Book Blurb

About author, Kate Regnery: Katy is a 2013 NECRWA First Kiss, 2013 NTRWA Great Expectations and 2013 SOLA Dixie Kane contest winner who has always loved telling a good story. She credits her mother with making funny, heartwarming tales come alive throughout her childhood. A lifelong devotee of all Romance writing, from Edwardian to present-day, it was just a matter of time before Katy tried her hand at writing a love story of her own.

Katy lives in the relative-wilds of northern Fairfield County, Connecticut where her writing room looks out at the woods, and her husband, two young children and two dogs create just enough cheerful chaos to remind her that the very best love stories of all can often be the messy or unexpected ones.

INTERVIEW

Describe your writing style in five sentences: I write sweet, small-town contemporary romances that generally use a hero/heroine alternating point of view. I try to keep my dialogue sharp and witty, but I also do a fair amount of thoughtful exposition. Satisfying micro and macro arcs are really important to me; I don’t like leaving loose ends!

When did you know you wanted to be a writer? I took my first writing class with the local continuing education program in January 2012. That Spring I wrote a lot of short stories, but I didn’t really think about novel writing until September when I started writing By Proxy. I completed By Proxy in November 2012 and it was contracted in March 2013.

Hard/paperbacks or eBooks? I have a small collection of paperbacks that were meaningful to me when I read them. I can’t part with them yet, even though some of them are on my Kindle too. But, I’m 100% digital at this point. I can’t remember the last time I bought a paper book.

How did you celebrate the publication of your first book? When By Proxy debuted, my husband was on a business trip and my kids were asleep, so I was all alone! I opened a bottle of Champagne and poured myself a glass. Then I sat on my computer for hours, toggling between Twitter, Facebook and Amazon, just watching it all happen. Pretty intense. Pretty awesome.

What is the writing/editing/publishing process like for you? My writing process is generally very intense. I want to write all the time and it’s really hard for me to balance my “real” life with writing time. I’m pretty compulsive when I’m on a jag, and I’ve been known to write 8,000-10,000 words a day.

I view the editing process as a fail-safe and I am immensely grateful for it. I look forward to the feedback my editor gives me and I take revisions really, really seriously. It’s my chance to make a 3-4 star book into a 4-5 star book.

I’ve only published one book so far, but it was pretty emotional! I was so nervous and excited before my book launched, then euphoric once it did, then terrified it would flop. I am just getting to a place now where I am starting to relax about it.

If you’re not writing, then you’re probably…: Driving my kids to their activities, hanging out on social media, or picking up a Café Americana decaf with four shots. (I specifically take a break every day to drive to my favorite coffee shop!)

Who or what inspires you? Any love story inspires me. On TV, in movies, in books. I was recently at a wedding and a young couple shared the story of how they met at summer camp as kids and found each other again in Manhattan twenty years later. I was utterly captivated, and thought to myself, “Hmm. Summer camp. Good setting…”

Where is your favorite place to write? I have a small office in my home. To my right is window that looks out on our backyard, and to my left is a window that looks out into the woods. As far as I’m concerned, it’s perfect.

You write under two names, are there any differences between your characters? Yes, lots. My Katy Regnery romances are sweet and the characters are – for the most part – grounded and “normal.” My K.P. Kelley paranormals are visceral, sometimes violent and the emotionality is much more absolute and intense.

What do you want your readers to take away from your books? That there’s someone for everyone. I really believe that. You have to keep your heart and eyes open, but if you desire love – if you really, really want love in your life – I believe you’ll find it.

Every writer must have a…: Good sound system in their office or writing space. I couldn’t do without mine! I’d say I play music at least 60% of the time while I’m writing. I have playlists that specifically correlate to each book, and no matter how much time goes by between typing “The End” and doing revisions, the music will take me right back into my characters’ heads.

Can you tell us about any of your upcoming projects? A novella “The Christmas Wish,” my second Heart of Montana book, will be out the first week in November. The ensuing four Heart of Montana books will be out in January, April, July and October 2014, and January 2015. It’s an aggressive release schedule, but almost all are already written.

My first paranormal, It’s You, comes out in Spring 2014.

Blurb of “By Proxy”:

“Is my virtue safe?” Sam asked.

“Safer than it was in Chicago,” Jenny answered, getting the better of him.

He chuckled. “Phew! Okay. That’s a relief. Yes, I will come watch a Christmas movie with you. But you better keep your hands to yourself, Jenny. I mean it.”

She shook her head, smiling as they made their way across the bridge. “You are an ass.”

He gasped. “Jenny Lindstrom! A swearword!”

She giggled merrily. “An animal.”

“The back end of one.”

“As you said.”

“Do you kiss your father with that mouth?”

“I kissed you with that mouth.”

He stopped walking beside her, but their hands connected them and she had to drop his hand or stop and turn back to him. She stopped and turned. He was standing beside the last lamppost on the bridge, leaning against it with his arm outstretched to her. As she approached him in the dim light, she could see his eyes sparkling.

“No, Jen. I kissed you.” He pulled her closer. “But I’m open to a do-over.”

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