Please welcome fellow Astraea Press author, Kay Harborne, who has kindly agreed to answer some questions today.
Karen, thank you for being my guest today.Thank you so much for inviting me.
They just pop into my head and start telling me their story. Usually I get their appearance and name. Then I start thinking more about them, what they like, what they dislike, their family and friends, their greatest desire, worst fear, etc. I write a profile about them, jotting down far more detail than I use in the story. I like to really know my characters before I start but they still take over and surprise me when I’m actually writing the story.
2. How do you choose the name for your characters? Do you deliberately use names to give clues to your characters traits?
My main characters usually pop into my head complete with name. Amber and Jed seemed the right names for my heroine and hero right away. I did have to think about the names for my secondary characters, Randy and Callie, for a bit. I think names are really important and try to choose names that I think suits my characters’ personality. The name ‘Amber’, for example, conjures up a completely different character to ‘Callie’ in my mind.
3. Are you a pantser or a plotter, and if a plotter do you have the same routine for setting up and plotting out your story and characters?
I’m a bit of both. I loosely plot so that I know the basic storyline and have a structure to work too but sometimes the characters take over and the story goes off in a direction I hadn’t planned.
4. Why writing? Why not a racing driver, lol, or pastry chef?
Well, I’ve only recently passed my driving test and I’m not a great cook.... Seriously, I’ve always written because I love writing but I didn’t set out to write for a living. I wanted to be a ballet dancer when I was little (but I can’t dance in step) then an air hostess, a nurse and finally was all set to train as a teacher when I asked to write regularly for children’s magazines.
5. Do you find one word continually recurring in your stories, if so how do you avoid echoes?
I use ‘that’ and ‘then’ far too much – as my editor pointed out! I have to go over my work and delete a lot of them. It makes my writing a lot tighter and I find most of them aren’t necessary.
6. What is your favourite colour?
It’s a tough choice between red and electric blue but I think blue just about wins.
7. What is your favourite flower?
Orchids. I love them and have several in my house. They’re the only potted plants I can manage to keep alive.
8. Cinema? TV? Or a book?
A book. Nothing beats reading although I do like to watch TV and go to the cinema.
9. Do your read the same genre of book you write for? Who is your favourite author?
I read all sorts of books in many different genres. I’ve just read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and Before I Go To Sleep by S.J.Watson – brilliant! I also love Sophie Kinsella’s books and Sharon Shinn’s ‘Samaria’ series.
10. Please will you share one special moment in your writing career.
I write children’s books too and often visit schools to encourage children to write. A really special moment was when a teacher came up to me after a workshop and thanked me, saying that one little boy had never even written a full sentence before but had actually written a little story in my workshop. He was so proud of what he’d achieved it brought tears to my eyes.
Oh that's so wonderful :-) Thank you for sharing.
Tag
Line: Love
or money – what would you marry for?
Blurb
Amber Wynters is on a mission to find a millionaire to marry – and fast. Her parents are nearly bankrupt and forced to sell the family home, a beautiful Tudor house that had been in the family for generations. And it’s all thanks to Amber’s ex-fiancé Rod persuading them to invest in his dodgy shares. So armed with a ‘How to Hook a Millionaire’ Book and a ten point plan, she sets off to hook herself a rich husband. Then she meets the drop-dead gorgeous Jed Curtess. The attraction between them is sizzling but Jed is only a hired hand on one of the millionaire’s yachts. Can Amber ignore her heart and follow her plan?
Excerpt:
Whoa! What was she thinking of, kissing Jed like that? She pulled away, fighting down the fire that was threatening to engulf her entire body, and looked over at the dog standing in the doorway.
“I think she’s trying to tell us to stop congratulating ourselves. She did all the hard work,” she said, hoping her voice sounded steadier than she felt. She didn’t dare catch Jed’s eye, dreading what she’d see there. He’d just given her a light kiss on the lips and she’d practically thrown herself at him! He already had a low enough opinion of her because she was planning on hooking a millionaire, now what must he think?
“So she did.” Jed’s voice was light, as if nothing had happened between them. Well it hadn’t, had it? It had only been a quick kiss, for goodness sake.
You call that a quick kiss?
She heard him get up but still didn’t trust herself to turn and face him.
“I’ll just go and write up my notes and check through the photos I’ve taken,” he told her. “I’ll be in Mike’s study if you need me.”
“Okay.” She nodded.
The next minute he was gone, leaving her to her thoughts.
Oh, nice one, Amber. Great timing to snog the guy like that when you’ve got to spend the whole evening together, not to mention tomorrow morning and the boat trip home.
Hang on, he kissed me.
Yes, but you didn’t have to kiss him back quite so enthusiastically, did you? She cringed as she remembered the way she’d ran her fingers through his hair, pulling his head closer to her. What had come over her?
Amber Wynters is on a mission to find a millionaire to marry – and fast. Her parents are nearly bankrupt and forced to sell the family home, a beautiful Tudor house that had been in the family for generations. And it’s all thanks to Amber’s ex-fiancé Rod persuading them to invest in his dodgy shares. So armed with a ‘How to Hook a Millionaire’ Book and a ten point plan, she sets off to hook herself a rich husband. Then she meets the drop-dead gorgeous Jed Curtess. The attraction between them is sizzling but Jed is only a hired hand on one of the millionaire’s yachts. Can Amber ignore her heart and follow her plan?
Excerpt:
Whoa! What was she thinking of, kissing Jed like that? She pulled away, fighting down the fire that was threatening to engulf her entire body, and looked over at the dog standing in the doorway.
“I think she’s trying to tell us to stop congratulating ourselves. She did all the hard work,” she said, hoping her voice sounded steadier than she felt. She didn’t dare catch Jed’s eye, dreading what she’d see there. He’d just given her a light kiss on the lips and she’d practically thrown herself at him! He already had a low enough opinion of her because she was planning on hooking a millionaire, now what must he think?
“So she did.” Jed’s voice was light, as if nothing had happened between them. Well it hadn’t, had it? It had only been a quick kiss, for goodness sake.
You call that a quick kiss?
She heard him get up but still didn’t trust herself to turn and face him.
“I’ll just go and write up my notes and check through the photos I’ve taken,” he told her. “I’ll be in Mike’s study if you need me.”
“Okay.” She nodded.
The next minute he was gone, leaving her to her thoughts.
Oh, nice one, Amber. Great timing to snog the guy like that when you’ve got to spend the whole evening together, not to mention tomorrow morning and the boat trip home.
Hang on, he kissed me.
Yes, but you didn’t have to kiss him back quite so enthusiastically, did you? She cringed as she remembered the way she’d ran her fingers through his hair, pulling his head closer to her. What had come over her?
Author Bio
The Millionaire Plan is Kay Harborne's second romance novel. She has also written several romance stories for womens' magazines. Better known as children's author Karen King, she has had over a hundred children's books published and written for many children's magazines.
Author links:
Website ~ Amazon page:
5 comments:
Thanks for inviting me over, Sherry!
Yvw, Karen :-) Best wishes with your new book.
Great interview, ladies! Karen, I had such fun getting to know more about you, your writing, and your book! I love orchids too, but I can't grow any plants at all! Best wishes on the Millionaire Plan - it sounds like a winner.
Great interview! Have to find out what electric blue is, it sounds interesting. Love orchids as well. They're beautiful.
Congrats on your release. It sounds like a great story!
Thank you, Patricia and Iris:) Iris electric blue is a very vibrant deep blue, a bit lighter than royal blue. I love it. :)
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