Happy weekend, my fellow romance lovers!

Yesterday I turned in the final final final final edits (I say this so many times because it seems like I’ve been on a perpetual deadline for the past two months) for my third NAL Penguin book which will come out in May, MY LADY RIVAL. I cannot even begin to express how excited I am. I might even go to sleep one night before midnight sometime soon just to spoil myself. I’m certainly looking forward to having a chance to respond to all the reader email which I haven’t been able to get to (unfortunately, email is one of the first things to go; otherwise I get sucked in and am good for nothing else). I’m also looking forward to reading some amazing romance novels! (First on my list: the new Kristan Higgins book and the new Joanna Bourne book–yes!)

But I have to tell you the truth, and this might make me sound like I’m simply a glutton for self-punishment. I’m also *really* looking forward to starting in on writing a new book or two. I have so many characters and ideas running around in my head, and they’ve been getting very impatient while I’ve spent so much time with Alex and Willa, the characters in MY LADY RIVAL.

You’re the first ones to know what I’ll be working on next (seriously–even my writer friends don’t know this). First, there’s the love story between Joanna and Ethan, two secondary characters from SEDUCING THE DUCHESS that readers have been asking me about ever since SD came out. (I’m so happy to be able to write their story!) And I’m also thrilled (when I say “thrilled”, I mean I’m giddy because I get to conduct a lot of research, which just goes to show you how much of a dork I am ) to announce that I’m also going to be working on a new romance series set in 1920s Long Island (likely with a spin-off series in 1920s Chicago). It was very difficult to decide on these two projects when I have so many ideas, but they’re the ones knocking on my heart the loudest right now and I hope you’ll love them when they’re done.

And if I eat an extra piece (or ten) of Halloween candy this weekend, just know that it’s all in my plan to party first. I am nothing if not a disciplined hedonist.

As you can see, writing really is a passion for me. As soon as I finish with one book, I’m off to the next! What are your passions? And what other romance books do you think I should add to my TBR list after Kristan Higgins and Joanna Bourne? Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Write What You Know (and Love)

Hello! Thank you so much to the Sisterhood of the Jaunty Quills—and of course, Jaunty—for having me on the blog today. My first novel, Sweet Enemy, has yet to hit stores, so I’m pretty new to this whole guest blogging thing, but it’s so exciting to be here! I was going to bring Armando, my cravat wearing stuffed armadillo to meet Jaunty today, but he’s a little shy. Perhaps next time…

Today, I thought I’d talk a little bit about how I got here—aside from being invited by the lovely and talented Robyn DeHart . Like most authors of historical romance, I grew up reading it. Once I discovered my grandmother’s hidden stash (stuffed on the lowest bookshelf, hidden behind her recliner), I was hooked! Well, after a degree in Chemistry, getting married, and several years in the workforce, I decided I wanted to write them, too.

Great! Good decision! But now, how to do so?

Well, I’ll skip all of the boring details about how the left brained chemist in me decided to thoroughly dissect my six favorite romance novels and examine each facet in detail. Instead, let’s jump right to the first bit of advice first time writers hear: Write What You Know.

Hmmm. Good advice. After all, I need my own unique voice, right? But what in the world could my life experience bring to a historical romance novel? I mean, after all, beakers and ball gowns don’t mix, do they?

Wait. Beakers and ball gowns don’t mix…Beakers and ball gowns don’t mix… That line stuck with me. And the idea for a Regency-era lady chemist was born. She would, of course, eschew Society (because of the aforementioned non-mixing). So what would make her enter the glittering world of the ton willingly? Well, what if she were searching for her father’s killer?

And here’s where I added to the first time rule: Write What You Know AND What You Want to Read. You see, I love a good mystery, too. I just prefer them to have plenty of romance. And, as a former scientist, I love a good experiment—and a good challenge. So I decided for my first time out, I’d tackle a romance AND a mystery. Why not, right? So my story line became this:

Beakers and ball gowns don’t mix, so when a lady chemist goes undercover as a husband hunter to investigate the earl she thinks may have murdered her father, romance isn’t part of her formula. But it only takes one kiss to start a reaction she can’t control…

And voila! I was off! Now, since we’re having such a fun time, I’ll spare you all of the ugly details about my first flailing attempts and about how, in the despairing place somewhere in the middle of the first draft I decided I was a terrible writer who was crazy to attempt to write a mystery AND a romance in my first ever manuscript and yanked out all of the mystery in an attempt to make it more simple (and subsequently couldn’t stand the story anymore and had to figure out how to put it all back in, only better). No, I’ll just tell you that in the end, I am so glad I stuck it out and I hope readers will come to love Geoffrey and Liliana’s story as much as I do.

