Ask the Author: Katherine Center
Answered Questions (39)
Katherine Center
Great question!! 😁 The K-drama where he does the pockets kiss is The K2! But my faaaavorite JCW drama is Healer!
Katherine Center
I know Brené from way back! She's the BEST!
Katherine Center
It's one of my mom's favorite songs, and one of mine, too. I grew up listening to it on vinyl!!!
Katherine Center
HI!!! Thank you!!! I definitely recommend The Bodyguard—which is a connected story to The Rom-Commers, and has very similar vibes. After that, you might try Happiness for Beginners (which became a movie last summer, starring Ellie Kemper and Luke Grimes). My book Hello Stranger is a rom com with a medical twist to it. And then I also love my two connected books, How to Walk Away and Things You Save in a Fire. Those two are a bit more serious, but also have lots of good banter and strong love stories. Hope this helps!! And HOORAY--So glad you found me!!!!
Katherine Center
HI! The answer is kind of yes-and-no! From my research, Bodyguards do spend a lot of time with their clients in recreational settings, and they do get to know them in all kinds of close, personal ways that are not exactly typical of work relationships... But they do not usually have to pose as their clients' girlfriends in the way that Hannah does in this story! That's a kind of what-if scenario!! 😁
Katherine Center
Hi! Thank you!!! I think my best advice is to pay attention to what you, yourself, love in stories--and then do as much of that as you can! Take notes, make lists, highlight!!! Your own inner compass is your best guide!!!
Katherine Center
This is SUCH a great question!! It was not a specific inspiration--not consciously, at least! But what I've found is that the longer you hold the components of a story in your head, both before you start writing and then while you're writing, those components start to form little threads of connection. Eventually, those threads become so numerous that they kind of weave and hold the whole thing together. So there's that great line in the poem about "searching through the leaves of the night for your hands," and in the scene, Jake is searching through the leaves of the forest floor for his glasses . . . and that's just a perfect example of how those two things connected themselves like magic. Those threads, for me, are the thing that make a story 3-D and real.
Katherine Center
Thank you so much!! I knew by sixth grade for sure that I wanted to be a writer!! I used to write for fun with my two best friends back then, and I got hooked. I've basically been obsessed with learning how to write stories ever since. Even to this day, I'm still endlessly fascinated with what makes stories compelling and page-turning and meaningful. The first work I had published was my first novel, The Bright Side of Disaster, back in 2007. I had done a ton of writing before that (had a Master's degree in fiction writing, in fact), but I was not terribly brave or lucky about sending things out to get them published. I loved to *write,* but all the rejection was less fun!! Thanks so much for asking!!
Katherine Center
AH! This is such a great question!! And the spoiler answer is YES! My summer 2024 book (out this June 11), The Rom-Commers, is a connected story to The Bodyguard—and Jack has a cameo where we learn about his movie with Meryl Streep!!! Definitely grab The Rom-Commers if you loved The Bodyguard—it has very similar energy!!
Katherine Center
Hi Grace!! I probably won't go back and revisit characters from those early books . . . mostly just because it's been so long! I feel stronger connections with my most recent books and characters. But never say never!! Sometimes characters just show up and start talking to you—and I always honor when that happens by trying to write down whatever it is they want to say. :) As for the Texas question . . . a lot of my books are set in Texas, yes—but not all! Hapiness for beginners is set in Wyoming and Evanston, Illinois. Things You Save in a Fire is mostly set near Boston. And my next-summer book, The Rom-Commers, is set largely in L.A. ! That said, it's always tempting to set books in Texas, since I've lived here all my life and know it so well!
Katherine Center
Great question!! When I first joined Goodreads, a thousand years ago, I added a ton of books—but I no longer use Goodreads to organize my personal reading. I just keep a private list (and write reviews to myself, almost like a journal) on my laptop! This is mostly because I really only want to talk publicly about books that I *loved*!! I will never—for example—at this point in my life, rate a book publicly for less than 5 stars. I'm just all about amplifying what's amazing and letting the rest go. I read a lot—as much "for joy" as I can, but my job also means I get asked to read many things I might not otherwise have chosen. But when *I'm* doing the choosing, I'm definitely selecting books with my heart instead of my head. And I always try to post about the books I love, either on social media somewhere or in my newsletter!! 🥰
Katherine Center
Hi! Thank you!! 🥰 Not really a map, but these books are connected:
How to Walk Away
Things You Save in a Fire
Happiness for Beginners
What You Wish For
The Bodyguard
The Rom-Commers (out June 11, 2024)
How to Walk Away
Things You Save in a Fire
Happiness for Beginners
What You Wish For
The Bodyguard
The Rom-Commers (out June 11, 2024)
Katherine Center
I don't think it will be a series, or have a sequel (that's just not how my brain works)—but I do love to write connected stories, and my summer 2024 book (out June 11), The Rom-Commers, is connected to The Bodyguard! Hannah is not in it much, but Jack Stapleton makes a couple of cameos!! 🥰
Katherine Center
Ha! Well, it's usually dumb things that I've done—humiliations, or mistakes, or things I've struggled with—that I work into books. I don't do all that much eavesdropping, though it is fun when you overhear something you didn't expect!!
Katherine Center
Hooray! Cathy, I'm so happy you found me!!! Thank you so much for your kind words!! 🥰
Katherine Center
Oh, you're very kind!! Thank you!! I don't use too many beta readers, honestly. Just a very small inner circle! What I try to do is get very quiet and connect with my own inner reader and really pay attention to if she's having a good time . . . and so I always worry that too many other opinions could throw me off! 😂 It takes about a year for me to write a book--from intial idea, to research, to the first draft (about 4-5 months), to edits! Thank you so much for asking!!
Katherine Center
HI! Thank you so much!! I'm so glad you loved The Bodyguard!! Hooray!!! I'm not at all opposed to writing a story for Hank someday. I've defintely had my eye on him!! In the meantime, I'll mention that my Summer 2024 book, The Rom-Commers, is a connected story to The Bodyguard. It doesn't have Hank in it, but Jack Stapleton has a cameo—or two!!!
Katherine Center
HI!!!! Thanks so much for this great question! My gateway romance novel was Tessa Dare's A Week to Be Wicked. I fell in love with her writing style—so funny, so bantery, so much tension and longing—and she's still one of my favorites. Her stories just . . . turn their own pages. She's wonderful!!
Katherine Center
Hi Ariane!!! Thank you so much!!! I'm so glad you loved them. I hadn't thought of doing this—but it's a fantastic idea! Would love to hang out with them again!! Thank you so much!
Katherine Center
HI!!! Thanks so much for reading!! So, Duncan is a character who shows up in two (I think only 2! If it's more than that, it wasn't on purpose!!) of my books--and he's the same guy. He's Helen's little brother in my 2015 book Happiness for Beginners, and he stole the show for me so much in that story, that I decided to give him his own book—so he's one of the main characters in What You Wish For (2020). If you see other uses of 'Duncan,' it was probably an accident! But I do like that name!! :D
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