really is.

C.S. McKinney: [00:14:43] Um, yeah, there’s some truth to that. I had to have that, like, spark of inspiration, um, that general like even just like a one liner idea that comes to mind. And then it’s like Steven, it’s like Stephen King says, the good ideas stay with you. So if it’s a story idea, that just kind of is like comes and goes, it’s probably not going to be something that you want to stick with. But if it’s something that really goes with you. Um, wakes you up in the middle of the night, that’s probably what you want to go with. And. What was the second part of that question?

Speaker3: [00:15:16] I don’t even.

Sharon Cline: [00:15:16] Remember having no oh, having.

Speaker3: [00:15:18] No oh.

C.S. McKinney: [00:15:18] Not being able to write.

Speaker3: [00:15:19] Yes.

C.S. McKinney: [00:15:19] So whenever I, whenever like you asked me before, like, you know, getting into writing, when I started, I dedicated an hour a day after work. I’d sit down at my computer, I had an office chair, and then I had my laptop separate, so I’d go to a different room and set a different table, and I would work for an hour every day. Um. And usually, you know, I could do a thousand words in an hour if I was. Things were flowing. Sometimes it’s not that way. Sometimes you don’t write anything in that hour. Um, but you had to try. And once you start, like, even if it’s not that great for the first paragraph or two, once you start, your mind starts to kick in and and starts to become creative. So you have to sit there for a little while. Don’t look at your phone, don’t look at Facebook, you know, sit there and really try to concentrate.

Speaker3: [00:16:08] So discipline.

C.S. McKinney: [00:16:09] Yeah, it’s you got to get the distractions out of your head.

Sharon Cline: [00:16:13] That’s so challenging these days.

Speaker3: [00:16:14] Isn’t it? Oh yeah.

C.S. McKinney: [00:16:15] I like to do it first thing in the morning though. Like if you can do it, wake up, not be sleepy. Like get a good night’s sleep in the first hours of the day. That’s prime time for me.

Sharon Cline: [00:16:26] Interesting. I wonder how it’s different for different people. You know, nighttime could be someone’s or in the middle of the night when they’re having an idea.

Speaker3: [00:16:32] Interesting. Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:16:33] It’s kind of a study on humans, too, isn’t it? How our brains work.

C.S. McKinney: [00:16:38] Oh, yeah. I mean, there’s no telling what some people do. Some people could probably write all day. I can’t like you. I think the most I’ve ever written in a day is, like 5000 words. And that’s a lot for me.

Speaker3: [00:16:50] And and plenty and plenty.

C.S. McKinney: [00:16:53] But, you know, I can’t do that every day.

Sharon Cline: [00:16:56] Do you feel like these characters are are real, just real people in your mind?

Speaker3: [00:17:01] Um, because, yeah, I.

Sharon Cline: [00:17:03] Think that they are. When I read a book, I sort of feel like I’ve visited with other.

Speaker3: [00:17:07] People, I.

C.S. McKinney: [00:17:08] Guess. Yes, more so in the fact for me, when I’m writing them, like they’re an extension of me, like there’s a little bit of me and probably every character in some sense. I mean, they’re coming from my imagination. Um, even if they’re like a bad character, like, I don’t know, like there’s, there’s still coming from my mind. So, like, they feel real. It’s like a dream.

Sharon Cline: [00:17:30] Does it feel almost cathartic to get in the mind of a character that’s doing nefarious things?

Speaker3: [00:17:37] Um, or.

Sharon Cline: [00:17:38] You know, what is it like to to try on different personalities?

C.S. McKinney: [00:17:42] Yeah. So, like when I was writing Summer coffee, um, when I write a first draft, I write whatever comes to mind. And it had a very dark ending, and my beta reader came back and they’re like, you can’t write this. And, uh, I was like, well, I did, you know, I was very offensive about it. And but I took a step back and I was like, you’re right, I can’t write this. Like, this is terrible. Um. So I went back and rewrote it and it was way better this way. Like I was able to convey the same message. And that’s one of the things you have to realize with writing is you can want to say something and you can be like, oh my gosh, like, nobody can ever read this, but you can reword it and get the same messages across and not be as, uh, I don’t know, like it drastic, right?

