Kit Frazier and a buddy, at the Texas Book Fair
As the managing editor of a regional magazine, who also just so happens to participate in search-and-rescue missions with the FBI and local police, Austin, Texas-based Kit Frazier was primed to write about the sassy, savvy heroine, Cauley Mackinnon, in her new comic suspense series. Kit is a two-time first place winner in the Writers' League of Texas and San Antonio Romance Authors Emma Merritt awards. Here's my interview with her...
So what’s the scoop on SCOOP?
Starting
over after a truly bad marriage and armed with a freshly minted
journalism degree, Cauley MacKinnon is disappointed to find that the
only job she can get in her hometown of Austin is as an obituary
writer—something that only happens to interns who’ve been very good, or
reporters who’ve been very bad. Somehow, Cauley’s managed to do both.
And of course, being the Obituary Babe wreaks havoc on her already
disastrous social life.
While on the hunt for a story that will get her off the Death Page,
Cauley’s life takes a turn for the worse when hapless childhood friend,
Scott Barnes, threatens suicide and barricades himself in a dilapidated
old shed where he phones Cauley for help. Cauley manages to talk her
friend out of the shotgun and the shed. But Cauley is soon devastated
when she discovers Barnes dead at his computer with an empty bottle of
bourbon and a computer-generated suicide note. Soon, Cauley is up to
her eyelashes in dead bodies and everyone wants to know what Barnes
said in the shed—the last time anyone saw him alive.
What did you learn from writing this novel?
Oh boy. I learned so much while writing this novel. SCOOP is actually my second novel. The first novel taught me POV, story structure and how to get to “The End.” I think the biggest thing I learned from SCOOP was the importance of friends, especially friends who write. Writing is hard—if it was easy, everyone would do it, and on those nights when you’ve had too much bourbon and Diet Coke and you’re convinced the novel is crap, friends will convince you that you say this in the middle of every novel, award-winning and otherwise, and will stop you from stripping naked, dousing the damn thing with lighter fluid and dancing around the resulting bonfire in your backyard—the sad, unfortunate end for my first novel…
Tell us about your journey to publication.
Ah, The Liar’s Club. My family is a big bunch of storytellers, so I began reading, writing and telling stories at an early age. I was a reporter, and Julie Ortolon, our graphic artist, was writing a romance novel (she’s now a bestselling romance author—check her out at www.Ortolon.com). We became friends, and she suggested I go with her to her romance writer meetings. I did, and I wrote a romance (the aforementioned First Novel)—it won every contest in which it was entered and got me a meeting with a couple of agents, including one at William Morris.
The agent told me she loved my voice, my sense of humor and loved my characters, but could I get rid of the baby and the man? I said, “Well, no, but I could write you a new novel.”
On the way home from that meeting, Cauley MacKinnon came to me whole and fully formed, ready to tell me her story. I pulled in the driveway, ran into the house and wrote the first 60 pages that night, and I knew…I just knew Cauley was my girl.
SCOOP won a litany of contests, including the Writers’ League of Texas and the Merritt. I got several agent interviews but chose Andrea Somberg. It was funny, though, because I was SO nervous when I met her because I’d heard so many wonderful things about her and I knew she was the agent for me, so I memorized my one sentence pitch, my short bio, my career goals and her client list. But Andrea had actually judged the contest, so she’d read the first 20 pages, and when I went in for my meeting, she started the conversation by saying she loved the book, said she read it to her boyfriend, and actually quoted parts of it back to me. I was floored.
So, I signed with her and a great friendship and agent/writer relationship was born. Cauley made the rounds at publishing houses, and three editors fought hard for it, but they didn’t know where to put—is it a mystery? Is it a romance? Poor Cauley got smacked down in marketing every time. Two of those editors said that if I would change this one thing (Cauley sleeps with a charming, sweet-talking bad guy who is not the hero), I’d get the green light.
But that relationship is important to Cauley’s character arc, and it’s important to the series. And then came Barbara Moore at Midnight Ink, who loved the book and believed in the series and in me so much Midnight Ink sent me to Book Expo this year! Talk about feeling like Princess of Pulp. My books were all gone before the Expo was over, and I’m still getting e-mails, invitations and even phone calls from people who got the book there and read it. It’s been a fantastic experience, and Midnight Ink has been very good to me.
As a published author, what kind of PR do you do for your books?
