Oh-Da-Lolly!! We're knee-deep in luck today, TLN'ers!
The super sweet KATHARINE ASHE is visiting!!!
Katharine debuted last year with SWEPT AWAY BY A KISS and CAPTURED BY A ROGUE LORD- books one and two of her Rogues of the Sea Trilogy. Both of which were seriously fantastic reads! I enjoyed her fresh voice and unique characters. I can't wait to read her new release and final book in the series, IN THE ARMS OF A MARQUESS.
I definitely don't need a crystal ball to know that laundry will be piled sky-high and spaghetti will be the dinner de jour until I finish the book, because Katharine spins a yarn guaranteed to keep you turning pages! If you're looking for a must-read-romance to indulge in now that the kiddos are in school, grab a Katharine Ashe and be prepared to fall in love!
1) If you were a book, what would your blurb be?
A passionate romantic with a heart full of dreams finds herself trapped in the unyielding life of a history professor. When she creates an alter ego as a romance novelist writing steamy adventure stories, she falls into her own adventure headfirst.
2) Name three words that describe your voice.
Vibrant, eloquent, powerful. (I feel like Mrs. Elton in Emma saying this, but I swear that these are other people’s words. They’re on my book covers.)
3) What do you do when a scene isn't coming out the way you'd like?
Grind my teeth and ponder hard while walking my dogs. Listen to my playlist for that book. But most of all I just keep writing, deleting, writing, deleting, and writing until the scene works. When I hit a snag I can’t rest until I work it out. My mind just spins and spins on the problem until I get it right!
4) How in depth do you get into your character's heads before you start a project? Do you use flow charts? Spreadsheets? Or do you just roll with it?!
Usually my hero or heroine begins as a minor character in another book I’m writing. This happened with the heroine of IN THE ARMS OF A MARQUESS. Octavia Pierce was the younger sister of a heroine I was writing at the time, a freckled hoyden with long legs and a passionate dream of traveling. She didn’t even have to glance up from the Atlas of the World sprawled across her lap in that scene for me to know she had to have her own story. And nearly the moment I realized this, there was Lord Ben Doreé looking over my shoulder as I wrote, telling me that he would be her hero. That happened ten years ago. I had that pair in my heart and mind for eight years before I wrote their book.
Not all my heroes and heroines are with me that long before I write them, but they are always how I start a book — with the romantic dynamic between the lovers. It’s what drives every thing about the book, including other characters and the intrigue and adventure. So I suppose you could say I get pretty into their heads before I start writing. They tell me what their fears and dreams are, I figure out how that’s going to make their romance really tumultuous (the kind of story I love most), and then I figure out how they’ll grow and change as individuals, learning from one another how to be the best people they can be. One of the ways this comes most easily to me is by writing bits of pivotal emotional scenes. I don’t actively choose to do this; the scenes come to me at random. I think it’s the characters telling me to let them show me who they are by their words and actions, rather than what I imagine would be right for them. Somehow seeing them at their most emotionally intense, even for brief moments, helps me get to know them really well very quickly.
That sounds like crazy author stuff. But I think most writers understand what I mean, right ladies?
5) What would you say is your biggest challenge as a writer?
Finding unbroken hours and days to write. I have another job, and promotion takes a great deal of time as well. I work best when I have long stretches to lose myself in the story. That’s when I write best. Those days are hard to come by. But when they do come, oh how wonderful they are!
6) Unpublished to multi-pubbed: Would you have wanted "Your Writer's Journey" to have happened any other way?
I would have wanted it to happen quicker! I know now that it didn’t because my books weren’t ready. Every book I wrote between that first manuscript and my first book with Avon made me a better writer. Every workshop I attended and every great book I read during that time taught me something about what I wanted to do in my own books and what I didn’t want to do. Some writers get to the “ready” stage quickly, some more slowly. I was somewhere in the middle, but at the time it sure felt like it lasted forever!
Want to hear a story? A few years ago I was driving along a road in my little town feeling absolutely miserable about the City of Nowhere to which my writing career was swiftly traveling. I wanted to give up. I thought about calling my little sister, but I knew she’d say I couldn’t. (She’s a go-getter!) So I called my mom instead. I wept a little, sighed a lot, told her I’d never stop writing stories that I’d share with her and my sisters, but that I just didn’t have it in me to try to get published after so much rejection. Eventually I’d get back on that road, I said, but for a year maybe I wanted to just back off of the whole professional track, and that was okay, wasn’t it? I knew she’d say, “Of course, honey. Give yourself a break from those rejection letters for a while, buck up your spirits, and then you’ll be ready to face the dragon again.”
She said, “Absolutely not. Under no circumstances. You may not even pause in trying to get published.” It was like a big ole slap in the face. And she was right. A month later I found my agent, and a month after that I signed with my publisher.
Thanks, Mom.
(Wish blogger had a "Like" button! lol)
7) What's up next for you? Give us the scoop!
