Spotlight Author with Kathryn Caskie Parker

Today I have another amazing guest here at my blog. Kathryn Caskie Parker is here to gives us all of the details on her up-coming release plus give us tips and tricks of the writing world. She even has some goodies to give away!!!

Welcome Kathryn, So glad that you joined us here today. We would love to hear about your up coming release, THE DUKE’S NIGHT OF SIN.


My November 30th release is the third in my Seven Deadly Sins series, The Duke’s Night of Sin. The Seven Deadly Series~ The series is about the seven sexy Sinclair brothers and sisters, known throughout Scotland as the Seven Deadly Sins. They live for scandal and delight in disgrace until their father finally decrees that they must reform or be cast out to the pavers with a penny to their name. Propriety has never come easily for the seven, but now they have no choice, and so they head off to London, where no one knows of their past deeds, to seek the respectability their father demands. The Duke’s Night of Sin is about Lady Siusan Sinclair, whose sin to overcome is sloth/laziness. One the anniversary of her fiancé’s death, her brothers and sister convince her to attend a grand ball in honor of the new Duke of Exeter. But once she is there, her loneliness and sadness overwhelm her and she takes refuge from the festivities in a dark library. Before long a gentleman enters and, in the darkness, mistakes her for someone else. She thinks to correct him, but everything is happening so quickly and when he kisses her, she melts and allows herself to imagine her fiancé. Soon he’s filling her loneliness, and she convinces herself that it’s only one night of sin. No one will know. But when she slips up and speaks, revealing her Scot’s dialect, the gentleman realizes his mistake. She flees the room and disappears in the crowd just as the Duke of Exeter is announced. She knows if her father learns of her indiscretion she will be disinherited with the Duke of Exeter and so she escapes for Bath, where she accepts a position of instructress of deportment at an exclusive school for girls. Sebastian Beaufort, the new Duke of Exeter, believes he has taken advantage of an innocent Society miss. He knows he must find her, marry her if that is what it will take to right his wrong. But how do you find someone you’ve never actually seen? But that’s when the fun begins. The Duke’s Night of Sin is my favorite of the Seven Deadly Sins series...and by far the sexiest. RT Book Reviews called The Duke’s Night of Sin “a capture your heart romance.”

When you are not writing, what do you like to read?


I read everything. This week I am reading Kristan Higgin’s All I Ever Wanted, Sarah Macleans’s Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord and (for something completely different) The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I wanted to read the book before seeing the movie!


What is your favorite thing about writing romance?


Because I write by the seat of pants (yes, I am a true blue pantser), I never know what each day will bring—except, eventually, a happily ever after.


What makes your voice different from others?


I’ve been told by a couple of different editors and agents that what makes my voice distinctive is that I write historicals with a humorous contemporary voice that appeals to both readers of historical and contemporary romance.


If you had to pick a favorite character that you have created or one that you wish you had created who would it be and why?


My favorite characters (I can’t pick one because they are twins) that I have created are the elderly Featherton sisters. I hated to see them go with the conclusion of the Featherton Sisters Quartet (Rules of Engagement, Lady in Waiting, Love is In the Heir and A Lady’s Guide to Rakes), so I gave them a cameo in The Most Wicked of Sins from the Seven Deadly Sins series. Reader told me they loved seeing dotty twins again.


A character I wish I had created...Jamie Fraser from Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander. Sigh.



Give us a glimpse into your writer’s life.


Well, my husband recently started working from home, so I gave up my office (his phone voice is booming) and retreated to the dining room on the other side of the house to write. There are no distractions there, like in my office, just silverware, china, etc. When the kids are home there isn’t a distraction free zone in the house, so, if I am on deadline, I head off to Rust Library where I can usually duck into one of their quiet glass study rooms. I know so many authors who write at Starbucks. I can’t. Within minutes, I find myself eavesdropping on anyone chatting nearby and then coming up with fictional, very adventurous lives for them. As far as crafting a book, I don’t really plot. I’ve tried, but I’ve found that if I know the whole story I don’t want to write it. I really wish I was a plotter. Recently, I have taken a baby step toward traditional plotting. Before starting a book (I normally just plunge right into the writing) I do my best to identify the Inciting Incident, the Turning Points, the Black Moment, the Climax and the Resolution. Then, I let the story percolate in my mind. By time I start to write, I know the characters and their motivations, as I do when I writing by the seat of my pants, but I don’t write myself into a corner anymore—which speeds up the writing process. Have I sufficiently confused everyone? LOL.
What steps did you take to make your dreams come true?


I’ve always written in my various jobs, but when I decided I wanted to write a novel I started researching the business of publishing. I read every book I could on business and the craft. I joined RWA and my local chapter. I got involved. I met as many agents and editors as I could. I joined a critique group, and at the urging of one of my CPs, finished my novel in time to enter the Golden Heart. I was lucky enough to win.


Do you have any advice about finding an agent or getting published?


First, make sure your book is the best it can be. So many would-be authors type The End and immediately send the books to every editor and agent they can think of. Big mistake. You may only get one bite at the apple so do your homework. Pay attention to which houses publish the sort of book you have written. Take a look at the dedication pages of books similar to yours. Many authors thank their editor and agent there. These are the people who might like your book. Search the web for interviews these people may have given. In short, be sure that when you send you manuscript to agent at a literary agency, or an editor at a publishing house, you are sending it to the right one. It won’t do you any good to send your erotic vampire romance to the editor who loves funny Regency’s. Don’t count on the editor to walk your manuscript down the hall to someone who loves darker stories—make sure you target the right person. In short, do your homework then target the right agent or editor for your book. It will really improve you chances of realizing your dream of seeing your book in print.

Kathryn, thank you for being a guest on my blog, it has been a pleasure. We would love to know where we can find you and your books on the web.


Thank you so much for inviting me! I’ve given Micole a few e-ARCs of The Duke’s Night of Sin to give away. If you don’t win one of those, please stop by website www.KathrynCaskie.com reads an excerpt and enter my contest!





Kathryn has hooked us up with lots of goodies, so make sure to leave a comment so we can give them away!!!! Thank you all again for stopping by. See you next week.

Hugs

Micole