A Novice To Watch: Meet Kaily Hart!!!

Welcome to another installment of A NOVICE TO WATCH!!

Today's novice writer is the super sexy and witty KAILY HART!

A click on over to Kaily Hart, Writer, is a sure-to-please adventure. Kaily injects a delicious dollop of her zany and sassy voice into every post. Whether the topic is about life or writing, visitors will leave well satisfied!

Ain't no use dawdlin', let's get to the good stuff . . .


1) If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

Kaily Hart, a seemingly straight-laced mother of four left corporate America and a high-powered, lucrative career to be a stay at home mom. Ha! That lasted about four weeks, during which time she realized she had a deeply repressed dream - to write. Romance! By day, Kaily plays conservative wife and soccer mom, but at night crafts hot and steamy tales of romance and love with gorgeous heroes who wouldn’t dream of leaving the toilet set up. Ever. She’s smart and sassy, at least in her own mind, and is trying her best to bring the alpha male solidly back to contemporary romance. Two years ago she never would have thought she’d be doing this, but now that she is? It just feels so right.

BTW, this is the hardest blurb I’ve ever had to write!

(Well, you ROCKED it!!)

2) Using three words, describe your voice.

You know, I’ve actually thought about this a lot. Probably way too much. When I was trying to come up with a tag on my blog, I wrote about 3 pages of notes, trying to describe my writing, stories and voice. I haven’t actually found a tag line yet that fits 100% and I keep changing it thinking eventually something will click. What did I come up with? Well, if I have to narrow it down to 3, it’d be - Edgy, hot, and snappy. Yeah, it’s not exactly earth shatteringly amazing, but I think it narrows it down well.

3) What genre do you write? Which popular author would you say comes the closest to your style?

I started off writing contemporary romance as a conscious decision. I figured at the beginning, I would have enough challenges with the craft of writing and I didn’t want to complicate it with huge amounts of necessary research or complex world building. I should know about things contemporary, right? At least that was the idea. I used to read strictly contemporary but now read romance across the genre board, gravitating toward paranormal and urban fantasy lately. I’m fairly sure I’ll end up writing these types of stories as well. I have a ‘WIP’ file bulging with ideas on this. A popular author close to my style? Are you serious? I’ve just started to get used to the idea that I might actually be able to write! I think my style is very ‘spare’. It’s action based without a lot of descriptive prose, but no way could I liken my style or writing to a popular author. Sheesh. I’m much too humble yet. I might have to get back to you on that one, or better yet, if when I’m published, perhaps someone could let me know what they think?


4) Tell us a little about your WIP(s). What kind of word count do you aim for?

I used to be a one WIP at a time gal. Now I’m just a WIP slut. Oops, can I say that word here? Anyway, these days I seem to like to share myself around. You see, I discovered the allure of the novella. It’s instant gratification for the writer. I currently have 3 things I’m actively working on while I wait on 2 submissions; one a requested full at Harlequin (Blaze) and another (a novella!) after one round of revisions for an epublisher. It’s kind of fun to flip between 3 hot heroes and it sometimes gives a story a much needed break so that I can come back to it fresh. I don’t really stress about word count so much. I mean, I don’t have daily or weekly goals, but try to set a target for the month. I was amazed at Nationals last year when Jayne Ann Krentz said her goal is 3000 words a day. Wow! One day I wrote 5000, occasionally I can write 2000, others a few hundred, some days nada. Sometimes, it’s not working at all, so I’ll work on characterization, fiddle with my blog, try to get up the nerve to post on Twitter (LOL), or do some research about the business aspects of writing. As long as I’m working to the bigger goals I’ve set, I don’t beat myself up about it too much. I do (try to) write every day though.

5) How did it feel to enter the Golden Heart? Which category and MS did you enter? Did you have the MS ready to go for opening entry day or did you sweat bullets until the deadline?

I think the Golden Heart is one of those ‘rites of passage’ things for unpublished authors. If you’re on this journey to publication, you probably should enter at least once. Of course, I don’t think it necessarily guarantees publication even if you win, and I’ve heard of writers publishing works that didn’t final. Just like all contests, it’s subjective of course, and you don’t receive any feedback apart from the scores. I entered the Contemporary Series Romance category and I’ll probably continue to do so each year. I figure if I manage to final or win (gasp!), the accolade ain't gonna hurt. Right?


6) What kind of future aspirations do you have for your writing?

Future aspirations? Gosh, that sounds so formal. The goal I have for my writing is really simple. I want to be a ‘I’ll buy any book with her name on it’ author. OK, I said simple, not easy! I figure the more specific goals - such as hitting bestseller lists, or writing single title V category, or publishing with certain houses, or selling a certain number of books - will come automatically if I can reach readers to that extent. I also have some goals that go beyond writing. I’ve been shocked to discover that romance is still looked down upon in terms of ‘viable’, ‘respectable’ fiction and still doesn’t get the respect it deserves overall (despite the hard numbers and performance of books in this genre). I’ve discovered there are still many people who think readers of romance are ugly, overweight, under-sexed, socially outcast women, unhappy with their lives (someone actually said this to me!), not to mention what they think about people who WRITE them. There is definitely a stigma in the writing industry as well. Do I care what (some) people think? I shouldn’t, but it saddens me to think people (mostly women) can’t feel they can be open about what they read or write. I would love to be a part of raising awareness for this genre and somehow add validity and weight to it . Additionally, I’d like to give back and provide value to other writers, particularly those of us working toward publication. Sarah, I really love the profiles you do on your blog and when I thought about what I could do, I immediately fantasized about being able to grill published authors about everything I ever wanted to know about how they did it. So, I thought – why the heck not? Just Published is a feature that’s actually launching on my blog today!

Sarah, thank you so much for the opportunity to be a ‘novice to watch’. I check in on your blog on a regular basis and you seriously rock this stuff! Keep up the great work, my friend. I hope one day I can return the favor and feature you on Just Published. You’ve truly been an inspiration and I’ll be a herd with you any day, anywhere!

Aw, thanks, Kaily! We'll have to think of a name for our novice herd. Oh, and definitely a theme song! Wouldn't we be a pair to draw to?! *hubba, hubba* :)

I'd like to wish Kaily the best of luck with her writing career. With her talent and drive, I know it's only a matter of time before she adds Published Author to her blurb!! If you'd like to know more about Kaily Hart and her writer's journey check out her lovely blog.

Thank you, TLN'ers! Hope your week is Fantabulous! I've got just the song to get you running on all cylinders. How about a little Conway Twitty and TIGHT FITTIN' JEANS! No one can resist a good girl goin' naughty song! Catch you back for Whip-IT Up Wednesday! TTFN!!