Interview with Kat Martin

Kat: I started writing in 1985 and since then have written over fifty Historical and Contemporary Romantic Suspense novels. In my earlier days, I was a real estate broker and during that time met my husband, Larry. He was also in real estate at the time, but since then he’s written more than twenty western, historical, and suspense novels. I graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara. I’ve proud to say I’m a New York Times bestselling author and I’m published in twenty foreign countries.

Kat: The book is a lovely little gift-sized hardcover, something I wrote especially for Mother’s Day. It’s available at Barnes and Noble, Borders, or on-line at Amazon, Good Readers, pretty much wherever books are sold.

Kat: Funny you would phrase it that way, because it did, indeed, feel like a calling. My husband had written a western that I liked very much, but he was having trouble getting it published. I thought maybe I could help him edit it a little. I got hooked. I wanted to try a book of my own, which became Magnificent Passage, a historical western romance. Today, that book would be considered an old-fashioned bodice ripper, the sort all of us were writing back then. It’s being re-issued in July with a gorgeous new cover for anyone brave enough to read it.

Kat: Concise, romantic, uplifting.

Kat: My routine is to work, work, work. I rarely take a real day off unless I’m traveling or at a conference. I’m easily bored and would rather be writing.

Kat: First and foremost, it’s how I make my living. I write to support our family. But I love what I do (on most days). As long as the story is flowing and I’m not terrified it isn’t going to work, there’s not much else I would rather be doing.

Kat: I think writing in a contemporary time period has influenced my writing in a major way. It opened up a whole new world. You’re not stifled by mores of the time, word usage, that kind of thing, as I was in Historical, though I didn’t realize it at the time. In a contemporary, I can really rock and roll.

Kat: There is nothing easy about it. It’s major hard word. The challenge is to put all the pieces and parts of the puzzle that is in your mind together, make it work as a story, and get it down on paper. It’s rewarding when other people get what you’re trying to do. When readers love the book.

Kat: I love the guys in the Raines Brothers trilogy. Against the Wind, Against the Fire, Against the Law. Jackson Raines, Gabe and Devlin. Lark Delaney in the third book is a wonderful heroine that I came to admire as I wrote the story.

Kat: Depends how much money I had with me. If I could take a million dollars, I’d love to go back to London, check out the lords and ladies in high society. The West would be interesting in the 1800s if I had less dollars to spend. Besides money, I’d have to take a man along. They were a real asset back then.

Kat: I’m reading Infidel now for my readers group. I try read outside my own genre just to stay up on things. I prefer Romance to all the other sorts of books, both historical and contemporary. I’ve discovered Joanna Bourne of late. She’s terrific. My favorite romance of all time is an old book by Wilbur Smith called The Eagle in the Sky. I cried for an hour while I was reading it.

Kat: Currently, I’m busy promoting A Song for My Mother. It’s a very personal book, different from what I usually write. It’s the second book I’ve written set in the little fictional Midwest down of Dreyerville, Michigan. A mother-daughter story of family ties, past secrets, and second chances. There’s a love story, of course, and I always deliver a happy ending.

After that, Against the Storm will be out end of October. I love Trace Rawlins and his nemisis, Maggie O’Connell. I hope readers will love the story.

Kat: http://www.katmartin.com/ is the easiest to remember. You can reach me through my website or on my Facebook page. And I always answer my emails.

Kat: I’d like to thank them for their many years of support and I hope they continue to enjoy my books.

Kat: We’re giving away a copy of A Song for My Mother. You have to be a resident of the U.S. to enter.  Thanks so much for having me. Very best, Kat

But, wait, we have another opportunity to win a copy of A Song for My Mother.  Our reviewer, Mary, is giving away a copy on her blog.  Her copy is available to everyone world wide.  To enter Mary’s contest, you need to go to her site and comment on her review (be sure to leave your email address).  You’ll get an additional entry if you follow her blog and then email her to let her know you want to be entered in her contest.  Mary’s contest will end on Monday, May 9.