Kathryn Freeman's Blog, page 3

What I learnt this week: 23rd April 2020

Cover reveal

As I mentioned in my blog last week, my second book with One More Chapter, Up Close and Personal, is out in June. It tells the story of close protection officer Kat Parker and her latest client, actor Zac Edwards:

It’s her job to get close to him…

But how close is too close?

British actor Zac Edwards is the latest heartthrob to hit the red carpets. Hot, talented and rich, he sends women wild…all except one.

Close protection officer Kat Parker hasn’t got time to play celebrity games.  She has one job: to protect Zac from the stalker that seems to be dogging his every move.

Zac might get her hot under her very starched collar, but Kat’s a professional – and sleeping with Zac is no way part of her remit…

Here, as promised, is the cover:

It’s another cover I’m proud to have my name on, and in particular I love the purple – and yes, when I am an old woman I shall wear purple* (some might say I am, and I already do).

In case you’re interested, it’s available for pre-order here

What I learnt this week: 15th April

Lockdown continues…but it’s business (almost) as usual

The world around me has changed in dramatic fashion, yet in the world behind my front door it is, for the most part, business as usual. I still get up and exercise – though now the swimming pool is closed, the tennis courts locked, I have no choice but to run, or run, or run.

I still go to my study, though now I wear my tracky bottoms, because who else is going to see me, other than my family, who don’t notice what I wear? I still sit in front of my computer and write. Never have I been more grateful to be able to spend my day in an imaginary world where people still go to restaurants, drive to the beach, travel, play sport. Fall in love.

Of course a major difference is that now I’m not alone in the house during the day. My husband is working from home, my sons back from university. Instead of peace and quiet I hear what’s for lunch, where’s [insert any object], when’s dinner.

Despite these interruptions, and the extra washing, I’ve managed to submit my third book to One More Chapter; Strictly Dating. I started this back in November, when I hadn’t heard of coronavirus, and it’s been a total joy to lose myself in the story of Maggie and Seb during the intervening months. It’s also given me an excuse to watch repeats of Strictly Come Dancing… necessary for research. Honest.

But this is still early days for Strictly Dating. My editor may hate it (yes, I still find my heart thumping when I read that email). Even if she likes it, she will have ideas to improve which will entail writing new chunks, deleting others and swopping text around. Then will come more editing, which will pull it into shape – and at times will feel like pulling teeth. Submitting that initial draft is like climbing the first hill. Submitting final edits is reaching the top of the mountain (an excuse to show you two photos from a few years ago, in the Canadian Rockies. And a reminder we will, one day, go on holiday again).

In the middle of all this virtual mountaineering, I have the publication of my second book for One More Chapter to look forward to. Up Close and Personal is out in June. Here’s the blurb – next week, if you can contain your excitement, I’ll reveal the cover!

British actor Zac Edwards is the latest heartthrob to hit the red carpets. Hot, talented and rich, he sends women wild…all except one.

Close protection officer Kat Parker hasn’t got time to play celebrity games.  She has one job: to protect Zac from the stalker that seems to be dogging his every move.

Zac might get her hot under her very starched collar, but Kat’s a professional – and sleeping with Zac is no way part of her remit…

Finally, for a bit of fun, I appeared on Morton Gray’s blog this week – here are five things you might not know about me

What I learnt this week: 13th March 2020

Publication day goes with a fizz….

Well, what can I say, it’s been a whirlwind few weeks since I last posted here.

First and most excitingly (for me!), today is publication day for The New Guy, my first venture with my new publisher, One More Chapter. You can find it here, should you want to sample it. The photo next to it, is of what I’m going to be sampling tonight

The New Guy

Sam Huxton doesn’t do one-night stands, especially not with men she’s just met! But the hot guy at the bar was hard to resist and one night is all they share – no names, no numbers, just some much needed fun…

Until the same guy walks into Sam’s life the next day as her new employee.  Sam never mixes business with pleasure and makes it clear an office fling with Ryan is off-limits.  But after-hours…one thing can lead to another. Can Sam trust her heart and her business with the new guy?

What I learnt this week: January update

The New Year, The New Guy…and more

As you may know, my latest book, The New Guy, is currently available for pre-order (only 99p

What I learnt this week

A New Year, a New Publisher…A New Guy?!

No, no, no, my husband isn’t getting off that lightly. I’ve not found a new man. The New Guy refers to my new book, coming out in March. And I’m beyond thrilled to say that it’s with a new publisher. One More Chapter, the digital arm of Harper Collins UK, will be publishing it…and I hope many more after that!

It’s been quite a journey getting here, but I’m soooooooo happy to be writing for them.

So what is the next book, and how did it come about?

I submitted a manuscript to One More Chapter last year, and though they liked my writing, the book I’d submitted wasn’t what they were looking for. But the lovely editor there asked me to pop in and see her – they’re in the News building, opposite the Shard, so it wasn’t exactly a hardship – and we started talking. She said she really wanted to see another manuscript from me, but could it be set in the tech industry?

Gulp.

What the flipping heck do I know about the tech industry?!? But I wasn’t going to let this opportunity go, so I smiled serenely (okay, that may be a stretch) and said, no problem. Then came home and begged my family to help me come up with a story line.

In a way though, it was no problem. Not as in it was easy (nope, wrestling with manuscripts is never that) but it wasn’t any different to how I’ve gone about writing any other book because for me, a book starts with the characters. Even on the journey home Ryan and Sam, my two leads, were forming in my head. The ‘techy’ parts were merely the setting, the background. And trust me when I say they are far from technical….this is most definitely a love story and not a guide on how to code an app. Err, if that’s what you do to apps?!