Sweet Enemy – A Veiled Seduction Novel, will be coming out February 7, 2012—just in time for Valentine’s Day. It is the first in a series of three featuring science-savvy heroines with a touch of mystery. I will be giving away a signed copy to a random commenter (who agrees to be patient…February…long time off ☹)

So, to start off the conversation, tell me—what types of romances do you love best? Ones with a little mystery? Ones that focus strictly on the juicy inner angst of relationships? Light, humorous and witty? A little darker? All of the above?

Please visit me at www.HeatherSnowBooks.com I’d love to hear from you anytime!

My family is so important to me.  The concept of family makes its way into just about every book I write. The book I’m writing for the Fortunes of Texas series (An Unexpected Fortune, May 2012) is all about family dynamics, as is my three-book Special Edition series, which will hit the shelves toward the end of next year. I’m working on a proposal for a juicy southern family saga. Naturally, all this writing and research about family has me thinking a lot about where my people came from.

A good friend of mine can trace her family tree all the way back to Henri II, of France and Charlemagne. I was enthralled and envious to hear this. I’ve always wanted to know my ancestry, but short of urging my retired father, who’s busier now than when he was doing the 9-5 grind, to take up the project, I’ve never done much toward that end ( in all my spare time ). But having heard about my friend’s roots, I’m once again inspired to learn about my lineage.   Plus, I’m convinced that this friend and I must be distant cousins since we both have relatives from the Ozarks – could those roots stretch all the way back to France? Maybe that would explain why I’m such a Francophile.

Several years before my grandmother passed away, I asked her to write down the birth dates and deaths of as many relatives a she could remember. But even she could only recall four or five generations. I wish I had time to take up the project, but since I don’t, my goal is to busy my father with solving the puzzle of our past.

Have you ever traced your family tree or do you know of anyone who has? Any interesting findings?  Any good tips on how to start the process and what to expect along the way?

I have four Special Editions coming out in 2012. All of them are set in Texas: three are in a
fictional town outside of Dallas (I’m calling it Celebration, Texas). The other one is part of the popular Fortunes of Texas series and it’s set in the fictional town of Red Rock,Texas, which is supposedly 20 miles east of San Antonio.

It’s the first time I’m writing about Texas. I’m excited to be spending so much virtual time there because a have quite a bit of family in the Dallas area. I’m vaguely familiar with the state – enough to know it’s flavor, and, of course, I can call on my family with any questions.

In the past, I’ve set books in Orlando and Paris because I’m familiar with those cities.  The only real place I’ve written about that I’m not familiar with is Boston. It was part of a Special Edition continuity (I was one of six authors writing books for this series).  I actually visited before I finished the book so I could make sure I captured the essence of the city.

I’ve heard of authors writing on a wing and prayer, setting books in regions they’ve never visited. But I shy away from doing that because I strive to get everything exactly right. So, if I make up the city – it might even be a fictitious city based on an actual city – I feel better about taking artistic license and not being bound by maps and facts.

I have two questions for you: do you like reading books set in fictional places or imaginary worlds?   If you prefer actual cities, how much leeway to you give an author to fictionalize neighborhoods and the texture of the area?

One of the things about writing that I didn’t realize when I first started was how profoundly personal it would be. Perhaps that makes me an idiot, but that aspect kind of took me by surprise. But I suspect that writers, genre fiction and romance writers, in particular, are very much in tune with their own personal issues – the things that make us tick, that big bag of crud we drag around filled with our greatest fears and insecurities. I suppose song writers probably are equally as aware, but I digress. The point of all of this is if you pay close attention you start to notice things about you – not all of them are the icky things either.

Recently I was reading a book and I had a big epiphany that doesn’t really surprise me, as I can clearly see the pattern in my reading tastes and several of the books I’ve written myself, frankly I’m surprised it took me quite so long to notice. Especially when I look back on a post I wrote here four years ago. So here it goes….when it comes to guys, those romantic hero types, I really am drawn to the pursuer. I suppose this might be why I don’t gravitate toward the more traditional alpha hero because they aren’t always pursuers.