I’m very proactive with my career, but I made a pact with myself to
not spend more than 10% of my advance on promotion. I just had my
website redone by a professional, which I think was a huge plus. But
here’s the thing. A lot of promotion is free or cheap and can be
incredibly inspiring. When I speak at writing groups and conferences, I
come away with a lot more than book sales—I’m motivated to write and
keep writing.
I also write press releases, visit booksellers,
and I’m making a super cute YouTube thing that will get edited on my
new Mac as soon as I figure out how to do it. As far as cheap stuff, I
made cool handcuff key chains and tee shirts to give to booksellers. I
also write writing-related articles, because most writers are readers.
Midnight Ink took out a couple of ads, and I’ve taken out a couple, but
I also go to non-writing related functions, such as women’s
conferences, chamber of commerce meetings, Search and Rescue
conferences and anything that has to do with the book’s subject matter.
Networking and word of mouth is super important. I love to teach
writing courses, because I truly believe we are all natural
storytellers, and there’s nothing better than seeing a fresh, new,
excited writer breathe life onto a plain, white page.
I am also doing a free 30 minute teleconference with reading groups who chose SCOOP as their book choice. That’s been a fun experience, and I had my sister “sit in” on one of the conferences, since I read her the entire book while I was writing it J What advice would you offer to aspiring authors? I know you’ve heard it before, but write, write, write. It’s also important to learn the basics of writing and publishing, read a lot, and hang out with other writers, even if it’s online. But most important is to apply butt to seat, fingers to keyboard, even when there’s nothing but crap coming out. The muse has to know where to find you, and if you’re at the keyboard, she’ll show up. That said, also hang out with people who are smarter and funnier than you who are not writers, and borrow their stuff…of course, you have to tell them that whatever they say or do may wind up in your next novel.
What is your writing process like? Are you a plotter or a pantster?
Oh, I’m sorry, I just heard hysterical laughing in my head. Yes, I
plot. Big, elaborate plots. But it never goes the way I think it’s
going to go. All of my friends have these fantastic outlines, and they
know just what’s going to happen next, which makes me insanely jealous.
Of course, they’ve also got their spices arranged in alphabetical order
and shop with grocery lists. For the most part, I see the book in my
head like it’s a movie and I’m just sitting there, eating popcorn and
shouting at the screen.
Talk to me about your writing routine.
I
think if you are a professional writer, you are always writing in some
form or fashion. Every situation is a story, every overheard
conversation is a glimpse into character. I carry a little notebook
with me to jot down ideas, snippets of conversation, characters, etc. A
couple of months ago, I was wandering around in the yard, staring at
the sky, and I must have had a strange expression on my face because a
new neighbor said, “Is she okay?” My Significant Other said, “She’s
fine. She’s just plotting.”
I prefer to write in the middle of
the night, but circumstances make it happier for everyone if I write in
the morning. I write in big bursts at the beginning of every day so
that my first, best energy goes into the book. But, in deference to the
Muse, I also keep a little light pen and a notebook by my bedside,
because he (my Muse looks and sounds like Cary Grant) won’t leave me
alone at night and whispers the best ideas while I’m trying to go to
sleep. The light pen and notebook save me from scrounging around,
tripping over the dog to scribble illegible notes with lipstick on a
cocktail napkin…
What do you do when you're not writing?
I
spend time at the lake with my dog, spending time (also with the dog)
at the family ranch with the cows, goats and barn cats, and I spent a
disproportionate amount of time and income going to lunch with my
friends so we can all complain about writing. We really are a bunch of
whiners…
What is your current Work In Progress, and when can we expect to see it on the shelf?
I just finished DEAD COPY, on the shelves this May *Yikes!* the second in the Cauley series, and I hate to jinx it, but I’m loving it. I’m also working on a short story and outlining *snort* the storyline for MORGUE FILE, the third in the series, where Cauley’s horrible ex husband comes back and tries to ruin things for her and Logan, and I’m loving the book already. Check my web at www.kitfrazier.com for a sneak peek at the first chapter!
Thanks for the interview op, Josie! I’m reading Impossibly Tongue-tied and totally loving it! I used it as my treat for finishing the galleys on DEAD COPY …
____________________________________
Read an excerpt from SCOOP here...
Buy SCOOP here, from Amazon, or Barnes & Noble. or Borders
Click here to go to Kit Frazier's website...
You can also read an excerpt from Josie Brown's IMPOSSIBLY TONGUE-TIED here...
