Well known author Kat Martin has agreed to let us interview her this month… Check out her answers:

What is your most current work out?

The Christmas Clock is my latest, the paperback edition of the hardcover released from Vanguard Publishing last year.

You have a new series coming out.  Please tell us a little about Against The Wind, the first in the series and what inspired you to write the book?

This particular story was inspired by a Toby Keith song.  I love Country music and Toby is one of my favorites.  The song was How Do You Like Me Now? About a girl who made fun of a boy in high school because he was poor, then later he became rich and famous.  Jackson is that boy, extremely successful now, though not famous, and Sarah is the girl whose life turned out to be a dismal failure–until she meets Jackson again!

When you start writing, do you already have the story plotted out or do you let the characters dictate what will happen?

I do a combination of both.  I try to plot as much as I can but my books are published close together so I don’t have much time to just let the plot percolate.  I do some of the plotting as I go.  I love it when the characters take off and do their own thing.

What inspired you to write in your genre?  Is this the genre you started writing in or have you morphed to this one?

I’ve always read a lot, both contemporary romance and historical.  I minored in history in college so I am very comfortable in the past.  Which was the reason I began writing historical romance.  But I love reading romantic suspense and have dabbled off an on in the genre for years.  I’ve written a total of fifteen contemporary romantic suspense (if I haven’t lost track).  I’m really enjoying the Raines Brothers!

Do you have a favorite character you have written?

One of my favorites is Chance McLain in The Secret, a rancher in a contemporary western romantic suspense.  Jackson Raines and his brothers are really great characters and Jackson, another modern-day cowboy, is also one of my favorites.

Do you have a character that you look back on now and don’t like?

Not a hero or heroine.  It would be really hard for me to write a main character I didn’t like.  Some I’ve had a harder time getting to know than others.

Do you draw inspiration for your characters from real life? Any fun stories you could share?

In an old book, Dueling Hearts, I wrote a friend of my husbands as the hero.  He’s blond but rugged.  I wanted to write a blond hero, but was having a hard time (I prefer dark heroes) coming up with someone.  The guy on the cover ended up looking just like him!

What do you find the hardest part of writing?

Just sitting down and actually doing the grunt work.   Transitional scenes can be really tough.  The fun stuff is when you get rolling and really get them talking to each other.  And I enjoy writing sex scenes if I can make them interesting and different and relative to what is happening in the plot.

Name one thing that your readers would be surprised to know about you.

I’m a total hermit.  I wasn’t always that way, but I’ve sort of turned into one over the years.  I do love to travel and break out of my hermit shell once in a while!

Do you have a guilty pleasure?

Expensive hotels, fancy restaurants, down comforters…all guilty pleasures.

What do you need before you start writing?  Anything that is just a must have or the creative juice don’t flow?

Got to have my coffee in the morning.  I like to see a little news before I settle down to work.  Got to have some particular files that I use most every day, my names file, for instance.

Does music influence your writing?  If so, do any of your stories have a theme song?

As I said, Against the Wind was inspired by a country western song.  An old book, Night Secrets was inspired by the old song, Brandy (the tavern maid and the captain who loved the sea).  The group who wrote the song threatened to sue me!  Fortunately they didn’t have enough grounds.  Thank heaven!

If your story was optioned for a movie, who would play your characters?

Could go for a Brad Pitt cowboy hero.  There are some great female actresses out there…  Anne someone, tried to think of her name last night, but couldn’t.  Dark hair, big brown eyes.  She would make a great Sarah.  I was thinking Dylan McDermott would make a great Devlin Raines in Against The Law (out in March).

Where were you when you got your first contract?  Who did you tell first?

I was having lunch with my best girl friends.  I got the call there from my agent.  I started crying.  It was great.

How old were you when you read your first romance book?

I was in high school.  I read Anya Setons books.  Then came Kathleen Woodiwiss,  Flame and the Flower and then I was hooked.

If you still have one of those pesky day jobs what is it?

My pesky day job is writing, writing, writing, promoting, working on the Internet, doing blogs, facebook, interviews, answering e-mails., writing, writing, writing  Hey, it’s a snap.

What are you currently working on, and what else is in the wings?

I working on the fifth book in the AGAINST Series, after Against The Fire and Against The Law.   Against the Storm, #4, is just finished.  The fifth, which I’ve just started is Against The Night.

What is your reaction to people who say one of the following…”Oh you write romance, I thought you were a real writer”, “Romance isn’t a real writing career” or the ever popular “Oh, one of those books”.

I tell them to read what my pesky day job consists of doing.  I ask them have they ever read a romance, to which they usually reply, “Why no.  I don’t read those kinds of books.”   Many times I give them one and amazingly they become a real fan of the genre.  Sometime I just smile and try to be polite, when I’d like to punch them.

Where can readers find you?

my website is www.katmartin.com.

facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kat-Martin/322579975013

I enjoy emails.  katmartin@katbooks.com.

And for the silly side – What is your favorite type of chocolate?

I like milk chocolate.  Chocolate shakes are my favorite!