THE WRITE PATH with Kathryn Jane

Kathryn Jane

In my series The Write Path, my guests talk to me about their books. Today I welcome author Kathryn Jane, who will be discussing her book Voices, part of her Intrepid Women Series, with me.

Let me hand over my mic. The next voice you’ll hear will be Kathryn’s.

1. What is your book about?

Voices is the fourth stand alone in the Intrepid Women Series.

In book one the readers met Quinn Meyers and his siblings. In book two, they learned that he was an incredibly faithful man who believed Rachel, his runaway wife, would one day come home.
Well, in Voices, she does return, but “it’s complicated” because she only came back to enlist the help of Meyers Security.

Quinn and Rachel team up with Grace and Logan (from Touch Me) to solve a racehorse mystery, and in the meantime, they face the harsh reality of a relationship built on lust and love but not maintained by trust, truth, and hard work.

2. What do you think attracts readers to your main characters?

Readers seem to love my kickass heroines. These are everyday women who step up to the plate when it’s necessary. Who have the guts and determination to survive whatever is thrown at them and learn from their mistakes.

My heroes are smart, capable alpha males who are often baffled by the women they dare to love. Women who don’t “need” them.

3. What message do you hope the reader takes away from your book?

That love is worth working for. That communication is the backbone of a relationship. And that Quinn is pretty darned special.

My stories always have a message, although I don’t set out to write one. I write about characters who have to grow and change/adapt in order for their happily ever after to be possible. So with that, there is always some kind of message.

4. What do you think was it about your book that made it so easy to attract an agent or editor?

I don’t have either of these :). Well, aside from a couple of dynamite copy editors, that is.

I am self-published for several reasons. After the second agent interested enough to read my full manuscript–as well as several others who hadn’t read it–asked me to change the content for sales/shelving purposes, I realized that traditional publishers had good reason not to offer me a contract. They didn’t know where to put my work because it straddled several genres.

Here’s a sample of the questions I was asked. Would I consider taking out the paranormal parts (psychic abilities) so it would stand firmly as a Romantic Suspense? Would I consider taking out the paranormal and the mystery so it would stand cleanly as a contemporary? Could I darken the paranormal and make it the focus of the story? Could I make my heroine and hero younger so it would fit as a young adult novel? No, no, no and no.

And I’m happy to say, my readers seem to agree with me. They like the books as they are. Contemporary Romantic Suspense with a light Paranormal thread.

5. Comparing the ideas you had before writing the book with the finished product, would you change anything if you could travel back in time?

LOL. I’m what we call an organic writer, or a pantser. That is, I fly by the seat of my pants.

When I sit down to write a book, I have no clue what the story will do, what direction it will go. Only that it WILL have a happy ending.

I usually have one character and an opening scene in my head. Once in a while, as in Voices, I had both lead characters right from the beginning. I knew Rachel had been missing for a couple of years, I knew what Quinn did for a living, and I had an opening scene. Period. Their stories grew day by day and there were many eureka moments when I learned why they were the way they were. The plot is revealed to me in the same way it is to the reader. . . one word at a time.

(Although once in a while the light bulb comes on when I’m not writing and that can be awkward. A fist pumping “Yes!” is not appropriate for all settings–she says with a grin)

The first draft was nearly 100,000 words. By the time the final draft was ready for publishing, it was down to 82,000 words. I hate cutting words, and scenes I love, but sometimes it has to be done.

Interested? You’re going to like this.

Book one in the series (DO NOT TELL ME NO) is currently on sale for $0.99 www.amazon.com/dp/B00A3M6G62

Voices will be available for 99cents for one day only, November 30th.

Useful Links

Website: kathrynjane.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/kathryn.jane.921

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Author_Kat_Jane

Amazon: www.amazon.com/Kathryn-Jane/e/B00A58PHKA/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1415576921&sr=8-1