About Courtney Konstantin

As a child, Courtney always had aspirations of being a writer. She participated in journalism in school. At home, she wrote short stories, poetry and filled diary pages. Somewhere along the line becoming an adult took priority over her writing and she went to work in business operations.

Now as a mother to three beautiful children, she tells them all the time to follow their dreams, be whatever they want. Those lessons reminded her how much she loved writing. She finally opened the door to making writing a real priority in her life.

Living outside of Portland, Oregon she loves the green and beauty Oregon offers. When she’s not matching wits with her children, her crazy Siberian Husky or her bi-polar cats, she enjoys binge reading, hikes, and touring wineries. Courtney and her husband, the love of her life, enjoy traveling the world whenever they can get a free moment. And cruises….she loves cruising. She’s especially fond of life,

Courtney and her husband, the love of her life, enjoy traveling the world whenever they can get a free moment. And cruises….she loves cruising. She’s especially fond of life, laughter, and sarcasm – and she’s excited to share all of that and more with her readers!

Courtney on her writing process

As an author, I think everyone has their own personal writing process. What works for some, isn’t going to work for others. I have found that conventional processes don’t work for me.

If I get too caught up in the planning of things, I will never actually get the writing done. So I stray [stay] away from outlines, or standard writing processes.

My Brainstorming Bestie and I spend hours texting and emailing about the stories I’m trying to tell. It’s our verbal vomit sessions. When I hit a block, I bounce stuff around to her in a message, and suddenly it’s like the story will come to life.

Getting out of the story and throwing around random ideas makes the writing lively and easier to complete. After I have the story close to complete, and I’m in editing mode, I send it off to my Editor in Chief, and she goes through it a few times, letting me know what needs changing.

Fresh eyes on the story help with any possible plot points I didn’t connect or words I just completely missed. Not to mention having the motivation to KEEP GOING.

Courtney’s writing timeline

At my age *cough* 35 *cough*, it feels like I’ve been writing for forever. Realistically, I’ve been writing since I was a teenager. I had binders full of doodles and poems about family and the love only a teenager can feel angst over. I was in

I was in yearbook and the journalism classes, wanting to write in whatever capacity I could. As my life changed over the years, I picked up and put down stories I wanted to write. I had children, and my life changed direction. Writing feels like it’s a part of my soul, so it always came back. This time I refused to allow it to fall behind other things, and I’m loving every second of my stories coming to life in front of me.

Courtney’s character development

My characters seem to come to life as I write. I know who the main characters are going to be, but sometimes their personalities change as the events in the story unfold. New characters sometimes show up, starting as small pieces of the story, but eventually turn out to be more significant. That’s the fun part of the writing, sometimes it has a mind of

New characters sometimes show up, starting as small pieces of the story, but eventually turn out to be more significant. That’s the fun part of the writing, sometimes it has a mind of its own.

Courtney’s books

Prepared is the first book in the Sundown Series. The series planned to be at least a trilogy, with an additional novella. That novella is coming next and will be about the teenagers that Alex Duncan takes under her wing. It’s going to be a quick, exciting story of survival. I have also dabbled in romantic adventure writing, so who knows….maybe there’s some of that to come!

Advice to aspiring writers

The one piece of advice I have received from authors around me is always be doing something in regards to your writing. Write, edit, promote…something every day. My goal is always to write at least 250 words a day, though I rarely only write just that. But on days I’m super busy, or stressed, or blocked, 250 words can be a challenge. I still do it, no matter how rough.

Writing as a parent 

Finding time for anything as a parent is practically impossible. So I spend nights typing in my bed, or my lunches from my full-time job, I write. But my kids are my inspiration. One of the reasons I finally made writing is

One of the reasons I finally made writing a priority is because I always tell my children,

“You can be whatever you want in this world. Anything. So find what you love, and DO IT.”

When I looked at myself, I realized I wasn’t doing that. So I wanted to be a better role model for my kids and knew writing had to be real for me, show them passion means something.

Connect with Courtney on Amazon | Facebook

Giveaway

Enter to win $25 to Amazon gift card

Title: Prepared by Courtney Konstantin
Genre: SciFi. Dystopian, Thriller
Release: September 1.

Synopsis

She thought she was prepared for the end of the world… until it actually came.

Alex Duncan is a mother, a sister— and the daughter of a doomsday prepper. She always thought her father was insane, raving about an apocalypse she never believed in, but when a plague hits the United States and the dead no longer stay dead, Alex discovers heeding her deceased father’s advice is what will keep her family alive. Before he died, Alex’s father created a compound in Montana just in case situations like this arose.

Hell has arrived on earth.

The dead walk, hungry for human flesh. Living in a highly populated city like Las Vegas makes the reality of the plague imminent to Alex. With little time to spare, Alex must make split-second decisions to prevent her family from being devoured. Facing the end, Alex has three goals.

Escape Las Vegas. Get to the compound. Survive.

As the outside world crumbles and grows darker, Alex faces adversity from not just the infected, but the uninfected as well. Government assistance is nowhere in sight, and rumors fly that the nation’s only solution to the growing plague is execution.

Not everyone will outlast the plague. Doomsday is here. Will Alex be up to the challenge, or fall, and rise again as one of the undead?

An exciting apocalyptic thriller that’s intriguing, mysterious, and horrific, Prepared is the debut novel of upcoming author Courtney Konstantin. Stay up all night to read this terrifying tale of pandemics, zombies, and government secrets by one-clicking today!

Click to read the first 2 chapters for FREE.

Click to add Prepared to your Goodreads shelf.

Click to purchase Prepared on Amazon.