Clean Romance: Harlequin Heartwarming discussion
Author Interviews
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Interview with Giveaway - part 2
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Thank you for taking the time to do this. Its always nice to read about authors and I found several books of yours that I didnt know about before.
Thanks, Kate. You give hope, even to a 55 year old wannabe!
Thanks Kate I always love personal interviews glowaniajason@sbcglobal.net
I really enjoy getting to know authors, how they think and feel about what they write. I love that there are wholesome books out there that we can read. sonja dot nishimoto at gmail dot com
Love getting up close and personal with authors I love. As for the gazebo in your back yard. I married in the gazebo in the center of Brattleboro 17 years ago !
Nina wrote: "Thank you for taking the time to do this. Its always nice to read about authors and I found several books of yours that I didnt know about before."I'm glad you enjoyed reading the interview, Nina. If you do read any of my books, I hope you enjoy them, too!
Best wishes and happy reading!
Kate
Lisa wrote: "Thanks, Kate. You give hope, even to a 55 year old wannabe!"It's never to late to pursue your dreams, Lisa!
If you're not familiar with the terrific writing contests Harlequin holds, you might want to look into it.
Best wishes for a wonderful week!
Kate
Lorie wrote: "Thanks Kate I always love personal interviews glowaniajason@sbcglobal.net"I'm glad you liked it, Lorie.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.
Best wishes with the giveaway!
Kate
I am a reviewer by choice. I like to write reviews on as many sites as can. I will not write a review unless can write a positive one.
Sonja wrote: "I really enjoy getting to know authors, how they think and feel about what they write. I love that there are wholesome books out there that we can read. sonja dot nishimoto at gmail dot com"
We have to love to write otherwise I'm certain it would reflect on our work. I love writing for Heartwarming because it is wholesome but we're always challenged by our wonderful edits to deliver stories with deep emotion and lots of internal conflicts.
Good luck with the giveaway!
Kate
Diana wrote: "Love getting up close and personal with authors I love. As for the gazebo in your back yard. I married in the gazebo in the center of Brattleboro 17 years ago !"Aww...thank you, Diana!
I guess gazebos must be good luck, for writing and for weddings! :-)
Thank you for stopping by!
I hope you have a wonderful week, Diana.
Kate
Jane wrote: "I am a reviewer by choice. I like to write reviews on as many sites as can. I will not write a review unless can write a positive one."Sincere thanks, Jane. I'm not going to repeat everything I said above in the interview, but please know how much it's appreciated that you take the time to leave reviews!!
Thank you for stopping by and best wishes for a terrific week!
Kate
Thank you for sharing with us. I love the gazebo and Harley and Logan. salcedv@aol.com
Victoria wrote: "Thank you for sharing with us. I love the gazebo and Harley and Logan. salcedv@aol.com"I enjoyed the interview and I particularly like chatting with readers. Thank you for your comment about Harley and Logan. They really are the sweetest dogs imaginable.
Good luck with the giveaway!
Kate
Mod
Liz wrote: "I love this interview--and I love Harley and Logan's pics. :-)"Thank you for stopping by, Liz, and thanks for the comment about pics of Harley and Logan. I've found that whenever I post a pic of them on social media, the number of views increases!! It's a good thing that people like pics of them, as I have LOTS and tend to post many!!
Have a great day, Liz, and thanks again for visiting!
Kate
Love those pics.. I loved it when we had a cabin at the lake. I'd love to read & review your books..
Deanna wrote: "Love those pics.. I loved it when we had a cabin at the lake. I'd love to read & review your books.."Thank you, Deanna! Good luck with the giveaway. If you do get a chance to read any of my books, I would love to hear from you...and of course, I would be grateful for a review!
Happy reading!
Kate
Thanks for taking the time to do this. jmcgarry2011@yahoo.com
Joseph wrote: "Thanks for taking the time to do this. jmcgarry2011@yahoo.com"My pleasure, Joseph. Best wishes!
Kate
Your cabin at the lake looks very calming and inspirational. I love being by the water too. Thanks for sharing.
Jennifer wrote: "Your cabin at the lake looks very calming and inspirational. I love being by the water too. Thanks for sharing."Thank you for stopping by, Jennifer. Yes, the cottage is an amazing place in a beautiful setting. In fact, the manuscript I am working on right now is mostly set there...although I moved it from Lake of Bays, Ontario to the Adirondack Mountains. I love that I can do that, being an author!
Good luck with the giveaway!
Kate
You've got great views in all the places that you write. Moving the lake to the Adirondacks? Easily done with the stroke of a pen! Do you do lots of research on the chosen place when you do that so that you are as accurate as possible or do you just let it be how you imagine it?Good luck with the new book!
Rosemary wrote: "You've got great views in all the places that you write. Moving the lake to the Adirondacks? Easily done with the stroke of a pen! Do you do lots of research on the chosen place when you do that so..."Thank you for visiting, Rosemary, and thank you for the question!
I do try to make settings as realistic as possible. It helps if I've visited the area. If not, I do as much research on line or through other sources as necessary. In many cases, the town itself will be fictitious (as is the case with my current work in progress), but it has to fit into the area where it is situated to make it realistic and believable for the reader, so the research is still important.
Thank you for the good wish.
Happy reading!
Kate
Thanks for letting us into a little view of your world as a writer.
