Kate's Blog

Ruthless!

I'm having an interesting discussion with a reader over on the eharlequin boards who couldn't stand Cormac, my hero from Ruthless Boss, Hired Wife. It's interesting how different readers react to different things/characters--my books seem to have touched a sensitive point with some people, which I've come to the conclusion is not necessarily a bad thing...

Of course, in general you want people to love, love your books, no holds barred, no criticism at all. But at the same time I recognise that not everyone is going to do that (huh? really??) and I'd rather people reacted strongly in a negative way than in a bland 'whatever' way... or so I keep telling myself, as I posted something similar a few weeks ago!!

It's interesting too to me to see how my own books have changed-I wrote Ruthless Boss, Hired Wife a year ago now and the books I've written more recently have slightly softer Alpha heroes and a bit stronger heroines, which is both an editorial and personal directive. They're still on the dark and angsty side, although not quite so much.

And since that might intrigue you, I thought I'd give you a snippet from my current wip, when the hero and heroine meet for the first time since their brief affair four years ago:

"Hello, Khaled." Lucy surprised herself with how calm and even her voice sounded. Unconcerned. She turned all the way round, one hand still resting on the stone balustrade.
Khaled just stared. Scowled, even, almost as if he were angry. Yet he couldn't be angry... anger and indifference were two entirely separate emotions, worlds apart.
"I didn't think anyone was here," he said tersely, and Lucy inclined her head, gave a small smile.
"I needed some air. The room was very hot."
"I'm sorry you weren't comfortable." They were the words of a cordial host, impersonal, distant, forcing Lucy to half-apologise.
"No, no, everything has been lovely. I'm not used to such star treatment." She paused, and gestured to the moonlight-bathed gardens behind her. "The palace gardens look very beautiful."
"I will have someone show you them tomorrow. They are one of Biryal's loveliest sights."
She nodded, feeling somehow dismissed. There was a howl inside of her, a desperate cry for understanding and mercy.
After everything we had...
But in the end, it--she--had meant nothing to Khaled. Why couldn't she remember that? Why did she always resist the glaring truth, try to find meaning and sanctity where there had been none? "Thank you," she managed, and then lapsed into silence as the night swirled softly around them.
Khaled said nothing, merely looked at her, his gaze sweeping over her hair, her face, her dress. Assessing. "You haven't changed," he said quietly, and surprised by what felt like a confession, Lucy blurted,
"You have."
Khaled stilled, and Lucy hadn't realised there had been a touch of softness to his features in that unguarded moment until it was gone. His smile, when it came, was hard and bitter. "Yes, I have."
"Khaled..." She held one hand out--in supplication--then dropped it. She didn't want to beg. There was nothing left to plead for. "I'd like to talk to you."
Khaled arched one eyebrow. "Isn't that what you're doing?"
"Not now," Lucy said, suddenly wishing she hadn't started this line of conversation. "Tomorrow. I just wanted you to know... perhaps we could arrange a time..." Her voice trailed away as Khaled simply stared, his lips pressed in a hard line, a bleakness in his dark eyes.
"I don't think we have anything to say to each anymore, Lucy." Startled, she realised he sounded almost sad.
"You may feel that way, but I don't. I just need a few minutes of your time, Khaled. It's important."
He shook his head, an instinctive gesture, and Lucy felt annoyance spurt through her. She hadn't come to Biryal to be rejected--again--and for something so little. Was he not willing to give her anything? Would she always feel like a beggar at the gates when it came to Prince Khaled el Farrar?
"A few minutes," she repeated firmly, and without giving him time to respond--or time for her to betray herself with more begging, pleading--she moved past him. Her shoulder brushed his and sent every nerve in her body twanging with remembered feeling as she hurried back into the palace.


What do you think??

posted by Kate Hewitt at 1:58 PM 2 Comments

Last chapter!

Hard to believe, but I'm at the last 3,000 words or so of the book, the big black moment is beginning and it all goes very fast from here on--or so I hope! I've written about 3,000 words today so I'm taking a break to assess what needs doing. I have a feeling there is going to be a lot of tweaking going on after I finish, but I won't think about that yet.

