The List by Kate L. Mary
Published by: Lyrical Press
Publication date: May 26th 2015)
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Publication date: May 26th 2015)
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Synopsis:
The List. Twenty things every girl must do before she turns twenty. . .
Body piercing
Get drunk
First kiss
Get drunk
First kiss
But thanks to her crazy, over-protective father, Annie Roth is way behind schedule. Good thing it’s her first semester of college, because Annie is more than ready to start checking off items. . .
Fake ID
Skinny dipping
Road trip!!!
Skinny dipping
Road trip!!!
Where it gets complicated? Ryan and Chris. Best friends. Both sweet, funny, totally hot, and totally into Annie.
But there are some things on The List that Annie only wants to do with Ryan. . .
Lose it
Get Heart Broken
Fall in love
Get Heart Broken
Fall in love
Did you always know you wanted to
be a writer or did you want to be something else?
When I was really little I’m sure I wanted to be something else,
but from high school on I wanted to be a writer. The problem was finding the
time to do it. I was in college, then I got married, then I had kids. My
husband is in the Air Force so he was gone a lot, and finding time to write
when I always had a baby (or two) who needed something
wasn’t easy. When I finally started writing though, it all seemed so natural
and easy that I felt like I’d been doing it forever. And I haven’t slowed down
since that first day I wrote thirty pages while my husband was at work!
How long does it take you to
write a book from start to finish?
It depends on the book and what’s
happening in my life. There have been times when I’ve managed to get an entire
first draft done in just a week, and other times it takes me months because
life keeps getting in the way. The book I recently finished took me a little
over a year because I had so many other things I was working on at the same
time.
How do you come up with themes
for your stories?
I write a little bit of everything,
so I guess I work based on what mood I’m in. I’ve been inspired by everything
from a TV show I watched to something I saw in real life, and I try hard not to
limit myself to what’s popular. I basically just want to write what I find
enjoyable.
Do you have a schedule of when
you write?
Not at the moment. Now that summer
break is here I have all four of my kids home with me all day long, which makes
it difficult to stick to any kind of real schedule. During the school year
though, I try to get as much work done during school hours as I can, that way
it doesn’t interfere with family life.
How are you able to balance
other aspects of your life with your writing?
That isn’t the easiest thing to do,
so I’m still learning how to do that! Writing a book is only part of the
challenge though. Social media is the part that really sucks up a lot of my
free time. In a time when people have become so addicted to social media, new
authors have to spend a lot of time online marketing themselves in order to get
the word out about their books. It can be enjoyable, like when I get an email
from readers, but it also takes up a lot of time.
What elements do you think make
a great story line?
Diverse, realistic and relatable
characters move a plot forward. There are definitely books that I’ve enjoyed even
though the plot fell flat for me, simply because the characters were so well
written.
What was the hardest thing about
writing a book?
Trying to market it. You can have a
masterpiece, but unless people hear about it you’re not going to sell any books.
Knowing how to market your book and get the word out is sooo important, and
also very difficult when you’re a new author.
How many books have you written
so far? Do you have a favorite?
I have six books out at the moment
with three more up for pre-order, but I’ve written a lot more than that. I have
six more books in various stages of revision that I hope to get out within the
next year or so, but finding time to revise when I’m busy working on a couple
different series is tough.
It doesn’t seem fair to say I have
a favorite—kind of like telling someone I have a favorite child—but I am
partial to my Broken World series
(which has four books out at the moment). It’s just a very enjoyable series to
write, and no matter how many times I read through the books, I never get tired
of them!
Do you have a favorite
character?
I go back and forth, but the
character I’m having the most fun developing at the moment is Angus from my Broken World series. He has a lot of
baggage, which always makes for a fun transition, and slowly changing him over
four books has been so much fun.
Where do you write?
On my couch in my living room. With
four kids it can get loud in my house, but I’ve learned to tune out the chaos.
When deciding on how to
publish, what directed you to the route you took?
I worked for
quite a while to find an agent, but I started out in young adult and the
competition was so fierce that getting noticed was tough. I actually wrote my Broken World series with the intention
of self-publishing it. I’m a very impatient person, and I wanted something to
focus my attention on while I was waiting for someone to pick my stuff out of
the slush piles. By time I finally landed an agent and a three book deal, Broken World was doing well and I’d
found a small group of loyal readers. Now that I’ve published both on my own
and traditionally, I can say that there are benefits to both routes and it’s
really all about personal preference. As for what I like better…I haven’t
decided quite yet.
Have you gotten feedback from
family about your book(s)? What do they think?
My husband has been so supportive
through this whole process—even though he hasn’t read all of my books, and I
have two sisters-in-law who are huge fans. My kids also like to brag to their
friends though, and my eight-year-old daughter even told her teacher about my
books, which led to me going into her school to talk to all the second grade
classes about what it was like to write a book.
What kinds of things do you
like to do outside of writing?
I’ve been a stay-at-home-mom for
almost eleven years now, so I guess I do a lot of mom things. I like to bake
and always make my kids birthday cakes, and I also enjoy doing crafty things
like making their Halloween costumes. When my husband and I have a chance to
get away from our rowdy children we like movies and a nice restaurant—I’m also
a big fan of a nice glass of red wine.
What kinds of advice would you
give to someone who wants to start writing?
It’s true what they say: practice
makes perfect. The stuff I wrote when I was first starting out is in desperate
need of revision because I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. But the more
you write the better you get, so keep trying even if the original product isn’t
that great. On the other hand, don’t rush into publishing or submitting to
agents before you have a polished manuscript. First impressions are important,
and if you present an unfished work to readers or agents, they are going to
remember.
What is your favorite book? favorite
author? Do you have an author that inspired/inspires you to write?
I mostly read the classics when I
was in high school, and I don’t think I’ll ever find an author as amazing as
Jane Austen. As far as favorite books go, it’s a toss-up between Gone With the Wind, Pride and Prejudice and Stephen King’s The Stand. All three are great books that I never get tired of
reading.
Do you have any go to people
when writing a book that help you with your story lines as well as editing,
beta reading and such?
I have a group of very enthusiastic
friends who love to be the first readers of my books and aren’t afraid to tell
me when they see issues with plot, which is a rare thing! What’s more is that
I’m part of a group of other New Adult authors who have been so amazing and
supportive and helpful that I sometimes wonder what I’d do without them. In
general the writing community is very supportive, but finding people who have
the time to help you out can be tough. I’m so lucky to have found the NA
Collaborative Group!
Are you working on anything
now?
I’m always working on something!
At the moment I’m polishing my YA
post-apocalyptic novel, When We Were
Human, working on edits for the third book in my College of Charleston
series, Moving On, and writing the
fifth book in my Broken World series,
New World. It’s a busy summer!
Kate L. Mary is a stay-at-home mother of four and an Air Force wife. She grew up in a small town just north of Dayton, Ohio where she and her husband met at the age of twelve. Since their marriage in 2002, they have lived in Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and California.Kate enjoys any post-apocalyptic story – especially if zombies are involved – as long as there is a romantic twist to give the story hope. Kate prefers nerdy, non-traditional heroes who can make you laugh to hunky pieces of man-meat, and her love of wine and chocolate is legendary among her friends and family. She currently resides in Oklahoma with her husband and children.
Be sure to check out her bestselling BROKEN WORLD series, now on the top 100 book in dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction on Amazon.
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ReplyDeleteThe List sounds great! I would love to read it. Thank you
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