Beverly wrote: "Thanks for letting us into a little view of your world as a writer."Thank you for the lovely comment, Beverly! It is my pleasure. I wish you good luck with the giveaway!
Kate
I love hearing about where you like to write and what time of day.worwichistory101@hotmail.com
Melinda wrote: "I love hearing about where you like to write and what time of day.worwichistory101@hotmail.com"
I'm glad you enjoyed the interview, Melinda. Best wishes with the giveaway!
Kate
Mod
For everyone else who participated, if you didn't win this time don't despair. There will be more giveaways in the months ahead. Thank you for your comments and for being a member of the Wholesome Romance: Harlequin Heartwarming Group.
Heart wrote: "The winner picked at random to receive a copy of The Truth About Hope is Lorie. CONGRATULATIONS Lorie!! You will be contacted with details of how to claim your book.For everyone else who particip..."
Congratulations, Lorie! I hope you will enjoy The Truth About Hope!
Sincere thanks to everyone else who stopped by and left a comment.
Best wishes and happy reading!
Mod
Hello Kate James and welcome back to On Writing for Readers today. We will be continuing from where we left off last week. For our visitors, On Writing for Readers is a platform for Harlequin Heartwarming authors to talk a little about themselves, the writing process and their experiences related to becoming a published author. If you would like to read Part 1 of Kate’s interview, you can find it here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
7. What are some of the perks of writing for Harlequin?
The team at Harlequin is a dream to work with! Harlequin has exceptional leadership and truly cares about authors and author engagement.
8. How valuable are book reviewers, and how much does a negative review impact you?
I would like to state very clearly that I am immensely grateful to everyone who takes the time to leave a review or otherwise offer feedback about my writing. Reviews are extremely important for authors. I was chatting with another Heartwarming author (and one of my very favorite people) a few weeks ago. She has been in the business a long time, and she made the point that “an author is only as good as his/her last book.”
I tend to agree with her. There are a LOT of books out there and many of other ways people can spend their valuable leisure time. If as an author we are fortunate to have someone like our work enough to keep coming back for more, we owe it to them (and to ourselves) to produce the very best stories we can. Reviews go a long way to tell our readers if we’ve accomplished that and are also very important to helping to draw new readers to our work.
Again, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to everyone who takes the time to write a review! I know I can speak on behalf of most authors . . . we are truly grateful!
9. When and where does your most productive writing take place?
Although we sold it recently, my husband and I were fortunate to own a beautiful cottage in Lake of Bays in Ontario on the shore of a small lake. We had a guest suite on the main floor overlooking the lake. It was one of my favorite places to write.
Another favorite spot—weather permitting—is our gazebo in the backyard of our house. You can probably appreciate why this view would be inspiring! That’s me in the picture with my “critique team,” black Labs Harley and Logan!
Finally, when the snow is falling outside, I like to write in my office at home. I love to curl up in a comfortable recliner facing the fireplace with my laptop actually on my lap. As you can see in this picture, my trusted critique team is again close by, even if they’re less engaged!
Early mornings are my favorite time to write!
10. What should be the greatest motivation for writing a book? What shouldn't it be?
The greatest motivation for me is to deliver emotionally and intellectually satisfying stories to my readers . . . and to have some of those readers tell me that they enjoyed my work! It should not be about seeing your name on the cover of a book. (Although, having said that, I have to say it’s a really terrific feeling! …but it shouldn’t be the driving force.)
11. What advice would you give aspiring authors?
Don’t give up on your dream!
There are so many viable options to getting your work published these days, you just need to keep at it and believe in yourself. If I have one regret, it’s that I didn’t follow through when I first had the dream of writing. I got caught up in my professional life, and my first attempt, a half-finished manuscript, is tucked away in a storage box somewhere in our basement.
Also, having someone who believes in you can be enormously helpful, even if you’re a self-motivated individual like me. My husband buying me a personal laptop for my writing was the start of my debut, Silver Linings. I was wrongly convinced that I did not need another laptop, as I had a perfectly good one already. Psychologically, it made a huge difference. Thankfully, my husband has never said, I told you so—at least not directly!
This leads me to another bit of advice. If you have a “day job”, creating a clear separation between it and your writing may help, as a separate laptop for my writing did for me.
Finally, read as much as you can, for enjoyment—of course—but also for learning! It’s a rare book these days that draws me in so much that I don’t at some level of consciousness analyze the writing to seek to improve my own.
Laurie, thank you very much for inviting me to chat with you. And heartfelt thanks, again, to all our readers!
Thank you, Kate James, for being a guest to On Writing for Readers, and for all of the information you’ve provided for readers and aspiring authors out there. I wish you continued success and look forward to reading your newest Harlequin Heartwarming releases in the future.
GIVEAWAY!!!
Comment on Part 2 of Kate’s interview for a chance to win a signed print copy of The Truth About Hope. U.S. and Canadian residents are eligible for a print copy. International residents are eligible to receive an e-book copy. Please leave an e-mail address so that we can contact you if you win. Winners for both giveaways (interview parts 1 and 2) will be announced on May 30th.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to read Kate’s interview and participate in the giveaway by leaving a comment.
To find out more about Kate James’s books, click the links below:
http://www.harlequin.com/author.html?...
http://www.amazon.com/Kate-James/e/B0...
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...