Sharon Cline: [00:18:29] Maybe it’s more palatable for people to read it and enjoy it as opposed to something dramatic. Yeah. Or dark.

Speaker3: [00:18:36] Yeah. Interesting.

Sharon Cline: [00:18:38] Well, I mean, we’re thinking romance novels. Of course, there’s love and hate and all of those things that are mixed in. But somehow, in my mind, I assume that everyone’s happy in the end.

Speaker3: [00:18:51] Yeah. I mean.

Sharon Cline: [00:18:53] I’m such a romantic just listening to myself say that, but it’s true. Yeah.

C.S. McKinney: [00:18:57] And a lot of times, like a reoccurring theme in a lot of my books is abuse.

Speaker3: [00:19:02] And that you.

Sharon Cline: [00:19:04] Had written on your, um, website, which I loved because it’s, it’s got links to all of the different ways to get in contact with you and also to your books. But you say you write about the unspoken and sometimes off putting aspects of dating and romance. Yeah. So how would you explain that to people who aren’t familiar with your work?

C.S. McKinney: [00:19:21] So I in the first book I wrote, um, one of the girls, uh, she doesn’t know she’s pregnant or not. And she doesn’t tell her mom or dad, but she eventually mentions it to her mom. And I had an older lady read the book and she was like, I would never be able to have that kind of conversation with my mother. And I was like, well, yeah, that would be scary for anybody. And obviously I’m not a girl, so I haven’t had that kind of, you know, that’s not something I would be having a conversation anyhow. But, um. Getting in that mindset and trying to figure out what is going through somebody’s mind and doing that is a challenge to to pin it down, right? Um, but yeah, like, I feel like there’s a lot of taboo topics that we don’t talk about where. And then there’s a lot of them that we do talk about that maybe aren’t beneficial.

Speaker3: [00:20:14] Um, almost.

Sharon Cline: [00:20:15] Um, um, what do they call it where it’s gratuitous, like it’s not necessary to have such drama. Um, it’s not meant to teach a lesson. It’s just to be there, to be dramatic.

Speaker3: [00:20:26] But. Yeah.

C.S. McKinney: [00:20:27] And like, sex, for example, is is, you know, a part of romance. And I feel like we talk about that topic in certain ways that are very vulgar. Um, whereas maybe like. More learning type instances is what we should be focusing on, and that’s what I like to do in my books a lot of times is present situations that are maybe not the best, um, to kind of maybe help somebody realize that, like, okay, I’m not the only one going through this or you know, what to do in those situations or what’s possible.

Sharon Cline: [00:21:00] How did you decide how graphic you were going to be?

C.S. McKinney: [00:21:02] Well, um, so I do not I, I try not to get graphic. Um, I don’t use curse words. I have not so far. I don’t plan on it, uh, for two reasons. My parents do read my books.

Sharon Cline: [00:21:19] Uh, yeah. How uncomfortable. Right. Yeah.

Speaker3: [00:21:22] And, I.

C.S. McKinney: [00:21:22] Mean, there have been times where, like, I like it would have been perfect to, like, write a certain slang slur or whatever. Um, but I do challenge myself to be more, um, artistic with my words. Um, like I said, you can write something and make it say the same thing. Um. Like in 1 in 1 part. This girl walks out on this guy like he’s he’s been terrible to her. He’s whatever. And she’s just walks out the door and says, forget you and slams the door. You know exactly what I’m trying to say there, but I use a different word and like get the same point, the same feeling across.

Sharon Cline: [00:21:59] Was that conscious decision then?

Speaker3: [00:22:02] What do you mean.

Sharon Cline: [00:22:03] To to be to limit how graphic you were going to be with even words or describing scenes?

Speaker3: [00:22:10] Um, yeah.

