I’ve always been a voracious reader—I know, I know, how unusual. :)
But I started running out of things to read in the romance section. A friend
handed me Naked in Death and said,
“It’s a futuristic murder mystery but don’t let the name fool you. It’s really
Nora Roberts.”
She had me at futuristic. But the rest sealed my fate as an
author.
You see, I had just started writing my first novel and I
knew it was going to be a science fiction romance like my favorite titles, with
lush, detailed new galaxies, intriguing undiscovered species, huge stakes and
timeless love. A space opera galore. Except it wasn’t coming together. My
people talked like they’d just learned English, the hero and heroine had no
chemistry and my cantina scene bore a strong resemblance to the one with Han
and Greedo.
I started reading Naked
in Death and had a revelation. I needed to combine my contemporary voice
with my love of all things speculative. And by the way, I wanted to try writing
a contemporary romance while I was at it. If Nora did it, I could too.
Fast forward many (many) years, and that first SFR
manuscript still wasn’t coming together. In desperation, I turned back to Nora
and tried to figure out where I was going wrong. I have cool technology. I have
a hot hero. My heroine kicks butt, takes names and has horrific internal wounds
that only the hero can heal. Sounds like a JD Robb book to me.
But it wasn’t. And it wasn’t a Kat Cantrell book either. I
gave up on SFR for a while and wrote that contemporary romance, which also
didn’t come together (quell surprise).
I wish I could properly credit how I had my next revelation—but I can’t
remember where it came from. I distinctly recall what the revelation was,
though. My heroine had to be from Earth.
Ashley V was born. She also takes names, kicks butt and has
horrific internal wounds, but she also uses modern-day vernacular and likes
Louboutins. The solution lay in mixing not just my contemporary voice with my
futuristic plots but also a contemporary person. The rest of the story
practically fell out of my head and onto the screen. And then I had to revise
it four times, but that’s a whole ‘nother blog post.
Like Nora, I ended up publishing my contemporary stories
with Harlequin before I got the nod for my first futuristic title. When I
finally did, much rejoicing was heard about the land because SFR is my first
love.
If you like your aliens with a side of snarky heroine from
Earth, give MINDLINK a
shot.
Determined
to revitalize her imploding career, blacklisted movie star Ashley V takes on
her biggest role yet: posing as one of ten scientists invited by aliens to a universal
summit. But when the aliens seize, strip and implant the entire delegation to
extract their knowledge, she is quickly found out and sent to a cell to await
recycling.
The alien
research director designated ZXQ-One devised a plan to let the humans volunteer
their best and brightest in a gamble to solve his people’s energy crisis. But
he fails to find anything useful and winds up imprisoned alongside the fiery
human woman who refuses to give up, and who insists on calling him Sam.
After an
accidental link between their implants lets them share their thoughts, they
find themselves drawn to each other. Sam will have to trust in her human
compassion and forgiveness for his role in her capture, and Ashley will have to
trust him with her deepest secrets if they are to have any chance at
survival...
Read the excerpt.
Read the excerpt.
About the author
Kat read her first Harlequin novel in third grade and has been scribbling in notebooks since she learned to spell. What else would she write but romance? She majored in Literature, officially with the intent to teach, but somehow ended up buried in middle management at Corporate America, Inc.
Kat became a stay-at-home mom and devoted nap time to writing. After many thousands of words, her dream of publication finally came true. When she’s not writing about characters on the journey to happily ever after, she can be found at a soccer game, watching Friends or dancing with her kids to Duran Duran and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Kat, her husband and their two boys live in North Texas. She’s a proud member of Romance Writers of America®. Kat was the 2011 Harlequin So You Think You Can Write winner and a 2012 RWA® Golden Heart® finalist for best unpublished series contemporary manuscript. She’s represented by Jill Marsal of Marsal Lyon Agency.
Follow Kat on Facebook and Twitter.