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A Conversation with Katherine Grant, a Regency Romance Author
Katherine Grant is the Author of Regency Romance series "The Prestons" and "The Countess Chronicles".
Katherine Grant writes award-winning Regency Romance novels for the modern reader. Her writing has been recognized by Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards, the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, the National Indie Excellence Awards, the Romance Slam Jam Emma Awards, and the Shelf Unbound Indie Book Awards. Her ideal day includes a cup of tea, a good book, and a board game with her husband.
While studying creative writing at Northwestern University, Katherine worked as a developmental editor for several small presses before moving to New York. Her short stories have been featured in several literary magazines, and she was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2018.
Let’s get started with a quick rapid fire.
Q1. If you could be transformed into one mythological creature, which one would you choose?
A mermaid. I always loved pretending to be one in the pool!
Q2. What time do you usually go to bed at night?
Between 10 and 11 pm.
Q3. What are the least-likely three words someone would use to describe you?
Cutthroat, uninformed, defeatist.
Q4. Where did you go on your last vacation?
A little town on the Hudson River north of NYC.
Q5. Would you rather find your dream job or win the lottery? You can’t do both.
I’m already doing my dream job, so assuming that stays the same, I’d win the lottery! Otherwise, I’ll stick with the dream.
Q6. What is one thing you regret spending money on?
Dinners that I don’t end up enjoying.
Q7. What object do you misplace or lose the most?
Sometimes I walk out the door without my phone!
Q8. If you were a spy, what would be your codename?
Scribe.
Q9. What secret about the universe would you most want to learn?
Does everyone have a soulmate? “A handsome man. The kind of man any woman should be proud to call her husband.”Katherine Grant, The Charmer Without a Cause
Q10. What never fails to make you laugh?
Kristen Bell’s sloth meltdown video on YouTube from the Ellen show.
Q11. What was one “before” and “after” in your life?
Moving to Poland from Michigan as a 13-year-old.
Q12. What do you think people misunderstand about you?
I’m not as sweet and easy-going as people think when they first meet me.
It’s time for a more detailed conversation, Katherine.
You’ve answered our rapid fire brilliantly, Katherine. Now, it’s time for our readers to know more about the person behind the book.
Q. Tell us something about yourself that’s going to keep us wanting more.
I once came in second place on NPR’s Ask Me Another trivia quiz show.
Q. Well, that’s just…memorable for sure. So, what books have you read more than once in your life?
Ella Enchanted was transformational for me as an adolescent, and I still go back to reread it when I need a refresh. I have also reread the Molly Murphy Mysteries multiple times, Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, The One that Got Away by Bethany Chase, the Meg Cabot Boy Meets Girl series…there are lots of books I reread!
Q. Interesting. Who has been the biggest supporter of your writing?
I’m lucky to have many huge supporters of my writing. My parents made it possible in so many ways; my husband is dedicated to my dedication. I like to answer this question with my sister, though, because she is always excited to read my work and is my number one reader.
Q. Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
My series are interconnected! If you read them all in a row, you’ll recognize some side characters popping up across all the stories. That’s especially true for my upcoming release, The Charmer Without a Cause, where the avid reader will spot multiple characters from The Countess Chronicles.
Q. Now comes the most anticipated question that every author must answer. How do you process and deal with negative book reviews?
For an indie author, it is hard to stay away from reviews. You check how many reviews you have to see whether you qualify for certain promotion sites; you look for quotes you can pull to use in your marketing materials. And then there is the human element of being unable to stop listening when someone starts talking about you.
That said, I try very hard not to read or listen to reviews. Reviews really are for readers. When I do see negative feedback, I do what I did in writing workshop: check it for validity, then walk away, breathe, and return to it when my psyche is ready to listen to it.
Q. What comes first for you — the plot or the characters — and why?
The characters come first. Since I write romance, usually I begin with a sense of two individuals and where the initial chemistry begins. From there, I build the plot to challenge each character to grow.
Q. How do you develop your plot and characters?
Starting with my characters, I find out what I know about them: how old are they, where do they come from, what kind of family life did they have, what do they do professionally. From there, I begin to question what makes them tick. Why have they made the choices that brought them to the beginning of the story? I also try to use the guide Writing the Other to challenge some of my initial imaginings so that I don’t fall into traps of writing stereotypes or writing the same characters over and over again.
From there, I generally know what the first third of the plot will be as well as how the book will end. (In romance, it is always a happily ever after!) I also have an idea of what the beats need to be: there need to be first interactions, first flirtations, first kiss, first intimacy, etc.