C.S. McKinney: [00:22:11] I mean, I was very conscious of what I was doing. Um, and like I said, like I describe. If I do get kind of graphic it’s purposeful. Mhm. Um, is to paint the scene the way it needs to be or there’s no real other way to do it. It’s just not like I’m, I’m trying to be, uh, smutty I guess.

Speaker3: [00:22:33] Um, because.

C.S. McKinney: [00:22:34] That’s not really what I’m striving for.

Sharon Cline: [00:22:36] I have, I’ve recorded many, um, romance books, um, on audible, and I never quite know because I don’t read the whole book. I’ll just get the general idea of the book, and I never quite know how graphic it’s going to be. And sometimes I’m just like, all right, just, you know, no guy would ever say this, but I’m just going to say it, you know? So it’s interesting because I prefer not. Saying all of it’s just a personal preference, but I get why a lot of people really like it here in the South. I’m wondering too, do you feel like people who know you, you wouldn’t want them to read these words?

C.S. McKinney: [00:23:16] Um, yeah.

Speaker3: [00:23:17] I mean, because I don’t.

Sharon Cline: [00:23:18] Want people to hear me saying those things either. That. No. Me. Yeah. What I’m trying to say.

Speaker3: [00:23:22] I guess, like.

C.S. McKinney: [00:23:24] To me, the rule is I want it to feel real. So if it feels real and it fits, then I would be fine with it. If it doesn’t, then I need to reconsider what I’m doing. Um, because, I mean, fairy tales are great. I love a happy ending. I’ll watch hallmark, you know, no shame here. Um, but for me, for my personal writing. Like, I want it to feel real. I want it to be like that first love experience, that college romance, whatever it may be. I want it to feel like that.

Sharon Cline: [00:23:54] I like to that you use some of the one of your books has to do with with running and and you are a fitness person. So I like that you incorporate different things that are of interest to you.

C.S. McKinney: [00:24:05] Yeah. So apparently like sports romance are real popular right now. So I’m waiting for that to kind of, uh, catch back up because that one’s from I published it in 2020 right before the pandemic. So like, um, but anyhow, yeah, like I tie in, like I ran in college, and that was a big inspiration for that book. Um. And like any kind of team sport and especially a coed team sport, you’re going to see those enter those relationships on the team.

Speaker3: [00:24:33] So.

Sharon Cline: [00:24:34] What have you learned about yourself that has surprised you as you’ve become an author?

C.S. McKinney: [00:24:41] Um. So like, I could probably like the amount that I have to read versus like, if you’d have told me when I was in high school that I was going to write, which a lot of people think, oh, you’re writing. So you’re, you know, that’s not reading. Oh, when you’re editing your book five times yourself, you’re doing a lot of reading. Um, and I’ve always been a slow reader, so like, but when you’re trying to edit something that’s perfect, so it gives you that ability to go back and, and really think about what’s being said, um, type deal.

Sharon Cline: [00:25:12] So knowing that you really didn’t like reading like in high school, but now you read all the time.

C.S. McKinney: [00:25:17] All the time. Um, yeah, I guess I guess that’s it. Because, like. Is just not something I would have pictured. That’s I majored in math to avoid reading.

Speaker3: [00:25:28] This, to be honest.

Sharon Cline: [00:25:28] What is the irony there? Yeah.

Speaker3: [00:25:31] But I mean.

C.S. McKinney: [00:25:32] That’s and that’s what part of it you need to play. Sometimes you have to play into your weaknesses and that’s where you can really grow. I’ve done it in a couple of different ways. Um, like I do triathlons. And swimming used to be something I never wanted to do. But you can’t do a triathlon without swimming. And finally I got to where I loved it.

Sharon Cline: [00:25:52] Interesting. I love that lesson. Just leaning into something that you don’t love. I think I am a avoidant in that way.

C.S. McKinney: [00:26:02] Yeah, I mean, but I mean, it’s something you just try and like knowing because I guess it’s like ignorance is bliss. Like you don’t know what’s really going to happen with it. And like if you don’t succeed in it, you really no harm, no foul because you didn’t really want to anyhow.

