Interview With Katie Reus
Today (Friday August 14th) I have the distinct pleasure of interviewing the fabulously talented Katie Reus about her latest book release. Finding Hope is her third romantic suspense with The Wild Rose Press. She has graciously agreed to give away a digital copy to one commenter, but even if you aren’t the lucky winner, I hope you’ll check out some of her work. Katie always delivers a great read, and the best part is, you can feel good about supporting her because she’s such a sweetheart!
Without further delay, from the Sunshine State, here’s Katie.
Kaylea Cross: How did you come up with the story line for Finding Hope?
Katie Reus: Looks always seem to play a prevalent part in romances, which makes sense because people are visual creatures and attraction is a very important part of a developing relationship, but I wanted to write a hero who fell for the heroine almost despite her looks. Hope, my heroine, is attractive but she also looks exactly like someone he knows and has no attraction whatsoever for. When he falls for her, it has nothing to do with her face.
KC: Did you have to do any special research before writing the manuscript?
KR: I’ve spent a lot of time in The Keys and Miami so I didn’t have to do a lot of research about those areas. However, there’s a scene where Luke and Hope travel to Cuba so I had to do some research on international travel laws. Since some scenes take place on various boats/yachts, I had to brush up on my nautical terms. Luckily, I have my dad for that. I also had some questions about certain government protocols (really small stuff) that I contacted one of my friends about. And lastly, I had to research different Florida laws concerning the statute of limitations for kidnapping and sexual assault. Overall it wasn’t a lot, but it was time consuming.
KC: Ooh, great connections to have! You know, I first found out about you through The Wild Rose Press and your first release with them, City of Secrets. I was hooked from the first page by your voice and the quality of your writing. Was that your first novel? Tell us a bit about the process of writing that one and submitting it, and why you chose TWRP.
KR: No, that wasn’t my first book. That one is still gathering dust but hopefully one day it will see the light of day. The reason I chose TWRP was actually kind of random. After agent hunting with my first manuscript, I hadn’t had any luck so I put that one away and finished another manuscript. I was still in the process of editing it and I had just joined Central Florida Romance Writers. I think it was my second or third meeting and Rhonda Penders (editor in chief) was speaking. One of the members encouraged me to pitch to Rhonda and since I’d just finaled in a contest with COS, I decided to give it a shot. She invited me to submit to them and since I didn’t know much about epublishing at the time, I did some research first. After I submitted to Rhonda she forwarded my manuscript to one of the crimson line editors and not long after, I signed with Jill Williamson (though she’s no longer with the Crimson line).
KC: Your hubby served with the Marines. Does he help you with weapons/tactical questions?
KR: He’s very helpful but to be honest, I didn’t use him too much for my first two books and I really wish I had. Now I ask him any little thing that has to do with weapons or the military or anything I think he might know (he’s seriously like MacGyver). I also ask his friends who were in the Marines or Navy for research help.
KC: Okay, now I’m just jealous. Tell us about your writing process. You churn stories out so fast–how do you make that happen?
KR: I just write every day. Once I start writing a story, it’s like a sickness that I can’t stop. The need to get the words onto paper sometimes overwhelms me to the point I forget to do laundry or dishes. Or at least that’s what I tell my husband. Basically, I make the time to write. It’s not an afterthought or hobby for me. It’s one of the biggest parts of my life and one day I want writing to be a full time career so even if I don’t feel like writing, I plant myself in front of the computer and make myself do it. That doesn’t happen very often though because I enjoy what I do.
KC: I tend to get a little…carried away when I write, too (so my family tells me). Do you plot everything out in an outline before starting the first draft? Or do you know the bones and then dive in?
KR: I envy people who can plot everything out. I’ve only done that once and it was the smoothest time I’ve ever had writing a story (Running From the Past). For everything else, I basically know the bare bones, the characters, the first three chapters, and the ending. However, the ending usually changes by the time I get there.
KC: What do you do when you get stuck during the first draft? Please tell me you get stuck sometimes.
KR: I definitely get stuck and I seriously hate plotting. I love fleshing out my characters but the whole plotting thing isn’t my favorite thing to do. I meet with one of my critique partners (who lives seconds from my house) once every two weeks and we bounce ideas off each other. It keeps me sane!
KC: Yes, good critique partners are a godsend (wink). You also write under the name Savannah Stuart. Can you tell us about your latest/upcoming releases with Ellora’s Cave?
KR: I recently decided to separate my erotic romance persona from my romantic suspense persona so even though I have a couple things under consideration with my editor at EC, I only have one release out under that name. It’s Adrianna’s Cowboy, a ‘Quickie’, that I had a lot of fun writing. It’s the first contemporary with no suspense that I’ve written so I’m hoping it’s just as well received as my other releases.
