Writer Wednesday is back! Par-tay!
This time, we’re shaking it up a little bit. Instead of a standard interview, Kathryn Barrett is taking over the whole shebang (with my blessing, of course, especially since she was already subject to my quizzing in March) and giving us a little insight into her novels, including her latest, True Gold.
It’s kind of fun sitting back with the rest of y’all and seeing (okay, reading) what she has to say.
(Also, if you haven’t checked out her first book, Temptation, you should! I adored it – and have both Redemption and True Gold in my stack of books to read next!)
You gotta have friends…and so do your characters
Like any author, I love my characters, but sometimes, I love their friends more. My third release, True Gold, features a character who first appeared in my last book, Redemption. He’s the head of the company the main character works for, and he makes a brief appearance at the end, a supportive boss and friend. But as I was writing Redemption, I wanted to know more about this guy, who first appeared to me as a shadowy figure, a quiet man who didn’t have many friends, but who’d formed a friendship with Claire because they were very much alike in temperament.
My first book, Temptation, also features a friend of the main character Laura, who was also the hero of Redemption—Matt Grayson, a Hollywood A-list actor and director who, I knew, had been recently reunited with his true love.
When best friends pop in for brief appearances in my books—or even in the many book ideas that for now exist only in my head—I want to know their story too. When I first started writing I’d often be led astray by these friends. At its midpoint, the book I was writing became dull and difficult, so I let myself be distracted by the shiny new friend who’d appeared. Who is he? What’s her story? What’s he hiding? The tantalizing secrets they held intrigued me, tempted me away from the current work in progress. Finally I had to get tough with myself and just finish the book, promising myself I’d go back and write the other stories—discover what that character was all about—later.
I think friends are easier to include than family members. There’s a reason why so many romance heroes and heroines are orphans: parents are often an inconvenient complication in a plot—unless they’re estranged, they need to show up once in a while if the story is to be realistic. But a friend can pop in long enough to offer valuable advice a character needs to get beyond the Black Moment she’s found herself in.
Other authors I like write the same sort of loosely connected stories: Nora Roberts, Susan E. Phillips, and Judith McNaught, whose books first convinced me I needed to write romance. And the best thing is, there’s never a shortage of story ideas. As long as a character isn’t totally friendless, there’ll be someone in my head, waiting in the wings for his story to be told. And then, I get to check in on my previous characters, too, as they inevitably make an appearance in their friends’ books.
What about you? Do you like to read or write about friends of previous main characters?
TRUE GOLD:
Connor Forrest is a self-made billionaire only one generation removed from the emerald turf of his mother’s Ireland. Jaded by the high risk, high tech investment world he inhabits, he has little time for introspection, poetry, or true love. A piece of perfectly thought out logic, on the other hand, makes him weak in the knees.
Rebecca Evans is a brilliant computer programmer disguised as a ditzy blonde. She’s looking for love, but people are not as predictable as mathematical equations.
A fall in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park sends her straight into Connor’s arms, but getting into his heart is a much harder task.
Can Connor learn that true love, like gold futures, is worth a little risk?
Find True Gold here:
Simon and Schuster: http://books.simonandschuster.com/True-Gold/Kathryn-Barrett/9781623422158
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/True-Gold-Kathryn-Barrett-ebook/dp/B00ZPNZJIU
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/True-Gold-Kathryn-Barrett-ebook/dp/B00ZPMWPK6/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/true-gold-kathryn-barrett/1122135938
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/true-gold/id1006823331?mt=11
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/true-gold-1
BooksAMillion: http://www.booksamillion.com/search?query=9781623422158
Bio:
Kathryn Barrett reluctantly put aside childhood dreams of becoming an author and took a more practical approach, majoring in Business Administration in college. But after marrying an Air Force officer, she realized a career in high finance didn’t suit an itinerant lifestyle. She happily returned to her first love, writing stories that feature larger-than-life characters, family relationships, and of course, a happy ending.
Her award-winning novel Temptation was published in 2013, followed by Redemption in 2014.
Having lived all over the world, Kathryn and her family have recently relocated to northern Virginia. She enjoys long walks with her squirrel-obsessed dog, traveling to tiny European countries, cooking vegan feasts, and, only occasionally, she still reads the Financial Times.
Website: http://kathrynbarrett.com
Twitter: @KathrynSBarrett
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKathrynBarrett
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Kathryn-Barrett/e/B00BHSWH00/
Thanks so much, Kathryn!
I, for one, LOVE series interconnected by siblings or friends (as all my stories will be).
I’m so glad you could share your insights today.