The book I was reading recently that brought all this to my attention was Suzanne Enoch’s The Care and Taming of a Rogue. Now Suzanne is one of my very favorite authors, she’s definitely my go-to gal whenever I need a good pick-me-up because her books are just delightful and perfect in all the right ways. And I love, love, love her heroes. And her heroes are always pursuers, even if they don’t quite understand it themselves, they are completely captivated by the heroine, just can’t get enough and go after her full-throttle. Their unwavering pursuit just makes me feel all gooey on the inside. This is what romance novels are about for me.

Now there are plenty of great ways to put together a romance novel, but at their core, it’s either boy pursues girl or girl pursues boy and both work. But for me that one that makes me come back again and again is the former. It even happened in my own love story. When I met The Professor I wasn’t so sure about him. He was really smart, an intellectual and frankly I felt a smidge intimidated and wondered what we’d ever talk about. And he was so very different from any man I’d ever dated or been attracted to. But he pursued me deftly and it worked.

So how about you? What kind of hero do you gravitate to? Do you notice when you’re reading which character is the pursuer?

Every writer has their process. It’s as unique to each of us as the tone of our books. And eventually if you sit back you begin to see the pattern in your own work, the steps you have to take to make the magic and transform that brilliant idea into a book people can read. Writing is a lot like putting together IKEA furniture. At first it seems like since you’re a relatively intelligent person who can read and walk upright that you’ll be able to do it and then after a while that little cartoon man begins to mock you and you end up in a heap on the floor with a splinter, a half-empty bottle of wine and mascara streaming down your face.

As a writer, I’m fascinated by other writer’s processes. Perhaps because I’m always looking for new tools to add to my bag of tricks, and partly because there’s that need to justify the way I do it, to make certain I’m not a complete hack. So if you’re ever around a group of writers, you’ll hear things like this, “What do you write? Oh, are you a plotter or a panster? Oh yes, don’t you just hate synopses…”

Not that anyone asked, but here are mine…

Idea – either I spontaneously get an idea or a manufacture one, either way, pretty exciting stuff.

Brainstorming – this is just the rudimentary brainstorming, not really specifics, just possibilities, again exciting. This has got to be one of my favorite parts. Perhaps because in the midst of brainstorming (which can truly be quite magical if the ideas are working) Emily and I get to gossip a lot. But we only ever talk about nasty people.

Character work – while this part can be challenging, it’s also fun, it consists of finding the right picture to use as my inspiration, so I get to spend quite a bit of time on-line looking at sexy actors. Ryan Reynolds, or Johnny Depp or Hugh Jackman, pick your poison, it’s research, I tell the Professor. It’s my job to find out what *other* women find attractive. I also work on archetypes, Myers-brigg, GMC, conflict and connection b/w hero & heroine, character arcs, etc.

Plotting – the story rises from the characters’ GMC, their relationship and their growth, again, this part can be challenging, but is also in the fun category. I use Scrivener, real index cards, post-it notes, Excel, sometimes all of that, sometimes only one, just whatever I need to get the book into focus.

Proposal – this is the three chapter/synopsis stage and this is where it becomes painful. While working on the synopsis, I’m never more aware of the fact that I’m just making stuff up (I realize that is the case ALL of the time, but it doesn’t always feel that way). The synopsis is certainly not easy, but I find this exercise so useful because it takes the jumbled mess in my head and it puts it into a semi-organized state. It also forces me to look at the external plot a bit more – I tend to build from the internal stuff and forget there has to be action going on. When I hit the chapters, sometimes the opening scene is clear in my head and flies onto the page, but frankly this is rare. Most of the time it takes me much longer to write these first 3 chapters than it does any other chapters in the book. They are daunting to me. I know the characters, or at least I know things about them and I know how I want them to come across, but I haven’t yet let them loose to walk and talk on their own. And with the series, it adds even more complexities of taking a secondary character who thus far has only had dialogue and digging into their internal thoughts. I often call my critique partner to whine about the fact that I’ve forgotten how to write a book, I’m a total hack and I’ll never get done. This stage is hard, and painful and really not all that fun, in fact it’s my very least favorite part and it’s my very slowest stage. It’s like swimming through molasses while a mound of fire ants chase after you.

