Today I am so excited to have bestselling author Kat Martin on the show!

Kat is the author of sixty-eight historical and contemporary romantic suspense novels, and with over sixteen million copies of her books in print in twenty countries outside the US, you could say Kat knows a thing or two about building a long-term career as an author.

The first book of her most recent series The Texas Trilogy, also known as the Beyond— series, Beyond Reason, received a coveted starred review from Publisher’s Weekly. The second installment, Beyond Danger, hit shelves on January 30, 2018, and the third, Beyond Control, is coming in June 2018.

Listen in as we chat about not only Kat’s latest series, but the strategic decisions she made on her career path to bestselling author.

In this episode Kat and I discuss:

• How to keep yourself motivated in the early days of your writing career.
• Knowing when to say goodbye, how to change agents and publishers.
• Who owns the rights? What to look for in contracts.
• Matching your writing pace to the voracious romance reader without going crazy.
• Kat’s tips for staying in control of your series.

Plus, Kat’s #1 tip for writers.

About Kat Martin

Bestselling author Kat Martin is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara where she majored in Anthropology and also studied History. Currently residing with her Western-author husband, L. J. Martin, in Missoula, Montana, Kat has written sixty eight historical and contemporary romantic suspense novels.  More than sixteen million copies of her books are in print and she has been published in twenty foreign countries.

Into the Firestorm, the final book in the Boss Inc trilogy, took the #7 spot on the New York Times Bestseller List, a personal best for Kat and it’s her 15th novel in a row to be included on that prestigious list.

Beyond Reason, the 1st book in Kat’s new Texas Trilogy, received a coveted STARRED REVIEW, from Publishers Weekly! Beyond Danger, book #2, hit shelves on January 30, 2018, and the third book in this series, Beyond Control, is coming in June 2018.

Kat is currently at work on her next romantic suspense.

To connect with Kat check out her website at www.KatMartin.com.

The Texas Trilogy

Book 1: Beyond Reason

Five weeks ago Carly Drake stood at her grandfather’s grave. Now she’s burying Drake Trucking’s top driver, and the cops have no leads on the hijacking or murder. Faced with bankruptcy, phone threats and the fear of failure, Carly has to team up with the last man she wants to owe—Lincoln Cain.

Cain is magnetic, powerful, controlling—and hiding more than one secret. He promised Carly’s granddad he’d protect her. The old man took a chance on him when he was nothing but a kid with a record, and now he’s the multi-millionaire owner of a rival firm.

But Linc’s money can’t protect Carly from the men who’ll do anything to shut her down, or the secrets behind Drake Trucking. If she won’t sell out, the only way to keep her safe is to keep her close . . . and fight like hell.

Book 2: Beyond Danger

Texas mogul Beau Reese is furious. All six feet three obscenely wealthy, good-looking inches of him. His sixty-year-old father, Stewart, a former state senator no less, has impregnated a teenager. Barely able to contain his anger, Beau is in for another surprise. It appears that Stewart has moved an entirely different woman into the house . . .

Beau assumes that stunning Cassidy Jones is his father’s mistress. At least she’s of age. But those concerns take a sudden backseat when he finds Stewart in a pool of blood on the floor of his study—and Cassidy walks in to find Beau with his hand on the murder weapon.

The shocks just keep coming. Someone was following Stewart, and Cassidy is the detective hired to find out who and why. Now she’ll have to find his killer instead. Her gut tells her it wasn’t Beau. And Beau’s instincts tell him it wasn’t Cassidy. Determined to track down the truth, they form an uneasy alliance—one that will bring them closer to each other—closer to danger and beyond . . .

Book 3: Beyond Control

When Victoria Langford got engaged, she told herself to give love a chance. Six months later, she’s on the run from her angry, abusive ex-fiancé with her four-year-old daughter and nowhere to go.

Seventy miles north of Dallas, the Iron River Ranch is pretty much nowhere. That’s what its new owner, Josh Cain, wanted when he came back from Afghanistan. Big skies, quiet nights, no trouble.

