Katherine: Thank you, Robin. I�m delighted to have been asked. I don�t usually do interviews, but you�ve been so kind and generous to me through the years that I just had to do this one. This is a great opportunity for me to thank you publicly for the lovely letters you�ve written me, and for sending me the Egyptian poem that I fell in love with and used at the beginning of MY ONE AND ONLY.

Robin: Would you like to tell us a little about yourself? Family? Hobbies? How about pets? (We love our furbabies at RBL!)

Katherine: My father was an Air Force pilot, so we traveled a great deal while I was growing up. Because of this, I was afflicted with a terminal case of wanderlust, so travel is a necessity to me, not a luxury. I was fortunate enough to marry a man who loves exploring as much as I do: the handsome, talented, absolutely brilliant writer and film critic William Arnold. (Can you tell that I�m crazy about him?) We�ve been extremely happily married for 28 years. Through his work as a critic, we meet a lot of film people, so my life swings between two extremes: glamorous excitement at times and isolation and hard work at others. We have one grown daughter, Janie, whom we naturally adore.

As for furbabies, we�ve had so many pets over the years that we�ve sometimes felt as if we were running a zoo. Right now we have two loveable but completely useless cocker spaniels, and a guinea pig we inherited from our daughter which has literally taken over the house. (To give you an example, I don�t have a website, but our guinea pig does!) He�s become the love of my husband�s life. As for hobbies ... I love taking a subject and learning as much as I can about it, such as gem stones and jewelry, or opera, or ancient civilizations. I love movies and books, of course. As for the rest, well ... a girl�s got to have some secrets!

Robin: Why writing? Why romance?

Katherine: I think I was born a writer. Writing is my medium; it�s the way I express myself most purely. When I was about ten years old, I read LITTLE WOMEN and wanted to be a writer just like Jo. So I began to write a laughably bad novel at age ten. To me, there was (and is) such magic involved in the reading of a novel. You can curl up in bed (or soak in the bath), toasty warm and decadently comfortable, and lose yourself completely in another world, where people do and say all the things you wish you could ... or at least the things that are wonderful to imagine doing. From that early age, I wanted to create that sort of magic. So I was always writing. In high school, I used to write stories about my friends. Let�s say one of them had a crush on some movie or rock star. I�d write a romantic story pairing her with that star. Silly to look back on, but they were wildly popular. So I guess I was a romance writer even then.

But when I began writing seriously with an eye to publication, I didn�t begin with romance. I was trying to write the kind of book I most love to read: sprawling epic historical novels. In a way, I was trying to write the GONE WITH THE WIND of the West. The trouble was, I�d picked a subject that interested me, but for which I was ill-equipped to write. The heroine was basically a good girl who�d grown up on a ranch in the West, and who became an actress. But there were all kinds of other things that I was trying to get into it that I thought (in my ignorance at the time) would give the book depth. What it did was make it boring. I worked on this still (and always) unpublished book for twelve years, writing and rewriting it, trying to make it work. At the time, I was hoping to publish it, but I can see now that the work I did on it was really a process of teaching myself to write. My Masters Thesis, so to speak. Whenever people would read any of it, they�d love the romance, the sex, and the adventure, but were bored with the rest.

One day my (I told you he was brilliant) husband said to me, "You�re a romantic person. Why don�t you write romance? But make it the best romance you can. Something that�s fun for you to write and fun for people to read." So I decided to give it a try. I had a character in that never-ending book named Christina who was an English duchess, who�d had a tragic romance with a highwayman. She was saucy, rebellious, had a biting wit, and she loved sex - and it was she who jumped off the pages, even though she wasn�t the protagonist. So I took her out and wrote her story instead: about how, back in England, she�d fallen in love with a dashing but dangerous highwayman and, delighting in his escapades, joined him on the road in the dead of night. This became my first published book, THE LAST HIGHWAYMAN.

Robin: One of things that's so interesting about you is that you're definitely someone who's willing to stretch the boundaries of what a romance novel can be. The settings of your books are interesting and diverse. Thanks to you I�ve experienced India, Egypt, and the Mediterranean, as well as England and Dodge City, without ever leaving my house! What is it about these locations that inspired you to write about them?

Katherine: I�ve loved books by some authors who write about a particular region, but for me, part of the point of writing the kinds of books I do is to travel to each of my settings and try to paint a picture with words of what I experience. The setting for each book is determined by various factors, such as what kind of character I�m writing about. When I wrote about a highwayman, I set it in England and Ireland. In PRINCESS OF THIEVES I was writing about a hero and heroine who were both con artists, but whose families had been enemies for 300 years. Because I�d always been intrigued by the con artist aspects of Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, and Doc Holliday, it seemed only natural to set that book partly in Dodge City and use them as characters. When I decided to write a book about a pirate, I realized that most of the pirate stories take place in the Caribbean, and I wanted something different. My husband suggested the Seychelle Islands in the Indian Ocean, which were reputed to be some of the most beautiful and still-unspoiled islands in the world, so I arranged a research trip that included the Seychelles and Africa, and set my pirate book there. In WRITTEN IN THE STARS my characters were archeologists in search of Cleopatra�s lost treasure, so it gave me an opportunity to write about Egypt, which has always fascinated me. In MY ONE AND ONLY I was writing about jewel thieves who were after an exquisite ruby. I have some East Indian blood (my English great-great grandfather was married to not one, but four Indian princesses!), so India seemed the right setting for that story. I wanted to bring in the beauty and romance of the Taj Mahal, which was more magical in person than I�d even dreamt it would be. On a trip to Gibraltar, I fell in love with the mighty rock, much to my surprise. It was a unique and awe-inspiring place, and out of my experience there came my piece for TAKEN BY SURPRISE. And in my book that�s coming out in June, SILENT SURRENDER, my character is a silent film actress who has a tempestuous love affair with her director, an ex-World War I pilot who is embarking on the first-ever film expedition to the islands of Tahiti. This has a historical basis, since silent film companies did go on difficult and far-flung shoots. But what could be more romantic than Tahiti?