Rough draft – the pain from the first three chapters usually lasts until chapter 5, possibly 6, and then I begin to hit my stride. I get into the fun part of the book, the middle. I know, some people call this the sagging middle, but for me, it never sags, it flies. Not to say it’s easy, hardly, but I tend to know more of what’s going on, I get to really get that relationship going and it’s just the best part of the book. And then I hit the ending, the last 2 chapters for me usually go at lightening speed during this draft, sometimes only ending up 10-15 pages worth of material. I rush it, I admit it. Because by now I’m just ready for it to be over with and I know the ending will probably have to change. I should mention that at some point during this rough draft (possibly more than once) I make a frantic call to Emily for emergency brainstorming (okay this isn’t the only time she gets a frantic call, it happens all the time) because I’ve realized that I’m missing something huge (almost always my big, black moment, which I swear I had at the time of synopsis writing, but it has since shrunk to a small, slightly grey moment). I should also note that I do not revise as I write, so the rough draft is full of notes, questions and blanks for me to catch during the next round. This used to be my favorite part, but not so much anymore, but it has its moments.

Read-through – this is what happens after I’m done with the rough draft and usually ends up with another phone call to the critique partner where I whine and complain that the book is total crap and I won’t be able to fix it. But during this read-through, I make notes to myself on everything, big (new scenes) and small (punctuation or word choice). Then I write a revision letter to myself. This part is not fun.

Revisions – these are my revisions, not those from my editor. This used to be my least favorite part, but I think that’s because I didn’t know what I was doing. Now I kind of like it, but I’m only just getting used to saying that, so don’t make me repeat it. I’m a layer-er – which means that I go through the manuscript 4-5 times at this stage. The first two being the biggest moves. I add new scenes, I delete stuff, I fix all the things that are inconsistent with character, because now I really know them, I layer in emotion and texture and make sure I’ve been clear about all the elements of each character’s GMC, I look up research questions that I left blank in the first draft, sometimes I rearrange stuff. It’s major surgery. My rough drafts are often 100+ too short, so the layering really is significant. So begrudgingly I say this is the fun part.

Critique – I have a few readers that get the whole thing at this point, the first time they’ve seen it and they give me feedback. I sometimes take it and sometimes ignore it, but it gives me reassurance having other eyes look at it before I turn it in. This part is just fine.

And then I’m done and can turn it in. At this point, I know it’s the best I can do, but I’m still nervous as hell that it’s awful. But I’m still feeling happy that it’s over with and I’m beginning to fall in love with my next idea which is sure to be easy and wonderful…

So why am I writing all of this? Well, I’m working on revisions right now and they’re going far too slowly for me. And I’m certain the book is terrible and I should scrap it and come up with a new idea. But I won’t do that because I know from my process that all of those emotions are normal for me at this stage. I also know enough to know that how I’m feeling about something is not the same thing as the reality of that something. Oh, there I went and got all philosophical on y’all.

In any case, if you’re a writer, tell me about your process so I can steal your cool methods. And if you’re a reader tell me something interesting about what you do, are you an organized person or do you fly by the seat of your pants and wait for the day to take you where it will?

Jaunty P. Quills would be proud, I think. A fellow mammal from the order Rodentia
figures prominently in my publication story. Of course, he’s nowhere near as suave
or sophisticated as our perfect prickly one—in fact, he’s stuffed. But still, a rodent is a
rodent!

The year, 2007. The place, Romance Writers of America National conference in Dallas,
Texas. The Random House party was in full swing. Beautiful location, amazing authors,
agents, editors, and, um, me. I was a dear friend’s +1—in other words, just thankful to
be there, thank you very much. I mingled. I ate canapés. And drank a few glasses of
splendid wine. I wasn’t looking for an agent. Not really. I’d started a historical and was
having so much fun with it, but hadn’t a clue where it was going to take me.

