Kate's Blog

Just Open A Vein

This is the first book on writing that I ever read--when I was twelve years old. My parents gave it to me for Christmas along with a Smith-Corona electric typewriter, and I was in heaven. I felt like a 'real' writer. I wrote a lot of poetry on that typewriter (that was my angsty medium at the time) and a few stories, but both the book and the typewriter gave my self-confidence a real boost--there was something so definitive about seeing typed words on a page. This was (and now I'm dating myself) the days before computer and word-processing--although we did a behemoth of a computer the next year. I didn't start writing on the computer, however, until college.

In any case, memories aside, the title of the book has stayed with me through the years. It is taken from sports journalist Red Smith's observation about writing: 'All you do is sit down at a typewriter, open a vein, and bleed.'

This might seem like a rather gruesome image, but there is some truth to it. Writing the intense emotional love stories that are Presents feels a lot like bleeding onto the page (or the computer monitor, as the case may be). And in any writing, you can get to a certain place where the words are being pulled from deep inside you and it hurts, but it's a good hurt, because it feels true and real. That doesn't happen all the time, or maybe even some of the time, but when it does it's amazing. And painful. And I think readers can tell, because it resonates with them from that same deep place.

I'm revising my current manuscript now, and then I'm going to jump into big (massive!) revisions of the women's fiction I've been working on for years. And in both cases I am trying to leave my sensible organized self at the door and tap into that deep place... by opening a proverbial vein. We'll see what the results are!

Meanwhile check out my blog There's No Place Like Home on Harlequin Presents's site to read behind-the-scenes of The Undoing of De Luca, and have another chance to win a book from my backlist!

Labels: contest, The Undoing of De Luca, writing craft, writing life

posted by Kate Hewitt at Monday, February 28, 2011 0 Comments

The Evolution of a Writer

I handed in my latest book, working title Kholodov's Innocent, on Monday and have spent the last week catching up on various things that fall by the wayside when I'm on deadline--laundry, housecleaning, bills.... nothing too important!

I really enjoyed writing this book which is always a dangerous thing to say before revisions hit, because there might be a million things wrong with it that I wasn't able to see. I did go through it several times before handing it in, changing a word here, deleting a word there, and I think that was important. I usually don't have time to do that, and end up doing it with revisions, but since I was actually early for once I was able to tweak more than usual. Never underestimate tweaking!

Often people think (myself included, alas!) that once you are published, you don't need to improve as a writer. Your books are publication-standard, isn't that enough? And it's a good start, but it really is just the beginning. As writers we are not only improving but evolving. The very talented Trish Morey once made a comment that the book you write now is not the same as a book you wrote one or two or five years ago--not just because you have improved, but because you have changed. I can see the difference in my own books--my first Presents was accepted for publication 4 years ago, and although my books are the same in tone (emotional and angst-ridden!), the plots are a little different, the interchange between the hero and heroine a little more complex--I hope, anyway.

With this latest book I tried to pare down the internal narrative that I am so very fond of. I read a review somewhere of one of my earlier books in which the reader simply stated 'could have been good except for a lot of repetitive junk' and while I admit it hurt to read it at the time, it was a helpful comment in the long run because it made me ask myself 'IS there a lot of repetitive junk in my book?' Well, I wouldn't call it junk exactly, but I did realize I could say certain things in a smaller number of words, and that is what I've been trying to do with this book.

So I hope my books are improving as well as evolving,--I think you need both to really grow as a writer. To celebrate the completion of my 18th book, I am giving away a copy of Count Toussaint's Baby or Zoe and The Tormented Tycoon, which just happen to be two books I have a lot of copies of! If you'd like one of those books, leave a comment below or email me at katehewitt@kateh-hewitt.com!

Labels: contest, Kholodov's Innocent, writing craft, writing life

posted by Kate Hewitt at Friday, February 25, 2011 8 Comments

Something a little different

I have a serial coming out in The People's Friend Magazine in England this week, so if you live in that fair country then grab a copy! It's set in Greece in present day and also during World War Two, and here is a snippet to whet your interest:

‘You're a good woman, Sophia--’
Sophia Paranoussis dodged the arm of the drunken farmer who’d had a glass too many of the local retsina and went back to the steamy kitchen of her father's taverna for another tray of drinks. She hated working in the taverna, hated the thick fug of cigar smoke that filled the darkened room and whose smell never truly left her hair or her clothes. She especially hated the farmers who tried to steal a kiss in the smoky darkness, claiming she was a good woman simply for filling their glasses yet again.
Sighing, she swiped a sweaty strand of hair away from her forehead and dumped the dirty glasses into the large stone sink. It was July, and the heat of high summer made the kitchen nearly unbearable. Her younger sister, Angelika, was meant to be washing dishes, but Sophia saw in a single glance that the sink was full and the kitchen was empty. Angelika no doubt had slipped out the back door and gone in pursuit of her own pleasure.
A dart of worry needled Sophia, and it had nothing to do with the dirty dishes. No, there were far greater things to worry about, such as her sister's involvement with Demos Atrikes.
Demos had been in the taverna earlier, but Sophia realized with a growing alarm that she hadn't heard his booming laugh in at least an hour. No doubt Angelika had slipped out when he had, and they were meeting somewhere--
Sophia shook her head, closing her eyes as she offered a brief and fervent prayer to keep her sister safe, her family safe, even all of Greece safe for since the Nazis had marched into Athens in April 1941 safety was no longer a guarantee. Sometimes it felt like a miracle.
So far their little mountain village had escaped notice, too far from Athens or anything of note to attract the attention of German soldiers, although Sophia had heard stories, terrible stories. She also heard murmurs of andartes, terrified whispers of the Communist-led Resistance movement, ELAS, that could be as vicious and violent as the Nazis themselves, as well as the less bloodthirsty EDES, a Resistance movement led by General Zervas of the National Democratic party. Neither movement liked or trusted the other, and there was nearly as much bloodshed between the two as by the Nazis.
Demos Atrikes, from a family of Communists, belonged to the former. Sophia had seen him in the town square, heard him bragging about the gun he'd been given by Aris Velouchiotis himself. Angelika laughed at such tales, clearly enamoured by Demos's dark hair and self-confident swagger, but Sophia knew better than to be turned by such folly. Now, more than ever, was a time to keep your head down and go quietly about your business, attracting no attention, causing no alarm.
Angelika didn't seem to agree.
Sighing, Sophia loaded her tray with clean glasses and headed back out to the smoky taverna. She would talk to her sister tonight, and God willing, make her see some sense.
That, she thought wryly as she dodged the drunken farmer yet again, was what a good woman would do.

