It’s April and flowers!
I’m Kathleen Wright, writing as Kathy Damp, new to the Harlequin Heartwarming family of authors. It’s great to meet you.
And I'm Patricia Bradley, and not so new to the Heartwarming family.
And I'm Patricia Bradley, and not so new to the Heartwarming family.
Welcome to Spring! At least it’s Spring in Utah where I live in the Rocky Mountains and where Pat lives in North Mississippi. In Utah we just passed the lilac season and are blowing into the snowball bush season. Makes me happy because that means bike riding season is here!
Pat here--Do you remember the frozen buds last month?
I thought you might like to see what they look like now.Want to get to know us?
Since I’m brand new to the Harlequin Heartwarming family (first book out in June) and Pat had her first title, Matthew’s Choice, out in September 2014, how about you get to know us?
Questions readers ask us
Here are some questions that readers toss our way whenever we meet them (and we love to meet them, whether online or in person).
“Do the things that happen in your books happen to you in real life?”
Kathleen: In Waiting for Sparks, my very first Harlequin Heartwarming story, there’s a peripatetic Border Collie who presents the heroine, Emma, with some challenges. Wait till you read what his name is. I hope you laugh. Sometimes I read about things that I think would be fun to work into a book. And my friends know that whatever they say and do just might end up in a story.
Pat: In Matthew's Choice, the kitten storyline was taken straight from my life. Like Matthew, I found a kitten on a parking lot and took it home.
“Are your heroes based on guys you know?”
Pat: I wish! My characters come from straight from my head. lol. I'm sure they all have bits and pieces people I hang out with, though.
Kathleen: Guys I’ve seen, known, and made up in my head. I think my heroes are the best bits of lots of people and then some bad habits as well, to keep it interesting. I’ll be interested in who Sparks reminds you of in Waiting for Sparks. A lot of him is based on a certain TV show host.
“My friends tell me I should write a romance. How do I start so I get published?
Kathleen: You are in luck! Harlequin.com is giving you some help. For details on bootcamps and this year’s contest, join the community of romance readers and authors, and follow Harlequin on Twitter at @sytycwglobal and @HarlequinBooks and on Facebook.
Pat: Kathleen has a great idea! Harlequin is one of the most open publishers in the publishing world. Writer's don't have to have an agent to pitch a story to them. And it's always good to submit your stories to contests. The final judges are usually editors and/or agents.
Our newest books
Check out Pat’s book by clicking here:
See you next month and I’ll leak some secrets about the secrets in Waiting for Sparks!
~Kathleen
www.kathleenwright.com
Welcome to the Heartwarming authors group, Kathleen, and best wishes to you both with your first Heartwarming releases!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kate! I have a 2nd book coming out in November.
DeleteTerrific news, Patricia!
DeleteYep, Kate, pretty exciting for my first romance being published. I'm looking forward to June first EXCEEDINGLY.
DeleteWelcome, Kathleen. I love your cover! Pat, my sister-in-law found a cat in the Walmart parking lot. Wally lived a long and very happy life. :-)
ReplyDeleteLiz, when I saw the cover for the first time I did a little bit of a shriek. It's JUST as I thought of it in my head, with the exception of having a border collie in the picture as well.
DeleteI had Mazie for three years. I wish I could say he ever liked me. lol. He was always a ferral cat, but I was very sad when he had a stroke. But now I have the sweetest rescue cat from our local shelter. She was diagnosed with FIP 2 years ago and overcame it.
ReplyDeleteWelcome Kathleen and to you both, I love books with animals. Looking forward to your books.
ReplyDeleteHi Roz! Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteI've been noticing it's kind of difficult for me NOT to include an animal in my novels. They just sort of show up and want to be in the story.
DeleteWelcome to the Heartwarming blog. Finally spring has arrived. I enjoyed your pictures and comments on answering your reader’s questions and look forward to reading your books.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you enjoyed the photos. The bush smells just like honeysuckle. It's my neighbors, but I enjoy it.