IN THE ARMS OF A MARQUESS is the final book in my Rogues of the Sea Trilogy. So now I’m working on a new project, The Falcon Club Series. In a desperate bid for normalcy, five secret agents of the Crown abruptly quit, but the past just won’t let them be. Book #1, WHEN A SCOT LOVES A LADY, finds a scandal-plagued London beauty and a roguish beast of a lord trapped in a tiny village during a snowstorm… and someone’s got seduction in mind. WHEN A SCOT LOVES A LADY comes out next February!
Blurb for IN THE ARMS OF A MARQUESS:
She had never forgotten him…
Miss Octavia Pierce is witty, well off, and shockingly unwed. Still, she is far too successful in society to remain on the shelf forever, and her family has hopes that Octavia will finally make the perfect match. What they do not know is that years earlier Octavia was scandalously tempted by the one man capable of sweeping her off her feet—the man now known as the Marquess of Doreé.
A third son, never meant to inherit, Lord Ben Doreé has abandoned his past and grown accustomed to his illustrious new position of wealth and power. But he has never forgotten Octavia, and now she desperately needs his help in a most dangerous, clandestine matter. Although she claims she has put the memories of the passion they shared behind her, Ben is determined to once again have her in his arms—and in his bed.
Whew-ee! Now, that's a terrific teaser! I'd like to thank Katharine for taking the time out of her busy release week schedule to let me interview her. If you'd like to know about KATHARINE ASHE and her books, please check out her website: www.katharineashe.com/
Katharine would like everyone to that for every copy sold of IN THE ARMS OF A MARQUESS through its K.I.S.S. and Teal campaign Avon Books will donate 25 cents to the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance for research and support services for families struck by this stealthy disease. Help us spread the word about the whispering symptoms of Ovarian Cancer!
What a wonderful way to support such a noble cause!
THANKS to one and all for swinging by! Hope your holiday weekend is breathtaking! I'll be stapled to my computer getting the word count out. Golden Heart deadline is crackin' on fast! TTFN and stay safe!
The super sweet KATHARINE ASHE is visiting!!!
Katharine debuted last year with SWEPT AWAY BY A KISS and CAPTURED BY A ROGUE LORD- books one and two of her Rogues of the Sea Trilogy. Both of which were seriously fantastic reads! I enjoyed her fresh voice and unique characters. I can't wait to read her new release and final book in the series, IN THE ARMS OF A MARQUESS.
I definitely don't need a crystal ball to know that laundry will be piled sky-high and spaghetti will be the dinner de jour until I finish the book, because Katharine spins a yarn guaranteed to keep you turning pages! If you're looking for a must-read-romance to indulge in now that the kiddos are in school, grab a Katharine Ashe and be prepared to fall in love!
1) If you were a book, what would your blurb be?
A passionate romantic with a heart full of dreams finds herself trapped in the unyielding life of a history professor. When she creates an alter ego as a romance novelist writing steamy adventure stories, she falls into her own adventure headfirst.
2) Name three words that describe your voice.
Vibrant, eloquent, powerful. (I feel like Mrs. Elton in Emma saying this, but I swear that these are other people’s words. They’re on my book covers.
3) What do you do when a scene isn't coming out the way you'd like?
Grind my teeth and ponder hard while walking my dogs. Listen to my playlist for that book. But most of all I just keep writing, deleting, writing, deleting, and writing until the scene works. When I hit a snag I can’t rest until I work it out. My mind just spins and spins on the problem until I get it right!
4) How in depth do you get into your character's heads before you start a project? Do you use flow charts? Spreadsheets? Or do you just roll with it?!
Usually my hero or heroine begins as a minor character in another book I’m writing. This happened with the heroine of IN THE ARMS OF A MARQUESS. Octavia Pierce was the younger sister of a heroine I was writing at the time, a freckled hoyden with long legs and a passionate dream of traveling. She didn’t even have to glance up from the Atlas of the World sprawled across her lap in that scene for me to know she had to have her own story. And nearly the moment I realized this, there was Lord Ben Doreé looking over my shoulder as I wrote, telling me that he would be her hero. That happened ten years ago. I had that pair in my heart and mind for eight years before I wrote their book.
Not all my heroes and heroines are with me that long before I write them, but they are always how I start a book — with the romantic dynamic between the lovers. It’s what drives every thing about the book, including other characters and the intrigue and adventure. So I suppose you could say I get pretty into their heads before I start writing. They tell me what their fears and dreams are, I figure out how that’s going to make their romance really tumultuous (the kind of story I love most), and then I figure out how they’ll grow and change as individuals, learning from one another how to be the best people they can be. One of the ways this comes most easily to me is by writing bits of pivotal emotional scenes. I don’t actively choose to do this; the scenes come to me at random. I think it’s the characters telling me to let them show me who they are by their words and actions, rather than what I imagine would be right for them. Somehow seeing them at their most emotionally intense, even for brief moments, helps me get to know them really well very quickly.