One look tells Josh the pretty redhead with the adorable little girl will give him trouble of the most personal kind. But he’s seen trouble before, and he doesn’t scare easy. Not when “accidents” start happening around the ranch. Not when Tory’s best friend back in Phoenix is abducted and brutalized. Not even when it looks like their current problems are only the tip of the iceberg.

But if he gets too close to fierce, determined Tory, Josh knows his nights are going to be anything but quiet. And that’s one possibility no amount of training can prepare him for . . .

If you decide to check out the first two books in The Texas Trilogy— Beyond Reason and Beyond Danger— or pre-order the third book— Beyond Control— we hope you’ll do so via these Amazon affiliate links, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 184

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio or Google Play and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 184: Your Author Career Strategy — Interview with Kat Martin appeared first on DIY MFA.

No matter how naturally talented you are, there are always tricks that can make you better.  Here are five quick writing tips that can keep you on track and sharpen your writing as you write your novel.

1.  Start with a hook

Make your first sentence or at least your first paragraph compelling.  Make the reader want to read the book!  In Against the Sky, my newest Romantic Suspense, the first sentence is, “Earth to earth, dust to dust, ashes to ashes…”

Everyone recognizes these words as part of a funeral service.  The paragraph goes on to explain that the hero, Nick Brodie, and his twelve-year-old neighbor, Jimmy Evans, are standing around the boy’s father’s grave.

With any luck, this will intrigue the reader enough to keep reading.  It’s also important to end the chapter with something that will push the reader into reading more of the book.  In the example above, by the end of the chapter, we are in young Jimmy’s point of view, a kid who has seen his father murdered and is in very big trouble.

Maybe he’d talk to Nick tomorrow, ask for his help.  That would give him a little more time to think, try to work things out in his head.

Tomorrow, he told himself. 

But when he went over to Nick’s the next day, the house was locked up tight.  Nick Brodie was gone.

2.  Enter late and leave early

In the earlier example, we’re starting in the middle of the scene.  We’re not arriving before the funeral starts, then standing around waiting for the service to begin.  We are charging forward.  Remember the reader isn’t interested in “Hi, how are you?”  “I’m fine, how are you?”

At the end of the scene, get out as fast as you can and move forward.

3.  Make sure there is conflict in every scene

This doesn’t necessarily mean violent conflict.  It can be man against nature, man against man, man against himself, anything that makes the reader interested in finding out how the conflict is resolved.

In my example, the conflict in the opening scene of Against the Sky is merely Nick’s battle with himself.  He’s quit his job as a homicide detective.  He doesn’t want to be embroiled in Jimmy Evan’s trouble.  On the other hand, he’s worried about the kid and he wants to help him.  What should he do?

4.  Stay in the active voice whenever possible.

Try not to use the word was too many times.

Here’s the second sentence in my example.  A rumble of thunder in the sullen gray sky blotted the reverend’s next words.  I could have written The sound of thunder could be heard in the distance. The sky was a sullen gray.  That’s passive voice.  It’s important to stay active.

I have to work at doing this.  I often go back and change from passive to active after I write the scene.

5.  Write characters that grow and change.

Writing a character arc, it’s called.  It means your characters learn something or do something that changes them.  Nick Brodie has quit the police force.  He doesn’t want anything to do with violence and murder, but what is he going to do with his future?  What will make him happy?

It’s a problem Nick has to figure out, and in doing so it will change him.

There are a lot of great tips to writing.  The five above I learned from studying very successful authors.  Dean Koontz wrote a wonderful book called How to Write Bestselling Fiction, but it’s out of print and hard to find.

All the authors I’ve studied and read have helped me immeasurably over the years.  I hope their tips will help you, too.

Best of luck with your writing and all good wishes for success.

Warmest, Kat

……………………

New York Times bestselling author Kat Martin is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara where she majored in Anthropology and also studied History. Currently residing in Missoula, Montana with her Western-author husband, L. J. Martin, Kat has written sixty-five Historical and Contemporary Romantic Suspense novels. More than sixteen million copies of her books are in print and she has been published in twenty foreign countries. Kat is currently at work on her next Romantic Suspense.

The post #5OnFri: Five Basics That Will Sharpen Your Writing appeared first on DIY MFA.