KC: And you’ve recently signed with Jill Marsal of the Marsal-Lyon Agency. Can you tell us about your reaction when you got “the call” and what sort of projects she will be representing you on?
KR: I was on vacation with my husband at the time so I really wasn’t even thinking about writing and I almost didn’t answer the phone because I didn’t recognize the number. When we first started talking Jill was talking about how I’d need to do some revisions, etc. for some reason it didn’t compute that she was offering me a contract. When it finally sunk in, I managed to act like a normal human being until I got off the phone. That night I celebrated with too many cocktails! She’s representing all my future work except for my sales to Ellora’s Cave. Right now that’s just romantic suspense but I also plan to write paranormals in the future.
KC: Go, Katie! What do you know now that you wish you’d known before you embarked on a writing career?
KR: I’d need a lot more patience.
KC: Oh, yeah (rolls eyes). This business is a killer for uh…type A personalities. So other than joining RWA and finding a critique group, what advice would you offer to aspiring writers?
KR: Don’t get so caught up in writing and the quest to be published that you forget to do other things you enjoy. It’s a mistake I made when I first started writing. I pushed aside what I loved, namely reading, and my love of reading is what pushed me to write in the first place.
KC: I love reading too, especially when I know the author. It makes a book even more special.
Thanks so much for your time, Katie!
For all of you out there, please leave a comment to enter the contest, and feel free to check out Katie’s website and blog. If you’re in the mood for a good romantic suspense, try some of her other work. You won’t be disappointed! And now that you know her, keep your eyes peeled because her work will be hitting a store shelf near you very soon.
Happy reading!
Kaylea 🙂
I Spoke Too Soon
Given my last post, you’d think I’d be super excited to get back on the ball field to play mixed slo-pitch with my hubby. And I kind of was. I even got to play on diamond one at Softball City where I set several scenes in Out of Her League. And like Christa, I got to play catcher. I know the position of catcher in slo-pitch is totally benign, but still. I haven’t seen a ball hit at me in anger in years, so that was the safest place for me. After last night? Not so much. Ah, the irony…
You see this dog here? He’s wearing the same expression I had on my face after the game. He’d have played better than I did last night. Certainly would have had a better arm. I’ve got all sorts of excuses. It’s been over 18 months since I touched a ball. Seven years since I’ve played a full season. We haven’t had a practice. The ball was wet. Slo-pitch is a stupid game anyway.
Do I sound bitter? Thought so. But damn it, I expect better from myself when I hit the field. I don’t care that I was a fastpitch pitcher. I had a damn good arm in my day. And hitting a slo-pitch? Please. The thing hangs up there for half an hour before it comes down. Surely go God I can smoke the thing into the outfield. But no. I went one for three with a weak line drive into center field. Behind the plate, I was pathetic. I mean, Christa would be cringing in horror. You’d think I’d never thrown a ball in my life. Couldn’t even get it back to the pitcher consistently, and he’s six two with an arm span almost as wide. Kind of a bit target to miss, if you catch my drift. But I managed. Fielding a bunt, I promptly launched it over my first baseman’s head into right field. Two runs scored.
Rusty? Not even near strong enough an adjective. I sucked *ss. Seriously. After the game on the way home I patted my hubby’s knee and told him to find another lady to replace me. His eyebrows went up. “It’s your first game in forever. You just need to get back into it.” Yeah, yeah. Blah, blah, blah.
So I stewed most of the night. Stupid, stupid game. I’m still so embarrassed! I was on the Canada Games Team for crying out loud! Yeah, it was a long time ago, but still. I can’t stand playing if I don’t perform well.
Okay, deep breath. I’m giving it one more game, and if things don’t improve, I’m done. It will drive me insane to go out there and humiliate myself repeatedly. I’d rather be home working on my next book 🙂
On a much happier note, I will be interviewing author Katie Reus on Friday August 14th. One lucky commenter will win a digital copy of her latest romantic suspense release, Finding Hope. See you then!
Summer Baseball Movies: America’s Passtime on film (and they could improve your writing, too)
My family loves baseball. Well, hubby and I do. That’s a big part of why we ended up together. He used to catch for me when I wanted extra practice and couldn’t meet up with one of my team catchers. And trust me, catching for any pitcher at our level was not for the faint of heart. He was the sexiest thing I’d ever laid eyes on back there behind the plate with his mask on. Yummmm… Could handle anything I could dish out (I’m fanning myself just thinking about it). Half my team was in love with him, plus he came to every game, even away tournaments to support me. And that’s before we even got engaged. Sigh. Is that romantic or what? Just wait until you hear how he proposed (later post).