Speaker3: [00:26:18] Um, so if you but if.

Sharon Cline: [00:26:19] You like, your heart wasn’t in it. You weren’t didn’t lose a whole lot.

C.S. McKinney: [00:26:22] Well, just like, you know, if that wasn’t what you thought, it’s not like, oh, I’m going to be this great, I’m going to be a lawyer and do this, and then you don’t. Then you’re kind of heartbroken. But if you try something that you don’t really like and then you’re successful at it, like, that’s huge, because then you, you really get into this new perspective of learning about yourself.

Sharon Cline: [00:26:42] Like a surprise.

Speaker3: [00:26:43] Yeah, a happy accident. A happy accident. Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:26:47] So you’ve got your books and now promotion marketing comes. And I love that you have had lots of different book signings all around the area. I love it. It’s like to me, so smart that you’ve gone to different coffee shops. Um, it’s a perfect marriage, I think.

Speaker3: [00:27:05] Yeah.

C.S. McKinney: [00:27:06] I love getting out and like doing that. A lot of authors may be kind of introverted. Introverted, um, and like, if you meet me on the street and I don’t know, you, like, it’s hard for me to start a conversation. But once I get started, I get really comfortable and I can talk, um, and coffee shops, like, summer coffee. Like, that was a perfect thing that I wanted to do at a coffee shop. But even before then, I had been to other coffee shops and it just made sense. Like, people love to drink coffee and read a book, you know, and it was just relaxing and and welcoming. So.

Sharon Cline: [00:27:40] So you just called them and said, I’m a local author, I have a book. Can I please set up shop?

Speaker3: [00:27:44] Yeah.

C.S. McKinney: [00:27:45] And like, we make, you know, it’s a double promotion. Like I promote them, they promote me. Um, win win, you know, type type of deal.

Speaker3: [00:27:54] So perfect. Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:27:56] And you have shirts?

Speaker3: [00:27:58] Yep.

C.S. McKinney: [00:27:59] So I have, uh, shirts, uh, Yetis, which I know Stanley’s are like the thing now.

Sharon Cline: [00:28:04] But it’ll swing.

Speaker3: [00:28:05] Back to you. Live and learn. Right.

Sharon Cline: [00:28:08] So you’ve got merch, though. That’s so cool.

Speaker3: [00:28:10] Yeah.

C.S. McKinney: [00:28:10] And for me, like, when I, when I look at merchandise, like, my shirts are, uh, comfort colors. So when I was trying to decide on all that, my sister was teaching high school, and I asked her, I was like, what do what does everybody wear? And she’s like, comfort colors. I’m like, what is that? Um, but after I failed them, they’re like super comfortable, like great fit type shirts. So like, I really wanted to align my products with like, quality. And that’s the reason I had the Yetis, you know, because with the coffee themes and stuff, like, I wanted something like that. Um, and when I released 430, girl, I’ve gotten, um, like, stickers and pins and stuff that I’m going to go out with preorders. So like.

Speaker3: [00:28:52] You know, when.

Sharon Cline: [00:28:53] You research how to even get this merch going, where did you go? Did you just Google.

C.S. McKinney: [00:29:00] Um. Like for the shirts and stuff? Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:29:04] Like, if someone wants to do the same thing, is that kind of just the great. That’s what I do. Generally, if I’m looking to do something that’s not my normal, I just Google, how do you do this? So is that what you did as well?

Speaker3: [00:29:14] Um.

C.S. McKinney: [00:29:16] I don’t I don’t know, like so for the shirts I had had a buddy. He hosts a race every year and he had used custom ink. And I know there’s a lot of, like, local, you know, places to do things. And I would definitely recommend checking those out. Um, so like but that was the exposure I had. That’s what I had experience with. And I knew what kind of quality you could get because, you know, like I said, I’m obsessed with quality being good. That’s the reason I chose the publisher that I chose, um, type thing. So but like as far as, like figuring out designs and stuff that is trial and error.