And then my friend introduced me to Jennifer Schober, an agent with Spencerhill
Associates. It was like meeting up with a dear college friend after years spent apart—
easy, entertaining, and flat-out fun. We talked and talked as the party carried on around
us, the highlight of the evening most definitely coming when Jenn told me her infamous
beaver story. I cannot share it here—I simply wouldn’t do it justice. And you have Jenn’s
permission to ask after the beaver story should you ever run into her. But suffice it to
say, it’s hysterical. Like shoot wine out of your nose hysterical.

Though if anyone ever asks, no, I have not, nor will I ever, shoot wine out of my nose.
At least not on purpose.

Like Cinderella and that blasted clock, suddenly it was time to go. Jenn and I
exchanged cards and I promised to send along some pages once they were polished.

Flash forward to January 31, 2008. No polished pages had been sent. I know. Crazy.
Only made more crazy by my uncanny ability to assume the worst. How could I send
anything at that point? Surely she’d forgotten all about me. And even if she did vaguely
recall the woman with the wine at the Random House party, the passing of a ridiculously
long period of time between when she’d so nicely asked to see the pages and now
would make her wish she had.

I sat, paralyzed, in front of my computer and polished. And polished. Then polished
some more, though I knew I wouldn’t have the courage to send the pages along no
matter if they’d been anointed by the tears of Nora Roberts and Jane Austen combined.

“You’ve got mail.” Ok, my email program doesn’t talk, but it does bing, and did so on
that very day. A new Viagra offer? Big sale at Macy’s? Perfect. Just perfect. But it
wasn’t either of those things. It was Jenn, wondering where the heck those pages had
gotten to, and offering to take a look should I ever manage to get off my bum and send
them along.

Suddenly, and with intense certainty, I knew where I wanted my historical to go, and I’d
figured out just who I needed along for the ride. After all, wine-shooting, canapé surely
stuck in my teeth at some point, and a looong time, no see, and she was still interested?
Add in our instant connection and it was a match made in heaven. By a beaver.

I finally conquered my fear and mailed of a partial. Jenn offered representation within a
week of receiving the pages and we sold the first three books in my Regency Rogues
series by Thanksgiving of that same year. The Devil in Disguise, book one in the series,
just hit the shelves a few days ago.

The moral? Sometimes, if you peer past the canapés and wine, you’ll find what you
were always looking for but never even knew you wanted. Life’s funny that way.

How about you? Have you ever wandered into a situation with no expectations only to
walk out with something amazing? Tell me about it, and you’ll automatically be entered
to win a signed copy of The Devil in Disguise.

So, I have news. Kinda big news. Recently I sold 3 Steampunk romances to NAL under the name of Kate Cross. Some of you are already aware that I have a Young Adult Steampunk series launching from Harlequin Teen in May. The first book is The Girl in the Steel Corset and it’s being published under the name Kady Cross.

I also just sold an urban fantasy series, which I’m not going to say much about because nothing has been signed yet and I don’t want to jinx anything. However, I am so excited I could squeal like a little girl. It’s also going to be written under a new name. Right now I’m gearing toward Kate Locke.

Yes, it’s a lot to absorb and a lot of change. Some of you many wonder what’s going to happen to Kathryn Smith — and that’s the rub. I’ve been Kathryn Smith my whole life, and Kathryn Smith professionally for more than 10 years. However, When Tempting a Rogue will be the last Kathryn Smith book for awhile, possibly forever. It feels… weird.

So why the change, you may ask? Well, in publishing there are all manner of factors — how different the new product is from what fans expect from Kathryn Smith, wanting a fresh start… My reasons were many. Mostly, I decided I needed a change, and a restart to my career. That doesn’t mean that giving up Kathryn Smith was easy. It wasn’t. It isn’t. However, I also want to give these new books the best chance they have to succeed, and sometimes that means a clean slate. I don’t want Kathryn Smith’s history (the good and bad) to influence these new books. However, I also want to make it easy for fans to find me, so I’m going to do all I can to make sure my current readers know I’ve made the change. Hopefully they’ll follow me.

Then there’s the fact that a pen name affords a certain amount of privacy. I can go out and put on the persona of Kady Cross and then come home and be plain ole Kate, which I have to admit, sounds good. In fact, if I could go back, I would write under a different name than Kathryn Smith right from the beginning.  Do you know a reader once said she wouldn’t read me because my name didn’t sound ‘historical romance enough’? It’s true, I swear.

