Katherine H Brown writes cozy mysteries thaat can be found on kindle and Kindle Unlimited. She plans to expand her genres this year, and has a new book out called the Librarian’s Treasure.
Where is your favorite vacation spot? Beach, Resort or Poolside?
If I had endless funds, it would be an all-inclusive resort with a beach-view room and patio. My husband and I have taken anniversary trips to Gulf Shores, Alabama several times, so I would say it qualifies as a definite favorite spot.
Everyone takes a tote back with them when they head out for a day at the beach, what is in yours? Phone, sunglasses (if I haven’t lost them), towel, at least one physical book to read, and one to two spirals for writing.
What makes your books perfect for a beach read? The setting, the story or the characters?
The setting (a fictional beach in Alabama…imagine that…) as well as the spa where most of the characters’ time is spent in book 1 of the Ooey Gooey Bakery Mystery series makes it the perfect laid-back, easy reading for a beach day.
What inspired you to start writing?
What advice would you give a new writer, someone just starting? Even if you are in another career, even if everyone says you can’t earn a living, keep writing. Don’t put it off a few years and then decide you still really want to do it. Write. Then, when you get ready / able / brave enough etc, the books are there and you can begin the hard part: publishing and marketing them.
What time of the day do you usually write?
Currently, I grab the hour during my 13 month old’s nap to do the majority of my writing. When I’m really driven or on a deadline, I also write at night in bed on the evenings while my husband watches the hockey game; that way, we are still together but I’m making progress and he can push replay and make me watch the plays he wants to talk about.
What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?
I HATE to know the ending. As a reader, I won’t read the back cover of the book even. So, it has been a struggle to discipline myself to do a more detailed outline or plan instead of just start with a character I love and a concept of the murder or crime and literally see what happens in my imagination as I write. However, since I’m working with such a finite window of writing time this year, I had to change my habits in order to write more efficiently. So far, it is working out okay although occasionally I still go completely off the outline and change my mind mid-story.
How many plot ideas are just waiting to be written?
Can you tell us about one? Oh. My. Goodness. So many; I have a problem with falling in love with tons of ideas and designing new book covers for inspiration. I have a new 5 book cozy series (only plotted for the first so far, but made covers for all of them) that I’m excited about. I also have ideas for novellas to add to the Ooey Gooey Bakery mysteries at the request of a few of my readers who love the characters. For the novellas, each of the two main characters will travel to separate places and encounter a mystery that they must solve. I think one may go to Europe and one to the mountains.
Do you have a library membership?
Yes! And so does my twelve year old because I was so excited when she was old enough to get her own card at age ten. 😊
What did you want to be when you grew up?
A writer. Honestly. I “made” books as a child by stapling paper together and doodling short stories in them. I even sent off for publishing information as a teen (which I later found out were called vanity publishing companies) but I didn’t begin publishing until 2018 when I wanted to quit my office job and needed to know if I could really be an author.
How do you select the names of your characters?
By spending FAR too much time on baby name sites, and looking at name definitions for additional characters. The main character I usually just know what name I want to use pretty soon after thinking of the story.
What was your hardest scene to write?
I’m writing a book now (coming in August 2021) set in fictional rural town in Ireland which has been very difficult because I’ve never traveled to Ireland. I tried diligently to convince my husband that a trip to Ireland would surely be a deductible research expense but alas, to no avail.
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This series has been wonderful, and I’d like to thank all of the authors who participated in the Summer Beach Reads. But fall is here! The calender says so, even if it’s still in the upper 80’s down here in Florida. That means it’s time to start our Seasonal Series. This next group of authors all have books written around Halloween, Fall, Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Years. I will be featuring these books along with their interview. Also included in this series are the co-authors that have written stories that are included in the Cozy Christmas Anthology; Clues, Christmas Trees and Corpses. So get ready…
Pen In Hand, Words on Page 