DeleteHey, ladies! What a fun introduction, Kathleen. I really love the cover of Waiting for Sparks. I'm a border collie fan myself. I've had two--just lost our fifteen-year-old in December and I'm still brokenhearted ): Great pics and great post!
ReplyDeleteIt's so hard to lose a pet. And to have one for 15 years. Wow. I've never had a pet that long. Thanks for stopping by,
DeleteCarol, our present border collie is our second. He's the Cash the Wonder Dog and a rescue. He's 11 years old as close as we can figure. Our first bc lived for 16 years. Of course, they are very different, but all bc! Thanks for reading our post.
DeleteHi, Pat! Welcome, Kathleen! Love the moody look of Matthew and the explosive Sparks cover. We once adopted a black kitten that walked out of a field on Halloween! The kids named it Barney (after Barnabas Collins from 'Dark Shadows.' ) Turned out, she was a Bernadette. She lived with us for a long time - love is always a good investment. Congratulations to both of you!
ReplyDeleteOh, Muriel, that kitty I picked up...I named her Mazie...kept calling him that after I took him to the vet. Thanks for commenting!
DeleteThe "moody look of Matthew" - wow, you set a tone with your phrasing, Muriel! Love it.
DeleteThe more Heartwarming authors, the merrier. It's nice to meet you Kathleen Wright. Thanks to both of you for the great post. As a reader I like to imagine I could write a book some day. I get an idea for a book and either it has already been done or I can't figure out how to sustain a plot for 300 pages. I too love books with pets. I picked up our cat from a shelter when he was 3 mos. old and now he's 14. Thanks for the Monday boost.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I look at the cat I have now, I'm so glad I have her. She wouldn't have lived long there.
DeleteAnd Laurie, you never know...go ahead and write that story! Even if the idea has been done, it hasn't been done the way you would write it.
Oh, Laura. Please write your book. There is nothing new under the sun. It's the heart of the writer that makes a new story. If the story has an animal in it and the author doesn't kill if off, I will most likely read it.
DeleteWhat if you gathered up your courage from under the bed and LEAPED into the contest that's mentioned in our post?
Welcome, Kathleen. Congrats to you and Patricia on your new books. So sorry, Carol, to hear about your beloved border collie. I once acquired a cat whose owner had moved out next door and left her behind. One day after seeing it wobbling down the driveway between the two houses, my son and I looked at each other and, realizing its plight, said at the same time: "Get the cat food." The cat slept on my chest for the next three weeks! We named him Winston only to learn like you, Muriel, that he was a she. After that she was simply, Winnie. And much loved.
ReplyDeleteEvery morning at 5, Suzy climbs on my chest and sleeps there until I get up. Amazing what we do for our pets, Leigh. Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteOur bc definitely contributed some personality to the bc in Waiting for Sparks. The name of the bc in Waiting for Sparks just happened up in my head and made me laugh. Hope readers will love the name as well.
DeleteOops, forgot something. Laurie, every idea has been done. Your book would be very different and fresh because of who you and your characters are--unique. Go for it!
ReplyDeleteThanks for that. I suppose you've got a point there. The encouragement has given me hope. I'm afraid my lack of proper grammar skills might impede me, but perhaps I could brush up on those. Oh dear, I'm off on a tangent. This is a topic for another post. Sorry.
DeleteSee my reply as well above, Laurie. You're in good company to do what you've always wanted to do. I would bet most of the Harlequin Heartwarming authors at some point said, "I wonder if I could do this."
DeleteKathy, welcome, so glad you're here. Pat, always good to find out a bit more. I've rescued many a cat. I still remember one that didn't want to be rescued.
ReplyDeleteSometimes they don't Pamela. lol. I have the scars to prove it. :-)
DeleteWelcome, Kathy! Love this post and the pictures, Pat and Kathy. I am so excited for spring to be here :)
ReplyDeleteAt our house in Utah, the lilacs are fading and the snowball bushes are coming on. Bring it! Thanks for visiting the blog.
DeleteThanks for stopping by Amy! I.AM.SO.HAPPY.FOR.SPRING!!! too.
ReplyDelete