Since most of my characters are English, many of these settings were at one time a part of the vast British Empire. When writing about these exotic and spectacular settings, I�m always aware that there have been better writers than I who have written better descriptions. So I don�t try to compete with them. Instead of trying to write the most beautiful description of a place, I concentrate instead on what I can say that comes from my unique perspective. When I�m in a setting on a research trip, I put my character there in my mind. I ask myself, "What would she notice that comes from her particular point of view, or her background, or her emotion at the time?" Sometimes the place helps to dictate the sort of thing I�ll be writing. I believe strongly in the spirit of place. So in a way, I listen for what each place has to tell me, and write about that.

Robin: Katherine, we have many ladies at RBL Romantica who are working on writing their own novels. If you don�t mind, I�d like to ask you a few questions about your experience in the writing business. How long did it take to write your first book and then get it published?

Katherine: As I said earlier, I�d worked on a book for twelve years, which came to nothing but which taught me how to write. I was really writing full time without selling anything for about seventeen years before I was published. I like to tell unpublished writers this because there were many times when I thought I was crazy, or fooling myself. I went through years of pain and frustration. My trouble was that I didn�t know how to do anything else. I�d put all my eggs in one basket, and I wasn�t getting anywhere. It wasn�t that I was submitting my work to agents or publishers very often; I just knew it wasn�t good enough. And as I�ve said, it was because I was trying to write the wrong kind of thing. Once I realized what my strengths were and began writing things that put those strengths to use, things changed rather quickly. I wrote THE LAST HIGHWAYMAN in about eight months, including research time. Then I sent it to Barbara Alpert (bless her heart) at Bantam and waited. Four months later, I called her office to see what was happening and was told it was on the list to be read. Four months after that, I received a call from Barbara saying she loved the book and wanted to buy it on a two-book contract, but I would need to change the tragic last chapter to a happy ending. Which I did. So I went from total despondency over my writing to living the kind of scene I�d envisioned all my life. And believe me, when I received that phone call, none of those seventeen years of frustration mattered any more. It was worth every minute.

Robin: Your books are fast paced, fun to read, adventurous, and scorching HOT (our favorite, right girls?). What intrigues me most is the emotional bond between the characters, the yearning we feel for them to be together. Which of these elements is the easiest for you to write? What is the most difficult?

Katherine: First, thank you for such lovely compliments! I�m definitely classified as a "hot" writer, but I would never say to anyone, "My writing is hot," because when it comes to passion, it�s all subjective. What I will say is that I write about relationships in which sensuality is an important element. But it�s always character driven. There�s never a point where I say, "Insert sex scene here." It always comes out of the situation the characters find themselves in, or the emotional state they�re in at the time, or ideally both. Once I have a set-up like that, I can write a twenty page love scene in an afternoon and usually very little, if anything, is changed in the final draft.

I�d say there are a few things which are hallmarks of my books because they come naturally to me, and are easier to write. I could list them, but it might be more relevant for readers if I give some examples.

Robin: Oh yes! Please do!

Katherine: I love acerbic dialogue, British drawing-room dialogue, bantering dialogue, particularly between an intelligent man and woman who are turned on by each other but conducting a battle of wits. Not bickering, mind you, which grows tiresome quickly, but a sort of teasing repartee. Here�s an example from my first book, THE LAST HIGHWAYMAN, in which Christina, the duchess, is amusing herself by baiting the highwayman who kidnapped her:

"Do you always behave in this indifferent manner with the women you kidnap?"
He flashed her a smile. "Not always."
"Ah! You�ve intrigued me. You must tell me all about your escapades. Of the female variety, I mean. You�ll find I�m an avid listener."
"Some other time, Duchess. When I�ve nothing better to do."
"I wonder."
He looked up again, with a trace of annoyance. "What?"
"If all those other women found you handsome."
He gave her a mysterious smile that intrigued her more than anything he might have said. "Is this how the infamous Duchess of Wynterbrooke amuses herself? By ferreting out the debauchery of strangers?"
"It�s all I can do anymore. I�ve sworn off debauchery for my own sake. I find it�s not as satisfying as it once was."
He cast her a sly look. "Such a pity. It appears that I�ve come into your life too late."
She gave him a delighted smile. "Now who�s being naughty?"
"Given up debauchery, have you?" he said dryly.
The smile dropped from her face. "Sorry," she said, making a study of her toe. "Force of habit." When he chuckled, she challenged, "You don�t seem very shocked by my confessions of an ill-spent past."
"Well, I�d hardly be one to cast stones."
She viewed him with renewed interest. "Indeed? You really must tell me all about it some rainy afternoon."
"I thought you�d given up your life of debauchery."
"Well, that hardly means I can�t learn from the experience of others. One has to have some thrills in life, even if they are vicarious. I should dearly love to know your secrets. I�d imagine you to be quite the--rogue with the ladies."
"Since I�m stuck with you for the time being--and since we�ve already well established that you�ve given up your pleasures--it would be safe to assume that I�ve given up mine for the duration as well."
"Why, you surprise me! You are a gentleman, after all!"
"Don�t count on it, Duchess."
She leaned back into the sable and eyed him languorously. "Highwayman, you almost make me want to change my mind."