That sounds like crazy author stuff. But I think most writers understand what I mean, right ladies?
5) What would you say is your biggest challenge as a writer?
Finding unbroken hours and days to write. I have another job, and promotion takes a great deal of time as well. I work best when I have long stretches to lose myself in the story. That’s when I write best. Those days are hard to come by. But when they do come, oh how wonderful they are!
6) Unpublished to multi-pubbed: Would you have wanted "Your Writer's Journey" to have happened any other way?
I would have wanted it to happen quicker! I know now that it didn’t because my books weren’t ready. Every book I wrote between that first manuscript and my first book with Avon made me a better writer. Every workshop I attended and every great book I read during that time taught me something about what I wanted to do in my own books and what I didn’t want to do. Some writers get to the “ready” stage quickly, some more slowly. I was somewhere in the middle, but at the time it sure felt like it lasted forever!
Want to hear a story? A few years ago I was driving along a road in my little town feeling absolutely miserable about the City of Nowhere to which my writing career was swiftly traveling. I wanted to give up. I thought about calling my little sister, but I knew she’d say I couldn’t. (She’s a go-getter!) So I called my mom instead. I wept a little, sighed a lot, told her I’d never stop writing stories that I’d share with her and my sisters, but that I just didn’t have it in me to try to get published after so much rejection. Eventually I’d get back on that road, I said, but for a year maybe I wanted to just back off of the whole professional track, and that was okay, wasn’t it? I knew she’d say, “Of course, honey. Give yourself a break from those rejection letters for a while, buck up your spirits, and then you’ll be ready to face the dragon again.”
She said, “Absolutely not. Under no circumstances. You may not even pause in trying to get published.” It was like a big ole slap in the face. And she was right. A month later I found my agent, and a month after that I signed with my publisher.
Thanks, Mom.
(Wish blogger had a "Like" button! lol)
7) What's up next for you? Give us the scoop!
IN THE ARMS OF A MARQUESS is the final book in my Rogues of the Sea Trilogy. So now I’m working on a new project, The Falcon Club Series. In a desperate bid for normalcy, five secret agents of the Crown abruptly quit, but the past just won’t let them be. Book #1, WHEN A SCOT LOVES A LADY, finds a scandal-plagued London beauty and a roguish beast of a lord trapped in a tiny village during a snowstorm… and someone’s got seduction in mind. WHEN A SCOT LOVES A LADY comes out next February!
Blurb for IN THE ARMS OF A MARQUESS:
She had never forgotten him…
Miss Octavia Pierce is witty, well off, and shockingly unwed. Still, she is far too successful in society to remain on the shelf forever, and her family has hopes that Octavia will finally make the perfect match. What they do not know is that years earlier Octavia was scandalously tempted by the one man capable of sweeping her off her feet—the man now known as the Marquess of Doreé.
A third son, never meant to inherit, Lord Ben Doreé has abandoned his past and grown accustomed to his illustrious new position of wealth and power. But he has never forgotten Octavia, and now she desperately needs his help in a most dangerous, clandestine matter. Although she claims she has put the memories of the passion they shared behind her, Ben is determined to once again have her in his arms—and in his bed.
Whew-ee! Now, that's a terrific teaser! I'd like to thank Katharine for taking the time out of her busy release week schedule to let me interview her. If you'd like to know about KATHARINE ASHE and her books, please check out her website: www.katharineashe.com/
Katharine would like everyone to that for every copy sold of IN THE ARMS OF A MARQUESS through its K.I.S.S. and Teal campaign Avon Books will donate 25 cents to the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance for research and support services for families struck by this stealthy disease. Help us spread the word about the whispering symptoms of Ovarian Cancer!
What a wonderful way to support such a noble cause!
THANKS to one and all for swinging by! Hope your holiday weekend is breathtaking! I'll be stapled to my computer getting the word count out. Golden Heart deadline is crackin' on fast! TTFN and stay safe!
7 comments:
Thanks, Sarah, for hosting me so graciously! I'm so glad to be here today.. (*blushing from your praise, and thrilled you enjoyed my first two books*) :)
I think it's wonderful that your mom woulndn't let you give up. That's the best thing about moms, saying what you need to hear regardless if you want to or not. I'm glad you listened to her.
Thank you, Ora. My mother has helped me along this road many times. IN THE ARMS OF A MARQUESS is dedicated to her!
HI Katharine!
Thanks again for being here today! I think it's wonderful your mom and sister are so involved in your writing. It must be awesome for you to have such a strong support system. :)
Hi, Sarah. I feel very fortunate, indeed, to have a family that supports this career. My mother and sisters and brother have been so supportive -- for years. It's one of the reasons that I'm supportive of new writers I meet that are trying to make it work. Encouragement can mean all the difference in the world. :)
HI Ora!
Thanks for swinging by! :)
That mentality is what you fabulous, Katharine! You're a diamond of the first water, lady! ;)
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