We recently connected with Kathleen M. Kline and have shared our conversation below.

Kathleen M., appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

One of the most meaningful projects has been the writing and sharing of the memoir “My Life in the Dark – A Marriage Buil ton Lies”. I share how my world crumbled when I uncovered the truth about my husband and found out our marriage certificate has twelve blatant lies on it, revealing the deception that has been lurking beneath the surface of our marriage and life. Trapped in a life filled with tragic circumstances and psychological manipulation, I am forced to make gut-wrenching choices to protect myself and my children. But no matter how far I ran, my ex-husband-turned-stalker was always one step behind, a dark shadow threatening to engulf my every move. I struggled for safety and stability, as I fought to rebuild my life while safeguarding my family.

My Life In The Dark is a powerful memoir that explores the resilience of the human spirit in the face of betrayal, fear, and the relentless pursuit of a fresh start. Kathleen’s story is a testament to the strength it takes to break free from the jaws of deception and create a brighter, authentic future.

This project is important to me because I am answering the request of my creator to be brave enough to rip the bandaid off and admit that I was a victim of domestic violence as well as share my faith, share what happened and how I got out. It is written in a novel-esk form, which is to say that I put the reader in the action with me as write with a lot of dialog and internal thoughts, which I have found that many of us in this situation do as we don’t have anyone else to talk with – often. I also want to highlight that domestic violence is not just a Woman’s Health issue as men are often victims too.

Kathleen M., love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am Kathleen M. Kline. Thirty-two years ago, I started putting words on the page as a journalist in the magazine industry. I expanded to the newspaper industry (as a stringer, full-time reporter, and editor). I added a university education, in Mass Communications, in which I was able to be trained in communications, public relations, advertising, pagination and broadcasting. Since then, my writing has been published in anthologies with poems and short stories as well and sold a multitude of memoir shorts. A few years ago, I aided a magazine owner with the redesign the look of her magazine – that she still uses today, as well as be the content contributor/editor. I have three books out currently ~ (1) is a Weekly Writers Planner in which I assist others to reach their writing goal; (2) is a collection of 22 short stories “When You Only Have Time For A Quickie – Volume I”; and (3) most recently the full-length memoir ~ “My Life in the Dark – A Marriage Built on Lies”. I am a Writing Coach and Editor who moderates a couple of writers groups a week both domestically and internationally, while getting time to edit for my clients who are writing memoirs and fiction manuscripts. My in-person and online writing workshops/classes are popular and there are three-day retreats in the planning – one of later this year. I help others get what’s in their head out on the page, effectively communicate what they intend to share with others (fiction, memoirs and more) as I put a fresh set of eyes on writers works. It is my honor to help others process their trauma through writing.
While coaching I’ve walked clients through the online publishing steps too. I have a writer’s blog – KathleensDragonflyDesk.WordPress.com and my website – DragonflyEditingAndPublishing.com.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Over 33 years, there have been many changes in my business. I started writing articles to explain the slice of the horse industry my husband and I trained and showed in. This writing started with me not being formally trained in journalism. I also sold ads to pay for my advertising. We moved a lot; I got jobs wherever we were to help with advertising and income. Then I added my university education in writing, editing, pagination, design, advertising, public relations and broadcasting. I did this because my husband got injured and I knew I needed to do my part to bring income into the family and provide for our kids, but I had to become a professional at what I liked to do. Then I found I needed to pivot as the safety of my children and myself became paramount.
The editing of term papers and articles morphed into editing other writers’ manuscripts. I pivoted again and worked at newspapers as a paginator – someone who sets articles to pages – still finding places to sell articles too as a freelancer. The chances arose to write short stories – fiction and nonfiction – selling some and winning top honors in some contests.
Life threw me a couple of large curve balls and I moved again. I took a job at a newspaper, full-time as a reporter and then in the advertising department. I was still writing and selling articles to other publications.
I decided it was time to write a book and then another came to mind. I took a part-time job as an editor and did a redesign of a magazine, because that is what the client needed and desired. As I encourage writers to write, I decided to create, design, and publish a planner offering it for sale. Then during COVID shutdown I compiled short stories I’d been writing for years into a fiction book and published that. All while meeting my client’s needs as a writing coach, developmental editor, line editor, moderator of a writing group in my neighborhood (that has expanded across the United States and into Canada) weekly. This is to say I started out as a developmental editor for other authors and then as the need seemed to have changed I became a writing coach for writers.
I learned that meeting the needs of writers was a blessing in my business.
I started offering in-person and online workshops for both fiction and nonfiction aspiring writers. I was asked to take over hosting an international aspiring memoir writers’ group and over the last couple of years this has led to helping writers edit their manuscripts, helping with the design of their covers, guide them to self-publishing as well as aide others with seeking traditional publishing. And now I am prepping to offer a three-day writing retreat where writers will be taught, coached, and encouraged to write through their trauma. But this is without overlooking the independent publishing of my three current books, writing another memoir and bringing back out a how-to and promoting the release of my current memoir – doing podcast interviews and more.
You see, as an author I have a responsibility to my product – the book. And promote the different books including the helpful message I am promoting about getting out of domestic violence relationships.
And continue to be a helper of other authors and aspiring authors as the needs and clients arise which has moved from three-hour classes to multiple day workshops and three-day retreats.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

My most rewarding aspect of being creative is helping others be creative while helping them realize their dream of being an author.

Contact Info:

• Website: DragonflyEditingAndPublishing.com
• Instagram: TheKathleenKline
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathleen.klinelivingston
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleen-m-kline-0b7b77b/
• Twitter: The_KathleenMKline
• Other: TikTok: KathleenKline000 @KathleenMKline Author Website: KathleensDragonflyDesk.WordPress Business Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DragonflyEditingAndPublishing

Image Credits
This is a Courtesy photo, No photo Credit.