I also love it when a character engages in some cheeky bit of business. In PRINCESS OF THIEVES my con artist hero and heroine are taking a walk in Central Park when a pickpocket stumbles against him (Blackwood) and lifts his wallet. Saranda�s sense of professional artistry is affronted by this, so she contrives to get the wallet from the thief and slips it into the pocket of her skirt, intending to return it to Blackwood without his knowing it had ever been missing. Since Blackwood is the King of Pickpockets, this would be quite a feat for her, another way of besting him in their game of wits. But before she can return his wallet, Blackwood backs her up against a tree and begins to seduce her with devastating skill. She�s being swept away, despite her determination, when Blackwood�s mood alters suddenly:

Collecting himself, he heaved a ragged breath. "I can�t do this," he said as his fingers slid out of her and left her aching with unquenched desire. Slowly, reluctantly, he skimmed her skirt back over her trembling thighs. She heard it swish as the hem fell to her ankles. "I can�t be with you, wanting you, needing you, never knowing where I stand. I know you�re marrying Winston. I know it, dammit. But something--some distant voice inside--keeps whispering that you belong to me. That no man alive can understand you, accept you, the way I can. That at Winston�s side, you�d be shackled to an impossible existence. But in my arms, you�d be set free."
"Don�t say that," she cried. "I don�t want to believe that. I can�t believe it."
She had to remember who he was. He was her enemy. The brother of the man who ... The son, the grandson, the great-grandson, of all the Blackwood enemies before him. He wasn�t just a man. He was a symbol. He was something to conquer. To vanquish, just as she must banish his words from her brain. She had to remain strong. Because the truth was, he was making her feel things no man ever had. He was opening a core of emotion that she�d clamped tight years ago. With his persuasions, with the uncanny gospel of his words, he was piercing secret corners of her purposely sealed heart.
Putting his hands to her shoulders, he spun her around with such force that her head swayed precariously. Reaching around her, he cupped her backside and hauled her fiercely close. "If you don�t want me, goddammit, say so," he demanded. "But if there�s hope ... If you think of me at night, when no one�s around to know--"
She must remember her role. She had to string him along until the wedding. "Even if that were true, I wouldn�t tell you," she whispered, more honestly than she�d intended.
He pulled her into his arms and held her close, as if savoring the sound of the words.
Suddenly, she remembered the wallet she�d secreted in her pocket. This was the perfect opportunity to replace it. She went to reach for it, but he caught her hand and brought it to his lips.
"Then at least I can feel free to hope."
His lips against her palm were warm, persuasive, sending electrical shocks up her arm. Then, just as abruptly as he�d taken her, he let go and allowed her to fall back against the tree. She felt so shaken, she struggled to take deep breaths, desperate to calm her throbbing nerves.
She waited until he was heading toward the exit of the Park before sliding her hand into her pocket. Empty! She tried the other one. Again, nothing. A white rage blinded her. He�d known all along. All this time, while making her feel that he�d slipped and confessed inner truths, he�d been stealthily lifting the billfold from her pocket. Without her even feeling it!

When my men express their feelings for a woman, they do so with a voluptuous sort of intensity, as if it�s been ripped from their souls. Here�s an example from BRIDE OF DANGER. Johnny, Irish rebel, has stolen Mylene from the church in the middle of her wedding to another man because the Irish patriots he works with threatened to kill her if she goes through with the marriage ... but mostly because it would kill him for her to marry someone else. He says to her:

"Then know this. I love you as I�ve loved nothing and no one on this earth. You think I want to possess you, and so I do. You think I hunger for the taste of your flesh, and you�d be right. But I want more of you than that. I want your soul joined with mine. You�re the other half of me, Mylene. Without you, I�m not complete. I�ve tried, God knows. I�ve tried to forget you in the arms of other women, more comely and more willing than you."
She felt a surge of some unaccustomed feeling, and recognized it, with a sense of surprise, as jealousy. Images of other women flashed through her mind. Kissing Johnny ... touching him with soft, inviting hands. Touching the body she�d never known. Her Johnny ... hers!
"But never," he continued, "could I dislodge you from my mind. You were always there, in my thoughts, in my dreams. Every woman I kissed had your face. Every strand of hair I touched was yours. Every caress, every gift of pleasure I sought to impart, was given to you."
"Stop!" she cried, because she could bear it no longer.
He straightened and looked her in the eyes. "I stole you like a Viking filching a bride because they would harm you if you went through with such a farce. But this was no part of their plan. If they had never objected, if they�d rejoiced at the news, I�d have stolen you still. Not for you, the suffering I endured. Not for you, to endure the embraces of another man, wishing all the while it was me in your bed. I�d have killed to have you with me. That and more... You belong to me, Mylene, and me alone. And come what may, I�ll have you for my own."

