The Bride trilogy by Kat Martin

I’ve always wanted to write a bride series. Something romantic with orchids and white lace. For years, I toyed with an idea for a sort of Cinderella story about a duke who accidentally falls in love with the wrong woman. Not his betrothed, the woman he has promised to marry, but his fiancée’s poor relations, a cousin hardly suited to become the wife of a duke. Royal’s Bride was the result.

From conception, it was a book that involved three brothers, which gave me two more hunky Dewar men in need of the perfect bride. In Reese’s Bride, the middle brother, Reese, is the kind of dark, brooding hero I love to write. He is home from the war, retired from the cavalry and forced to live the sedentary life of a country gentleman, the last thing he wants to do. Worse yet, Reese’s next door neighbor is the woman he once loved, a woman who betrayed him by marrying another man.

Elizabeth is now a widow, a forbidden temptation even more powerful than before. Reese definitely has his problems, but so does his younger brother, Rule.

In Rule’s Bride, the handsomest, most rakish Dewar brother is shocked to find the young bride he wed in an arranged marriage three years earlier all grown up and sitting in his London living room. Violet Dewar has matured into a delectable little morsel Rule can’t wait to seduce into his bed.

Unfortunately, all Violet wants from Rule is an annulment.

I had great fun writing this series, though the weddings were not all orchids and lace as the ladies and this writer expected. Still, true love is worth the perils the characters must endure. I hope you’ll watch for the Brides’ Trilogy. Royal’s Bride began selling in September 2009, Reese’s Bride came out in January 2010 and Rule’s Bride will follow at the end of April.

Hope you enjoy and very best wishes, Kat

Facebook Page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kat-Martin/322579975013

http://katbooks.com/index.html

My First Sale by Kat Martin

"My First Sale" by Guest Blogger Kat Martin

I never wanted to be a writer. Or at least I never knew I did until I sort of stumbled into it. But I always had stories rolling around in my head and when my husband started writing a Western novel, I thought...hummm...maybe I could do that.

I had characters and a plot in mind right away, a western romance because I loved reading them, and coming from a western background (my great grandmother came out in a covered wagon), I was comfortable in that time frame.

But how to actually write?

I needed to learn the basics so I went to the first writers’ conference I could find, which happened to be in Santa Barbara, California and turned out to be one of the best in the country. I went to all the classes and discovered that one of the speakers gave semi-private lessons on writing, once a week in L.A. My husband and I decided to go.

We made the two-hour drive every week for a year, all the while attending other local conferences and doing our homework on who was publishing what and how to find an agent. I also joined RWA, which I highly recommend.

We were both writing madly, determined to finish our novels. We went to critic groups, went to another writing class, this one two hours away in Fresno.

The books got completed. Now we needed to find a way to sell them.

When we sent our money in for the Fresno Writer’s Conference, fortune intervened. We were told that an agent would be attending the conference and she would be willing to read sixty pages of any attendee’s book.

I desperately needed an agent. Since I have always been a firm believer in taking the extra step, instead of mailing the pages, I dressed in my best leather outfit and drove to Hollywood. Unfortunately the temperature soared to one-hundred degrees that day. By the time I climbed the stairs to the agent’s office, my stomach quaking with nerves, I was drenched in perspiration.

When the agent walked into the reception area, I was almost to nervous to speak. I managed to croak-out in a squeaky little voice, “Hi, I’m Kat Martin. I just happened to be in the neighborhood so I thought I’d drop this by.”

The agent grinned. Clearly, I wasn’t “in the neighborhood.” The good news was, she liked authors who were aggressive about their careers and she was impressed with my moxie. After reading the pages, she took me on as a client. She also decided to represent my husband.

Both of us were turned down by just about every publisher in New York. I was sick to my stomach, terrified my year-and-a-half, twelve-hour-a-day writing effort would be for naught, but the agent wouldn’t give up.

The last publisher among her submissions made an offer for MAGNIFICENT PASSAGE and I was over the moon.

I was even more excited when they decided to make the book the lead title for their new line of romances. It was my first break in the business and though the company ultimately folded and I was out of work, the lesson was clear.

If you want to succeed as a writer--never give up.

Good luck to all you as-yet unpublished writers.

Never give up! All best wishes, Kat Martin

Visit Kat's website: http://katbooks.com/index.html
Friend Kat at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kat-Martin/322579975013

Guest Blog from Francis Ray

One of the most frequent questions I receive from readers and people wanting to write is where do I get my inspiration for characters and plots. Since I'm a plodder when writing rather than a sprinter, my inspirations comes from many places. For the Invincible Women series the idea for the first book came about from my daughter's own difficult experience in finding a job although she has four - yes, 4 degrees. That's a story in itself, but as I looked around and talked to friends and family, read the newspaper, saw the declining job market on TY, I knew my daughter wasn't the only person finding it difficult to land a job.

As a child and growing up, I was always told that a college education was the one sure path to success. In 2004 that was no longer the case. My "what if" in thinking of the next plot/story/character turned into LIKE THE FIRST TIME - where 3 very different women are faced with the unsettling challenge of starting over. Once the initial book of the Invincible Women series was finished I saw other challenges for women - bad reputation, poor self image, adulterous husband, family secrets, unloving parents- they had to overcome, and dig deep to find the woman they were meant to be. In the latest book of the series, IF YOU WERE MY MAN, Nathalyia Fontaine is successful, but she still feels lonely and unfulfilled at times. To find true happiness she'll have to face her past.

So, I guess I find inspiration for my books in life, in the invincible women who refuse to give up no matter how daunting the odds. You know, women like our mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, girlfriends. But you have to go further, you have to dig deep in their past to find out what brought then to this point, throw every possible obstacle in their way - just as life does - so when the readers reaches the last page and your heroine is standing tall and strong, they'll believe and pump a fist to celebrate with them.

New York Times and USA bestselling writer, Francis Ray, who still struggles with characters and plots. My close friends keep telling me it's my process. I keep telling them I wish it wasn't. No matter, I'm grateful for the opportunity to tell stories, and forever grateful for readers who say they enjoy them.

Francis Ray

www.francisray.com

New York Times/USA Today
IF YOU WERE MY MAN - March 02, 2010
FOREVER YOURS - March 30, 2010 - reissue/Taggart Brothers/Kane
IT HAD TO BE YOU - April 27, 2010 - Book # 4 Grayson Friends Series
ONLY HERS - August 3, 2010 - reissue/ Taggart Brothers/Matt
HEART OF THE FALCON - December 7, 2010 - reissue/Falcon Family/Daniel

Seeking Authors To Guest Blog!

For Authors: Would you like to add us to your book tour? Contact us at tara@eyeonromance.com to book your blog date with us!

Our new blog is now available!

Our new blog is now available and we are seeking guest authors. Contact me at tara@theromancebookclub.com to get on our schedule.