In home news I've started packing which always makes things seem very imminent--although we don't move for six weeks, we have only three of those weeks in our house--our lovely house, which I'll miss so much. Here is a photo of the outside on a beautiful spring day:



Isn't it lovely? Oh, well. So much for nostalgia!

posted by Kate Hewitt at 5:45 PM 2 Comments

Getting there

I'm just about to finish chapter 8--this really is the home stretch! I'm pausing though to go back and read everything I've written so far. This usually helps focus me for the end. It's amazing how often I think I'm planting something later in the book only to realise I've already done it earlier on without realising it. Then when I go back, I think 'oh, I need to add this' or 'change this' and I don't actually have to because whatever I thought wasn't there--was! However, all that niceness aside, there are also plenty of times when I feel like my manuscript is in tatters, and I don't just have to add or change, I have to delete and rewrite. Sigh.

Ruthless Boss, Hired Wife is on eharlequin's Top 10 Bestsellers list for ebooks, which is always an exciting thing to see. I finally made it to the bookshop and read the review in Romantic Times, which I can't remember exactly but it was something like 'Kate Hewitt's latest has potential, but some readers may tire of Cormac's inability to ever tell the truth and feel his transformation comes too late.' Which is possible, I suppose--I set out to write a ruthless hero, and he really was *ruthless*. Funnily enough, he was less ruthless initially, and my editor told me to make him more so--so I did. She said if readers want a ruthless hero, they want him *really* ruthless! I wonder if that's true... I suppose sales will tell! I've come to realise RT's reviews aren't necessarily an accurate reflection of a book's success in sales. Still, all my heroes have been veritable pussycats since then :)!

posted by Kate Hewitt at 6:21 PM 0 Comments

Life gets in the way... again

As it always does. Today is the first day I've written all week, and I did manage 3,000 words, which felt good. I'm at the end of chapter 7 and the end is *almost* in sight. Meanwhile we're wrapping up the end of the school year, the softball season (I'll post an AMAZING story about my daughter's second to last softball game soon!!), Girl Scouts, everything really. And since we're moving in August I'm feeling sad rather than relieved that things are ending because I know it's not just a break for the summer, but for good.

Of course, we'll find activities and friends and Scouts and softball in NYC--at least I hope we will! But until then it's several months or more of in-betweeness, of not quite being one place or the other. Finding your feet, your friends, your regular routine. Ugh! Moving is hard. We've done it a lot--in nearly 11 years of marriage, this is our sixth house move, and we've been here 5 years, so you can imagine how crazy the first 6 were!!

Time to put the children to bed and maybe even finish chapter 7. My husband is away, the only thing that beckons besides my laptop is an okay book or an episode of Gilmore Girls, which I've never seen before... hmm... maybe the writing can wait!

posted by Kate Hewitt at 4:15 PM 1 Comments

More press!

Ruthless Boss, Hired Wife got another mention in the newspaper, this time The Times, reviewing Manchester Library's centenary celebration of Mills & Boon covers. Check it out:

Respectable love at that – even in today’s Ruthless Boss, Hired Wife at least we know from the title that there’s been a wedding ceremony. Without the title it looks like Becks and Vicky on a beach.

Funnily enough, there *isn't* a wedding ceremony in the book!

You can check the whole article out here.

posted by Kate Hewitt at 8:44 AM 0 Comments

Uh-oh

This happens in every book, or just about, and it's finally happened in this one. The dreaded slump. The time when my fingers stop flying on the keyboard and tap hesitantly, nervously, and sometimes not at all. The time when I sit back in my chair and think 'hmm... I'd better go fold that last load of laundry.'

I'm at 32,000 words, the top of chapter seven, and I'm not quite sure what needs to happen next. That is, I know what will happen physically, plotwise, for the most part, but emotionally? Where the characters need to be? That's where I'm thinking 'hmm...'

