Meow, today my guest is author Karen Rose Smith!
USA Today
Bestselling Author Karen Rose Smith's 104th novel will be released in 2020! Her
passion is caring for her five rescued cats...and strays who are siblings. Her
hobbies are gardening, cooking, watercolor painting and photography. An only
child, Karen delved into books at an early age. Even though she escaped into
story worlds, she had many cousins around her on weekends. Families are a
strong theme in her novels in both her mysteries and romances. One of her
romances about a country singer hero was developed into a TV movie aired on the
UP network the past two Christmases. Watching A VERY COUNTRY CHRISTMAS with
friends is one of her dreams come true. Besides romances and mysteries with
Kensington, she has published with Meteor/Kismet, Harlequin/Silhouette and
Harper Collins/Harlequin. She has also indie published over 20 titles.
Welcome Karen! Let's get started!
R: Tell us a little about your
background.
Hi! I'm Karen Rose Smith.
I write mystery, romance and women's fiction. My 104th novel will
be released in 2020. Besides writing, my passion is caring four our seven
rescued cats. An only child, I delved into books at an early age. I learned
about kindred spirits from Anne of Green Gables, solved mysteries with Nancy
Drew, and wished I could have been the rider on The Black Stallion. Yet even
though I escaped often into story worlds, I had many aunts, uncles and cousins
around me on weekends. My sense of family and relationships began there.
Maybe that's why families are a strong theme in my novels, whether
romances or mysteries, along with couples finding true love.
R: Tell us a bit about your latest
book.
MURDER WITH CLOTTED CREAM is book 5
in my Daisy’s Tea Garden mystery series. Daisy owns a tea garden with her Aunt
Iris. It’s a peaceful center of community spirit and gossip. In this cozy,
Margaret Vaughn escaped her Mennonite family to become an actress in NY.
Now years later she has returned and her multi-millionaire husband has built
her a Little Theater. But Margaret has old and new enemies. Daisy is serving
tea at Margaret’s Lancaster County historic home, when Margaret is murdered.
Along with the mystery plot,
Daisy’s romantic and family relationships continue in the series. She discovers
a secret her mom has been keeping and helps her daughter deal with the birth of
her first baby and post partem depression. Daisy’s caring about family and
friends is one of the elements that I hope draw readers into the series.
R: How do you “get to know” your
characters before and while you’re writing a book?
The advantage of writing a series
is that the same core characters appear from novel to novel. Before I use a character,
I develop him or her. For instance when I thought about my sleuth Daisy
Swanson, I knew I wanted her to be a mom with qualities like compassion and
kindness along with intuition that helped her sleuth. I decided to make her a
widow with heartache in her past to give her depth. I decided that one of her
daughters would be adopted so I would have future plot content to pursue. Once
in a while as I write about a character, she or he surprises me! That’s what
takes my book in a new direction.
R: How do you construct your plots?
Do you outline or write by “the seat of your pants?”
I extensively outline. I began
writing after back surgery. I was flat on my back for four years and needed a
creative outlet to escape pain. Heavily outlining enables me to write each day
no matter how I feel. It’s efficient for me when I’m under contract so I can
pick up my synopsis and know exactly the point of my scene and where my
characters are headed.
R:What do you consider more
important, plot or character?
I consider my characters to be more
important. I believe my readers connect with my characters. My characters go
through universal emotions and situations that my readers can relate to. My
main characters drive the plot and give purpose to each scene that propels the book
forward.
R:What is the biggest challenge
you’ve faced as a writer, and what inspires you and keeps you motivated?
I’ve been published since 1992. I
wrote on an average 3 books a year. I was fortunate editors liked my work and
sales were good enough to keep me under contract. The challenge is writing
books I can put my heart into yet are also marketable. With every book I try to
find a spark, an emotional challenge, or an issue that I feel strongly about.
From my excitement over the wild horses in the Big Horns, to a pilgrimage to a
primitive church in Chimayo, NM where miracles occur, to the challenge for a
cowboy with a knee replacement, date rape and abusive relationships, each of
those plot points have to touch me deeply. Contracts, deadlines and causes keep
me motivated.
R:What are you working on now and
what are your future writing plans?
At present, I’m working on Daisy’s
Tea Garden book 7, MURDER WITH CLOTTED CREAM that will be released May 26. I
will keep writing as long as editors like my work. I’ve written romance,
women’s fiction, mystery and even sci fi short stories! Hopefully I’ll adapt to
changing needs in the marketplace.
R:What is a typical work day for
you and how many hours a day or week do you devote to writing?
My process is probably different
than most writers. Because of back surgery, fibromyalgia and rheumatoid
arthritis, I’ve had to adapt my writing style. After back surgery, I wrote long
hand, laid on the floor and typed manuscript from papers clothes-pinned to a
waste can. I don’t write on the computer or laptop. Since the late 90’s, I’ve
been using a tape recorder. I send the tapes to a friend who has typed for me
all these years, and then I edit the hard copy. My husband puts editing changes
into the computer for me. I do write synopses, blogs, and promotional tidbits
on my ipad.
A typical work day used to consist
of me writing all day! But with social media, that changed. Now, 80 percent of
my time is probably about promoting my brand on Facebook, twitter and
instagram. For a while with indie publishing along with traditional publishing
my day was about uploading and keeping meta data up to date. I don’t write a
certain amount of hours a day. I have writing quotas I adhere to according to
deadlines. I like to write two chapters a week.
R:If you could take 3 books to a
year-long writing retreat in a gorgeous setting with no library, which 3 would
you take?
Three books I would take along
would be The Prophet by Kalil Gibran, The Complete Works of Shakespeare, Lady
Chatterley’s Lover with essays by D.H. Lawrence.
R:What advice do you have to offer
to an aspiring writer?
Cultivate your personal attributes
of persistence, patience and determination. Then read until you know what you
want to write. Find your own niche.
R:What is the craziest thing you’ve
ever done?
Rescuing 7 cats and treating them
like kids! (R: Doesn’t sound crazy to
me, meow!)
R:What’s one thing your readers
would be surprised to learn about you?
I learned to ride a horse and swim
when I was 26.
R:Where can we learn more about you
and your books.
I have two websites—a general one
with romance included at karenrosesmith.com. And I also have a mystery website
at karenrosesmithmysteries.com.
Just for Fun:
Night or Day? Night
Dog or Cat? (answer carefully)
Cat (R: Yay!
Good answer)
Beach or Pool? Beach
Steak or salad? Steak
Favorite Drink? White grape
juice
Favorite Book? The Flame and
The Flower
Favorite TV Series? Heartland
Favorite Movie? Ghost
Favorite Actor: Titus
Welliver
Favorite Actress: Maureen O’Hara
Dirty Martini or Pina Colada? Pina
Colada
Hawaii or Alaska? Alaska
Finish this sentence: If I
could meet anyone in the world, past or present, it would be Michelle Obama.
If I had just one wish, it would be
for everyone to listen to each other and live in peace.
Where can we learn more about you
and your books?
Twitter @karenrosesmith
Thank you, Karen, for this great
interview!
GIVEAWAY!
Karen will give away a $10 Amazon
e-gift card to one lucky commenter!
To enter, leave your name and email
address in our comments section. To get
extra entries, mention this interview and contest on Facebook, Twitter or your
blog (if you have one). Don’t forget to
mention where you’ve mentioned it in your comment so you get credit. Winner will be selected at random using random.org. Contest ends midnight, May 30
