Kate Condie - Writer Interview

Post (C) Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

Kate Condie via Amazon Author Page

A fascinating and enlightening interview with Kate Condie. Fans will enjoy her background and new readers can look forward to some great stories.

Do you write for the market or yourself?

I definitely want to sell books, so I try to keep the market in mind, but I would say I write more for myself. I put too much time into my stories to write ones I’m not completely in love with. How grueling would that be?!

I think where I try to use the market would be in my blurbs and titles. I like to use what I call “Trope-y titles”. It’s exactly what it sounds like; I list things like “Cowboy” or “Bandit” in the title. This way when someone is looking for a cowboy romance, they can clearly see mine is a great option.

Same for my blurb, I call out the parts of my book that are trending at the moment. A blurb can be changed rather easily, but a genuine book cannot.

What life experiences influenced your writing?

My grandparents have this cabin in Wyoming. It’s a few miles away from a ghost town called Kirwin. Throughout my life, I’ve taken many trips to that town and read the signs telling about the town’s mining history. I read about how the town’s remoteness required many miners to mail-order brides. I just HAD to figure out a scenario that would be severe enough that a woman would agree to be a mail-order bride. I decided she’d have to literally be facing death to agree to a marriage sight unseen. By the time I started writing my book “A Winter’s Vow,” I had already worked out most of the bride’s situation and personality. The story just flew from my fingertips. It is still the easiest book I’ve ever written. I think the story was just in me for so long begging to be released

Amazon

Where did you get the idea for your latest release?

I often work backward in my idea process. In the case of my latest release, I had this idea to send a family of brothers west. I wanted the first book to conclude at the start of the trail, which meant they would have to be a couple with history, but I also wanted enough content for an entire book so that history had to be disrupted in some way.

I toyed with the idea that the female main character would have forgotten their love in an amnesia type of scenario, so the male character would have to win her heart all over again. He would already be all in, and she would logically know that this man is good for her, all she needs is to FEEL the love that used to be there.

I thought, what if they were more than just in love? What if they were engaged, and she’d forgotten everything? Heartbreaking! I ran with that for a bit, but I wanted more. So I thought, what if they were married? But remember, I’m writing in the past, and back then a woman was literally her husband’s property.

So I came up with the idea that theirs was a secret marriage and she lost her memory before anyone else learned what they’d done. So our hero would be the only person in the book to know the truth. And he’d be disinclined to “trap” her with the information until he was sure she wanted to be married to him again. He wants a woman at his side because she loves him, not because she belongs to him.

So there we have “To Win His Wife”, a husband trying to win a woman who already is his wife.

Amazon

Care to share your writing routine?

My day-to-day routine is waking up before my kids and writing every morning. If I have a deadline I’m trying to meet, I sometimes do a 6-hour workday on Saturday while my husband takes the kids somewhere.

As far as the writing process goes, I consider myself more of a pantster, at least in regards to the plot. I write character-heavy books and before I write, I have a good idea of who my characters are; their past, their wounds, their secret dreams. As I write, their needs or personalities influence the direction the story takes. Meaning, that the trouble they get into is either self-inflicted or author-inflicted to induce growth.

I love it when I get an idea and try to plug it into my manuscript, but I can’t because I know the character would never do that thing. Those are the times when I know I’ve got a well-fleshed-out character.

 Do you research while writing or before?

When I first started writing, I tried to write a historical book and got too caught up in the research to write much of anything. So I went back to contemporary romance. It was only when I decided to write a historical romance about an area and history I was already familiar with that I had the confidence to write until the end.

Now, I do some research before I start writing, but I am no historian. I’m a Google-as-needed author. If I have an idea that needs historical details, I’ll read a website or two to get a feel for the events and attitudes, but then I close that tab and get going on the writing part.

To me, a story is about the characters’ growth. A reader isn’t there to see what happens to the land after a tornado hits it, they’re there to see what the people do after their lives have literally been turned upside down. I don’t think human emotions have changed all that much (if at all) since the beginning of time. They say write what you know, so I prefer to focus on the human experience.

That being said, I read to escape and I think being transported to another time in history is icing on the cake. Also, I adore learning about history through fiction, so I am deeply grateful for the authors who share their knowledge of history through well-researched novels.

Amazon

What advice would you give to those who dream of writing, or what advice would you give your younger self?

It’s never too late to chase your dreams. When I was in college and deciding on a major, I was far too pragmatic to pursue art as a career. I never would have pictured myself as a writer.

I believe there are seasons in life and it’s okay if the timing wasn’t right before, or even if it isn’t quite right at the moment. Life is long (in a good way!) and as long as we’re deliberate, we can accomplish the things that are important to us.

What books or authors inspired you?

I am from Southern Oregon and when a friend told me about a book series written in Northern California, I was excited to read it. I’d visited the area loads of times and it was so fun to picture familiar places as I read. The series was Virgin River by Robyn Carr. The only downside (for me) was that there was too much heat for my preference. I kept thinking, “I could write this without the sex.” I think all of us writers are cocky like that at some point.

I started writing and realized just how difficult it is. But after a few manuscripts, I found my groove. I wrote a few contemporary romances, similar to Carr’s, but clean. Then I tried my hand at historical romance and discovered that’s where my heart is.

Thank you, Kate, for sharing your writing journey and process. Fans and new readers alike can learn a lot.

Until Next Time: Stay safe, Stay happy, and Stay healthy. 

Doris