My heroines aren�t the type to sit back and wait for things to happen. They�re strong, rebellious, intelligent, fond of danger, sexy, sassy, and they go out and get what they want. Often, they happily play with fire. But sometimes it backfires on them, such as in this excerpt from MY ONE AND ONLY. Kitty and Max need to get into the Maharana�s bedroom, where he keeps the ruby they�ve come to India to steal. Kitty suggests that she lure the ruler into a seductive trap. She begins to dance for Max, as a way of showing him how she�d handle their prey, but also because Max (the sexy cat burglar known as the Tiger) has been infuriatingly cool to her. So she�s teasing him to heat up his blood:

With a gesture that transmitted a gentle scolding--tut, tut, tut--she covered her flank again. And then she lowered herself to her hands and knees and began to crawl across the luxuriant carpet toward him, her hair dangling, her eyes locked with his. Along the way, the veil caught between her knees and fell loose, displaying her breasts to his gaze. She came closer, the veil tangling under her so long, slim legs were revealed as she executed her steady crawl. As she approached, he leaned forward, his lust raging now in the sultry heat of the room, his senses full of her scent, the sound of her breath, the torment of her succulent flesh. She felt his hunger jolt through her with a shock.
"You play a dangerous game with your virtue," he warned.
She turned, crawling away from him now, her legs and backside swaying seductively, calling him to follow if he dared. He didn�t move. Glancing back over her shoulder with a saucy smile that was half promise, half pout, she breathed contemptuously, "I face greater danger than this nearly every day of my life. Should His Majesty respond as tamely as this Tiger, I have nothing to fear. My virtue, it seems, would remain intact."
Inside she laughed at her challenge, knowing he couldn�t resist, knowing that she held him captive now. So certain was she of her triumph that it came as a shock when she felt a grip like a vise around her naked ankle.
Something snapped in Max. A cold and frightful rage, railing at her willful provocation, gripped him like a fever. He�d leapt like the tiger she�d called him, twisting her leg, bringing it high, her ankle confined by the castigating grip of his fist, driven past the point of control. "I�ve got you now," he growled.

From that point on, he�s the one in control.

Add to those elements high adventure, intricate plots, exotic and glamorous settings, and of course lots of steamy romance, and you�ve got a definition of what I do.

The most difficult part of writing is coming up with plots that work like clockwork and are original to each book. I�ve been told that I put more into each book than is necessary, but I don�t want to repeat myself. It�s no fun for me, and I want readers to feel like they�re getting their money�s worth. So each plot comes from out of the setting, the kind of characters involved, and what was happening historically at the time the story takes place. I also like for there to be surprises along the way, where hopefully a reader will sit up and say, "I didn�t see that coming!" All of that is hard work. And to be perfectly honest, the romance genre doesn�t always reward originality, so it can be frustrating. But it�s also true that to write the same sort of thing over and over again would bore me to tears, so I try to do something different each time.

Robin: What is your typical �writing� day like? For example, is there a standard way you begin? Do you use an outline? Do you go by a set schedule? Do you write a certain number of pages each day or for a certain number of hours? Do you need quiet when you write or do you prefer music or background noise?

Katherine: I�m hopelessly lazy! Before I was published I did nothing but write, but when I sold my first book, I began to see that there�s a more balanced way of living, and that I wanted to have some fun before I die. So as much as I love to write, if I don�t have to work, I won�t. And I hate doing the same thing every day, day in day out. I used to think that a writer has to work every single day. But I�ve learned that there are no two writers alike. Some, like Nora Roberts, work every day without fail. Some, like my husband, do their best work in the mornings. I�ve discovered that what�s important is not doing what others do, but to find the rhythm that works best for you. For instance, if you�re a night owl, write at night. By a process of trial and error I�ve found a system that works for me.

I know when my deadline is, so I have an idea of how much time I have before turning something in. Then I go on a research trip. Once I�m back home and have recovered from wishing I was still on the trip, I begin outlining the story. And then, when I�ve waited as long as I possibly can but can still make my deadline, I start to write. I almost have to be forced to sit down and do it, but once I start, I work really hard. That�s all I do. I go into a sort of trance that I call my alpha state. I�m living and breathing the world I�m creating. I want absolute quiet. (I used to use music to get me in the mood to write love scenes, but I haven�t for a while.) I don�t want to be interrupted. I never see people during this intense writing time, because talking to people breaks my concentration, and it�s difficult (even painful) to get it back. For instance, if I were writing now, I couldn�t possibly do this interview. So basically I write every day until I can�t write any more or until I�ve finished a chapter. Sometimes that�s only two hours, sometimes it�s six. A lot of it is done at the computer, but for the more personal scenes, and certainly the love scenes, I write longhand in bed. My writing is better when it�s done longhand--it flows better--and when I type it into the computer, I can make little changes, so it�s like doing a second draft. At night, I watch old movies with my husband (and guinea pig) to rest my mind, but we choose films that will keep me in this kind of dreamy state and not jar me out of it. This helps rest my mind because even at night I�m usually thinking about what I�m going to write the next day. During this writing time, I do everything I can to protect my state of mind. I think when we�re creating intensely we�re more sensitive, so I try to make sure that I�m surrounded by positive influences. And I work out at the gym and walk to try and maintain the strength and energy I need.

Once I�ve completed a first draft, I�ve usually already seen what isn�t working. (Sometimes it happens when I�m writing the first draft. I get stuck on a scene and can�t go on. I�ve learned that my subconscious is telling me I�m on the wrong track, so often I�ll stop for a few days and let my subconscious have time to figure out what�s wrong. Then one day it will come to me and I�ll get fired up again and get back to work.) You can�t always know if an idea is working until you see it on paper. If it isn�t working, no matter how long it took to write, I throw it out and start again. I�ve sometimes thrown out entire plot lines and started over because there was a better, more interesting, or more fun way of accomplishing something. Sometimes a character isn�t working and I have to throw her out and start again. I usually do a second draft, then do individual mini-drafts. I�ll take the love story and do a draft making sure the arc of the romance is right. Or I�ll take a character and go through checking to make sure everything pertaining to him is right. And so on. Then I move on to a 'read-through.' I read it out loud and make changes as I go along, so I can try and see how it�s really sounding. Sometimes it sounds fine in my head, but when read aloud, gets lost. That�s also a good time to try and make sure I�m not repeating the same word too much, which is easy to do when you write quickly. As my deadline approaches I�m usually working more and more hours a day, until the last week or two I�m working twelve hours or more and my poor husband (and guinea pig) are quaking under the covers because I�m such a grouch! There never seems to be enough time, no matter how well I thought I�d planned, so I�m usually feeling pretty pressured at this point and sick of the whole thing. Then I send it off and collapse.

