Questions I'm Asked
Of the books you've written, which ones are your favorites?
I'm one of those writers who writes regardless of circumstances. If there's a hurricane, a flood, a death, an illness, I write through the experience. It's how I cope. I can point to each one of my books and tell you if I was undergoing some trauma at the time. The book itself has become a catharsis, and consequently, I feel a special bond to it. Those books are Tapestry, My Beloved, After the Kiss, and The Scottish Companion. But that's not to say they're my favorites. I don't have one. Or perhaps my favorite is the one on which I'm working.
Why do you write such "dark" books?
I like throwing my characters into the deep end. Conflict is one of those components of a novel that I adore. Just think about how much conflict we have in our daily lives.
I also tend to write books about people who are flawed, but not whiners. The women don't expect a man to rescue them and the men don't blame women for everything wrong in their lives.
Hopefully, my characters always have a deep core of beliefs, but they do not always act in perfect ways. In other words, they're like real people.
Why do you write Romance?
I write romance because it most closely identifies with how I feel about life, love, and the pursuit of happiness. In one of the darkest periods of my life, reading helped me survive. It transported me to a world of fascinating people who, despite all their problems, were guaranteed a happy ending. Frankly, I never knew I wrote romance until my first three books were sold. I just wrote stories I would have liked to read.
Will you be writing a contemporary? Or a paranormal?
I've written three books and a few short stories that are either contemporary and/or paranormal, under the name of Katherine Storm. (www.katherinestorm.com)
Why do you write about Scotland?
It was a marketing decision I was asked to make a few years ago. I decided that I wanted to get out of England, and my choices were limited. I adore Scotland's history - the 19th century, especially, is filled with fascinating events.
I don't always write about the Highlands. I really like Perth, Dundee, the border area, and so many other areas of Scotland.