Feature Interview with Dianemarie (DM) Collins, Host of the DM Zone, and New York Times Bestselling author Laura Kaye. Kaye is also a USA Today Bestselling author who writes novels with hot male heroes.
New York Times and USA TODAY bestseller Laura Kaye is the author of nearly a dozen books in contemporary and paranormal romance. Laura grew up amidst family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses, cementing her life-long fascination with storytelling and the supernatural. Laura lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.
New York Times and USA TODAY bestseller Laura Kaye is the author of over twenty-five books in romantic suspense and contemporary and erotic romance. Among her many awards, she recently won the RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Romantic Suspense of 2014 for Hard As You Can. A former college history professor, Laura grew up amid family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses, cementing her life-long fascination with storytelling and the supernatural. Laura lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day. Laura also writes historical fiction under the name Laura Kamoie, also a Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and USA Today bestseller. Laura is a member of the Romance Writers of America, the Maryland Romance Writers, the Washington Romance Writers, and she is past president of the RWA-Contemporary Romance Writers. Laura is represented by Kevan Lyon of the Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. – See more at: http://laurakayeauthor.com/about
Where will you be appearing in person and when will you come to my area?
Check out my Events page for the latest on all my scheduled signings and appearances. I try to select events in a variety of areas because I love having the opportunity to meet you guys! But some of my travel is dictated by where my publishers send me, too. I hope to make it to your area soon!
Can I buy a signed book from you?
I am happy to work out arrangements to sell you a signed copy of any of my paperback books. The usual process is for me to invoice you through PayPal for the retail cover price of the book plus shipping. If that interests you, please contact me through my Contact page. Shipment/delivery could take 4-8 weeks depending on my deadlines.
Can I get bookmarks or other swag from you?
I am happy to send individuals, book clubs, or bookstores bookmarks and swag free of charge. International readers requesting bulk amounts of bookmarks or swag will be asked to pay for the shipping and will be invoiced via PayPal. If you’re interested in requesting bookmarks or swag, please contact me through my Contact page. Shipment/delivery could take 4-8 weeks depending on my deadlines.
What is your writing schedule/process?
I am a full-time writer and, when on deadline, I write at least five days a week, 8-14+ hours/day depending on how tight my schedule is. My usual goal is 3,000 words a day but I have written many more when I need to, and I tend to write more slowly at the beginning of a book and faster during the last half. Even when I was still working a full-time job, I made it a goal to write five days a week. Generally, I don’t plot or outline my books, although I will occasionally sketch out what needs to happen in upcoming chapters, but I’m talking about back of a napkin kind of sketching! Since I wrote Her Forbidden Hero in the spring of 2012, I have picked one song for each book and listened to it on repeat the entire time I’m writing a book. Here are the songs I’ve used:
– Hard As It Gets – Breaking the Habit, Linkin Park
– Hard As You Can – Revelry, Kings of Leon
– Hard to Hold On To – Again, Lenny Kravitz
– Hard to Come By – Blurry, Puddle of Mudd
– Hard to Be Good – Latch, Sam Smith
– Hard to Let Go – Numb, Linkin Park
– Hard As Steel – Use Somebody, Kings of Leon
– Hard Ever After – Breaking the Habit, Linkin Park
– Hard to Serve – Too Close, Alex Clare
– Ride Hard – Skeletons, Papa Roach
– Love in the Light – She is Love, Parachute
– Her Forbidden Hero – Your Love is a Song, Switchfoot
– One Night with a Hero – Yellow, Coldplay
– Dare to Resist – Crash into Me, Dave Matthews Band
– South of Surrender – Wide Awake, Katy Perry
– East of Ecstasy – Somewhere I Belong, Linkin Park
Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
BICHOK – Butt In Chair, Hands On Keyboard. You can’t revise what you haven’t written and you can’t sell what you haven’t written. So write EVERY DAY. Yes, every day. Even if you only commit to an hour a day or even 100 words a day, you need to get in the habit of making forward progress. And never underestimate the amazing power of getting to write “The End” and proving to yourself you can finish a whole book.
Read, read, read. One of the best ways to learn how to WRITE is to READ extensively in your genre. Find books you think do a great job at characters or worldbuilding or suspense or pacing and study them (just be sure that your application of those techniques in your own work is in your original words!).
Treat it like a profession, by which I mean join the professional organizations, do the work consistently, study and hone your craft, and always present yourself professionally (on social media, on your website, and in only submitting or publishing your work when it’s in the absolute best shape it can be).
Find a critique partner, preferably someone else who is professionally pursuing publication and not just a friend who will tell you it’s great! Because while it may be great, but everyone benefits from having other writers who know the craft and the genre give you feedback on your work. You can find critique partners through local and online writers groups.
Don’t give up! At the beginning of your writing career, you will get a lot more nos and rejections than yeses and acceptances! Persevere and don’t give up! Every big name author you know experienced rejection at some point in their career.