After that I hear back from my editor on whatever changes she wants, and I go through it all again doing rewrites. Then I collapse again. Once I�ve recovered, I take some time off and do absolutely nothing except try and catch up with all the things I�ve let go while writing. At this point I never want to write again. But soon, I get another idea, and start planning another research trip, and the whole thing starts all over. Usually, though, while I�m writing one book, I get the edited manuscript of the last book, which I have to look over, and a few months later, the page proofs, which I have to read entirely for mistakes. I have to put the current book aside to deal with the last one. So I guess the long answer is, I don�t have a typical writing day. It depends on what�s before me. It�s not that I�m telling anyone to wait until they�re inspired to write, because if I did that I wouldn�t get much done. There are times when, if you want to be a professional, you have to write even if you don�t feel like it. The amazing thing is: years later, when you read your book again, you can�t tell the difference between what you wrote when you were inspired, and when you weren�t. The things you write when you�re deathly ill with the flu read the same as all the rest. Someone told me that once, and I�ve found that it�s true.

Robin: Katherine, I know most writers are also voracious readers themselves. Would you share with us some of your favorite authors? Has there been an author(s) who has influenced you?

Katherine: As a young girl, Louisa May Alcott, Daphne DuMaurier, and Margaret Mitchell were huge influences. When SWEET SAVAGE LOVE by Rosemary Rogers first came out, I found it thrilling. I loved the edge to her characters. She didn�t pull her punches. I remember a scene where Gini stabs Steve in the side with a knife under the broiling desert sun. He just looks at her and says softly, "I still want to make love to you." That was pretty gutsy stuff. I�m not sure you could get away with that today. I�ve liked Bertrice Small, Susan Johnson, Dorothy Dunnett, Suzanne Forster--the hot writers! But since writing romance, I don�t read much of it anymore. First, I don�t want to inadvertently be influenced. Also, it sometimes feels like work. I read to escape. The kind of books I most love, as I mentioned, are historical epics like SHOGUN and LONESOME DOVE. I read LONESOME DOVE four times and cried every single time when Gus died because I loved Gus so much. And then I had to force myself not to read it a fifth time! It�s hard to find those kinds of books now, so I read all sorts of different things. I love Emerson and Somerset Maugham particularly. Maugham traveled to many of the places we�ve been, so my husband and I both read his stories about the place we�re visiting while we�re there. Which makes our experience all the more enriching.

Robin: Katherine, your book WRITTEN IN THE STARS is probably my favorite, although it�s hard to choose between so many of your tantalizing stories filled with such wickedly sexy men (VBG)! Jack is such an intriguing character. He is tough as nails, an alpha male, but we also see the vulnerable side that makes us love him all the more. I think the main thing that sticks in my mind about Jack - he has the biggest cajones around! He would do anything, make any sacrifice! The characterization is so real that Jack and Diana just jump off the pages! What makes a character memorable to you?

Katherine: I love bigger-than-life characters. Heroic men and women who thrive on danger. I also love characters who are slightly naughty, who have what I call an outlaw mentality, even if they�re channeling this energy into a good cause. One of my pet peeves when I was first reading romance was that authors kept describing men as 'dangerous' but those men never did anything dangerous. So it started sounding ridiculous to me after a while. It�s what I started referring to as the 'dangerous-shoe-salesman-syndrome.' I asked myself: "What is it that makes a man dangerous?" To me, it�s not being entirely sure what he might do in any given circumstance. A certain kind of volatility. So there�s an edge to my characters that hopefully makes you believe they�re really dangerous. My heroines, I might add, are thrilled by these audacious men, and because my women are equally hot-blooded, they couldn�t find happiness with a so-called ordinary man. My characters do things that are extraordinary and certainly not what the man (or woman) next door is doing. And you�re right, they will make huge sacrifices for what they want, which lends them a certain nobility.

Having said that, what makes a character sympathetic is his or her vulnerability. Have you ever noticed that if you meet a beautiful woman who has a perfect body and seems to be leading a perfect life, you just want to rip her hair out by the roots? But if she tells you she just lost fifty pounds, that she�s struggled with her weight all her life, that she�s just praying she can keep it off this time ... your heart melts for her, right? You begin to like her. She�s suffered, too. She�s really not so different--or so threatening--after all.

I write about passion and pain. (I gave Celia that line in my TAKEN BY SURPRISE piece, but it really belongs to me.) That brings an intensity to my love scenes and my writing that�s perhaps what you�re referring to. For the most part, my characters have been hurt in the past. They feel emotionally scarred and yet, miraculously--wondrously--are healed by the love and passion they find together. And the trust. But it�s not always easy to get to the trust.

Which brings us to another pet peeve of mine, what I call the phony conflict. You know the kind: she thinks he�s a spy so she hates him. He isn�t, of course, but she never bothers to ask him if he is, and he never bothers to tell her he isn�t. Or he thinks she slept with another man, but never bothers to ask her, and just hates her for it until the last chapter when he finds out she didn�t. To me that�s cheating, because one conversation could clear up the whole thing. It�s like the author is saying, "I didn�t want to take the time and trouble to think up a real and meaningful conflict, so I�ll just throw this in." In my opinion, that doesn�t make for an emotionally satisfying read because there�s nothing for the characters to overcome, or to learn from each other. I spend a great deal of time working on the conflict. I look for something that seems irreconcilable. And then the question, of course, becomes: Will they be able to resolve this conflict, and if so, how? That question is what really drives the narrative in romance. It�s the most important part of a romance, really, because the conflict dictates the tension and through that conflict and tension comes the drama. So what I look for is a conflict that at some point in the book will make you say, "I just don�t see how they�re going to resolve this and get together." Because their conflicts are difficult, my characters have to be clever in order to figure out how to resolve things. Which, of course, means that I have to be on my toes.