This new venture is scary. I haven’t written anything for any publisher other than Avon (except for one short story) since they bought me in 1999. Now, I’m writing for 3 different — and new to me — publishers. Scary, and exciting. I find myself nervous about new territory and new working relationships, but at the same time the enthusiasm for these new projects has been infectious. I am so excited to be working on these books and with the chance to really push myself and see just what I’m capable of creating.

That’s my news. What do you think? Does it bother you when authors switch gears and change their names? Or do you follow ‘em regardless because you like their work? Fellow authors, have you played the name game? And who are some of your favorite authors who write under different names?

Most of my life has been sort of charmed. I don’t mean in the way that I’m beautiful or have everything that I desire; I mean that I’ve been happy. Really happy. The older I get the more I realize how

"Mom and Dad expecting me!"

lucky I am to have been born to my parents who are truly great people. They are incapable of saying no. I don’t mean in the spoiling your kids rotten way, I heard no often enough growing up and we didn’t have a lot of material things, but as I got older I needed someone when times got tough I knew I could always just call my mom or dad and say I need you and they’d be there.

A few years ago my really good friend Beverly Brandt had been nominated for a RITA for her book the TIARA CLUB and she couldn’t find the exact dress she wanted. My mom (and all the women in my family) sews. So I said to B that my mom could do it. I said to this to her as we were talking on the phone so she knew I had no time to call my mom and ask her, I just knew that mom would never say no to something like this. But what I realized after Beverly and I finished talking was that my mom wouldn’t say no to me.

I’ve tried to be that way with my kids. I don’t say yes to everything only the really important things. The things that can change their lives and make a difference, the things that will show and remind them that the world should be a nicer place.

My heroine in TAMING THE VIP PLAYBOY has this same kind of charmed upbringing (to be honest I based her loosely on my youngest sister). She was a very talented dancer from a young age and her parents and her older sister sacrificed to make sure that Jen was taken to dance rehearsals and eventually to competitions. They did this not because they had to but because they realized that Jen lived to dance and that she needed their support. She needed to safety net of her family to fall back on.

And in the book Jen is falling from some really tough breaks. For the first time in her life, she’s not feeling very charmed. This happened to me almost four years ago and I had no idea who to turn to, but instinctively went first to my parents and then my closest friends for support. In TAMING THE VIP PLAYBOY Jen’s parents are dead and she has only her older sister and young nephew to turn to, which she does. And they offer her a safety net that she uses to rebuild her life and to some extent herself.

I’m not sure what kind of family you have. My wise friend Beverly says we build the families we didn’t have from the friends we choose and I feel very lucky that I have both a great family to start with and one that I’ve built from friends.

I hope you all will check out TAMING THE VIP PLAYBOY its in stores today. And for one lucky blog participant I will send an autographed copy of the book.

Tell me in what ways are you charmed? Is it by your family or maybe you have an incredible talent? What is it that makes you special?

**I’m posting this for Emily because she has a sick computer, so for today the roll of Emily McKay will be played by Robyn DeHart**

Today, I feel like I’m living in a Mary Balogh novel.

No, a handsome but aloof Duke has not come to sweep me off my feet, but rather that this morning I woke up in a winter wonderland. Right after breakfast, the entire family poured out into the yard to play in the snow. We threw snow balls and went sliding down the hills at the end of the road. We made snow angels and licked snow off our gloves. (Okay, my kids did that. I was too aware of the deer footprints in the yard to actually eat the snow.)

Since I live in central Texas, most of experience with snow has been vicarious, lived through the heroines of al the Mary Balogh Christmas novels I’ve read. Inevitably, in those novellas, there’s an unexpected Christmas snow. Tromping out into the snow, the emotional barriers between the hero and heroine melt away. Their frosty tension between falls away and the couple begins to fall in love.

Playing in the snow with my kids and husband, I knew why she’s written so many scenes like that. There is something wondrous and special about the snow. It makes you feel like a child again. It’s so beautiful, it’s hard to believe it’s real. And even harder to believe that it’s supposed to be seventy in two days. But when that gorgeous, spring like weather hits, my Mary Balogh winter wonderland will fade away. I’ll have to pretend I’m in another novel. Maybe Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I heard her speak recently at a booksigning. When asked why she sets so many books in Texas she said, “Readers will believe anything if it happens in Texas.”

Even three inches of snow?