Sharon Cline: [00:29:52] Like interesting. Yeah, I love that because it’s not like you had it so easy. It’s just kind of all unfolded for you. You actually kind of struggled, which is important for people to know. It doesn’t have to be easy. You just keep doing it.

C.S. McKinney: [00:30:03] Yeah, I’m actually rebranding right now for because when I wrote my, uh, what I call the if series, which is the first two books if and only if and a ring within a field, my logo was if only so not like, you know, like, what if I done this? What if I done that? It was like, if only I had done this, or if only I’d done that. And I put a leaf in there for the symbol, because leafs represent change the different seasons. And that’s what the books were an orange book, a green book. And then the third one was going to be another color to represent the changing of the leaves, um, which is growth in romance. But when I started writing outside of that series, I decided that I needed to do something a little different. So my new rebrand is believing in, uh, believing in magic, believing in romance, one book at a time. Um, because I feel like, you know, even in today’s society, there’s a lot of relationships that aren’t good, um, are abusive or, you know, whatever. And I really believe romance is not dead. Like you have to work at it to make it be something. Um, but it’s the pure is a pure form of love that we forget. And that’s what my books are for. That’s why I write, is to remind people that there is romance out there.

Sharon Cline: [00:31:17] Do you think people make it too sensational? What you’re saying is like it can be small and attainable. It doesn’t have to be this big, grand gestures of everything.

Speaker3: [00:31:26] Right?

C.S. McKinney: [00:31:26] And I, I think sometimes even the simpler stuff is better. Um. That’s just part of it. Like you had to know who you were with and and what they expect and be a team about it. So.

Sharon Cline: [00:31:43] I think it’s interesting that you’re writing a book about a, you know, a wedding, and that’s intimidating because you haven’t had to go through that yet. So it’s like, I like you’re using your life experiences, you know, but and then yet you’re willing to go out of your normal experiences to write about.

C.S. McKinney: [00:31:58] Yeah. And I feel like even though, like I’ve not reached that point in my life, I could still write it. Um. Because every marriage is going to be different. So whatever I come up with, it may not be your story, but it’s not supposed to be.

Speaker3: [00:32:16] It’s somebody’s.

C.S. McKinney: [00:32:17] Yeah, it may relate. It may not. Um, but that’s okay.

Sharon Cline: [00:32:22] Have you been surprised by the response to your books? Because I was reading some of your reviews and they’re wonderful, and I love that you’re compared to Nicholas Sparks as well, which is so sweet and like, encouraging. But I’m thinking, um, you know, in tackling different difficult themes, have you found that that has just given a space for an audience that they’ve been lacking that.

Speaker3: [00:32:50] Um.

C.S. McKinney: [00:32:53] That’s what I’m hoping to do. Um, because a lot of times you have these mainstream books that people expect, and when you give somebody something different, they sometimes they don’t know what to do with it. Um, and I’m hoping to change that. And that’s part of the reason why I don’t write more erotica or anything like that is because I want to make I want to change the way the industry kind of works. Like, I want to have something new that you’ve not read. And a lot of times when I’m rereading my books, I’m like, oh my gosh, like, I don’t know if I can publish this because.

Speaker3: [00:33:27] Um, like.

C.S. McKinney: [00:33:28] You’ve, you’re just kind of sick of it by the time you get done with it. You’ve seen it so much. But when I go back and I look at it the story and think about the story, I’m like, no, I love this story. It’s nothing like I don’t actually read a lot of books. And people are like, well, that’s kind of misleading. And I’m like, no, a I don’t want to feel like I’m borrowing ideas from other authors. And when you when you become something a part of like a writer, like when you’ve not been in that industry your whole life and you switch over, you have a new perspective that you need to cherish and you need to foster, because it can bring a lot of different things that people have not seen. And I feel like eventually people will will get on board with that. Whatever your idea.