In WRITTEN IN THE STARS, Jack and Diana were going to be married, but just as the marriage is about to take place, Jack is arrested for stealing and selling off a portion of the treasure that Diana�s father found, which was supposed to go to the British Museum. This, for Diana, who is an archeologist, is the worst kind of betrayal. She pleads with Jack to say he didn�t do it. But he can�t. Because he did do it. So instead of being married, Jack goes to prison for two years. Because of this, Diana�s father dies a failure and in disgrace. Diana, mortified by Jack�s betrayal, is determined to forget him. Until she realizes that he�s the only person who can give her the information she needs to find the treasure that will restore her father�s reputation. But she finds that Jack is now a changed man. When she asks for his help, telling him he owes her, he shows her the scars from his jailer�s whip and says:

"I owe you? I�m the one who spent two lousy years in that hellhole, wanting to die. I�m the one who had to wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of a turning key, knowing they were coming again, and wondering if I could take it one more time. I�m the one who didn�t get so much as a visit from the woman who just two nights before I was arrested had sworn to love me no matter what. If anything, baby, you owe me!"

This is a serious conflict because they both think they�re right, and they both have reason to be angry. Diana can�t forgive Jack for the theft, betrayal, and ruin of her father; and he can�t forgive her for not sticking by him, and believing he had a good reason for doing what he did. But also, we�ve now seen his pain. We understand what he�s suffered, and how much Diana�s love and support would have meant to him. I don�t think any of us like weak, whiny men. But when a strong, remarkable man expresses his pain, we feel for him, and we love him all the more for it.

But my men can be ruthless at times, too. Jack decides that if he�s going to help her, Diana will damn well pay for his time. Jack speaks first:

"...That brings up the question of payment. You wouldn�t expect to get something for nothing. And my services don�t come cheaply, as you may know."
"Mercenaries never do."
"So, logically speaking, what have you to offer me?"
"Money," she said, a little too quickly.
"Money is of no use to me now. You don�t have enough to make it interesting."
"What, then?"
"What, indeed? What could you possibly have that would be worth my time?"
He was looking her up and down.
"Two minutes of your time."
"Two years and two minutes," he corrected.
"That�s not my fault."
"I�m a bitter man, Diana. I�m not ashamed to admit it. I despise you and your family every bit as much as you scorn me, if not more. I see it in your eyes that you want me punished for my sins. Well, guess what, sweet? I want you chastened just as much. So I ask myself, what could you possibly give me that would make your flesh crawl to hand over? What," he asked idly, tracing the back of his finger in a path from her collarbone to the soft mound of her breast, "indeed?"

I guess we all know the payment he demands. So now we have an intense set-up for a love scene between them. Because, of course, they really love each other underneath it all. We know what each of them is feeling and we know what each of them wants. So now Jack moves in like a panther, mowing down her objections, making her admit that she wants him, making her forget her hatred of him through the skill of his seduction. And needless to say, her flesh does not crawl:

Folding her across his back at the junction of her hips and thighs, he carried her over his shoulder across the room. Along the way he grabbed a large chair and dragged it behind, positioning it where he wanted it. Then he bent and flung her back into the cushiony comfort of the seat.
It was a wide chair with padded, carved wooden arms, upholstered in a deep blue watered silk. When she looked up, she saw that he'd positioned her in front of a large gilt mirror. He rounded the chair to stand behind her, leaning down to caress her shoulders and cup the breasts that spilled lushly over the bondage of the tightly laced stays.
"Look at yourself, Diana."
When she jerked away, he grabbed her head and turned it back to face the mirror. "I want you to look. Do you look like a woman who's being forced? Or like a woman who wants me as much as I want you?"
She looked. What she saw was a woman in sensual disarray, her black hair tumbling in mad profusion, her moist lips swollen and pursed in a silent entreaty to be kissed. As she watched, he played with her breasts, softly, slowly, agonizingly teasing her as she watched her eyes grow dewy and indistinct. Then he reached lower and took the crooks of her knees in his hands, lifting them and draping them over the arms of the chair at either side so she was completely open and exposed to his view ...

Robin: Of all the books you have written, do you have a personal favorite, and if so, why?

Katherine: That�s always a tough question for authors. Each book is special to me because it represents a particular time in my life. THE LAST HIGHWAYMAN was the book where I found my voice. PRINCESS OF THIEVES represented a longing for something, and MASTER OF PARADISE brought the fulfillment of that longing.

WRITTEN IN THE STARS and MY ONE AND ONLY remind me of magical trips and extraordinary experiences. But I suppose if I had to choose, I�d say that THE LAST HIGHWAYMAN and my piece in TAKEN BY SURPRISE are particular favorites. I really hate that THE LAST HIGHWAYMAN is out of print and so difficult to find. I�d love for people to be able to read it. My hope is that one day Bantam will reprint it.

Robin: Your stories are bold and sensual (just the way I like 'em!). I can�t decide if it�s the hot men, or the feeling that these men will do anything to have the woman! In the January 2003 Brava anthology, TAKEN BY SURPRISE, you wrote an erotica novella along with Susan Johnson and Thea Devine. What was the experience like for you? Did this shorter style pose any additional challenges for you? Will you be doing any more of these types of steamy novellas?

