Mallory Kane is multi-published in short- and novel-length romance and in sci-fi and fantasy. Her short stories and novels have won numerous awards. Mallory credits her love of books to her mother, who taught her that books are a precious resource and should be treated with loving respect. Her grandfather and her father were both steeped in the southern tradition of oral history, and could hold an audience spellbound with their storytelling skills. Mallory lives in Mississippi with her husband and their dauntless cat.
What new book or project do you have coming out?
My next book is JUROR No. 7 from Harlequin Intrigue, coming in May 2007. After that will be A FATHER'S SACRIFICE in October 2007. I have three more books coming out in 2008 and another project in the works for 2009.
How did you come up with this story? Was there a specific 'what if' moment?
Actually for JUROR No. 7 there WAS a specific 'what if' moment. I was watching some movie about jury tampering and thought--what if the bad guy who's threatening the innocent juror is actually an undercover cop. I could not wait to sit down and write the story.
Tell us about your publishing journey. How long had you been writing before you got a contract? How did you find out and what went through your mind?
I've been writing all my life. I'd submitted my first full manuscript five years before I landed my first contract and four more before I published with Harlequin. The Harlequin call actually was a call to ask me if my manuscript was still available. When I told the editor it was, she told me she was going to read it over the weekend. Argh!!! I had to wait five more days to find out that she wanted to buy it!
Do you ever struggle with writer's block? If so, how do you overcome it?
So far I haven't had writer's block. I do sometimes practice 'avoiding writing' when I have a scene or a part of the book to write that isn't solidified in my mind. Those are the days that cleaning the toilet actually sounds like a whole lot of fun!
Where do you write? Do you have a dedicated office or a corner or nook in a room?
I write in my sunroom. It's on the back of the house and in Mississippi the sun room is a SUN room. I love it almost as much as my cats do. If I'm having trouble concentrating, I'll take my laptop to the Coffee Roastery, order a big Latte and spend the day there. That often jumpstarts my creativity.
Do you have a word or page goal you set for each day?
My goal is three pages a day. It's a very doable goal, and I often exceed it -- which for me is a real morale booster. I'm not planning to increase my goal. I like the feeling I get when I write six or ten or twenty pages.
What does a typical day look like for you?
I get up around 7:30 or so, feed the cats and play with them a little, make the coffee, pour myself some cranberry juice and head out to the sunroom to crank up the laptop and take my morning vitamins and nutritional supplements. I try to write for four hours a day.
Three days a week I go to Yoga Class from 9:30 - 11:00. Sometimes I'll go out to lunch with a fellow writer. Then I come back home to finish my writing time and get my three plus pages. In the evening I watch TV (lots of inspiration) and make handmade greeting cards or fun jewelry.
What’s the best writing advice you’ve heard?
Don't give up. Don't ever ever ever give up.
What do you wish you’d known early in your career that might have saved you some time and/or frustration in writing? In publishing?
Writing: It's not 'cooler' to insist on writing by the seat of your pants if it makes more sense to plot ahead. I could have been writing faster much longer if I'd been willing to put forth the effort to plot out my books ahead of time. I learned better.
Publishing: If I'd admitted earlier that I wasn't going to force the entire publishing industry to change to fit what I wanted to write, I'd have published earlier. While I love the idea of writing what I want to -- and I am very fortunate that Harlequin Intrigue allows me a lot of leeway to write what I want to write -- there is discipline in writing and for a number of years I was too arrogant to admit that I needed to focus my writing in a particular direction in order to succeed.
How much marketing do you do? What have you found that particularly works well for you?
My marketing efforts are more for name recognition than to promote a particular book. Harlequin does a far better job of promoting category books than I can. So I try to build name recognition with web presence, contests and talking on eHarlequin and leave the big book promotion to the big publisher.
Do you have any parting words of advice?
Never give up your dream. Never!
What new book or project do you have coming out?
My next book is JUROR No. 7 from Harlequin Intrigue, coming in May 2007. After that will be A FATHER'S SACRIFICE in October 2007. I have three more books coming out in 2008 and another project in the works for 2009.How did you come up with this story? Was there a specific 'what if' moment?
Actually for JUROR No. 7 there WAS a specific 'what if' moment. I was watching some movie about jury tampering and thought--what if the bad guy who's threatening the innocent juror is actually an undercover cop. I could not wait to sit down and write the story.
Tell us about your publishing journey. How long had you been writing before you got a contract? How did you find out and what went through your mind?
I've been writing all my life. I'd submitted my first full manuscript five years before I landed my first contract and four more before I published with Harlequin. The Harlequin call actually was a call to ask me if my manuscript was still available. When I told the editor it was, she told me she was going to read it over the weekend. Argh!!! I had to wait five more days to find out that she wanted to buy it!
Do you ever struggle with writer's block? If so, how do you overcome it?
So far I haven't had writer's block. I do sometimes practice 'avoiding writing' when I have a scene or a part of the book to write that isn't solidified in my mind. Those are the days that cleaning the toilet actually sounds like a whole lot of fun!
Where do you write? Do you have a dedicated office or a corner or nook in a room?
I write in my sunroom. It's on the back of the house and in Mississippi the sun room is a SUN room. I love it almost as much as my cats do. If I'm having trouble concentrating, I'll take my laptop to the Coffee Roastery, order a big Latte and spend the day there. That often jumpstarts my creativity.
Do you have a word or page goal you set for each day?
My goal is three pages a day. It's a very doable goal, and I often exceed it -- which for me is a real morale booster. I'm not planning to increase my goal. I like the feeling I get when I write six or ten or twenty pages.
What does a typical day look like for you?
I get up around 7:30 or so, feed the cats and play with them a little, make the coffee, pour myself some cranberry juice and head out to the sunroom to crank up the laptop and take my morning vitamins and nutritional supplements. I try to write for four hours a day.
Three days a week I go to Yoga Class from 9:30 - 11:00. Sometimes I'll go out to lunch with a fellow writer. Then I come back home to finish my writing time and get my three plus pages. In the evening I watch TV (lots of inspiration) and make handmade greeting cards or fun jewelry.
What’s the best writing advice you’ve heard?
Don't give up. Don't ever ever ever give up.
What do you wish you’d known early in your career that might have saved you some time and/or frustration in writing? In publishing?
Writing: It's not 'cooler' to insist on writing by the seat of your pants if it makes more sense to plot ahead. I could have been writing faster much longer if I'd been willing to put forth the effort to plot out my books ahead of time. I learned better.
Publishing: If I'd admitted earlier that I wasn't going to force the entire publishing industry to change to fit what I wanted to write, I'd have published earlier. While I love the idea of writing what I want to -- and I am very fortunate that Harlequin Intrigue allows me a lot of leeway to write what I want to write -- there is discipline in writing and for a number of years I was too arrogant to admit that I needed to focus my writing in a particular direction in order to succeed.
How much marketing do you do? What have you found that particularly works well for you?
My marketing efforts are more for name recognition than to promote a particular book. Harlequin does a far better job of promoting category books than I can. So I try to build name recognition with web presence, contests and talking on eHarlequin and leave the big book promotion to the big publisher.
Do you have any parting words of advice?
Never give up your dream. Never!
Thanks for sharing your journey, Mallory. I liked what you said abotu writers block. I think many of us think it's a block, when it's just that the scene isn't really solidified in our minds.
ReplyDeleteSo next timeI find myself heading to the bathroom to clean the toilets instead of turning on my laptop, I'll recall those words. ;o)
Besides, I hate to clean bathrooms.