When you are getting ready to start a new book, what’s the first thing you do?

Tidy my desk – it’s always a total mess by the time I’ve finished a book! And then I make the playlist for the book – the stuff I listen to on the way home from school that sets the mood for the book.

How do you celebrate when you finish writing a book?

I’m superstitious so I wait until the book has been revised and accepted before I celebrate. And then I buy a bottle of Chablis to share with my husband, and a Pandora bead for my bracelet – it’s usually something to do with the book (so, because this one is all to do with snow, I have a snowflake on it!).

Do you usually begin a book with a character or a plot?

Usually the characters and the first scene – I tend to wake up with them in my head.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

If you’re writing category fiction, read as much as you can and target the line you enjoy best – that’s the one that’s most likely to fit with your writing voice. Get to know your characters well and remember that your reader wants to fall in love with your hero and be best friends with your heroine, so make them as rounded as you can.

Who are your favorite authors? What authors have influenced your book?

George Eliot, Thomas Hardy (hence my writing name!), Daphne du Maurier, Liz Fielding.

Are you a pantser or a plotter?

Sort of in between – I’m very much a plotter, but if my characters come up with better ideas as I’m writing, I go with the flow 🙂 I need to start with a plot written down, though, or I end up spending all my time avoiding the blank screen and playing word games online.

Where does the magic happen? Where do you write?

Most of the time I write on the Mac in my office, surrounded by rather a lot of books and my guitar, and with a spaniel snoring his head off next to my desk; but if it’s a nice morning I might go and work in the garden with my iPad (or even in the conservatory). Revisions are always done on a paper copy of the book at the dining room table, but I sometimes get distracted by the piano…

Aside from writing, what do you do in your free time?

You’ve probably already worked out from the previous question that I’m a bit of a music junkie. I also love the theatre and the cinema, and as my son is doing his GCSEs at the moment and his English and Drama teachers said we need to take him to lots of performances, I have a great excuse! We also live about 40 minutes away from a really nice coastline (North Norfolk, in the UK), and I love going for a walk by the sea at the weekend. I enjoy cooking – as you might notice on my website, I have recipes for most of my books. (And that comes with a consequence all of its own – put it this way, I now have gym membership…)

Do you prefer print books or eBooks?

I’ve literally JUST got my very first e-reader. (Well, I’ve had an iPad since they first came out, but I use it for writing and email rather than reading because it’s a bit heavy to read in bed.) With a cover, it feels like a ‘real’ book and it has a lit screen, so I’m not going to be nagged to turn the bedside light off! But I do love the feel of a print book. Especially nice glossy hardback books. So at the moment it’s both!

Giveaway

Kate is launching a week-long giveaway for a $10 Amazon gift card here and at every other stop this week on the Baby, It’s Cold Outside Holiday Blog Tour, including:

12/19 – My Book Addiction And More

12/22 – My Life With Books

Visit these blogs and enter the Rafflecopter below to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

‘Tis the Season to Kiss Santa

With the help of a sprig of mistletoe and some snow angels, a recently single pastry chef teaches a highly successful and sexy Scrooge the true meaning of the holidays on a snowy Christmas Eve that quickly heats up.

Title: Baby, It’s Cold Outside
Author: Kate Hardy, Heidi Rice, Amy Andrews, Aimee Carson
Genre: Category – Contemporary Romance
Length: 260 pages
ISBN:  978-1-62266-810-6
Release Date: November 2012
Imprint: Indulgence

Follow Kate Hardy

Website   |   Facebook   |   Twitter

About Author

Entangled Staff

See author's posts