However, there have been other bits of good news. First, payday! My first Mills & Boon royalty statement. Hooray. Second, a review of my historical Another Country from Historical Novels Review, which said 'the story just pulls you in... a terrific read.' And third, the cover of Another Country's large print release, which I think is very pretty:



Now, in case you haven't guessed, writing this blog was a displacement activity. I should be writing. The kids are settled in bed, I'm sitting in front of an air conditioner (it's 100 degrees here!!) with my laptop in front of me, so no excuses!! Right??? Right???

posted by Kate Hewitt at 5:38 PM 0 Comments

Personal encouragement

Goodness knows writing can be a lonely occupation, and when you read something online or in print about your book that's less than glowing, it can hurt. I've given myself all the pep talks about not taking bad reviews personally, and reminding myself that both good and bad reviews are just one person's opinion. I've come to realise that the really bad reviews don't bother me as much the 'meh' ones--my style of writing just may not be someone's cup of tea. I can accept that gracefully--really, I can! But the 'just okay' or 'kind of boring' or things like that cut to the quick. How can MY writing be boring?!

So when I stumble across a review of my books by someone who really GETS my writing, it's such a joy. And I stumbled upon one on the eharlequin site for Greek Tycoon's Convenient Bride:

You know, Kate Hewitt is fast becoming one of my favorite Harlequin authors! LOVED this book. The insecurities of both the hero and the heroine are real and how they overcome these internal conflicts to find love is gut renching. Kate really slices a vein and bleeds when she writes. Awesome stuff.

So that made my day! And let me make yours by sending you a FREE copy of my newest release--I got sent 75 copies in the post and am itching to give them away! Just e-mail me your address at katehewitt@kate-hewitt.com, with Freebie in the subject header. I've already given a few away, but am happy to send more out and convert you all to Kate Hewitt fans :)

posted by Kate Hewitt at 9:53 AM 1 Comments

Feeling generous

I just received not one but two boxes of copies of my third book, Ruthless Boss, Hired Wife, and I'm feeling generous, so email me at katehewitt@kate-hewitt.com before Monday and I'll send you a copy free in the mail. Just put Freebie in the subject header :)

Meanwhile I'm halfway through chapter six in the current wip--this book is flying! And even better news, my third historical, Down Jasper Lane, has been accepted by Robert Hale Ltd. This story will be published as a serial in The People's Friend in the UK starting July 12, so you can read it then or buy the book sometime in spring 2009, which is about 20,000 words longer.

posted by Kate Hewitt at 7:14 PM 0 Comments

Come on over

I'm guest blogging on Jessica Hart's site today. Jessica Hart is a Harlequin Romance author and one of the writers that got me hooked on romance about 12 years ago. I'm so thrilled to be actually blogging on her site! I'm writing about when your writing surprises you, so come on over and check it out...

posted by Kate Hewitt at 9:21 AM 0 Comments

Halfway!

I wrote a record 5,000 words today, which takes me to the halfway point word count wise, although a little less than that chapter-wise: I'm a few pages before the end of chapter 5, and it's going to be a 10 chapter book. Still, it feels good. This book has been going by very quickly--I started it last Sunday--about 10 days ago--so halfway seems pretty amazing.

I think I might need to take a breather though. I've learned that you cheat yourself and the book when you write too fast--at least I do. I miss the layers and nuances that a book that has had longer to stew and develop possesses, so I think I might give myself a few days' break and let things percolate. Of course, on the other hand, you get a certain momentum going when you write several thousand words a day, and there's something to that. You feel like you're riding a wave, and you want to keep going. So check back tomorrow and see if I've written anything or not!

posted by Kate Hewitt at 6:48 PM 0 Comments

Ruthless Boss, Hired Wife now in shops!

If you live in the UK. Available in the US in July.

I'm in the middle of chapter 4 of my current book, about 18,000 words. So far... so good! There have been a few rough spots in the writing but overall things are going smoothly and I think I'll make my self-imposed deadline of July 1.

Meanwhile I'm busy tidying the house for a dinner party we're having tonight (that sounds posh but it really isn't--it's a work thing). As soon as I tidy up, it seems like three small beings mess everything up again. Why IS that?!

posted by Kate Hewitt at 8:47 AM 0 Comments