Speaker3: [00:34:17] Is, well, it’s.

Sharon Cline: [00:34:18] New.

Speaker3: [00:34:19] Right? It’s new.

Sharon Cline: [00:34:20] It’s not the traditional formula which I love.

Speaker3: [00:34:24] Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:34:24] Because yeah, after a while it is, uh, you know, trite, boring, interesting. You know, it’s like just this the interest is like, only for that short period that you’re reading the book. And, like, I’ve read a bunch of books that I don’t even remember everything about the story because it was just like, you know, almost like fluff. What you’re saying is something completely different and and capturing a new way to get that audience to think, yes.

C.S. McKinney: [00:34:49] Yeah, definitely.

Sharon Cline: [00:34:51] That’s exciting though, isn’t it?

Speaker3: [00:34:53] Yeah.

C.S. McKinney: [00:34:54] I mean, I like as a kid I wanted to be an inventor, like, you know, that was what I wanted to do. Um, and I never dreamed about, like, this is me inventing stories, you know, like, that’s a stretch, but.

Speaker3: [00:35:06] Um. But, I mean.

C.S. McKinney: [00:35:07] It’s what it is. You have to be creative. You have to be willing to take a chance. People say, trust the process, you know, but you just have to. You have to try.

Sharon Cline: [00:35:16] I don’t want to ask you specifically what’s kind of your difference, because I want people to read your book, you know? But kudos to you for not following the traditional formula that, you know, people will consume just because they’re always hungry for more books. Um, it’s and I like as well that you talk about quality like I, I have my standard and that says a lot about your work ethic and what you want to put into the world isn’t just, uh, like I was saying, fluff. It’s actual quality. And, um, I’m wondering how challenging it is to stick to that when you know that you could do less and still get by.

Speaker3: [00:35:57] So that’s a good question.

C.S. McKinney: [00:35:58] And I mentioned to you before the show, like me and my dad play bluegrass together. And, you know, it’s hard. Like if I wanted to pick up a country song and play it, it’s really hard because a lot of times you can’t hear the guitar like there’s. And I was listening to an interview with Josh Turner the other day and he said, you know, I wanted longevity in this, in this industry. And he’s like, what I always said is. Um, a good singer singing songs, relatable songs with real instruments and real musicians is never going to go out of style. And with writing, I feel like if you are telling relatable stories like, you know, I could write a book that about anything that I wanted and try to fit that standard. But if I’m not writing a book that I don’t particularly just love, why is there any reason anybody else is going to love it if I don’t love the book? No one else is. If I love it, at least I love it for one. But there’s billions of people in this world. Somebody else is going to love it just as much as me. I feel like like. That’s just the probability of it.

Sharon Cline: [00:37:03] We were talking before the show about the fact that fearless formula for me is an opportunity for people to come in the studio and and tell their story, and in finding themes that are very similar between all of us being valued. Um, you know, what’s your mission and what’s your why and what’s your purpose and having people identify with those feelings. Promotes empathy and compassion and makes the world not seem like everyone’s a stranger, I guess. And I think that’s kind of what you’re doing as well, is your goal is to, uh, be identifiable to someone because there are only so many varieties of people, right? Only so many ways to experience love, I imagine. But finding the theme, the personality traits that you know exist out there and will hit the right person just right is very motivating.

Speaker3: [00:37:56] Yeah.

C.S. McKinney: [00:37:56] And one thing I would say about that is one of the things I’ve learned when.

Speaker3: [00:38:00] You.

C.S. McKinney: [00:38:02] Are writing books, you tend to think like, oh, I think this type of person or this person will love this book, and most of the time it’s people you never would expect to be like, oh my goodness. Like, I really love the story. Like, I wouldn’t have thought that you would enjoy this. So you don’t know, like who’s going to love it, who’s not going to love it? And even if somebody doesn’t love it, you know, you, it’s really hard. But you have to not focus on negative criticism.

Sharon Cline: [00:38:28] That’s a huge lesson isn’t it?