Now that we’re married with kids, we’re slowly brainwashing our two boys into thinking baseball is the best sport ever. Even if they don’t see it quite yet, I know they’ll come around.
I love ball. I love watching it, I love playing it (just the odd slo-pitch game now) and I love coaching it. Long, hot summer days bring back a million memories for me, having spent countless hours sweating away at practices and tournaments all over North America. The earthy scent of freshly cut grass and the tang of sunscreen instantly transports me back to my ball-playing days (I feel so old saying that!). It makes me think of all the friends I’ve made from the sport I love. I even got an amazing sister-in-law out of the deal (waving madly to Kara!). I feel truly blessed at the ways softball has enriched my life.
It’s no surprise that I have my favorite baseball movies, like Bull Durham (all-time fave, especially when Crash tells the batter what pitch is coming to teach his rookie pitcher a lesson. Pitchers can be such head cases :)) and A League of Their Own. I actually met some of the women who played in the All American Baseball League (during and after WWII), at a B.C. Sports Hall of Fame induction dinner. That was back in 1993. Man, does time fly or what?
A lot of bad memories from that year, the worst one being from the end of the season. It took two gruelling years of tryouts to make that team (including several fast-pitch equivalents of Hell Week), but the coaches did choose me for the final roster. I was the starting pitcher for game one, and on the last play of the game I tagged a runner at third base and dislocated my pitching hand ring finger. But hey, at least the runner was out. Injuries hurt less when you get the out. That’s the main thing. We mercied the other team 10-0 and finished in five innings. I got the win and a shut-out in the opening game, but that darned finger…
I didn’t dare say anything to the coaching staff. I’d worked too long and too hard to be sidelined by a stupid injury I was sure I could suffer through. So I clenched my jaw and pulled the finger into place to reduce the dislocation, hoping no one would ever know what had happened. But within a few hours the thing quickly turned purple and blue, and was so swollen I couldn’t move it. Not good. So much for going under the radar. My catcher saw it later that night and tattled on me. I got sent to the medical tent for x-rays and some anti-inflammatories. Long story short? That game was the only action I saw for the tournament. Five whopping innings, after two and a half years of blood and sweat making the squad. I was devastated. We came in third, much to our disappointment. But even though the memories are bittersweet, I wouldn’t trade them. My love of the game was as strong as ever.
Anyway, A League of Their Own always takes me back to that memory because we watched it on the team bus on the way to the Canada Games. Then as I said, I met a few of the actual players at the induction dinner. Hands down one of my favorite movies. Great plot and interesting characters. Tom Hanks’ character reminded me very much of one of my favorite coaches, only my coach wasn’t a drinker. He was every bit as gruff and surly, though. We’re good friends now, but when I played for him he once told me “I’m not here as your friend. If you want a friend, go buy an f—ing dog.” True story. But I digress.
The Rookie‘s also good, a true story about a middle-aged high-school teacher who goes back and tries out for the big leagues, and winds up making it. We watched it the other night, and the scene where Dennis Quaid calls home from a phone booth to tell his young son he’d made the Majors… Well, we’ve seen it a few times, and I always watch my husband’s face when that scene comes along. He didn’t disappoint me. He always gets all choked up at that scene. How can I not love a guy like that?
My eldest loves Field of Dreams (whose author also lives in my town, White Rock), but let’s not forget The Natural , For Love of the Game (also has a great romance plot), or Eight Men Out. Those are my favorites.
Okay, there’s a point to this, I swear. As a writer, watching movies like those are great tools to learn plot, pacing, setting, dialogue and characterization. Since I’ve been writing, I can’t simply watch a movie for pure entertainment anymore. I’m constantly watching to see how the writers and directors pull all the elements of the stories together. Just like when I read a book. I notice sentence construction and seem to pick out word echoes (a little pet peeve that bugs me if an author does it too much in a book). I note how a character speaks and how the pacing is developing, how the story threads are woven and joined together.
See? It’s entertainment and education all at the same time. What more could you want? Next time you’re watching a movie, pay attention to the details of the storytelling craft involved. You’ll be even more impressed.
Still Kickin’
Just a quick post to let everyone know that yes, I’m still alive. Better than that, I’m working on Luke and Emily’s story, and am currently halfway through. I still have some details to figure out to make the plot seamless, but the draft’s coming along nicely.
Have a big trip planned for the fall, if I don’t chicken out before then (involves long flights), but I will post about that later on. I’ve been spending lots of time in the garden, at the beach, and lots of time playing road hockey and baseball in the back yard with the weasels. But to be honest, I’d really rather be on the porch swing with my laptop a few more hours every day.
Hope everyone is having a safe and fun summer.
Happy writing and reading!