Katherine: You�re right, my men will do anything to have the woman they love. I think we�ve all seen movies or read a story where a woman will leave a man for some reason and he does nothing about it but mope. A recent example of that is the movie "What A Girl Wants." Colin Firth and Kelly Preston are in love, and want to marry despite the opposition of his wealthy family. She�s told it would be better for him if she left him because she�d ruin his career, so she goes. He�s told she left him for another man. And despite the fact that he�s known and loved her, he believes this and just lets her go. He never calls to ask what happened. He never tries to convince her otherwise. He just feels sorry for himself because he lost the love of his life. That, to me, isn�t romantic, it�s a waste. If a man loves a woman, I think he should beat down the doors to get her. He should be willing to walk through hell and back to have her. A woman will often say to a man, "I�m leaving," when all she really wants is for him to say, "I won�t let you go. I love you. I can�t live without you. I�ll do anything to have you." I don�t know about you, but that�s what I would want a man I loved to do with me ... so that�s what my men do.

As for the Brava novella, I adored the experience! Kate Duffy is an exceptional editor who hires people whose writing she admires and lets them do what they do best with as little interference as possible.

At first, it seemed a challenge to fit everything into such a short format. But actually, it was liberating. It gave me a chance to concentrate on the aspects I enjoy most: the romance and heat between the couple. I decided to do something completely different for that, so I wrote a story about two lovers who are soul mates and have been repeating a tragic pattern throughout a succession of lifetimes, and who are now given the opportunity to either set things right and live happily ever after--or lose each other tragically again. I realize that not everyone believes in reincarnation, but it was a story that was important for me to tell, and I absolutely loved doing it. The more erotic format allows for a bit more pushing of the envelope than do traditional romances. You might have gathered by now that I�m not a writer of tame or tepid love scenes. You won�t find many scenes like this in my books:

He: "I love you."
She: "I love you, too."
Kiss, kiss. Make love to soft music ...

I like men who are dominant in bed, but open-minded enough that they can learn the error of their ways from a woman. (Now there�s a fantasy!) Often, they struggle to fight their feelings for the woman, to maintain their cool sense of control. But in the end, they inevitably lose this battle. Here�s an excerpt from "Erotic D�j� Vu" (the title of my TAKEN BY SURPRISE novella), in which Royce is striving to keep from falling under Celia�s spell:

With a curse, he made his decision. He�d do it. But his way, not hers. Not with tender words. Not with loverlike concern. His way.
He shoved her back into the folds of her clothes. Spread her legs and entered her with a ramming thrust. Heard her breath catch as he filled her to the hilt. Christ! It was like coming home ...
Moving roughly, pounding her senseless. Feeling her open to him, loving it, her moans echoing off the cavern walls. He clamped a hand down over her mouth. Silencing her as if to silence the need he felt inside. So deep a need that it left him feeling stunned.
Stunned? It terrified him.
She wrenched her mouth from his hand and lifted her lips toward his. But he denied her the kiss she sought. Exerting his will. My way ... not yours ...

I�m contracted for at least two more of these novellas, so for now that�s what I�ll be concentrating on.

Robin: What is your favorite thing about being able to write for a living? Least favorite?

Katherine: When I was first published, the thrill of having achieved my dream was exhilarating. But that only lasted for a while, because it�s really a by-product of what I find fulfilling, which is the writing itself. Having a means through which to express myself as a writer is what I�m most grateful for. I lost my desire to be a best-selling author long ago. I don�t do interviews as a rule, don�t go to writer�s conferences anymore, don�t do much of anything to publicize my books. I try to express things that mean something to me in the most enjoyable way possible. The great thing about being a writer is: if you�ve ever thought, "It would be fun to be an archeologist," you can be one vicariously by writing about one. I enjoy the research and of course (to be redundant) the research trips.

The least enjoyable thing is probably the pressure that goes along with a writing career. I thought I�d prepared myself for everything, but I never took into consideration how much pressure is involved with meeting deadlines, coming up with new plotlines, etc., all on a time schedule. Also, to be perfectly honest, working with editors can be a pain. I�ve had some wonderful editors--Barbara Alpert was divine and we became good friends--but I�ve also had one or two (no names, please) who cared more about putting their own stamp on my work than they did about trying to make what I do better. The publishing industry is in such flux now that editors are coming and going. On my last book, I ended up with three separate editors, and each wanted something different. Working with editors is something you have to learn to do through experience. By trial and error. But by the same token, I�ve learned something from almost every editor I�ve had.

Robin: New writers often look to established writers for words of wisdom and advice on fulfilling their dream of becoming published. What is the one piece of advice you would give a new author?

Katherine: When I was first published, I went to some writers' conferences, and sat in on several of the symposiums. And I was always shocked by the fact that the ONLY questions ever asked were about how to get published. Some of the best writers in the business were speaking, yet no one asked, "How do you develop a conflict that�s real and that will make us want the characters to get together?" No one asked anything about writing. So I�d say this (and I know my agent agrees): the best way to get published is to write a book that an editor can�t turn down. It�s the writing that�s the most important component. Look at your writing closely, and as objectively as possible. Is it as fresh as it could be? As vibrant? Is it colorful and full of life? Is there a passage, or a chapter, that makes you think, "If I have to read this one more time, I�ll scream?" If so, cut it or re-do it. If it bores you, it will probably bore everyone else. Ask yourself: Is this interesting? Is it compelling? Does it make you want to turn the page and see what happens? Do your characters all sound alike, or have you varied their speech patterns to make things more interesting? Is it clear from the very beginning what your character wants? This may seem simple, but you�d be surprised by how much writing doesn�t make this clear. What your character wants sets up the story. Will she get what she wants, or won�t she? What obstacles will be placed in her path? Sometimes, having a character not get what she wants allows for some surprises along the way. And if what she wants gets in the way of what he wants, you have instant conflict. Who will win?