C.S. McKinney: [00:38:29] Oh my goodness. It’s terrible. Like if you can’t handle reviews, don’t ask.

Speaker3: [00:38:34] Ask for them because.

C.S. McKinney: [00:38:35] People will give you their honest opinion.

Speaker3: [00:38:38] Um oof yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:38:39] So how do you deal with that? Do you just not look?

Speaker3: [00:38:44] No.

C.S. McKinney: [00:38:45] I want to know what people say. I like to know what people say. I like to know what people are thinking. If I could read minds, that would be my superpower. That are that are flying. But, you know, whichever.

Speaker3: [00:38:55] Um, I don’t.

C.S. McKinney: [00:38:57] Know. It’s a lot of people, like, even with the editor, like I was told before, I got my first edit back, like, oh, you may cry, but I don’t cry. Like when I get upset about something. Like, I actually get mad. Like I’m like, oh, this is my baby. Like, it’s perfect the way it is. Um, and you really just had to take a step back.

Sharon Cline: [00:39:17] How do you. It’s like a humbling thing, isn’t it?

Speaker3: [00:39:20] Yeah.

C.S. McKinney: [00:39:21] I mean, let’s just be honest. I got my last edit back, and there was, um, it’s 65,000 words and there was 5000 corrections, which a lot of those were like comma splices and, you know, stuff like that. But. I’m not educated enough in grammar to know all those details. Um, but you had to have that kind of structural critique to polish a book, so.

Sharon Cline: [00:39:49] Man, that’s tough.

Speaker3: [00:39:51] Yeah.

C.S. McKinney: [00:39:51] But as far as, like, reviewers or people that are just are negative, you just have to separate yourself. Um, no one’s going to care about your book as much as you do. And that’s a hard lesson I had to learn. My sister told me that in a very blunt manner.

Speaker3: [00:40:06] Um, but.

C.S. McKinney: [00:40:08] And I finally, after I, um, calmed down about, like, you know, being offended.

Speaker3: [00:40:13] Um.

C.S. McKinney: [00:40:14] I was like, okay, well, that’s that’s what I need to do is I need to focus on. Making these books one at a time and being persistent.

Sharon Cline: [00:40:24] Which makes your romance books one at a time match so well, it makes sense too. It’s not like you’re trying to change the world here. You’re just doing one book at a time.

C.S. McKinney: [00:40:35] No, and I think that’s the hard thing about being an author in like, your own relationships is you have to be you have to surround your people, yourself with people that are, um, understanding of you’re trying to build something. You’re not trying to be a shooting star that burns out in two seconds. You know, the quicker you rise, the the quicker you fall. We’re slow. Risers are going to slow burn out, you know.

Sharon Cline: [00:41:03] What would you like to see your career be like? Where would you like to go? What’s your dream if you have a bigger dream?

C.S. McKinney: [00:41:11] Um, obviously like just having more books, but like, I really my ultimate like, all this would be amazing. And I was trying to think of this because I figured, like, you had asked me this question. Um, and she didn’t give me these questions before, but I told her, like, that’s perfect. I like being on the spot.

Speaker3: [00:41:27] Um, me.

Sharon Cline: [00:41:28] Too.

C.S. McKinney: [00:41:28] But if I had a book that got to be a movie, and then they were like, hey, we want to do an opening night in your hometown at the theater. That would be the best feeling ever. I feel like as far as, like a writing career, because then you get to invite everybody to come out and watch this movie, you know?

Sharon Cline: [00:41:46] Oh my gosh, I would love to see that happen for you. Especially because you’ve had family here for generation after generation, you know? Yeah.

C.S. McKinney: [00:41:53] But I mean, and even just like the local theater in canton, you know, I went there in high school all the time. Middle school. So to come back to something like that and have a movie would be phenomenal.