I really enjoyed writing this serial, which was a bit different for me as I've written a few Presents set in modern-day Greece, but nothing set during the War. It required a lot of fascinating and heart-rending research, for Greeks really suffered during the Nazi Occupation, and afterward during their own civil war. The story centers on the Resistance's sabotage of the Gorgopotamos Bridge, which was the first successful act of sabotage in Greece, and the first time British SOEs (twelve) were involved in the Resistance effort of another country. In the contemporary part of the story, English woman Ava Lancet is coming to the farmhouse her grandmother left her in Greece to escape the breakdown in her marriage, and she finds herself fascinated by glimpses into her grandmother's past. So do get a copy if you can--I haven't seen it myself so if anyone would like to tell me how the illustrations turned out I'd be much obliged! In the meantime, you can also check out the fabulous Sarah Morgan's blog at the Harlequin Presents authors' blog (different from Iheart Presents).

Enjoy!

Labels: Harlequin Presents, Sarah Morgan, The Other Side of The Bridge

posted by Kate Hewitt at Tuesday, February 15, 2011 0 Comments

Writing healthy

So some of you may have noticed that RWA's magazine this month is devoted to pursuing a healthy lifestyle as a writer. I haven't actually read the magazine yet, so this post might be a bit premature, but it's something I've been thinking about for awhile anyway, mainly because I'm so tired. Now for the past 12 years I've given myself excuses for being tired. I've raised four kids, after all, had two babies who woke up every 20-30 minutes all night long for the first YEAR of their lives, and in general my life is somewhat chaotic. However I'm starting to realize that I'm running out of excuses. I've had a spate of non-sleeping recently, namely because of a certain teething two year old, but in general my kids all sleep through the night, and I manage to get 7-8 hours myself. So I shouldn't be THAT tired, right? And no, I am not pregnant.

So I started thinking about ways to improve energy. Of course I'm doing all the things you shouldn't do if you want more energy. Drinking coffee, skipping breakfast, overloading on sugar and not exercising. Once in awhile I take some vitamins. So I checked a book out of the library called 'Clean Food' and it inspired me to buy and eat locally grown produce, which is something I believe in from a moral/economical standpoint (supporting local farmers) and also a nutritional standpoint (the less distance produce travels, the healthier it is) BUT! That book scared me. Because all the recipes had things like kale and miso and some kind of bean I've never heard of, and frankly none of that is going to go over well with my kids or even my husband. And I like cheese.

So I'm thinking I need to take some baby steps on healthy living, healthy writing. And these are my goals: 1.) Sit up straight at the computer (I have terrible posture, which I really want to improve) 2.) Eat breakfast 3.) Exercise for 15 minutes a day. I think those are reasonable goals to start with. I don't want to get so ambitious I fail before I even begin. Do you have any healthy living/writing goals? Any tips? Any recipes that don't involve sea vegetables?

Labels: healthy writing, just life, writing life

posted by Kate Hewitt at Thursday, February 10, 2011 3 Comments

The joy of being a writer... and thank you!

There are so many wonderful things about being a writer. There is the tingling excitement of a new idea, the thrill of getting a great scene down, the wonder of holding a book in your hands with your name on it. There are some great firsts--first book, first pay check, first glowing review. The magic of seeing my book, the amazement that I get paid for it... these are all great things.

There are also some hard things--just like with any other profession. There are times when writing feel like blood spattering the page, whole books that are painful to write, sales figures that aren't stellar, reviews that aren't glowing and some that are just plain mean. I don't think I was prepared for some of these things when I first started out, and from talking to other writers, I don't think many people are prepared. Because for so long getting published is liking climbing a mountain, and when you reach the top you think you are at THE TOP, when in fact there is a whole mountain out there before you. You just didn't see it before. I didn't come up with that analogy, by the way, but it is a great one. In fact I heard it when I was still unpublished, and I remember thinking yeah, WHATEVER. Because at that point I just wanted to climb that one darn mountain, and even being able to SEE all the others seemed like a bonus.

Yet after that mountain has been climbed, those others ones can be pretty daunting. Pretty high. And when setbacks occur--as they invariably do--it feels like you fell down the side of a sheer cliff without a safety rope. All this to say how incredibly happy and thankful I am when readers take the time to write me about my books. I woke up this morning to an absolutely lovely email from a reader about my book Bound To The Greek, and I'm still smiling about it! It's just so nice to know your books are being read and enjoyed. The one-star snarky reviews fade to nothing in light of just one reader whom I know enjoyed my book. So thank you to all of you who have taken the time to let me know you enjoy my books. It means the world to me.

Labels: readers, reviews, writing life

posted by Kate Hewitt at Wednesday, February 09, 2011 2 Comments