Another thing authors say often is, "Find your own voice," but they never really tell you what that means. It�s like the expression, "Write what you know." What does that mean exactly? Write about changing diapers or buying broccoli? So I�ll tell you what it means to me and perhaps that will encourage you to think about ways to apply it to yourselves.

I grew up in the military, so by rights I should know about the military. But I really didn�t pay much attention, so for me to write about the Air Force wouldn�t be writing about what I know. I also, as I told you, started writing about a good girl who grew up on a ranch. But I didn�t know anything about that, either. I used to think, "I don�t really know about much of anything, so what am I supposed to write?" Slowly, agonizingly, I began to peel away the layers and realized that what I really know about is heroes. I�ve been a hero-worshiper from the day I was born, so my men all have heroic aspects. I realized that I write British-tinged dialogue better than anything else so the majority of my characters are British. I also noticed that when I wrote about 'good' girls, they were boring and martyrish, but when I began to write about outlaw women, they came alive. I love travel, so my characters travel. I love high adventure, so my novels are adventurous. And I love steamy passion, so there�s a lot of that in my books. Through this process of defining what I really like, and what I do well, I developed a style of book that�s unique to me. My books could only be written by me because they reflect my strengths, interests, and experiences--not someone else�s.

If you really want to be a writer, and believe you have the ability, never give up. It isn�t always easy, and like everything, it isn�t even always fun. But you have to believe in yourself. There are always going to be people who will tell you it can�t be done. They�ll quote the odds to you, they�ll tell you your priorities are in the wrong place, they�ll try to get you to be more social by saying, "You have to eat so you might as well come to dinner." They�ll tell you all sorts of garbage that somehow justifies their belief (for whatever reason) that you won�t succeed. If you know in your heart that this is the road you want to take, don�t listen to them. Just put one foot in front of the other and travel that road. Like everything, it�s a journey, and like every journey, it begins with a single step. Don�t make excuses. Don�t say you don�t have time to write. Make time. If you write one page a day, at the end of a year you can have a book. I wrote for seventeen years before I was published, and I�m sure a number of people thought I was fooling myself. I used to feel like John-Boy, going around saying I was a writer, then having to add, "No, I�m not published yet." But what if I�d listened to the people who said it couldn�t be done? What if I�d given up in the sixteenth year?

Be careful about talking about your writing too much. When you get an idea, there�s an initial intensity to it. It�s as if it�s dying to be expressed. If you put it on paper, you�ve put your energy into what�s important: the writing. But if you tell someone about it first, that primary burst of creativity is expended. After you�ve talked about it, you often don�t have the energy to write it. So write it first. Then let someone read it and talk about it.

Finally, it�s never a bad idea to spiritualize your life in whatever way best suits you. It wasn�t until I made a concentrated effort to do this that things started working out for me in my writing. I�m always aware that I�m not the true writer, I�m just the pen--or the channel--through which it�s written. The true writer is whatever you choose to call the Intelligence of the Universe. It�s such a privilege to have been chosen to be a writer. Don�t forget to say thank you. That�s probably the most important thing I can say.

Robin: Okay Katherine, what�s next on your writing agenda? How is this book different from your previous books?

Katherine: My next book comes out June 8 from Bantam and is called SILENT SURRENDER. Liana falls in love with a dashing WWI hero in Paris, only to be badly hurt by him. Years later, when she�s a silent film actress vying for the biggest role in Hollywood, who should the director turn out to be but ... you guessed it, the man who broke her heart. It differs from my other books in that the conflict this time stems from the fact that our hero is threatened by a sexual woman. Even though he�s obviously attracted to her, he doesn�t equate that attraction with real love because he doesn�t think he can love 'that kind of woman.' (Obviously he�s got some learning to do.) Because of his attitude, Liana feels that he�s rejecting her real self while wanting to use her to make a motion picture that glorifies this double standard. So they�re at odds. But when they get to Tahiti, the spirit of love, and passion, that pervades the islands begins to call out to them, complicating their already conflicted feelings. So the question is: Can Liana learn to trust him again? And can she convince him that a sexual woman isn�t bad ... she�s just more fun?

As for the Brava piece I�ll be writing next ... I�m going to follow my own advice and keep mum. I�m superstitious, so I don�t even want to tell anyone what my title is until I�ve actually seen the cover and know it�s safe. My 85-year-old mother-in-law told me a joke pertaining to this. I have no idea where she heard it, but it says it all: "When doctors get together, they talk about medicine. When lawyers get together, they talk about law. When writers get together, they talk about the weather."

Robin: Katherine, I want to thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. You were so generous with your time, and I know that hearing about your experiences in the writing business gave me food for thought! It has been a blast chatting with you. We wish you much continued success in 2003, and we look forward to your new book being released next month in June!

Katherine: Thank you, Robin, for the opportunity. It�s been a pleasure. And thanks once again for all your support through the years. It�s always fun to hear from you! For all the readers at RBL, I hope you enjoy my books, and would love to hear from you. And for all the writers, I hope these ramblings have been of some use. I wish you nothing but success and happiness. I�ll look forward to reading your books, and your interviews here at RBL. As Christopher Lowell says: If you can dream it, you can do it!