Sharon Cline: [00:42:05] Ah, I would love to see that happen for you. I mean, it’s exciting because like I was saying, there aren’t as many natives here. There just aren’t. And so to focus on local talent, which I love, but also to focus on someone who’s lived their here their whole life. How many times have I passed you and I’ve never noticed or wouldn’t have appreciated the journey that you’ve been on and the things that you’ve learned along the way? Um, I’m grateful to have this opportunity to talk to you about it. So thank you for coming into the studio.

C.S. McKinney: [00:42:36] I’m glad to be here. This is this is great.

Sharon Cline: [00:42:38] Well, I, I have one quick question for you. Last one. So if you were talking to people who have an idea for a book and you would like to give them some words of encouragement or something that you wish someone had told you before you started your journey, what would that be?

Speaker3: [00:42:55] Um, as far as.

C.S. McKinney: [00:42:56] Words of encouragement, like an hour a day, like just sit down. Even if you don’t get anything done, dedicate an hour a day. You know, if it’s your dream and it means that much to you. You know, I never had bet on myself before this. It was always what’s the logical next step? And that never played out. Like I tried to go down every path but this path. And for six years I fought against it until the timing was right. Um, so, I mean, like, that’s. And as far as, like what somebody would have told me, I don’t know if anybody could prepare you for something like this. Um, you know, ignorance is bliss. Be in it. Be ready to be in it for the long haul, because it could take you a year to get to where you want to be. It could take you years. And I feel like as long as you’re committed to say, hey, if it takes ten years, it takes ten years, that’s fine.

Sharon Cline: [00:43:45] So I love that you’re managing expectations. You know?

Speaker3: [00:43:51] Yeah. I mean.

C.S. McKinney: [00:43:51] You got to be flexible. You got to be. And you said, why you do stuff? I somebody asked me like, why do you write? And I really couldn’t answer that honestly. And that’s when I came up with this new slogan is because I believe in true love. Like, I believe, you know, I’m hopeless romantic, whatever you want to call it. But that’s why I write, to get those emotions or feelings or whatever out there.

Sharon Cline: [00:44:13] So someone wanted to know more about you or your and your books. Where could they get in touch with you?

Speaker3: [00:44:20] Yeah.

C.S. McKinney: [00:44:20] So my website is CS mckinney.com. Um, and it has links to the Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and those are all CS McKinney author or at CS McKinney author. Um, and there’s, you know, book trailers on there.

Sharon Cline: [00:44:35] I love that you have them. That is so cool. Who did them for you?

Speaker3: [00:44:39] Um, I.

C.S. McKinney: [00:44:40] Just went on.

Speaker3: [00:44:40] Fiverr.

Sharon Cline: [00:44:41] Oh, wow. That’s amazing. Yeah. See, there it is. That’s what people can do. Yeah. That’s a that’s a resource.

Speaker3: [00:44:47] And you can see all those.

C.S. McKinney: [00:44:47] There’s a link to the YouTube channel that has all those trailers on there. And there’s videos of me and dad playing music.

Sharon Cline: [00:44:54] Where do you play, by the way?

C.S. McKinney: [00:44:56] Um, there’s a place in Suwanee called Everett’s Music Barn. It’s been there since, like, uh, 60s. Um, and we play there from time to time.

Speaker3: [00:45:05] Oh, good to know.

Sharon Cline: [00:45:06] So if someone wanted to come out and see you. Yeah.

C.S. McKinney: [00:45:08] And they’re open every Saturday night.

Speaker3: [00:45:10] So that’s awesome. Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:45:13] Well, I can’t thank you enough for coming into the studio. It was sort of last minute that I contacted you, but I appreciate your being willing to come and tell me everything about what it’s like to be you. And you’re so generous with your words. Thank you.

Speaker3: [00:45:26] Yeah.

C.S. McKinney: [00:45:26] Thank you for having me. And I really appreciate it. This has been.

Speaker3: [00:45:29] Fun. Yay!

Sharon Cline: [00:45:30] Well, also, thank you all for listening to Fearless Formula on Business RadioX. And again, this is Sharon Cline reminding you with knowledge and understanding we can all have our own fearless formula. Have a great day!