Here’s the blurb (see how non-techy it is!)

Sam Huxton doesn’t do one-night stands, especially not with men she’s just met! But the hot guy at the bar was hard to resist and their one night together is one she’ll never forget.

But one night is all they share – no names, no numbers, just some much needed fun…

Until the same guy walks into Sam’s life the next day as her new employee.  Sam never mixes business with pleasure and makes it clear an office fling with Ryan is off-limits.  But after-hours…one thing can lead to another. Can Sam trust her heart and her business with the new guy?

Here’s where you can find it

It’s currently available for pre-order (99p!) on Amazon. 

And finally…

Here’s the cover!

I hope you’ll buy it. And I really, really hope you’ll love it

What I learnt this week: 31st October 2018

The right career

Don’t worry, I’m not about to discuss career paths … I’m hardly one to give advice, considering I started as a pharmacist and ended writing romantic fiction.

What I do want to talk about, is how to match the right career to my fictional characters. For some plots, what they do comes first, because it plays a vital part of the book. Before You would have been a totally different book if Aiden Foster hadn’t been a racing car driver (yes, okay, that example is just a good excuse to show a photo of Jenson

What I learnt last month: 17th October 2019

Goodbye sunshine

Well, the fun is over. Holidays have been had, wedding anniversary celebrated, latest book published…now it’s time to get my head down again.

But before I do, a chance to reminisce on my September highlight. For once, excited though I was to have my 12th book published (how on earth did I get to 12?!), my highlight wasn’t the publication of Reach for a Star (available here if you missed it, she plugs shamelessly!)

No, that was surpassed by my holiday, which coincided with our silver wedding anniversary.

Naively, a while ago we asked the boys…umm, at 20 and 22 they’ll be horrified to be called that. Luckily they don’t read any of my ramblings. Funnily enough, they don’t listen to any of them either. I digress, we asked our sons if they wanted to go on holiday in September with their crusty old parents. We expected the answer to be no, yet why would it be, when we were offering a free trip abroad?

Of course then they started to make suggestions.

‘It would be good to be in a resort where there’s stuff going on.’

‘A chilled holiday, somewhere hot.’

‘Oh and make sure there’s a golf course.’

Okay then. But what about my list:

Romantic setting (it would be as close as I got to actual romance)
Meals included – for once, I wasn’t going to cook
Beach I can lie on and dream up my next book

This* was where we ended up. Ticks the romantic setting box eh? And those feet are mine, sitting on the lounger, dreaming of my next book.

Here’s a photo of a small selection of starters. So definitely ticked my ‘no cooking’ box, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But okay, okay, it wasn’t all bliss. I did end up having to play golf. Well, when I say play, I enjoyed driving a buggy around 18 holes. We did have some lessons, and the boys really improved. My husband improved a little. As for me, at least now when I hack the ball 3 yards down the fairway, I do it with the right grip.

*Mauritius

Reach for a Star

Published by Choc Lit 24th September  2019 (digital)

What if your dreams were so close you could reach out and touch them?

How could anyone resist Michael Tennant, with his hypnotic blue eyes and voice like molten chocolate? Jessie Simmons certainly can’t. But Jessie’s a single mum who can’t sing to save her life – there’s no way she’ll ever cross paths with the star tenor.

At least that’s what she thinks until she’s unexpectedly invited to take part in a new reality TV show. The premise? Professional singers teach hopeless amateurs how to sing. The surprise? Jessie’s partner is none other than Michael Tennant!

As she becomes better acquainted with the man behind the voice, will Jessie find out the hard way that you should never meet your idols? Or will she get more than she bargained for?

Available to purchase from Amazon UK here and Amazon US here (also available on other ebook platforms)

What I learnt this week: 4th September 2019

Celebrating September

We’ve crept into September, and though I’m sad to say goodbye to the long, warm days of summer, there is plenty of excitement ahead. Well, for me, at least.

Coming up soon, I celebrate my 25th wedding anniversary. I sometimes wonder, if it weren’t for my husband, would I be writing books? Before you think I’m getting too mushy, that all the romance I pour into my stories comes from him, let me squash that straight away. He’s the opposite of romantic. To give you an idea of what I mean, he proposed in front of the telly, just before his then favourite show came on (Red Dwarf).  When I started to get all tearful, all emotional, all excited about when and where, he gave me a bemused look. ‘Not now, Red Dwarf is starting.’

So no, the romance is all in my head, but the love, well that’s survived twenty-five years and counting. Here we are, back then, all starry eyed and young. In case you’re wondering, it’s Pooh bear and Tigger on his socks. I was just happy it wasn’t Red Dwarf.

To go back to the question about books though, it was my hubby who told me I should write, and who encouraged me to give up my well paid job and do exactly that. I think he thought I’d get it out of my system. Little did he realise, eleven published books later, I’d still be doing it – and still be loving it.

Little did either of us realise that the very first book I went on to write, and that went on to receive so many rejections it nearly became the last, would actually get published (after being hacked and edited to within an inch of its life). So it’s fitting that later this month, I’ll also be celebrating the release of  Reach for a Star.

Jessie, my heroine, wasn’t as lucky as me with her marriage. Though she and her ex remain friends, she dreams of finding that grand passion. A man as sexy, as exciting as Michael Tennant, the singer she has a whopping big crush on.

The same singer she unexpectedly finds herself appearing with in a new reality TV show, where professional singers teach hopeless amateurs how to sing.

Will they reach the high notes together? Or will it all fall flat? There’s only one way for you to find out