Interview with Katie Lane—and giveaway!

Anyone who’s been to a Romance Writers of America conference knows that you can end up going home with hundreds of free books. I actually saw women walking around with furniture dollies carting away boxes of books.

I wasn’t quite that bad, but I did end up discovering loads of fantastic new authors. One of them, Katie Lane, writes hysterically funny, sexy contemporary romance set in the small Texas town of Bramble. If you’re looking for a good time, Katie Lane’s your gal.

Welcome, Katie!

Thanks so much for having me, Kat.

1. Can you tell us a little about your journey to publication?   Why did you start writing novels and how long did it take you to find your agent and get published? 

I’ve always loved telling stories.  I wrote my first short story in fifth grade.  It was a humorous tale, and when my classmates laughed, I was hooked.  Other stories followed, but I didn’t write my first novel until my kids were in high school.  Numerous novels and rejection letters later, I finally found my agent and landed a deal with Grand Central.

There’s a reason they call it a journey.  At least for me, it took a heck of a long time.  But I wouldn’t change a second of it.  I’ve learned a lot while traveling my writing path and made some wonderful friends.

2. One of the many things I love about your books is that your heroes are (as Lori Wilde said) handsome cowboys with hearts the size of Texas. Even bad-boy Colt Lomax is loving and compassionate. What draws you to kind-hearted alpha heroes? 

It probably has to do with my husband.  He’s a big, gruff jock with a heart of gold.  I mean, who wouldn’t love a guy who helps little old ladies load their groceries into their cars, airs up the neighborhood kids’ bike tires, and dresses up like Shrek for Halloween?  So when I write my heroes I want them tough on the outside but big ol’ marshmallows on the inside.

3. Your novels are set in Bramble, a tiny Texas town which you describe as being Mayberry on Texas peyote. Being a city-girl, I have to admit that Bramble is my idea of what small-town life must be like—full of well-meaning friends and family who get over-involved in each other’s lives. Is it based on a place you know? 

Nope.  I loved Andy Griffith reruns as a kid—loved the close-knit community, the innocence, and the craziness of Mayberry.  And when I traveled to west Texas on my husband’s business trips, I fell in love with the friendly people of those small towns.  So Bramble is pretty much a fictional town that’s a mixture of life experiences and a wild imagination.

4. Faith and Hope—the heroines of your first two novels—are identical twins but are each other’s opposites in almost every other way. Which one do you identify with most? 

Oh, that’s a tough one.  I guess I identify with Faith’s naivety . . . Hope’s feistiness . . . and the way they both hate to disappoint the people they love.

5. Can you tell us a little about the next Bramble story? I gather there’s a short Christmas story, followed by another novel in April? 

I just sent in the short story, O Little Town of Bramble, which will be part of a holiday ebook anthology with Jill Shalvis and Hope Ramsay called Small Town Christmas.  My story is about a sweet, good-looking farmer who discovers the girl of his dreams amid the craziness of a Bramble Christmas.  It’s great fun!

Then in April, my third book in the Deep in the Heart of Texas series comes out—Catch Me a Cowboy.  It’s about a sassy widow who discovers happiness in the arms of the biggest redneck this side of the Pecos, and I’m just head over heels in love with these characters! (Of course, I feel that way about all my characters. LOL!)

Giveaway!

Want to win one of Katie Lane’s fantastic, fun books? Winner gets to choose between Going Cowboy Crazy and Make Mine a Bad Boy. Leave a comment by Monday September 19th to enter!