Interview with Kate Perry

Interview with Kate Perry

At what point did you decide to be an author and what was your path to publication? 

I decided to be an author when it became clear I was too old to be a Raiderette. A shame, really—silver and black are my colors, and I’ve got mad pompom skills.

Have you watched “Lord of the Rings?” You know Frodo’s journey to Mordor? That was based on my path to publication.

Describe your writing process. Do you outline, plot and plan, or is your writing more organic?

Kate’s Writing Process: A Spiral into Insanity

1. Drink champagne.
2. Torture the editor with endless “what if” questions until the plot is nailed down.
3. More champagne, perhaps some moaning (some of these moans are Magic Man-induced).
4. Index cards, outlining each chapter in varying degrees of detail (usually ignored during the actual writing). Note: This stage is often an excuse to drink more champagne.
5. Write the first draft in ten days. NBD.
6. Considerable headbanging (against a wall or to loud angry white man music?).
7. Clean up the mess made in the first draft, a.k.a. edit.
8. Send it to the editor for the first revisions.
9. Moaning, a.k.a. more edits/Magic Man distraction.
10. Second revisions from the editor.
11. Copyedits, or where Kate is tempted to poke her eyes out with her red pen and refer to herself in the 3rd person.
12. To production, with champagne to celebrate!

Describe the book in 10 words or less for people who are just learning about it. 

The Summerhills: Family, honor, and endless love.

Do you have any odd (writing) habits?

I don’t think so. I mean, I wear a tutu to the café sometimes when I go to write, but that’s not odd—that’s just awesome. How many people can wear a tutu to work whenever they want? Aside from ballerinas, that is.

Lately instead of a tutu, I’ve been wearing the captain’s hat Katie, my assistant, gave me. Sometimes you have to switch things up and keep people guessing.

What is your favorite line from your book?

“The End.”

Bonus questions:

Name five of your favorite books.

I Wish I’d Written Them: Five Books I Truly Love, In No Particular Order

• The Light Bearer by Donna Gillespie, about a woman warrior! What’s not to love?
• The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. She just has a way weaving magic into a story that is so sweet.
• Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. So witty!
• Nobody’s Baby But Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Although I also love “Ain’t She Sweet?” and “Breathing Room,” but I’m trying to follow the rules.
• The Lymond Series by Dorothy Dunnett.  Yes, the entire series is SO GOOD. And, yes, apparently I can’t follow rules for very long.

What’s your favorite place in the world?

Cuddled next to my Magic Man.

My second favorite: the footbridge that connects Ile Saint-Louis to La Cité in Paris. My third: a certain park bench outside the Cementerio de la Recoleta in Buenos Aires.

If you were a cocktail, what would you be?

A French 75: zesty, refreshing and effervescent with a subtle kick that’ll suddenly make you wake up and take notice.

 

 

 

Title: Once Upon a Dream

Author: Kate Perry

Blurb: Summer Welles wants the fairy tale.

The illegitimate daughter of Reginald Summerhill, the Earl of Amberlin, she listened to her mother’s stories about the Summerhill girls all her life. In her mind, Summer was part of the stories too—living in the castle, wearing fancy dresses, and falling in love with Prince Charming.

Her wish came true. Mostly. She lives in the Summerhill mansion. She has stepsisters—nice ones who don’t make her clean the chimney. She even has a magical wedding dress waiting for her special day. The only thing missing is the perfect man.

She knows exactly who he is, and she’s going to confront him at the annual Midnight Masquerade Ball. What Summer didn’t count on was mistaking a masked frog for her prince.

Once she kisses the mysterious man, he won’t go away. And he’s not sweet or charming or princely. He seems more interested in ravishing her rather than riding off into the sunset with her, and—worse—she’s tempted to let him.
Her fairy tale at stake, Summer’s faced with her own quest that neither frog nor prince can rescue her from: sacrifice her Happily Ever After, or turn her back on the one man who makes her feel alive?

*Can be read as a stand-alone novel.

About Kate Perry

Kate has tangoed at midnight with a man in blue furry chaps, dueled with flaming swords in the desert, and strutted on bar tops across the world and back. She’s been kissed under the Eiffel Tower, had her butt pinched in Florence, and been serenaded in New Orleans. But she found Happy Ever After in San Francisco with her Magic Man.

Kate’s the bestselling author of the Laurel Heights Novels, as well as the Family and Love and Guardians of Destiny series. She’s been translated into several languages and is quite proud to say she’s big in Slovenia. All her books are about strong, independent women who just want love.

Most days, you can find Kate in her favorite café, working on her latest novel. Sometimes she’s wearing a tutu. She may or may not have a jeweled dagger strapped to her thigh…

 

 

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