With all of that, I write using the “headlight” metaphor from EL Doctorow: I generally only know what is coming up in the next scene or two, but I trust that if I keep going, I’ll eventually get to a full book. Along the way, I learn new things about the characters, abandon certain plot ideas, and end up with a book very different from what I thought I was going to write.
Q. You got 100 points. You need to divide them on the basis of how relevant and important they are to you as a reader and a writer for your book or someone else’s as a reader. Your options are Plot/Story, Book Cover, Marketing, and, Reviews.
30 – Marketing – No one will read it if we don’t know about it!
60 – Plot/story – It has to be well written for me to enjoy it!
5 – Dialogues – This is part of how well written it is. I don’t care necessarily about witty banter, but unrealistic dialogue takes me out of the story!
3 – Cover – In the age of ebooks, my brain barely processes covers, unless it is to notice something *off* about them!
2 – Reviews – I personally don’t read reviews of books I’m considering. If I do read reviews, I read them once I’ve finished the book, to see if other people felt the same way as I do!
Q. So, now, about your book. Talk to us about it. No major spoilers.
The Charmer Without a Cause is the third book in my series, The Prestons, which is a Regency Romance series about an aristocratic English family trying to use their power for good. Each book is the love story of a different family member, and it also explores that family member’s relationship to the Preston family philosophy.
In The Charmer Without a Cause, the heir, Benjamin, is struggling to figure out how to make a difference without just staying in his father’s shadow. He also is on the lookout for a wife because he loves love and just wants to be happily married. When he meets Lydia, he finds a kindred spirit and falls in love.
Meanwhile, Lydia is the daughter of an English lord with power in Ireland. Raised Irish, she wants to fight for Irish freedom, and she sees Benjamin’s inheritance and influence as useful tools.
As their courtship progresses, so do the lies they tell each other and themselves. My hope is that it is a heartwarming, angsty book that readers can’t put down!
Q. What part of the book did you enjoy the most while writing?
When Lydia and Benjamin are together on the page, they take over. They were a joy to let loose, even when they weren’t getting along.
Q. What is your kryptonite as a writer?
Unlike George RR Martin, I just want the best for my characters. Sometimes, that means massive rewrites to add some actual conflict and honest emotional reactions.
Q. What risks have you taken with your writing that have paid off?
The Prestons series is a bit of a risk, as it centers around a radical family that is in many ways hard to relate to. They give up their wealth to share with their laborers, and they refuse to purchase anything imported, which even back in Regency England severely limits what they can wear, eat, and otherwise consume.
Yet I think it has paid off in making space for romance stories that also explore people trying to articulate their own values and to decide how they can live their lives by those values. I hope readers agree!
Q. Let’s talk about the process of writing. Do you do research while writing a book to add more authenticity? What kind and how far do you go – ever travelled to a foreign place just for the sake of your book?
Since I write historical romance, I do a lot of historical research. If I’m going to be historically inaccurate, I’d like to do it intentionally instead of out of ignorance. For The Charmer Without a Cause, I researched Ireland during the Regency era, the history of Irish nationalism, and even the history of pacificism and non-violent thinking. I love to share my research with my readers. Every month, my newsletter subscribers get a “research deep dive” that goes into one of my research topics, plus I point out which books that research impacted. “His feelings were so big and so transparent, as tangible as if he were handing her a bouquet of roses. And Lydia saw only the thorns on their stems; she didn’t know how to accept the offering without breaking the skin on his and her hands.”Katherine Grant, The Charmer Without a Cause
Q. What was your hardest scene to write?
In The Charmer Without a Cause, there is a confrontation scene that I had to rewrite multiple times. Since Benjamin is a conflict avoider (like me!), in the first draft, he wormed his way out of the conflict entirely, but it wasn’t honest to his emotions. My challenge was how to show him avoiding confrontation while still reacting with anger and sorrow and other intense emotions.
Q. Well, this has been great. Now, before we wrap this up, do you have any suggestions to help someone become a better writer? If so, what are they?
Like so many things, writing is a skill that builds with practice. Don’t get too attached to any one project. Write what interests you, get feedback, revise, get more feedback, but then let it go and write your next project. You need to get more hours practicing writing, more hours practicing getting feedback, and more hours practicing incorporating that feedback in order to build a full complex of writing muscles.
UPDATE:- Her book, The Charmer Without a Cause (The Prestons Book 3) will be available on Amazon starting March 9, 2023.
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